As we were talking about Turks in recent posts

[Niner]

Many of us remember the bonanza Turk Mauser days of the late 90's. You could buy one for nearly any price. Century was selling the best ones with bayonet and ammo pouches, delivered for $50 each. If you felt lucky you could get them for significantly cheaper than that in groups of four or three at various quality levels.

Turkey bought Mausers by contract at different times and the rifles they bought were built to stand up to use and abuse. There seemed to be three distinct recognizable "models" in the imports of ten or a dozen years ago. 1893, 1903, and 1938. Century actually sold them by the date. They all looked pretty much the same, only the early 1893 Model had a cock on closing bolt as a distinguishing feature. By the time the rifles got to collectors they had long before been run through the refurb treatment and came out with different dates stamped to the receivers in the 1930's and 194o's. However , when Century imported them the legal stamp for import discription showed just "mauser" and one of three model designation dates.

I'm not sure when the Turks stopped using the Mausers, but they must have been used in "basic training" late into the 20th century. Some, including one I have, had small paper notes to the next user hidden away between the metal and the wood for the next guy to take the rifle apart to find. The note I found was translated by a Turk friend. It basically was telling the next trainee that it was a good rifle and that he should take care of it. I put the paper back when I reassembled the rifle....can't remember right off which one it was though....

[Candyman]

Here are some pic's of Turkish Mausers that will cover some of the Models

1893 Turk with cutoff box and stright stock. The Turkish 1893 is the only Mauser that was built with a cutoff box.













1893 Turkish Mauser. .
This one was reworked in 1938 at which time the cuttoff box may have been removed and the stock replaced.












1903/30






Turkish short rifle. It's a German k98az that was converted toTurk standards. The date on the crest is 1938.







This is a German Gew 98 that was converted to Turkish standards in 1937.




The crest is very nice, but if you look close you can still see a little of the German crest that was not completly scrubed off.




Here is my ATF Turk. It is a Gew 98 that was converted to Turk standards in 1954. It was the last batch of Gew 98 to be converted to Turkish standards.









The model M38 name is just a name that importers gave to the rifles that were built by the Turks. This model is the K.Kale rifle. They were built on actions that were made in Turky. The Turks started building these rifles in 1940 and stopped in 1946, as far as I know. You will sometimes find German Gew 98 parts on these rifles.

This is a 1940 K.Kale, it was made in the first year of production of the K.Kale rifles. You can see that the rear barrel band has the band spring on the right side of the stock. Most of the K.Kale rifles do not use a band spring. (Edit) I have seen one K.Kale rifle marked 1939 but it was unknown if it was a reworked Gew 98 or not.




Here are two 1943 K.Kale rifles. As you can see they don't have the Band spring. They have what appeares to be a screw that goes through the band, bet it is not a screw, it is a pin and it is staked on the left side of the band.




I am not sure when the Turks stopped using their Mausers, but this is what's marked on the butt of my 1937 reworked Gew 98.

[DocAV]

The Photo of the 1893/33 Turk shows a Bolt with a "T" serial number...this indicates that the bolt is not Turkish, but probably Spanish, from a M1893 Long Rifle (Straight handle).
It is known that the Wholesalers/(Century, etc) "completed" a lot of Turk and other rifles with appropriate bolts, and I have found Spanish Bolts in several other type of M93 Mausers.

Otherwise a good collection of "Turks"

For a better understanding of the whole Turkish Nomenclature of Original and Refurbished rifles, go to Parallax Curio and Relic Webpage, under "Turkish Rifles" for further info and links to specific Turk sites. with the breakdown of Serial info etc and "Models" of Turks...there are many more than what the "Importers" have decreed (usually without any real knowledge whatsoever)

Regards,
Doc AV
Living in Turcomania, where one can check out, but never leave.