Article Published Date: 01/27/2008

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Military .22 training rifles are a fascinating bit of military firearm collectibles.  Many countries produced training rifles that closely resembled the full-sized military issue rifle such as the Reising Model 65 made by Harrington and Richardson, and the different Enfield trainers. Others produced .22 training rifles strictly for training that looked nothing like the full-sized issue rifle such as the Romanian M-69 or the Mossberg M-44.

This article will be covering the Polish Wz-48 (Model 48) .22 trainer.  It was made to closely resemble the Soviet issued M-38 carbine and does a fine job of doing just that. 

Here is a comparison of the two:

Whereas the Polish Wz-48 was designed from the beginning to LOOK like a Mosin Nagant M-38, the bolt design is actually a modified 1920’s Mauser design.  We will be looking at the bolt in-depth later in the article. 

The Wz-48 was manufactured from 1948 till 1960 in Poland at the Lucznik Military Plant for training use by the Czech and Polish armies.  I’ve not seen any dated 1948 personally and if anyone has one dated 1948 I would like to see pictures of it.  I would appreciate it if any reading this would also contribute to my Wz-48 poll so we can hopefully determine how many of these were made by year and other variations of this fine trainer.

Most of the trainers that you will find will be import stamped on the rear left of the receiver (looking at the rifle from the top from rear to muzzle).  I know that the rifles with this tiny import stamp were imported by Gibbs Rifle Company around 2000-2002, and will be stamped GIBBS MARTBURG WVA.  Martburg is short for Martinsburg, West Virginia.  This kind of import stamp is hard to see, and even harder to read, but it IS there.  I prefer this kind of import stamp as it best holds the aesthetic appeal of the as-issued rifles. 

I have seen some import stamps that were quite large and on the left of the barrel.  This same importer (don’t remember who, AIM?) also stamped the serial number into the side rail of the receiver just forward of where the bolt handle is locked down. 

Features

I have noticed many differences and slight variations after having handled 50 of these rifles.  It is my hope to make this your one-stop shop for information concerning these excellent training rifles.  I will point out everything that was observed and will also include every scrap of information I was able to find after spending numerous hours upon hours of scouring the internet for whatever information was available. 

Stock

The stocks used on these rifles were, I believe, the exact same stocks used on the M-38 Mosin rifles with only the smallest bit of differences.  The largest difference between the two is the magazine/trigger guard well.  On the M-38 the entire well area is routed out in preparation for the installation of the magazine/trigger guard assembly.  On the Wz-48 there is no need to route out this area and it was left alone. 

Since the Polish stocks were purpose-built for training purposes only, you will encounter two distinct types of sling slot escutcheons on the Polish stocks, just like the full-sized big cousin.  You can find them with the front and rear pressed-in sling slot escutcheons (late Polish) or you can find them with nothing in the rear and the front “tab” style escutcheons (early Polish).  I do not believe, at this time, that there exists a Polish trainer with the screwed in sling slot escutcheons like those that can be found on 91/38 Mosins for obvious reasons; namely, that Russia had these due to re-use of older stocks and that the stocks for the Polish Wz-48 were purpose-built for use with the training barreled action and not the older full-sized carbines.  It would be very interesting to find one that had the screwed in escutcheons because it would have to have a filled in magazine/trigger guard well which would have then needed to be routed out for the .22 trigger mechanism.  You will not find a cross bolt on the Wz-48 stock as these received more punishment at the hands of peasant recruits/conscripts than they did from the recoil impulse of the .22 round.

The nose cap and screw are identical to those found on the M-38 and M-44 as they have the small flat on the bottom for clearance of the cleaning rod which, oddly enough, the Wz-48 does not have.  My thoughts on this are that Poland never produced a 91/30 but they did produce M-44’s, thus they would use what they had on hand for their trainers.

Front sight globes are identical to those found on the M-38, 91/30, and some M-44  Mosin carbines and rifles.  Russian M-44 front sight globes from 1944 and 1945 will work, but beginning in 1946 they went over the wide based front sight.  The Poles used the wide based (18+ millimeter wide) M-44 front sight and globe as opposed to the narrow based one used on quite a lot of the Soviet M-44’s (11-11.5 millimeter).  As long as the front sight base is 11 to 11.5 millimeters wide you’ll be good to go.

