8mm Turkish Mauser

[Wolfdog91]

What are they worth ?saw one at the local pawn shop. Woods a little beat up metal has a nice pitina and the bore looks really nice. They want right at $400 for it before tax. Sound like a decent deal or ? Seem like it would be a fun little project to semi restore. Wild be even more fun if they where still $100 and I could build a sporter but hay what can ya do

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yeah...times change. I remember buying several dozen of them for about $39 each dealer price back around year 2000. Still have 7 or 8. If in decent condition like you describe, they can be really good cast boolit shooters. With a little effort they can be refinished nicely...but they're still pretty long by today's styles. Is it worth $400? Really good question, and hard to answer, as value is sort of what it's worth to you and what they're selling for elsewhere. A good place to find out is to check Gunbroker.com and see what they're listed for and if they're selling at the asking prices. Frankly, it wouldn't be worth it to me, and we know how pawn shops operate--buy low and sell high. Maybe if you went in with two $100 bills and laid them on the counter the owner might pick them up. If not, lay down another $50 and see what happens. If he still won't sell it, then I'd probably pass. :-D

DG

300683 300684

[jonp]

I also remember those prices and the $69 barrel of Mosins. From what I saw at the last gunshow $400 isn't out of line for one if you want it. I wouldn't pay it but I never really wanted one however, Daughter gave me one a few years ago she was holding for a buddy that TDS'd and didn't want it.

My wife keeps saying about things "don't buy it that's crazy priced". Welcome to 2022 and I doubt guns are going to go down in price

[ebb]

Friend just sold one that was nice at the spring militaria show in Lake Mary, Florida. $225.

[pworley1]

Condition is everything.

[Freightman]

I bet I had 15 or 20 of those and sold them all Century sold them on special 4 for $ 100. I also bought 10K rounds of Turk. ammo boy that was fun. Then I got a Egyptian Hakim and you can go through a 1000 rds in one range session. Dang wish I had it all to do over!!!!!!!!

[john.k]

Matching numbers too,bolt especially boosts value............every time I look some $200 milsurp has fetched $2000 in an online auction.

[elmacgyver0]

I bought one many years ago from Sportsman's Guide, shipped to the door no FFL as it was too old.
Never shot it, but that may change.

[john.k]

There are also lots of different possible Turks.....most valuable would be WW1 G98 made for the Ottomans ,and not subsequently altered,followed by any 98 not remarked or altered to the 1936 form ....then any German made not scrubbed and remarked ,but shortened........least value will be a KirkKale 1936 on heavily marked ....If its not a 98 ,then I would pass.

[Kosh75287]

I can only speak to the cartridge involved, but I firmly believe that it'll do anything that a .30-06 will do, and perhaps a bit more. The 8x57 tends to trade velocity for bullet weight and bore frontal area. 175 gr. at 2695 f/s vs. 150 gr. at 2850 f/s, I'll take the German round.
I think the advice to stick with the '98 Mauser action is excellent.

[am44mag]

What are they worth ?saw one at the local pawn shop. Woods a little beat up metal has a nice pitina and the bore looks really nice. They want right at $400 for it before tax. Sound like a decent deal or ? Seem like it would be a fun little project to semi restore. Wild be even more fun if they where still $100 and I could build a sporter but hay what can ya do

Yeah, you don't want to sporterize any military rifles anymore. At this point, by the time you buy one and do any kind of work on it, it would have been cheaper to just buy a new gun, and the new gun would be far more accurate than that sporterized one would be. Don't bother restoring it either. To the guys like me who like the old war horses, that kills the value in most cases. Every dent and blemish on that gun is part of it's history. If there's not anything actively degrading it's condition like rust, I'd leave it be. At the end of the day, if you buy it, it's yours to do with as you please. Just food for thought.

Is $400 worth it? Depends on the specifics of that rifle. $400 is not out of line for a desirable model in good condition. Honestly, you're not going to lose money on it if you plan on keeping that rifle for at least a few years. I have a strong feeling that even the cheapest of the Turks will be worth $400 within the next 5 years.

If you get it, be careful if you get your hands on surplus Turk ammo. Age and whatever conditions it was stored in has not played well with it's powder. It's far hotter than it should be. It's safe enough to shoot in 98 actions, though I have seen it crack the stock of one before. It will absolutely destroy semi autos. The best course of action on that stuff is to pull the bullets, dump the powder in the garden, and use the components to reload some more reasonable 8mm. The primers are corrosive, so clean your gun accordingly.

