Turkey of a Turk

[GS455]

K-Kale from 1942

I bought this cosmoline soaked antique Jihad War Stick for a hundred bucks from a gunsmith. Took it home, scrubbed the stock for about a half hour in hot water with a little Dawn and a plastic bristle brush. Dried it out and applied a little custom BLO blend. It seemed to clean up acceptably but I discovered a minor crack on the upper hand guard and behind the receiver. I degreased all parts including a bolt disassembly. Brought it all back to the gunsmith to reassemble proper and tight, headspace check, fix cracks and test fire for another $46 bucks.

Range report: I ran three bandos of 1940's Turkish ammo though it. It shot 3-4ft groups at 300yds and 1-2ft groups at 100. When it got hot it became very difficult to extract (normal). The front band retainer has warped itself out of the hand-guard and wont stay put so now the front band now slides off freely. I'm sure the stock is (no pun intended) "shot". When I finally put it down for the last time I picked up my Garand and slapped 300yd steel plates shot after shot.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...2/DSCN0168.jpg

This is probably the most miserable rifle I've ever fired. The bore is shiny and the action is nice. Bolt is great inside and out. It probably has a second life worth re-evaluating in fresh wood as a sporter but I'm not gonna put any more time and money into it. I'm probably gonna ditch it.

Edited March 19, 2011 by GS455

[Dolomite_supafly]

If you ever get to Knoxville area I'll give you your $100 back on it. I am always looking for project guns.

Dolomite

[1gewehr]

Definitely not my experience with Turk Mausers. Most of the ones I've had were solid 4moa shooters with normal surplus ball ammo. I suspect something is not right. Nicks on the barrel crown can make a huge difference. You say the bore is shiny, but what kind of shape is the rifling in? Is there any rifling left at the muzzle?

My biggest problem in shooting a Turk Mauser accurately is the sights are terrible. There used to be a fellow down in Georgia who put a set of sights from an '03 Springfield on a Turkish Mauser. I seem to recall that he got about 1.5moa with handloads. That looonnng sight radius made it easy to shoot well, too.

[GS455]

Ugh - I shoulda posted this sooner. I literally just came through Knoxville on my way back from Gatlinburg. Sorry Supafly.

Yea, it looks like it could use a new crown at the muzzle but mainly I think it's just a spent stock. The bolt and action look great. Your right. The sights are lame for distance as are all of those old Mausers but they are soooo capable of Tulahoma level shooting if you wanna jack em up with optics. I have an incredible specimen in a 1909 Argentine I picked up at a pawn shop nearby. The "hold" is tricky to find but once you settle in you can smack distant plates round after round. I'm mainly a plinker.

[dou44]

i have 2 left from the 10 or so i had .they are great shooters but the sights are a little harder for me to use now.i rember getting these in vg shape a few years ago for $39 from sog

[roverboy]

i have 2 left from the 10 or so i had .they are great shooters but the sights are a little harder for me to use now.i rember getting these in vg shape a few years ago for $39 from sog

Yeah the good ol days. I wish I'd bought some when they was cheap and plentiful.

[dou44]

i did buy enough ammo to last me for years .i bought it for $50 a case shipped.i wanted to make sure i could feed my k98's for a long time.

[GS455]

Seriously, Anyone local wanna come get this thing? I need the room in my safe.

[Guest coldblackwind]

Bring it to the goodman show this morning, and if you see a guy carrying a Nambu, talk to him. I'll probably take if off you hands if you're only looking to get your $100 back.

[quietguy]

PM sent

[GS455]

Bring it to the goodman show this morning, and if you see a guy carrying a Nambu, talk to him. I'll probably take if off you hands if you're only looking to get your $100 back.

No can do today. Prepping for a business trip.

[GS455]

Bring it to the goodman show this morning, and if you see a guy carrying a Nambu, talk to him. I'll probably take if off you hands if you're only looking to get your $100 back.

Sorry coldblackwind. I never made it out there today. There is another fella says he wants it and I'm now holding it till we can connect in a week. If it doesn't work out with him I'll update the post in a week or so.

[Guest coldblackwind]

No problem. If we get together on it at some point I'll take if off your hands, if not I'm not particularly worried about it.

[Hershmeister]

I witnessed the abuse - this rifle took a licking and kept on ticking!