Turkish 98' Mauser

[Ben]

About 10 or more yrs. ago I dropped in on a gun shop that I visit
on occasion and noticed the owner had about 25 or more Turkish
98 Mausers. Condition varied from very good to poor.

I was looking at his rifles when he walked out from behind the counter
and asked me if I'd be interested in seeing one that was in excellent
condition. I said SURE, let's see it.

He went to the back of the store and came out with this rifle. He said
that when the shipment arrived, that he picked out the best rifle and
put it back for his own use. He then said, if you'd like it, I'd just as
soon sell it to you.

I asked what he wanted for the rifle, he said " $60 out the door ."

I said " Hand me a " 4473". Sold ! !

I came home and gave the bore a good cleaning. The bore is mirror bright,
smooth, and sharp. I've slugged the bore at .3235" , nice and round.

I shoot Mausers, but don't consider myself a true collector.
I never liked the trigger in this one, so yesterday I replaced
the trigger with a Bold.

While I had the rifle apart, I glass bedded the recoil lug.

I have some cast bullets loaded and ready to head to the range for testing.

Thanks,
Ben



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/014.jpg

[HARRYMPOPE]

I have several Turks that shoot very well.They all have good bores and i have less than $80 in to each.With irons at 100 yards the 323471 and 323378 with either 16g 2400 or 14g TrailBoss shoot 2-1/2" 10 shot groups.Stuff the RCBS 310 cadet bullet pre-crimped held by the heel with 4g of bulls-eye and its a hoot of a 50 yard squirrel load and shots 1-1.5".The Ideal 32359 also shot well with this load.

All my Turks shoot well with .324 bullets.

your rifle looks nice,mine are all ratty

HMP

[Ben]

HMP

Many thanks for those nice comments. I count myself fortunate to own one like this. I've never seen one at a gun show that was even close to this one.

I'm currently casting the Loverine , 323470. It drops from the mold at .3265" I'm sizing to .3245". I also have the Lee Karbiner. I've shot the Karbiner some, but not a lot.

I'm hoping that I can have some fun with this one. With the long sight radius, the long barreled Turks are very good cast bullet shooters in my opinion.

This rifle has very tight headspace, if you don't hit the shell holder hard against the bottom of the F/L sizing die, you'll never get the bolt to close on a case. Of course in my opinion, that is a good thing. This is a lot of rifle for $60 ! !

Ben

[dualsport]

1954? Who knew? Not me, that's for sure. My Turk is older, less pretty, but shoots pretty good. I'm used to Mauser triggers but may consider that Bold for a military rifle silhouette gun I'm contemplating. It has a Lyman receiver sight now, so it's no longer original anyway. Thinking of adding a scope and bending the bolt. I'd like to try some of those 323470s at .3265 if anybody wants to do some trading. I have some interesting molds. Tried the 8mm Max, too darn big.

[Ben]

I've never thought that the Lee 8 mm Max would
interest me. The Karbiner is about all I'd ever need.

If my one and only grandson is interested, this would
be a nice rifle to pass on to him one day.....

[atr]

nice score Ben
personally I like old Mausers

just curious......check the ramrod on yours,,,,do its serial numbers match?

[Ben]

nice score Ben
personally I like old Mausers

just curious......check the ramrod on yours,,,,do its serial numbers match?

My rod is very nice with nice bluing but not matching.

[WILCO]

your rifle looks nice..

Ditto for me.

[HARRYMPOPE]

the MidSouth big 8's are both too fat for my Turks throats.I've been at the range since the last post and you had me thinking about my Turk so i fired 10 to see if i was lying about how it shot.Load is- 323471 sized .324 with 14.5 of 2400 and a Win pistol primer.Ten shots at 100 yards.First 5 were about 1.5" but i kept going and the last two of three dropped low right.

H.

[mpbarry1]

Hey! I have a 1940 version of the same thing. a guy was selling them and I told him I wanted a good one. cost me an extra 20 bucks. lol. My 90 dollar find was covered in grease. I have never shot it. I did buy 2800 rounds of turkish ammo tho. guess I should give it a try.

[HARRYMPOPE]

i'll send you some cast bullets for it if you want MPbarry1.

