i picked up a very smooth feeding and cycling 1903 pattern Turkish Mauser and am looking into building a custom off of it, probably 7x57 or 6.5x54 M/S. however i my research has since indicated it's just a case of threading in another '98 Mauser barrel, far from it in fact. apparently some if not most are a large ring with small ring threads. now, does that mean the barrel shank is the same diamter and there is some sort of adapter, or is it a large ring diameter with a small ring thread pattern, i've gotten a lot of confusing and contradictive info from the net. if it helps the receiver is stamped "Ankara 1937" and i can find no marks to indicate it was made under contract by FN, BRNO, DWM etc, etc. i can get pictures if needed in a day or two any help is much appreciated.
rebarreling a Turk 1903 Mauser
- Thread starter kevin.303
- Start date
Just google large ring 98 Mauser and they will give you a site that will tell you the outside diameter of the receiver ring. The Turks had almost every military rifle made before 1950. British, German and several others. I'm not sure about Russian but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
I have a new 6.5 x 55 M38 barrrel in the white I got from Trade Ex then found out I had a large ring Mauser. PM me if interested. The link below should help you. Good luck with your build.
http://www272.pair.com/stevewag/turk/turkmain.html
http://www272.pair.com/stevewag/turk/turkmain.html
In the 98 Mauser there are 2 variants when it comes to ring size - large and small, these in turn can have a large barrel shank at 1.100 dia. / small at .980 dia. Normally 98 large rings are also have the larger dia. thread and vice versa, but there are large ring 98s with a small shank and small ring 98s with a large shank - 98a eg. Just to add to the confusion. If you going to pull the barrel anyway, why guess. FWIW --- John303.
A few years ago the US was flooded with Turk Mausers and many were sporterized - they were going for $35 each! In Canada they were inexpensive as well, but never near as numerous as in the US. I am guilty of sporterizing one myself and chambered it in 8x63.
Steve Wagners site is excellent and I practically memorized it back then.
This site should answer most of the questions that remain: http://www.turkmauser.com/
Steve Wagners site is excellent and I practically memorized it back then.
This site should answer most of the questions that remain: http://www.turkmauser.com/
klondike bob
Member
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- whitehorse
turkish 1903 (m98 )have a large ring dia. receiver of 1.40 inch,and the thread size is ,980x 12 x55degree originaly in 8x57
Turkish Mauser
The ANKARA on the receiver ring indicates that it was made in Turkey. Also, the 6.5x54 Mannlicher Shoenauer cartridge has a smaller base diameter than the 8x57 Mauser cartridge, and is quite difficult to find ammo for. You might consider the 6.5x55 Swedish, or 7x57 Mauser cartridge.
I rebarreled an old small ring -small thread M98 WW1 Mauser with a 6.5x55 Swedish barrel a while ago. The threaded shank on the barrel was too long, and I simply made a spacer ring (about 40 thousands of an inch thick), and cranked the barrel on, using a headspace guage. I had to surface grind the spacer ring twice to obtain a proper headspace, but it has fired about 1200 rounds so far without any problem, and feeds from the magazine great.
I was all right since the Swedish barrel did not have sights on it, so it was no problem. If the barrel has sights mounted, chances are that it will not index so that the sights are in line. As mentioned, Trade Ex has Swedish Mauser barrels for under $100.
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The ANKARA on the receiver ring indicates that it was made in Turkey. Also, the 6.5x54 Mannlicher Shoenauer cartridge has a smaller base diameter than the 8x57 Mauser cartridge, and is quite difficult to find ammo for. You might consider the 6.5x55 Swedish, or 7x57 Mauser cartridge.
I rebarreled an old small ring -small thread M98 WW1 Mauser with a 6.5x55 Swedish barrel a while ago. The threaded shank on the barrel was too long, and I simply made a spacer ring (about 40 thousands of an inch thick), and cranked the barrel on, using a headspace guage. I had to surface grind the spacer ring twice to obtain a proper headspace, but it has fired about 1200 rounds so far without any problem, and feeds from the magazine great.
I was all right since the Swedish barrel did not have sights on it, so it was no problem. If the barrel has sights mounted, chances are that it will not index so that the sights are in line. As mentioned, Trade Ex has Swedish Mauser barrels for under $100.
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buffdog, it wasn't unusual for the Turks to scrub receivers and roll press "Ankara" onto them. I'm not positive but I don't think the Turks made any of their own rifles, other than some black powder stuff until later. I will check it out though.
Ok, what I could find was that at that time, Turkey had a few, very small, producers of black powder arms. They had another much larger government facility, at Kirikkale. It was a major repair and rebuild center. Later on, after WWII, the Turks started to build their own weapons. Right into the late 50s, they were still buying foreign equipment. Garands, mausers and Lee Enfields to name a few. The logistics must have been horrendous. Ankara was another refit and repair facility, named after the facility in Ankara.
There is also a possibility that the rifle is chambered in 7.65x53. The Turks had a lot of ammunition in that configuration and were ordering new rifles for it, right into WWII.
The 8x57, is a great round in a decent action and barrel. It is the equal to a 30-06, as far as any game animal can tell.
Ok, what I could find was that at that time, Turkey had a few, very small, producers of black powder arms. They had another much larger government facility, at Kirikkale. It was a major repair and rebuild center. Later on, after WWII, the Turks started to build their own weapons. Right into the late 50s, they were still buying foreign equipment. Garands, mausers and Lee Enfields to name a few. The logistics must have been horrendous. Ankara was another refit and repair facility, named after the facility in Ankara.
There is also a possibility that the rifle is chambered in 7.65x53. The Turks had a lot of ammunition in that configuration and were ordering new rifles for it, right into WWII.
The 8x57, is a great round in a decent action and barrel. It is the equal to a 30-06, as far as any game animal can tell.
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i already have a 6.5x55 in a Rem 700 so don't really want another one, ammo for the 6.5x54 is not a problem foe me as i have plenty of brass and dies, but given the whole large ring-small ring thread pattern thing, i'll probably just sell it intact and wait fora south american contract 98 to come along at the right price to build a custom off of.