Barrel Bands and Barrel Band Springs

These are identical in function to the stamped barrel bands and stamped barrel band springs found on any of the other Mosins, the only exception being the color.  That’s right, the color.  They are purple/plum.  They will also sometimes, but not always, be stamped with the number 11 in an oval, the same as is found on the receivers of most military Polish rifles.  There are also black/blued stamped barrel bands so don't discount one if you see black bands instead of purple/plum. 

Rear Sights

These look just like the rear sights used on the M-38, M-44, and 91/30 Mosins but have 25, 50, 75, and 100 meter markings.  From what I’ve been able to tell and from what I’ve read online, these are very accurately made and are good for what they are set at.  There are also only two variations that I have found so far, and that is that the slider on some are blued and others are in the white.  The “rarer” of the two is the white slider as only 11 out of 51 examples I had showed this characteristic.

Makers and Receiver Variations

There are only two known receiver stampings.  The very first Wz-48’s were stamped with a large archer with the year stamped underneath it.  On the left side of the receiver, as viewed from the top looking from the rear to the muzzle, is stamped the serial number (typically in the A-block of serial numbers), and to the right of that Kbk.S.wz 48.  These early "Archers" were not stamped on the barrel shank as is typical with other Mosins and indeed the later Wz-48's were.  

All other known Wz-48’s will be stamped in much the same manner as the M-38, which is to say on the barrel shank, not the receiver.  From the front of the shank towards the back will be a large oval with a number 11 in the middle.  Next will be a year date stamp, under which will be a diamond with some stampings inside, more than likely an arsenal/armorer proof stamp.  Under that will be the serial number.  More on serial numbers later.

Trigger Mechanisms and Extractors/Feed Trays

There have been two distinct trigger mechanisms and extractors/feed trays noticed by me.  The earliest models (1949 Archers) had a rather elongated bolt stop on the trigger mechanism and they also employed an extractor/feed tray without a tab.  This extractor without a tab has also been encountered in 1950 dated rifles as well. 

For an early rifle that utilizes an extractor without a tab, it simply slides along the machined slot at the bottom of the receiver.  The reason the Poles quickly modified this to include a tab and slot design is for extractor retention.  In the old system, if you removed the bolt and the rifle were inverted the extractor would just fall out.  With the tab, the trigger must be depressed, the extractor slid all the way to the rear, the rifle turned upside down and gently shaken.  The extractor will then fall out.

Serialized Parts

There will be four parts that will most likely be serialized and which may or may not match.  You will, of course, find a serial number on the receiver (early) or barrel shank (later) but you can also find serial numbers on the bolt stem, the bottom of the extractor, and the butt plate.  You can also sometimes find a serial number stamped on the bottom of the receiver where the barrel mates up with it, and even in the stock channel in much the same way and location as Swedish Mausers; both of these locations are usually NOT stamped.

Part of my study included 13 Wz-48 stocks without barreled receivers in them.  Of these, only about 25-35 percent had serial numbers in them.  Oddly enough, the ones with serial numbers do not include the letter prefixes found in the serial number on the receiver.  As a matter of fact, most of the locations where a serial number can be found will not include the letter prefix.  As is true of all Mosins, variations do exist.  Most of the butt plates will include the letter prefix, but none of the extractors I handled had it, only one or two of the bolts had it, and none of the stocks had it except for one where the entire serial number was hand written in the barrel channel in pencil.  Stocks will only have the number part of the serial number in them, if any at all. 

Another thing to note is that a couple of the stocks had the serial number ink stamped into the barrel channel.  Needless to say, after all these decades it is almost impossible to read the stampings anymore.  It’s kind of like reading the ink stampings on canvas slings after 40+ years, very difficult and sometimes just downright impossible.

Ammunition Selection

Here is something that shouldn’t be overlooked or taken for granted.  Of the 51 that I inspected, a total of 7 had rings in the bore.  One had only 1 ring in the bore, two had 2 rings in the bore, two had 3-4 rings in the bore, and two had up to 6 rings in the bore! 

A barrel with one or two rings in the bore will typically function just fine as long as the rings are not too close to the muzzle.  The cause of these rings was due to squib rounds- rounds with not enough pressure to actually get them out of the bore.  Because we are talking about mostly conscript trainees, most of the time they would just go ahead and fire another round directly behind the obstruction!  This caused a build-up of pressure behind the obstruction and a ring would form.  Since these rifles are so massively built, it goes a long way in explaining why they kept on using them even after they got 6 rings in the bore. 