I take one case,a nail(or lee de-capper and base tool) to de-prime,priming tool a dipper for powder(about 2.5g Unique) and a box of bullets.With this and a light 135 plain base 8mm bullet it shoots under 1" 25 yards and is a great one for new shooters to play with.They get to reload and shoot at the same time.The kit fits in a small box and is a fun camp load.I shoot this cat sneeze load in my shop in the winter.its quiet.

h.

[mpbarry1]

Fun! I wonder if those turkish 8 mm rounds are berdan primed. I know they are corrosive. One reason why i havent been too much in a hurry to shoot it. Is that the gun you are shooting in september? or is that a black gun match? You will have to show me if I can make it up there. I'm hoping that it isnt during my deer hunt, I'd like to come up. :)

[HARRYMPOPE]

Fun! I wonder if those turkish 8 mm rounds are berdan primed. I know they are corrosive. One reason why i havent been too much in a hurry to shoot it. Is that the gun you are shooting in september? or is that a black gun match? You will have to show me if I can make it up there. I'm hoping that it isnt during my deer hunt, I'd like to come up. :)

its a cast bullet military rifle match.Springfield Mausers Mosin's etc..I may shoot the Turk in that match.

[mpbarry1]

cool. I will look at the brass and work some up. It looks fun to shoot with the rear sight up. never done that before. I will take you up on some bullets here in a bit. sounds like a kick. One more thing to do, geez. I was running out! :D

[dualsport]

I got a lot of that Turkish surplus, 1940s vintage. It usually goes bang, sometimes needs a second hit. Accuracy is very surprising, not bad at all. BUT, it is definitely corrosive and the filthiest ammo ever made. After shooting even a box you will have a two day cleaning project. The crud left behind just keeps coming out and out. Soak, scrub, patches, brake cleaner, repeat. If a Turk was shooting at you at 300 yds. with this stuff you'd better take cover though, potent ammo.

[adrians]

Ben,,, was that BOLD trigger an easy install,? drop in .
did it need any minor "tweeking" it looks very sturdy, and my kale (1943) could benefit from a better trigger.
Military triggers are fine if you get used to shooting just one rifle BUT my Mausers are all different (no suprise there) , and i think my turk would like to be a "lab rat" for a new trigger .
don,t worry i,m not bubbering a classic ,i wouldn,t do that but i thought a trigger job on the turk wouldn,t hurt any.
oh and do they cost an arm and leg,if so i,ll leave well alone (it don,t need one that bad).
have a great holiday and give a thought to those brave guy,s and gals who make it possible for us to pursue the way of life we choose..
i THANK them all.. :evil:[smilie=w::evil:

[Tom-ADC]

Guy here has two of those for sale but nowhere as clean as yours, he's a 100 miles north and I can't bring myself to drive that far to pick one up.

[Ben]

Ben,,, was that BOLD trigger an easy install,? drop in .
did it need any minor "tweeking" it looks very sturdy, and my kale (1943) could benefit from a better trigger.
Military triggers are fine if you get used to shooting just one rifle BUT my Mausers are all different (no suprise there) , and i think my turk would like to be a "lab rat" for a new trigger .
don,t worry i,m not bubbering a classic ,i wouldn,t do that but i thought a trigger job on the turk wouldn,t hurt any.
oh and do they cost an arm and leg,if so i,ll leave well alone (it don,t need one that bad).
have a great holiday and give a thought to those brave guy,s and gals who make it possible for us to pursue the way of life we choose..
i THANK them all.. :evil:[smilie=w::evil:

The Bold was about $35 + shipping

It is more than just attach it to the rifle. A good bit of wood must be removed from the stock for the Bold trigger to fit down in the wood ( I used a Dremel Tool ) . I also had to open the " trigger slot " in the bottom metal for the trigger to pass through. It wanted to scrub on one side and a good bit of metal had to be removed.

About a 1 hr. job.

Time and money well spent in my opinion.

Hope this helps...........

Ben

[adrians]

i think i can manage that ben
thanks for your response i am looking into it as i type (not at the same time though..lol)
i feel a turk project comming on ,,,love it.

