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What method of assembly was used to put the parts together?...Press fit?...Welding?

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All of the above.

If you'll look closely at the views of the stamped floor plates, you'll see both processes at work.
There are tabs folded over and clamping a piece in place. The piece going up the magwell in another shot is clearly welded.

All of these operations can be completed in moments. though the part must pass through more hands, a finished part can still be completed more cheaply and quickly than a part machined from a solid billet of steel.
Much less waste too. Any part scrapped from an error at any stage of fabrication represents little loss and if desireable may be more easily repaired.

At least, that's how my experience in fabrication and machining sees it.

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or have I completely misread info on this forum?

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No, you have the right of it. Tangara is working from his own collection and was just identifying what particular rifle each part came off of.
Inclusion of the bo parts are interesting in that I too have a bo with a milled guard, presumably a scrubbed early model M48, but also having stamped and welded barrel bands.

Hiya F84FMechanic. Glad to have you visit with us. You can say "Gunboards" here. Many if not most of us visit there too. It’s a fine board.

Concerning your "M48BO from AIM that looks to be unused and has all milled parts," By all reports that would be an M48 manufactured before 1953 and later scrubbed and refinished.

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Nothernug, I fully expect this post to be nuked…

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I am not so quick to delete as all that. Your post is right on topic and potential errors or misinformation need to be called. That’s what this place is about.
You or anyone else are free to criticize anything here anytime. The only consideration is that it be tasteful, on topic and preferably specific. For example "This forum stinks!" might get deleted. A comment, "I am not certain that statement about Yugo gizmo W is correct" will most certainly not be deleted.
Your comments that you see problems with the designation of the barrel bands are appropriate and specific, making your topic post perfectly legitimate. More about that in a bit.

As for "nit picking," no apology needed, it’s welcomed here. We want to get the details correct and no one of us (saving maybe Branko! ) has all the answers.

For those that may not know what was deleted, Tangara* had posted some safari images to illustrate and accompany requested info on the camera he used to take the images displayed here. I deleted that post for two reasons. While interesting, the safari images had absolutely nothing to do with this forum. That in itself was not so bad and might have fit nicely on the C&R Firearms Photography forum on this site. But those images in addition to those already here contributed in slowing loading of this topic. Those two reasons together are why I deleted the post. I still let it stand through the weekend so most folks could get a look before removing it.
* For those who may not be aware, "tangara" was a term of affection used by the Yugo soldiers for their M48 rifles. It means something like "old best rifle" or what we might term "old trusty."

If the captioning is not clear, the error is probably mine, because I rearranged the photos on Tangara. Now, let’s take a look at the images in question.

First the topic title. It is "M48 Model comparison photo analysis" not "comparison of the M48 to the M48B". If it was so labeled on the gunboards topic, I posted that and the error, if so labeled, was mine alone. I apologize if it was misleading. That was not my intent.

I did specifically comment about the M48B since we only recently became aware that the model "B" was still stamped model "A" and that this varient was among us. Many were not clear, based on verbal descriptions alone, as to the exact difference between the stamped and milled trigger guards.

Re. the photos under the caption,
"Stamped forward band on left from M48BO, milled forward band on right from M48" appear these photos,

You will note the left band in each pic is stamped and welded, the right band in each pic a typical "milled" band.

I hope this answers your concerns F84FMechanic. If you have more, trot them out and welcome!

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Short circuit between the earphones!

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Sure ain't the first one around here and I promise you it wont be the last!

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Thanks for your patience and your efforts in responding.

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You're quite welcome and it is, literally, my pleasure. Drop in again any time.

"Correct me if I am wrong but I was under the assumption that after the Yugos filled there armories with enough rifles to arm the masses to prevent another invasion they were producing rifles mainly for export."
As I understand it, this is correct. Branko does note that model A's were exported to Syria, Indonesia, Egypt, and Iraq.

Others were BO's were made by scrubbing the crests and were part guns?
The "bo" became a dedicated model in 1956, concurrent with the model B. Model "bo"s produced before that were scrubbed, whole, rifles. It has not been stated that "bo"s produced before that were "parts guns." By definition, a "parts gun" would be a gun produced of surplus parts since primary production ceased. Many of these were in fact assembled from parts here and not in the Former Yugoslavia at all.

"The story is that the Yugos made something like 56,000 (?) for Egypt but the contract got canceled due to the Suez/Sinai war of 1956"
This is MARSTAR ad copy. The usual numbers given, depending on who relates the story is 3,000-5,000 rifles, not "56,000."(at least the last time I looked) I cannot say whether or not such an order really existed but it's possible. The problem with it is that at the time it was presented as the sole extent of existing "bo"s. Now we know that the "bo" is in fact the most numerous varient produced.
As noted above, the Yugos exported model "A"s in plenty. The "bo" was produced mainly to supply the many so called "National Liberation movements," active at the time.
They may yet be a rarer varient encountered here, but personally I'm not convinced of that.

"My M48BO is one of the infamous Egyptian contracts as so labeled."
This is purely an advertising claim. That I know of, no serial number range or prefix code* has been reported for this alledged order.** Without such, there is absolutely no way to document whether any particular weapon was part of an order that frankly, has not yet been shown to actually exist.**
*The letter prefix before some rifle serial numbers is the result of commercial order designations and not original production serialization.
**these are my own views based on not having seen any documentation. It's also possible such documentation does actually exist. If anybody knows of such, please speak up!

"This may explain the very dark stock?"
As noted above, there's no telling about the origins of your specific rifle. As for the very dark stocks, I know they occur but I have no explanation for that. I'll see if I can find out something.
...Here's the response...
Q. Some stocks come very dark. Is there any particular reason why some out of the pile will be that much more darkened than the norm?

A. (courtesy of Cabinetman) "That's a very ligitmate question.

The simple answer is that wood is wood. Each and every stock will react slightly differently than it's neighbor depending on many varialbles such as density, age, the way it was cut, How much cosmo has it been exposed to etc. &tc. Also, the "stuff" it has been exposed to over its lifetime will also affect the ultimate color.

In mild cases it's called "patina". In severe cases, it's called "contamination". If you can' raise a nice finish without resorting to stripping and severe cleaning, you've got a restoration case. If you've got a good stock with some finish left on it, then you've got a restorable stock.

Some woods react almost violently under oil compared to others. It really depends on the tree that was used and how it was cut. If you want to see what the stock will look like under a clear coat, just slurp your thumb and imprint it onto the stock. That will give you a good idea as to what you'll find."

Well, does this help?
PS, How goes the Butt plate part of the project???

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Without seeing my rifle, I am starting to think I have a "b" that has the receiver still marked "a".

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That's how the "B" is. They never bothered to change the marking.

To date, no specific problems have been reported connecteced to the fabricated parts.

That help?