I took one out that had 2 rings in the bore, neither one too close to the muzzle, and it shot to point of aim, dead on the money! 

With the vast majority of ammunition available to the American shooter, there should be no problems or reoccurrence of these squib loads.  I recently spoke with long-time shooter, reloader, and Surplurifleforum moderator TommyT and he came up with the best explanation I have heard to date.  Back in the day when Russian and Eastern European produced .22 ammunition was being imported, he reported that inconsistencies found in that ammunition was deplorable.  He remarked that when fired from his .22 revolver that he could almost see the stuff plunk out the barrel and fall to the ground.  This is a bit of an exaggeration, but the stuff was total crap and could easily have produced squib rounds. 

Word around the world is use the high velocity .22 ammunition as opposed to the target or sub-sonic ammunition and you should be just fine.  Some have reported fine functioning and no problems with the target and sub-sonic but all have stated that the high velocity gets the job done with no problems.  Some  have reported that the target and sub-sonic causes erratic accuracy.  This is thought to be because of the unique “floating chamber” produced in this particular trainer.  It is believed that the full power high velocity rounds swell the brass just enough to “seal” the chamber, thus causing more consistent accuracy.

Sight Scout Mount

I do not know if this is still being made, but it is said that Darrell’s Type II Scout Mounts fit these very well and would be worth looking into for someone wanting to scout mount their trainer.  The eyes of some of us are not what they used to be and anything to cause plinking to be more enjoyable is a good thing, especially when the system you’re using is so good at it.

Parts Availability

Sadly, there is no place that has spare parts for these.  After contacting anyone and everyone that I know of that either imported these or sold them, I have had nobody get back to me with any parts availability, none. 

Troubleshooting

The most common problem with these is the lack of dimpling on the base of the cartridge when firing.  This is a simple problem to fix and it works best if you have either two people or a good vise. 

Place the rear end of the bolt into a vise or have someone pull on it.  This will reveal a slotted nut with a slot on opposite sides; tighten this nut as much as you can and this will cause the firing pin protrusion to increase, thus impacting the cartridge more positively.  On a side note, if you should want to disassemble your bolt you would loosen this nut instead of tightening it.  When it gets very loose there is very little tension on the firing pin spring and you won’t have to worry about putting your eye out or losing it somewhere in the basement.

Another thing to look for is a firing pin that is very blunt.  This can be fixed by removing the firing pin retaining screw from the top of the bolt.  Now, tip the bolt forward and the firing pin will fall out.  You can either file down the tip of the firing pin or you can make your own using your old one as a template.

If you do opt to make your own you will want to start with either an old #29 drill bit shank or #29 (.134 diameter) drill rod from any number of sources.  McMaster-Carr sells it for $1.68 a foot, part number 88725K52.  A little bit of Dremel work and you’re good to go. 

Another thing that could potentially affect accuracy is the action screws.  I noticed that on a full third of the rifles I had needed the rear action screw tightened down.  On some the screw had no threads engaged at all!  Most of the front action screws needed only a 1/8 turn to fully tighten them.  In order to tighten the rear action screw, just remove the trigger guard and its plate and then tighten.

It has also been reported that you can get a much better and smoother trigger by removing the small spring in the stock that returns the sear plate, thus eliminating the resistance when the trigger is pulled.  I haven't personally tried this but someone reported that a family member of his shoots .22 competition and this did the trick for her.

Conclusion

These are awesome little .22 rifles that will make for many years of enjoyment for you and your little ones.  They are extremely well made, extremely rugged, and usually extremely accurate.  Many of these can be found in mint condition and they command a premium.  As of this writing a mint condition example can easily bring $300, with most in average condition (VG+) selling in the $175-$225 range.  Anything below that is a good deal.  I have never witnessed the sale of an early “Archer” rifle and can only imagine that it would easily fetch $300+. 

If there are any corrections or additional information others have concerning these rifles I would be very happy to edit the post to reflect the new information.  This is by no means complete but it is the most comprehensive, information packed post you will find on these rifles on the net, bar none.  Any additional facts and information will only make it that much better for all those who come after us.

If you would please fill out a quick poll concerning any Wz-48 trainers you have, I would greatly appreciate it.  Please follow this link and enter any information you have on the rifles you own:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=46924

I would like to thank TommyT and Candyman for the information they contributed to this article.  Every little bit has helped to expand our knowledge of these fine little rifles.

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