[atr]

I have not heard of the BOLD brand trigger....
I have retrofitted some of my Mausers with the Timney brand
wondering here if Ben can comment on comparisons
thanks

[rmcc]

Great Turk Ben!! I have had (3) of these, none near as nice as yours, and all were shooters. I liked them so much I bought dies, bullets, and whatever commercial brass I can find. We take them down to the farm and set milk jugs out at varying distances. Bet a quarter on who hits first. A lot of fun and cheap to shoot. I put up a good supply of the surplus Romanian when it was $29.00 a can. Should have bought it by the pallet. Who knew??

Rich

[Junior1942]

I bought two and a 900?? round case of ammo. I should have bought twenty rifles ($59.95 each) and no ammo. It's corrosive, but that ain't nearly its worst problem. About every 5th round gives a smokey primer. I pulled some down and did some weighing and measuring. The powder charge varied about 2 grains. Some of the bullet were .002" larger in diameter than others. A too heavy charge + a too big bullet = high pressure = smoked primer.

One rifle is still in the box and cosmoline. The other one is a MOA shooter with the cheap Rem 185 gr PSPCL bullet. Of course that's with a sporterize job and a chopped off barrel. Check out the cool bolt knob I put on it.

http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/photos/m3824t.jpg

[Ben]

The Timney trigger has been around a lot longer than the Bold, sometimes you'll see the Bold for a few dollars less.

I can't tell a lot of difference in the final outcome. I've put 30+ of both on Mausers. They are both good triggers.

Junior....that is a " unique " bolt knob.

Ben

[Junior1942]

Purty, ain't it....

[3006guns]

I remember the Turks when they hit the market years ago at around $39.00 each, and I should have ordered several but didn't. None of the rifles I saw later were even CLOSE to being that nice! You got either a new or rebuilt piece...be nice to it!:mrgreen:

Edit: I DID order about 3000 rds. of Turk ammo when it was cheap. I also found a new definition of the word "recoil"! It's good ammo but loaded fairly warm to say the least, so I pull the bullets and reduce the charge by about 10%. Lead, on the other hand, will guarantee that your bore lives almost forever.

Again, that thing is drop dead gorgeous.....congrats!

[Ben]

I remember the Turks when they hit the market years ago at around $39.00 each, and I should have ordered several but didn't. None of the rifles I saw later were even CLOSE to being that nice! You got either a new or rebuilt piece...be nice to it!:mrgreen:

I'm hoping this one will stay like this for a very long time.

Thanks,
Ben

[Ben]

Finally got the rifle to the range. Set the rear sight on 300. ( Turns out that was a little
bit too much elevation ). Rifle's windage is about perfect. Shooting the Lyman 323470 Loverine ( never met a Loverine that I didn't like ! ). Bullets sized .3245" Hornady 32 cal. gas checks. Wolf large rifle primers


There are some $600 Remington BDL's with their open sights that
this $60 rifle would give some stiff competition to.

I'm happy with the rifle !

Ben

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/Turkish%2098%20%208%20mm%20Mauser/006.jpg

[tomme boy]

Here is my Turk
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/tommeboy/DSC01011_edited.jpg

Still in 8x57mm. Shoots under 1/2" @ 100yds. Really likes the 200gr SMK bullet. Never tried any cast in it.

[Ben]

You need too, they are a lot cheaper than those 200 gr. SMK's and a lot easier on your ears and your shoulder.

What kind of barrel and how long is that barrel ?

Ben

[docone31]

Yeah, I am wondering that also.
First, the finish is great. A well balanced visual appearance.
That looks like a Boyd stock. I like them as well.
Now, the barrel.
Who did the barrel? It looks like an A&B 54 barrel, that has been set back and recut for small ring Mauser threads.
A great job.
I really like.
Those turks are a sleeper indeed.

[Ben]

It looks like an A&B 54 barrel, that has been set back and recut for small ring Mauser threads.

I didn't know that A & B made an F-54 in 8 mm ? ?

[tomme boy]

It is a ER Shaw. 26" long. Can't remember the twist. The contour is a 3 or 3.5??? It is a #7 acording to everyone else. Very heavy.

I have shot this out to 1100yds and had hits on milk jugs of water. The SMK's were halfway cheap when I first bought them about 8 years ago. I think they were $13/100 when I last bought them. I ordered 1000 of them at the time and I still have about 700 of them left.

