Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Turkish mauser?

With the cost of gunsmithing work these days I cannot understand anyone fooling with an old military action like the 98 Mausers. Like the above poster says you can easily have twice the money into the rifle versus its completed value, and that's just for a budget build no fancy barrel, stock, sights or other components.

The only reason I could see using a 98 action for a custom is to have one of the ACGG masters build something special with it



And I wouldn't be starting with a Turk.

My son has a .257 Rob built on a Turk Action I bought here pretty inexpensively and was able to barter for a lot of the work. It’s HIS rifle and he LOVES it.

Even so I could have gotten a Ruger or Winchester chambered the same way for less than what I have into it.

What's not to love. Like they told me as a young man at the Speed Center, a local shop with headers, shifters and the like, "Speed cost son, how fast do you want to go?"

Here are some Turkish Mausers made 1903-1905 at Oberndorf that I have been working on.
The other main kind of Turkish Mauser is the K.Kale probably made in Turkey in ~ 1938.

The pic you posted of an engraved Mauser reminds me of the kind of posts Jack Belk used to make at AR 10 or 15 years ago, when he would send his work off to the engraver.

That is not me. I am still that 14 year old kid in 1965 that got a 7mm Mauser for $10 at auction and sporterized it.

Some real gems can be pulled out of the Turk pile! I have a Greek FN 1930 that ended up in a batch of Turkish imports well on its way to becoming a very nice Anglo/American retro magazine rifle. The smith doing the work has a high opinion of Turks as a matter of fact. The Turks used a lot of Mausers from a lot of different sources so it's really just a matter of knowing which ones are the good ones.

My favorite rifle for offhand shooting is a K. Kale of mine. I had a Williams receiver sight, new 1/16" bead front sight, and a recrown done to it. With a 150 gr. Hornady SP/54.0 gr. W748/R-P cases/WLR primers it will reliable give 1.6" 100 yd. groups at 2920 fps with a 15.1 S. D. For offhand shooting the ergonomics of the rifle fit me perfectly. I can't hunt with it well, but have a lot of fun shooting it.

I think the most realistic use of Turkish Mausers is for gunsmithing practice. For practical use you can buy new a better rifle for less than the cost of the parts you'd need to make the Turkish Mauser work. If you want to lavish skill, love and attention and create a work of gunsmithing Art you should do yourself a favor and start with a more desirable Mauser and not waste your time making a silk purse out of....a Turkish Mauser.

But if you want a cheap action and can find cheap barrel and stock blanks you might be able to refine your skills making decent rifles for not too outrageous money...........


Or leave them as the piece of Mauser history they are and move on to newer and better things...............

I have been collecting Mausers for 53 years.
Turks are not at the bottom of 98 Mausers.

I came up with a universal Mauser bedding block that should be drop in for any Mauser, but the 1871 would require long oval shaped action screw holes.
I have only one 1871 rifle, but over 100 of the more modern Mausers, so I did not bother.
Another bump in the road is the shape of the bottom of a Parker Hale recoil lug. I think these are Santa Barbara cast receivers... crudely cast at the recoil lug.

Ruger does a nice job of casting receivers.... but not those Santa Barbara receivers, I have to mill the bottom of the recoil lug to get it flat.

I agree. At the time it was the cheapest way for me to step up from my .30-30 for bear hunting. That is probably not true any more. Not my best buck, but the one I'm most proud of I did manage to take with that rifle. I have better rifles and bucks now, but those were good times.

There is nothing cost effective about building a Mauser. I also would not cut up a complete military rifle. That being said, a well built Mauser sporter has a feel and a history that today's stamped out MIM and injection molded plastic rifles will never have. A good Mauser has a soul. Plus they look pretty uber in a Micky with a stepped barrel...

There were Turkish 98s made in Germany and Turkish 98s made in Turkey. The German made "turks" are as good to build on as any. Some Turkish Turks are ok, some are not so good with very sloppy fitting bolts and metallurgy that's all over the place.
If you have a Turkish made turk, you also may get one that has 11-1/2 Threads per inch instead of the 12 TPI that was standard. It's just fine, but you must use a thread gauge to check or you can find out too late that your new shank doesn't fit.

The Oberndorf Turkish Mausers built between 1903 and 1905 were converted from 7.65x53mm to 7.92×57mm in 1930s.
To do this the magazine was lengthened, the feed ramp was shortened, the large ring was notched, and they were rebarreled.

While I can lengthen a VZ24 from 7.92x57 or 7x57 to 3.34" cartridges like 6.5-06 or 300 WinMag, but I cannot lengthen a 1903 Turk to 3.34", as it has already been stretched.
So cartridges like 257 Roberts are a go, and 30-06 no go.

257 Roberts Overall length 2.780 in (70.5 mm)
308 Win ......Overall length 2.810 in (71.12 mm)
7.65x53mm Overall length 76.00 mm (2.992 in)
7.92x57mm Overall length 82.00 mm (3.228 in)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- limit of 1903 Turk
7mmRemMag Overall length 3.29 in (84 mm)
30-06 .........Overall length 3.34 in (85 mm)
300 winmag Overall length 3.34 in (85 mm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- limit of VZ24
7mmSTW ...Overall length......3.60 in (91 mm)




With different bottom metal, the VZ24 could get still longer.
With cut and braze the bottom metal, the VZ24 could get still longer.
But will just me milling out more space in the VZ24 bottom metal, it is paper thin on the end with 300 Win mag.

Isnt the Turk 1903 cock on closing?

A custom Mauser made from a German made Turkish Mauser might be just as good a rifle as a Custom made German Mauser built with a more desirable crest but it we worth less because of the general perception of Turkish Mausers. It's just the way it is.........

No, it is 98 type Mauser

There are both 98 style Turks, and 93 style Turks. I've had both.

The Shaw barrel finally arrived for my Turk. This is a parts gun (made from accumulated parts), It is in 338-06. and will be my camp rifle. I cerakoted the receiver stainless and the barrel black.
XS aperature rear sight, dayglo front sight, Timney trigger, military safety

Nice! How long on the wait for shaw?

mjbjalt,


That Turk action is the one i got from you. I ordered two barrels from Shaw , and the spiral fluted one held up my order so it took 14 weeks. My last order took 6 weeks for threaded ,short chambered and contoured barrels.

I am getting outstanding accuracy from the Shaw barrels, I dyna bore coat them when they are new as they have a reputation for fouling?