Russian M1938 8mm mauser...NEED INFO

L

longdude17

New member
Ok fellas, I just bought a russian m1938 8mm rifle from a friend of mine.

It seems to be in decent condition, has a nice clean bore, has the cleaning rod, and action is smooth....but I no NOTHING about it

Someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me whatever you know about it....ive tried searching on here with little results.

Also, Where do i go to get ammo? What type to get and can i get it from academy or bass pro or cabelas?

Id prefer not to go to a gun show and get the corrosive ammo. Ive read some about the different 8mm ammo available (7.9x54 or 7.9x?? i dont know what it shoots)

I just want to try out the gun with out blowing it and myself up due to the wrong ammo.

SO someone please help me out...i would greatly appreciate it.
 
We're going to need some more info to nail down exactly what you've got; you MIGHT have any one of a number of rifles that the Russians captured from the Germans, the Finns, or the Italians, all of which take different ammo, or you might have a Russian-made rifle, in which case the most likely calibre is 7.62x54R. More info, or pictures, especially of the markings, will let us know.
 
here is a gun i found that look exactly like it...i dont have a camera handy right now but will take pics when i get back from a wedding tonight or tomorrow

the reciever has the following: TC AS FA ANK ARA K.KALE 1946

the barrel has the following: M1938 german 8mm CAL ST AIB VT

the bolt has the following: 8364


mauser.jpg


http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/longdude17/mauser.jpg
 
OK, this is a Turkish-built Mauser, manufactured at the Kirikale Arsenal in 1946, and imported to the US by CAI; the Russians would have never had anything to do with this rifle, but it is a copy of the main design the germans used through WW2. It will be chambered for 8mm Mauser, also known as 7.92x57mm Mauser, which is commonly available, but also usually corrosive, so you need to swab the bore and chamber out with hot water after you fire most surplus ammo. HTH.
 
Mauser

Dude, you and your friend don't know much about guns, I'd guess. Now that it has been identified, ammo is available from many sources. The military surplus will be corrosive, but there are commercial brands currently available that are not. Try Cabelas or some other local gun shop. If they don't have it they can order it.

Now where are you going to safely shoot it? The bullets you fire from this rifle will travel many miles if not captured in a suitable backstop.
 
old shooter you guessed wrong.... i do know alot about firearms...i own upwards of 15 rifle, shotguns and pistols..but none this old...im into deer hunting and duck hunting thus all my guns are relatively new (oldest is 20 years old)

Now i will say i know NOTHING about WWII era guns....neither does my friend, but i had an opportunity to buy it and figure why not. It is this LACK of knowledge that brought me to this forum so some of you wise old men could educate me.

As for shooting it...i have a local gun range that i normally visit to sight in my rifles. I was confused from my research on this gun which particular bullet to shoot bc as SDC it could have been any number of calibers.

SDC...i really appreciate your help and info, but i have a few more questions

Is this gun a decent gun? Is it worth anything? is it a reliable gun?

If any one has any other information on this gun please let me know
 
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Is this gun a decent gun? Is it worth anything? is it a reliable gun?
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Turkish mausers are considered to be very good rifles.Most model 38's arent worth a whole lot but they are very accurate and the 98 action is pretty darn reliable.Most common Turk mausers such as the one you have sell for anywhere between $80-180 depending on condition.Heres a website where you can find out more about your rifle http://www.turkmauser.com/Hope that helps.
 
The "Model 38" was the name given by the Turks to rifles refurbished around 1938 for uniformity. Most are Model 1898 Mausers but some are the so-called "small ring" 98's and some are older models.

The markings are: TC - Turkiye Cumhuriyet (Turkish Republic), AS FA - Askari Fabrika (Military Factory), and K. KALE (Kirikkale, the arsenal in ANKARA, the Turkish capital. Strictly speaking, Kirikkale was not the maker as Turkey never made Mauser rifles. But in rebuilding the "38" models, they removed the original German or Czech markings and put on their own.

