1938 (K. KALE) Model 8mm Turkish Mauser

L

lamarw

New member
I have limited knowledge of this rifle but I took a small leap of faith on one at an auction this past weekend. It was inexpensive and in relatively decent condition.

Attached are a few pictures.

I did buy 60 rounds of PPU from Midway along with reloading dies. It seems brass is hard to find. Powder Valley had the necessary 170 grain bullets, and I already have IMR 3031 powder. A Forster Go/NoGo gauge revealed the old rifle was good to go as to headspace.

Not sure whether $130.00 was a decent price or not. It certainly did not bother the old wallet and gave me some pleasure disassembling and cleaning it up. The barrel and action have the same serial number. I am not sure about the bolt, and I know the magazine plate does not have a matching serial number.
 

Attachments

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  • Turksih Mauser 3.jpg
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I think you did well for $130. Looks like a nice shooter. My M38 Turkish Mauser is a fun and accurate rifle to shoot. I too have bought the Priv 8mm ammo and dies. I fired the ammo, but I have not reloaded the brass as I still have over 1000 rounds of various surplus.

TK
 
These days, $130 for a decent condition Turkish Mauser is a good price. I picked one up several years ago when they were being dumped at gun shows for $90-100, and haven't seen those prices since. When that batch of surplus was gone, the prices for them quickly jumped to $150-200, depending on condition.
 
You did good, $150 here gets you a total dog, $200 for a nice shooter.

Remember, the Kirikkale arsenal made these with German tooling, but not with German steel, if you should make your own loads for 8mm.
 
The Kirikkale Arsenal didn't make those rifles out of anything; the Turks never had the tooling to manufacture Mauser receivers. All those "Turkish" rifles actually originated in Europe, Germany, Belgium, or Czechoslovakia. When Turkey decided to upgrade their hodgepodge of weaponry in 1938, they scrubbed most of the markings on the old guns and re-marked them with Turkish markings as shown.

Jim
 
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