$40 Turk Mausers

Matt Sutton

New member
My local (UT) Big 5 sporting goods is advertising Turkish Mausers for $40+tax for their after Thanksgiving sale. How can you NOT have one at that price? Too bad they don't carry surplus ammo for them too.
 
At that price buy several, keep the best and sell the rest in a year or two when there aren't any for even near that cheap!
At that price even if it turns out to be a wall hanger, it's worth it.
 
Big 5 has some great prices in the paper today. I have one of those Turk Mausers. I also have a regular old German 98 (1943) and a Yugo Mauser. That 8mm surplus ammo is so cheap it is ridiculous. I got on a milsurp rifle kick about six months ago and bought about a dozen of them. The 8mm is the only surplus ammo I shoot. I don't really like the idea of shooting corrosive ammo that I don't know the origin of, don't know what bullet it is loaded with, don't know how hot it is loaded, don't know who old it is or how it was stored etc. But in the 8mm, this stuff is not only cheap, it is accurate. These milsurp rifles are a bargin. I have paid anywhere from $39 for a Moisin Nagant 91/30 to $250 for a cherry Sweedish Mauser with matching bayonet. They are a lot of fun to shoot and I enjoy the historical aspects.
 
I bought four surplus rifles at Big 5. The trick is to check every week or so to see what they have, and ask to see what they have in the back room as well as on the shelf. Once you start checking regularly, you can just ask if they got anything new that week (often they just get two or three rifles a week - sometimes none). Here in California at least, we have to pay a $15 DROS fee for each long gun purchase - that means one fee whether we buy 1 or 10 rifles at a time. So as I found good rifles, I put them on layaway until I had the four I wanted. Since the sales recur regularly, I wound up getting them all for the lowest price (save the ads to show that they were marked down since you put them on layaway). So I wound up with a like-new Yugo M48 with all accessories, a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 (octagon receiver, nice shape), an excellent M44, and a decent Turkish Mauser. I looked at a lot of pretty beat up junk between the nice ones, but if you are patient, they do get some nice guns. It took me around 4 months to accumulate the four rifles I wanted and buy them all at once. Obviously this isn't the way to go if you are in a hurry (I already had examples of all these rifles except the 91/30, so I wasn't especially anxious). But it was kind of fun to stop by every week or two and see if any "gems" had come in.

Doug
 
I too collect old military rifles. Mine are all shooters. Just a tip on the 8mm surplus ammo. I have shot most of the years that are availiable, and it is dependable accurate and cheap. However there seems to be a problem with the 1947 ammo having split necks and the bullets loose in the brass. I have had some that 50% of it was trash. My supplier gladly exchanged it for me, but if your going mail order, that could be a pain the the rear to ship back. My favorite shooter is an M38 Turk that I bought sealed in a Century box for 60 bucks out the door. It will consistantly wack a 10" steel plate at 250yds. I hope the days of the cheap shooters and cheap ammo last for a long time.
 
I too have a surplus rifle (1903 turk) and I bought 70 rounds of 8mm from cheaper than dirt for less than $5, hard to beat that. Heck it cost more to shoot my 22mag !!
 
i bought a Turkish Mauser for 49.95, regular price at a place where i live. u got to be careful that the damn thing still has rifling in it tho cause they used corrosive ammo and it wont be accurate. and u can also order ammo of the net for around 70 rounds for $4
 
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