Jim
 
They are fine rifles. I have two and both are 3-4 MOA rifles and reliably shoot all sorts of 8mm.
I paid under $100 for both mine and are now probably worth $125 -150.
There are people who collect these rifles but most mauser affectionados don't seem to show much interest in them.
They are a great way to get started in the mauser world.
 
okay, guys i am new to this forum. but when i saw this thread i had to get on. so far yall are correct except on the ammo. i have one of these guns and have ran lots of ammo and different styles of ammo. this gun shots 8x57 mauser. not 7.9x57. it can shoot it but you will not make good shots. it will have a wide group not tight groups. 7.92x57 is made for a bore dia of .318 your bore should be .323 judging by the look and what it has on it. my gun has m1938 german 8mm. on the bore. receiver has tc as fa ank ara k.kale star crescent moon and 1943. academy does not have the ammo. most ammo online is 7.92x57 so be careful if you order online. basspro has a little bit but not much. gander mtn down here in texas has some but it is winchester xpert cxp1 170gr sp.about 20dollars a box. it can be a whole lot higher depending upon who you order from. cheaperthandirt has some good ammo and so does midway but midway is higher. as far as cleaning if you shoot corrosive ammo. I use hoppes no. 9 solvent. it has ammonia it which will kill the salt from the primers and keep it from corroding.
 
If anybody has a '98 military Mauser with J bore obtained as general military surplus and/or a good supply of the appropriate military surplus ammunition for it, I would be interested (and surprised) to hear about it.*

The specification has been obsolete since about 1905 and after two world wars I doubt there are a whole lot of guns or much ammo left laying around.

The main danger I can tell is having to wade through all the verbiage the gunzine writers and Internet Experts spend on warning us about something that is a footnote to firearms history, seldom seen in real life.

*Note: I know about and do not include the '88 (non) Mauser, museum pieces from long ago, the variety of sporting rifles that carried over the J bore long after the S bore was adopted by the German and other Mauser-using armies, or the ammunition made up every once in a while to serve the old guns. Tell me about your bona fide surplus .318" guns and ammo.


duk, you must be in a dry part of Texas. The ammonia in Hoppes etc. does not "neutralize" the already chemically neutral potassium chloride salt left behind by corrosive primers. It takes water to dissolve the salt. The US Bureau of Mines figured that out about 80 years ago and wrote it up in a report titled "Corrosion Under Oil Films." Which was news to the US Army at the time, but they eventually issued powder solvents with some water emulsified in, which served well through WW II and Korea.
 
"CAL ST AIB VT"
Century Arms International
St Albans Vermont


It shoots regular 8mm Mauser ammo.
8mm Mauser is the same as 7.92 x 57

By the way that is a fine rifle. I have one of them.

The Turk Mauser is the "Rodney Dangerfield" of rifles, it doesn't get any respect.
I remember seeing them at guns shows a few years back, stacked up like cordwood for 50 bucks apiece.
They are high quality rifles.
 
The U.S. commercial name for the round in question is "8mm Mauser". The European commercial name is 8x57js. The German military name (also used by other countries influenced by Germany) is 7.9.

Now if that rifle really is a Turkish Mauser, it is chambered for 8mm Mauser, as we call it. But the OP said his was Russian; I assume that was an error.

Jim
 
Are you kidding me? The only Nagant designed part on a Mosin Nagant is the magazine
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I have a friend who uses his Turkish Mauser as his backup hunting rifle and to shoot silhouette matches.

They don't stink.
 
the ring in the side of the stock is a bolt breakdown tool, and I believe only the Turks had that on their Mausers as a factory feature. Factory, it should be chambered in 8mm, and it's not the kind of gun that anyone would bother to rechamber. If it was German, it could have been a war capture, but with the markings identified as they were, I'd have to agree it's Turkish. I'd actually like to have one of these guns myself, I lived in Turkey for 2.5 years.
 
Duckhunter

7.92x57 and 8x57 are the same thing.
Some early pre WW2 Rifles had .318 bores, but later rifles had .323
Thats why US Amunition Companies load this cartridge to mild velocities, because they dont know what you will fire it out of.
 
Quite a mixture of stuff here, Russian,German, and Turk. A few years ago I saw a description for an 8x54R in a Finnish reload book and had enough parts around to put one together. I had one of those Turk mausers and used the barrel, which looked pretty good, for the project. It shot like crap. Maybe I got a bad one?
 
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