Kirrikale Turk

R

reomack

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On the shore of beautiful Lake Gaston in North Car
Just got this old soldier dated 1941. Someone did the heavy lifting for me, as the bore is clean. the rifling looks strong and I don't see any obvious pitting. Of course the numbers don't match and the stock is a replacement that looks as if it were carved by beavers (they were in a hurry too). The muzzle isn't in bad shape at all so I'm hoping it will be a decent shooter. Before I shoot it I will disassemble and clean the bolt as it is very stiff. I guess the PO didn't get that far. Nothing about this rifle is rare or exotic but it is a milsurp and I did not have a Turk and now I do. Does anyone know how the front sight is attached? The one on this rifle is a bit loose and there is evidence someone tried a field expedient (beating the hell out of it with a hammer) to tighten it up. BTW, this Turk and I were both born in 1941 and for that reason if no other, it is bit special to me.
 
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Can you post a few pictures as there's 10 or so models of Turk Mauser. I have a m38 Turk Mauser and the front sight base is silver soldered to the barrel.
As for the bolt, my Mauser had a very rough bolt when I got it but with a little cleaning and polishing it's now slick like a brand new gun.
 
Tinman204 is correct there.

Turkey had used various models of Mauser rifles since the 1870s through to the end of the Great War. Avoiding the ancient Black Powder rifles, by the end of WWI they had their own 1890, 1892 and 1903 models, plus various Carbines and so forth, as well as a huge quantity of German 1888s, 1898s and 1898 Kars. In the 1930s they began rebuilding ALL of these at the same time.

Some rifles got a straight rebuild, others had to be changed from 7.65mm to 8mm and then rebuilt, some needed new barrels. In many cases, they ended up with surplus receivers which were built into completely-new rifles, giving rise to such anomalies as the Turkish 1888/1935 rifle: an 1888 receiver with an 1888 magazine rebuilt to 1914 standards, a brand-new HEAVY barrel of 29-inch length and a new Turkish-made stock conforming mostly to 1893 pattern. It is a lovely rifle, but by no means listed in all the books. And they all were being redesignated, renumbered and given markings as new rifles..... in a couple of plants, all at the same time. And, just to make things difficult for us nowadays, they were staring to build their OWN NEW rifles at the same time!

Photos really are necessary.

Post a few and well let you know just what you have.

I'm just a bit jealous because they had finished them all by the time I was born (1944)!
 
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This rifle, built in 1941 is, I believe one which used a receiver made in Turkey, since it has the kkale mark. What this means, if I am not mistaken, is that it was originally an 8mm and while it was obviously rebuilt at some time, hence the mismatched numbers, it is not one of the 03/38s but a true model 38. The front sight is a driftable blade mounted on what looks like a soldered ring mount on the barrel. The mount is loose but at this point I haven't taken it off. It moves about 10-15 degrees from vertical. And Smellie, don't be too jealous since, at least, you are three years younger than I am, and every year counts, right.
 
Does it look like this?
3EBD0CEE-E151-40C1-B549-BBA299C2D420-285-000002A93B37CE62.jpg


E70D01A6-3ACB-4693-B003-91BB2501FA22-285-000002A923C5CD97.jpg


If so it's an m38. The one in the pic is mine, a 1940 dated K.Kale and has the front sight soldered on to the barrel with the blade being driftable.
 
My front sight is also a sore spot on my gun. It's not centered but is turned to the right so my sight blade is over to the left about a 1/4".
I've put around 100 rounds down the pipe since I got it and I must say that these rifles can really shoot! The gun shoots better then I do. It seems to really like 174 gr bullets. I tried heavy 220gr boat tailed bullets and accuracy was less then stellar no matter how much powder I loaded behind them.
Not sure if I have a crazy idea here but if you apply heat gentally to the sight base I'm guessing that the solder may puddle and reattach the sight base back to the barrel? Just an idea.
 
One thing to consider is that there may be a set screw located under the front sight blade. I'm not 100% sure if these were on the Turk Mausers or not but a lot of Mausers have them. I'd definitely check it out before attempting to move it. Also heating the solder and repositioning the front sight base is certainly possible but you may end up with some running out in the process and being visible after.
 
My turk has the set screw under the sight blade but it doesn't seem to be doing much. I completely removed it and attempted to move it and the sight base didn't budge. Then I saw a faint ring of solder around the rim of sight base!
 
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