Mauser Identification

[dan8312005]

I recently acquired a 1935 Turkish Mauser. Its missing several key parts ,so I wanted to refurbish it. Starting my research I found some info leading me to believe its was a K98...then a 1893... now maybe a 1903. As a novice in "Mauser" , finding myself quite confused. Is there anyway to find out exactly what I have ,before I'm out alot of money for parts that I don't need  or wont work on my gun? Any info appreciated. 

 

[Dr.Hess]

Does it cock on opening the bolt or closing the bolt?

[Dr.Hess]

And welcome to the forum, Dan.

[dan8312005]

Thanks for the welcome and adding me. Unfortunately the bolt is one of the missing pieces, along with the trigger guard and upper and lower ring. It appears to me someone may have tried to restore it and never put it back together. picked it up at a yard sale for 10.00, so if it ends up a wall hanger so be it. But I would like to put forth some effort in restoring it. Its a 8mm . Other than that i know little about Mausers. lol But the research has been fun so far.

 

[Dr.Hess]

That makes it a bit trickier.  Do you have any pics?  What markings are on the front ring?  "K Kale"?  Is there a thumb cutout?  The Turks converted all their small ring 7.65mm rifles to 8mm.  They also bought a lot of surplus rifles, and I think they ordered barrels in 8mm for their small ring Mausers and ordered large ring receivers with small ring threads to use the small ring barrels in.  So, what you have could be a lot of different things.  Pics of the receiver would help, particularly the inside.

[dan8312005]

[dan8312005]

Still in rough shape . i havent done anything to it yet. Hoping these help. And thanks for your patience. 

 

[Dr.Hess]

I'm 99% sure that's a small ring, or 1893 model, made in Germany. The bolt release has that flap over the top.  I believe only the small rings had that.  I have a small ring Turk like that.  Measure the distance center to center of the lower receiver screw holes, that is, from the hole center in the front recoil lug to the hole at the back of the receiver. 

Have you gone through https://www.turkmauser.com/models.aspx

It's a good web site, but it looks like the pics are down.  I think that slot on the right side was for the magazine cutoff, likely removed during the refurbish.  Here are some parts:

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/mauser/rifles-mauser/1893-turkish-rifle?sort-by=name desc

 

There may be cheaper sources out there.  Ebay is always worth looking at, but be careful for misidentified items.

[dan8312005]

Thanks , I really appreciate the info. I found Numrich couple nights ago . Didnt think the prices were bad, just wasnt sure which model I had. Ebay has alot too , but like you said , may be a mis-identified part. But thanks for pointing me in the right direction. 

[dan8312005]

 The slot in the side , you said it was for a magazine cutoff? What is that? 

[Dr.Hess]

The magazine cutoff was a device that disabled the magazine, effectively making it a single shot rifle with the 5 rounds in the mag "in reserve."  The thinking was that the soldier would use his rifle as a single shot, then have the 5 rounds if the stuff hit the fan.  The Springfield 1903 has the same type of thing, and I understand the troopies were taught to never use the ammo in the mag, under severe penalty, etc.  I think it came mostly from the ordinance and bean counter corps because the troopies might shoot up all their ammo and need more.  After WWI, it became apparent that the whole mag cut off thing was a stupid idea.  Here's a pic of one I randomly pulled off teh googles:

 

Looks a lot like your rifle.  From:

http://surplused.com/turkish-mauser-1893/

 

[Dr.Hess]

Also, parts for a small ring Spanish Mauser might work.  They may be easier to find as well.

[dan8312005]

Alot of good info , thanks .  

 

[dan8312005]

Thanks tanglewood. I am new to Mausers. This one is my first. Definately  learning alot , from here and some research. The above pics were taken before I attempted any clean up of the gun. Since, its cleaning up nicely. Will post some pics as I progress. The monetary value is probably not much since it will be pieced together , and not numbers matching, so gonna reblue, and restain the stock. But am thinking instead of going back to a traditional stock stain, doing it in grey. 

[dan8312005]

Will a 1903 Bolt interchange with the 1893?

 

[Dr.Hess]

I don't think so.  Like I said, I'm pretty sure the Spanish small ring bolts will fit.