[Messy bear]

Love the old battle rifles! With the adjustable rear sight and all. Long barrel is easy to shoot offhand and they shoot well if barrel is decent. The surplus ammo is as described. Sometimes has hard primers too. I like the 198 boat tail version. Used to buy the bullets surplus and load with regular components. Fun to shoot at coyotes at long range with them. Rachet up the rear and blast at the critter! Usually can see your hits. We take them out in rough country and “ranged” targets by shooting at them. The loser gets a horse or a point against him. Targets are rocks or sagebrush ect with safe backstop. Fun guns

[Kraschenbirn]

I've got a 1943-marked M38 with matching #s, a really good bore, solid (no cracks) but somewhat battered stock, and 60%-70% original finish for which I paid $152 OTD 6 or 7 years ago. A few weeks back, I watched a similar Turk sell for $365 (+ 15% auctioneer's commission) through an on-line consignment auction. Looking at a couple other recent sales, it appears the average for a 'shooter' Turk is somewhere in the low-to-mid $300 bracket in this part of the world.

Bill

[farmbif]

a brand new savage in 308 win are in stock and for $358, very accurate guns, brass easy to find., brand new ruger Americans as cheap as $408 also reported to be very accurate guns and other common calibers readily available. both made in USA.also if you want to get a nice walnut. or laminated stock in future Boyds has options. just saying. do you have 8mm brass already? might be some things to think about.

[ebb]

A friend and i bought 5 from Southern Ohio Gun for $59 each some time back. Another poster said it all condition is everything. These were not that good but perfect to make projects out of. And if you want to get all uppity and say I Bubba'd them go ahead. It was my $59 that paid for them, they were so bad nobody else would buy them.

[Geezer in NH]

Sold a bunch of them cleaned ready to shoot from my shop $100 each. Great bores. Bandoliers on strippier clips for $7 bucks each.

Good buys then and still good rifles today if they were cleaned after shooting as the Turk ammo was corrosive and the bullets were not like todays copper jackets. Sweets 7.62 kept them clean of them.

[jimb16]

I bought an Ankara Turk 1942 in decent shape less than 2 months ago for $275. I've put over 300 rounds of turk and egytian milsurp ammo through it since then. I'm not overly impressed by its accuracy, but that's OK. It fills a gap in my collection for a low price. One of these days, I might actually get that barrel clean! I bought it for cast bullets anyway. My other mausers aren't worried.

[john.k]

Even now,a lot of sellers dont realize that just because there is a bunch of furrin writing on the gun,doesnt make it another junker...The furrin writin may say "Mauser Werke Oberndorf".It may be quite valuable......unmolested Turk 98s in original 7.65 cal in good condition are worth over $1000

[405grain]

Wolfdog91: You didn't say if it was a large ring or a small ring Mauser. The Turks used four different "Mauser" rifles: the 1888 Commission rifle, the 1893 Turkish Mauser, the 1903 Turkish Mauser, and the M38 Turkish Mauser. The most common Turk Mauser's that made it to America were the 1893 small ring actions and the M38 Turkish that were made on the large ring Mauser 98 pattern. All of the 1893 Turkish Mausers were made in Germany in 1893, and are antiques. The Turkish army used the 7.65x53 Belgian/Argentine Mauser cartridge during their wars with Italy, World War one, and their war with Greece. In 1936 all of the Turkish army rifles were converted to 8x57 Mauser. In 1938 Turkey started manufacturing model 98 Mauser actions at their arsenal in Ankara. Almost all Turkish Mausers, even the "large ring" M38's, use small ring threads in their receivers.

I resolve that I would never pay more than $200 for a Turkish Mauser, even in perfect condition. I have half a dozen sporter rifles that I converted from Turkish large rings. Ten or twenty years ago Turk actions were plentiful and cheap. Today they are neither. As a military rifle they were heavy, and not always accurate. They have the worst rifle sights that were ever designed. Many other Mauser variants were superior. In example, instead of a Turkish Mauser look instead at a Czech VZ-24 or a German K98. The beauty of the Turkish Mauser's were that they were cheap, and since they were as common as roaches at the dump no one cared if you sporterized them.

It always costs more to build a sporting rifle from a milsurp action than it does to just buy a sporting rifle. If it's a classic military rifle it has esthetic value. The Turkish Mauser's are near the bottom in collector value, only a rung above the Chang Kai Shek Mauser's made in rural China. They are not a classic Mauser, and are no longer a bargain for hobby gunsmiths. I suggest that you pass on this one because it's way over priced.

[Texas by God]

As johnk alluded to- the Turkish 1893 was indeed a Genuine Mauser made in Orbendorf.
The "furrin" writing on the left side of the reciever translates so. Originally 7.65mm with a "belly" magazine floor plate and a magazine cutoff. They were converted to 8x57mm and the cutoff was removed.
I bought one for $100 or so and like the youthful idiot I was- sold it for something shiny..... I'd love to have it back to build a lightweight sporter.
I dont think that $400 is out of line for a 38 Turk in good shape( these days)- IME they are good actions.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Bwana John]

When the Turk Mausers were $29 and you could get 1440 rounds of 7.92mm for $69 (ca 2000) it was a great deal.

Now... I'd wait for a good German, Sweede, or Czech and pay the extra money. Way too many Turk variants of questionable provenance out there, they used almost every different type in a miss and match way.