M48 Sporter barrel alignment fix

[The Kurgan]

I am really liking my Zastava factory sporter (1997) but the barrel alignment was off. So I crazy glued a 1/4 inch piece of birch stir stick along one side of the barrel channel and it worked a treat. Sometimes easy solutions work good.

The rifle itself has a new factory barrel and all the parts were polished and blued. If you can find one, handle it and buy it.

 

[The Kurgan]

Shameless plug...

 

[bearhunter]

I first saw a couple of those at the Chilliwack gun show in 2023. One of the owners of Corwin Arms, was sellng them, along with new in wrap M48s.

I opted for the new in wrap M48 and was scratching my head over the sporter. I wasn't sure if it was a factory job or not.

It was just like the one in your pics and very tempting. Sadly, I passed. There have been a few more for sale, online, but I've passed on those as well. I already have a couple of 8x57 sporters that shoot better than I can hold.

They are very nicely done IMHO, about as little as can be done to original military stock rifles and still retain the appeal.

I liked that they are drilled and tapped for scopes, nice touch.

Nice rifle, how well does it shoot? Have you tried handloads yet or just factory fodder?

They're very strong actions, so you should be able to load them fairly hot.

DGY has thread on the gunsmith forum, concerning a K98 he rechambered to 8mm-06. I'm not suggesting that you should do such a conversion but he did some testing with CFE223 powder under 200 grain bullets which gave him very decent velocities.

I am going to try some of that powder in my 8x57 loads, under 200 grain bullets to see how much if any difference there is over what I'm getting now in velocity.

Just for fun of course, likely not much difference.

 

[The Kurgan]

Hi bearhunter; this rifle is surprisingly well put together, especially given its sub-$800 price tag. It may serve as a basis for a future custom re-stock, but for now the sporterized Elm stock will certainly suffice. I haven't yet experimented with powders, though I do have a tub of Varget that I might give a whirl. It has seen some pretty potent Sellior & Bellot throwing 196grain FMJs at 2559 fps (2849 ft lbs of muzzle energy) without any issue at all. I have several military Mausers, but it was nice to find a factory sporter that shed some weight and shoots well. No sense for a calibre change, 8x57 works for me and is easy to source (hoarding some exquisite factory Norma Oryx and Vulcan ammo courtesy of the former Tradex). BTW, hard to beat the intermediate length M48 action, and this setup shoots POA.

 

[bearhunter]

My go to load for the 8x57 for my serious hunting efforts is utilizing the Oryx 196 grain bullets, round nose/flat base. Both with copper jackets and cupro nickel jackets.

I've got a couple of hundred of each left and they are only being used sparingly for a couple of sighters each spring and then for hunting.

I have other 200-grain 323-diameter bullets of similar quality/shape and use those to ensure zero is held throughout the year.

My load for these bullets is

56 grains of H414, over CCI250, under Oryx 196grain bullets.

This load shoots sub-moa in my hunting rifles.

The load I use for qualifying zero utilizes the same powder weight and primer but shoots two inches lower and an inch to the left from the Oryx bullets.