[Ben]

$13 a hundred...............go easy on those 700, you can't get them for that now.
They are pretty pricey now.

Ben

[dualsport]

While we're at it, what are you guys doing as far as springs/locktime, any changes there? My Turk and Mausers in general have almost flintlock like drops. Anybody just tuning up the original triggers? Also, thanks for the eye candy, nice looking gun. Milk jugs at 1100, that's awesome. Well done.

[Ben]

Milk jugs at 1100

That is way over my head ! !

Ben

[tomme boy]

I am using a Timney 2.5lbs trigger in mine. You can do some mods to the ( part that the trigger sear holds onto on the bolt ) Whatever that part is called. I think they shorten that up, and shorten the firing pin to speed up the lock time. I never had a problem with the LT as I have taught myself proper follow through. It is very important on any rifle or pistol. I learned this shooting muzzleloaders. It really shows up shooting these.

[tomme boy]

Ya, the bullets I have now just sit there. My interest changes it seems every couple months. Right now it is casting and shooting .45's. When I got them at that price it was with a dealer discount also.

[tomme boy]

Here is another one I did in 257 Roberts. It started as a K Hale?? then it went to 308 win. I got bored with the 308 and made into the Roberts.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/tommeboy/DSC01013_edited.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/tommeboy/DSC01015_edited.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/tommeboy/DSC01014_edited.jpg

[bydand]

All very nice pics. While i also have a turk I use most of my surplus 8mm in the vickers since .303 is getting hard to find.

[roverboy]

While we're at it, what are you guys doing as far as springs/locktime, any changes there? My Turk and Mausers in general have almost flintlock like drops. Anybody just tuning up the original triggers? Also, thanks for the eye candy, nice looking gun. Milk jugs at 1100, that's awesome. Well done.

Dualsport, you mentioned about tuning the original trigger. On my Turk I did a trigger job on it. I removed the first hump and slightly rounded the last hump. It still has a lot of creep but it lightened the pull a lot. Once I got used to it I can shoot it good.

[roverboy]

Purty, ain't it....

Junior, I read your story about your Turk a few years ago on your site and loved it. I like all your projects on there. Keep up the good work.

[Junior1942]

Junior, I read your story about your Turk a few years ago on your site and loved it. I like all your projects on there. Keep up the good work.Thank you!!

I may deer hunt with my Turk this coming season as a big oak fell across the pipeline in my river bottom and made a perfect hideyhole for a ground blind.

[roverboy]

I killed a nice buck with my Turk 38 back in the '09 season. My best ever. He grossed scored 135". Saw one last season at least that big. I joked to the guys at the check station that the deer was probably the only thing that old rifle had killed since WWII.

[Ed in North Texas]

snip I joked to the guys at the check station that the deer was probably the only thing that old rifle had killed since WWII.

Nice deer. For what it is worth to you, the '38s did not see any action in WW II. For all but the last few months of the war Turkey was neutral, joining the Allies for a few months when the outcome couldn't be doubted in any way. The Turkish Army did not participate in any combat operations during those few months.

[roverboy]

Sorry Ed, I didn't know that. I am interested in history and I do appreciate the info.

[gew98]

Well ; your rifle served alot of turks going through their "bootcamp" , and could very well have been used on some kurds. No telling.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I bought a K Kale 40s vintage Turk Mauser. Went a bit silly and bought a set of new dies, neck sizing dies, bough a used set of dies to make a body die, 8mm Lee mould and then the NOE group buy came out and I bought a 2 cav w/one cavity HP! A fool and his money are soon parted. Now I need to get my finger out and shoot the durned thang!

[flounderman]

I have been altering military triggers for years. you can't shorten the fireing pin travel because your safety won't engage. you can bush the spring to make it stronger, or buy a wolff. you can grind off the sear to the point that the first stage is the release, making it a single stage trigger. leave the hump on the trigger alone, unless you take too much off the sear. you get the most disengagement for the amount you depress the trigger on the first stage. you want to leave enough you can slam the bolt and it stays cocked. test it after it has been assembled in the stock to be sure the engagement hasn't changed. you can also shorten the coil spring in the trigger to lighten the pull. don't take too much at once and make sure the gun will stay cocked when you slam the bolt ahead and down.