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TURKISH MAUSER M38
This is the first Mauser type rifle made by Republican Turkey. It is an assembly of original Mauser and Zbrojovka Brno parts with a Turkish stock and some mechanical elements machined by them.
At the end of the 1930s and mid-1940s, it is easy to imagine the situation of Germany, the former main supplier of the Ottoman Empire, which had become the Turkish Republic in 1923. In the meantime, and because of the Treaty of Versailles, the Turks got a lot of spare parts from Czechoslovakia.
The old Ottoman rifles were therefore modernized (see the various modifications /38).
However, the arsenal available to the Turks had to be enlarged. Especially in these uncertain times of world war.
The new purely Turkish assembly rifle will be launched in 1938 and will lend its designation to the old Ottoman rifles modernized to this "38" standard.
The receiver is a wide ring with standard Mauser 98 dimensions, unlike the 1903 receiver, which is also wide ring, but shorter.
It bears the marking: TC ASFA ANKARA means Turkiye Cumhuriyeti (Republic of Turkey), Askari fabrika (military factory) of Ankara.
This marking is the one that will adorn all rifles unlike early Ottoman conversions which sometimes have a different style marking (see 1903/38 or 1893/38).
The complete action of our model seems to be a Czech manufacture. Some of these boxes have German imperial markings and were probably dismantled on the Gewehr 98 which the Turks must have had following the First World War.
Like many Turkish model 38 or modified "38" rifles the marking (or remarking) on the thunderbolt is not always perfect. On our copy of 1949 the date is not correctly stamped. It even happens that all the marking is offset as on our 38 short model .
On the cylinder head, the serial number is stamped on the base of the lever. On the cylinder head, and everywhere on the mechanical assemblies, we can find a circled Z, which seems to correspond to the punch of the supplier Zbrojovka Brno.
The rear sight, originally in western numerals, resembles that of the 1903 model. It has a disassembly imprint on its front part. The serial number is stamped on the back as well as on the slider. Unlike the 1903 model, the slider features right angles. On the side adjustment buttons of the sliders we still find a Z marking ( Zbrojovka Brno ) These riser plates are new and are not reworked from old 1903 (no osmanli markings remaining unlike the 1903/38 model).
On our model, the guard is simply a part from an old German gewehr 98. German imperial markings are present as well as an old serial number. The magazine end plate is also from a G98 with a different serial number. As said above, these rifles were assembled from parts of different origins which were stored in the Turkish arsenals. Sometimes the 38 models have Czech-made underguards like our short 38 model .
On the butt of this model 38 we find the original firing pin disassembly eyelet. On our model there is a brass ring inside the eyelet which must probably have been designed so as not to damage the bearing surfaces of the firing pin during the disassembly of the latter. This addition seems to be a Turkish particularity and is also present on some old Ottoman models modified "38" (see our 1893/38 ). On the front part of the butt there is a mouthpiece identical to the old models 1890,1893 and 1903. This in order to be able to use the bayonets of the other models (this is not the only example of simplification of the logistic method and Turkish economy, see the interchangeability of the barrels on the old Ottoman models).
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The walnut stock is rather wide and seems very robust unlike some Ottoman models. It has few markings ( see markings page ). The butt of this rifle is similar to the Swedish M96. This design, outdated, has been kept in order to be able to attach a support compatible with the old bayonets as mentioned above. The main shortcoming of this stock, not to mention its length to accompany the barrel, is the locking spring of the bayonet support. Very often on all Ottoman or Turkish models (except 1887), which share this operation, it is difficult to disassemble the weapon without scratching the spring present (photo on the left).
When we talk about Turkish Mauser, very often people will think of this model 38. It is the most widespread with the model 1903/38 and the 1893/38 . This rifle is of very robust manufacture, it has a standard Mauser 98 action and uses the famous cartridge of 7.92x57 (8x57IS). It is one of the least expensive models in its category with the Yugoslavian M48 and will delight the sports shooter who wishes to have the power of 8mm Mauser in a weapon with a traditional design.