[AzRednek]

A noble act restoring an old Mauser back to life. The cost of replacement parts will likely exceed the cost of a shootable Mauser. About ten years ago I put a bolt assembly for a cock on closing Spanish Mauser on EBay. I think I got about 75 bucks maybe more for it. Pleas keep us informed on your progress, photos appreciated. As a side note, the Turks I restored took really well using cold bluing. Birchwood Casey Super Blue was my favorite

About 1989 I restored a Spanish Mauser. The bore was way beyond hope, crack in the stock but the rifle was complete, no missing parts. I spruced it up, got the metal looking sharp with cold bluing, polished the bolt bright and shiny. Repaird the stock crack and got the stock and hand guard looking near new. Made a great wall hanger above my fireplace with bayonet attached. Lost it in a house fire. Didn't realize untill after I settled up with fire insurance. I signed away salvage rights. 

[dan8312005]

I really appreciate the info. I'm no gunsmith by any means . Always liked woodworking , and fixing things/putting things together.Sounds strange but the woodworking thus carried over to guns. I have used the Birchwood Casey cold blue on a 30-30 that belonged to my father in law. It turned out great. As to the Mauser, its cleaning up great.So far I have received the upper and lower bands I ordered. As well as the trigger guard. Waiting on the buttplate. The lower sling swivel is heavily rusted , but should clean up with a dremal tool . The barrel ,I've just hit it with steel wool so far. was holding off on getting the blueing kit til I knew the parts coming would fit. The stock , I've pulled out the band springs to make sanding the stock easier, as well as blueing the small parts. I will post some pics later .   But again ,thanks for the info guys. Learning alot here. Very interesting Forum. 

 

[AzRednek]

Be sure to degrease barrel after using steel wool or get the ridiculous priced steel wool that is oil free. Lesson I learned from the School of Hard Knox on my first bluing job, an old Winchester 22. Have not tried it myself but I've heard via the net. Heat the part to be cold blued with a har dryer or heat gun before the cod blue. 

Mausers I restored I boiled small parts in water with a small amount of automatic dishwasher detergent or washing soda. The hot part would air dry in seconds then I hit it with cold blue. For some reason I've had trouble cold bluing Mauser butt plates. Haven't tried it yet but somebody on his board recommended using sand paper on the butt plate. Supposed to make the surface porous. Mauser bolts take well to cold blue but if you want to make it look good polish it instead. 

[Sailormilan2]

A 1903 Turk is a true '98 action.  Meaning it cocks on opening, and has the 3rd or "safety lug" on the bolt.  The 1893 Mauser design will not have these. The bolt will only have the front lugs, and the left one will be shaped differently.  As was stated, the bolt stop on the 1903 Turk will the "flap" on the ejector box, but so does the 1893 small ring Turk.  For that matter, so does the 1909 Argentine and the 1909 Peruvian(which is nothing but a rebadged 1903 Turk). 

The 1903 Turk is a standard length, that is,  "98 length action, but it has an intermediate length bolt(as does the 1909 Peruvian). Plus it has small ring threads(as does the 1909 Peruvian).

You can find complete bolts at Numrich.  As to whether or not another year of small ring Mauser bolt will work, I can't say. There are two types of small ring bolts.  Flat bottom and round.  I have no idea which one a 1903 Turk would take.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/mauser/rifles-mauser/1893-turkish-rifle

[AzRednek]

If I remember right the 1893 was flat and every bolt there after was round. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. 

Best I recall the Mauser brothers disagreed on the flat or round bolt.

[ken98k]

As I recall, the 93 flat bottom bolts can be ground-down and used in an 1895 (round bolt) but the 95 bolt can't be used in a 93 with some serious maching work to the receiver.

[AzRednek]

Pretty sure the Spaniard bolt I sold on eBay was a 93. My ageing brain cells ain't what they used to be. I do recall getting a few questions about flat or round so I posted a picture of the underside to eliminate the correspondence. I'm assuming being flat was one reason I got way to much for it. 

To make a long story short. The Spaniard was my first attempt to remove a barrel. I foolishly bent the receiver. 

[dan8312005]

Basically , this is the before pic. As I found it at the yard sale. Cant really tell here , but its missing both barrel bands, trigger guard and bolt.

[dan8312005]

Still a long ways to go , but its cleaning up nice. Got both Barrel bands , trigger guard. Bolt is being elusive. AzRedneck.. you mentioned polishing it, been thinking about doing that. Maybe just the barrel, blue the rest... still making some decisions about how I want it to look.