88/05/38 Turkish Mausers Conversions

First a big thanks to John Spangler of the Antique and Collectable Firearms Headquarters , Big L.E.E. of Swissrifles.com. Also, thanks to Greg Cooke from the Curio and Relics Listserve for contributions to this page. Could not have done it without you guys. Also thanks to Parallax Bill's Turkish Mauser Forum that has generated much interest in this webpage. And last but no least Thomas Thompson for his pictures.

Arms where supplied to Turkey by contracts from circa 1888 to1895 and this most certainly included Gew88s, but with the many Turkish marked Gew88s found still bearing Prussian Regimental Markings and having 1914 dated magazine covers it is certain that several where supplied by Germany during WWI. Turkey received several Gew88s just before the war started. On August 10, 1914 two German Warships, the Goben and Breslau, escaping the British Navy anchored at the entrance of the Canakkale Straits of Turkey as part of a secret treaty with Germany. On this day the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) announced that the ships were purchased from Germany. The names of the ships became the Yavuz and Breslau of the Turkish Navy. Even uniforms changed to those of the Ottoman Empire. One could imagine that these ships also arrived with several Gew88 rifles as part of the cargo for Germany's new ally. With Turkey not yet in the War and few individuals aware of the new secret alliance with Germany, the ships left the Canakkale Straits under the Ottoman Flag and within sight of the British Ships. Under the circumstances the waiting British and French Warships did nothing. Only days later, Turkey entered the war.

Goben/Midilli

Breslau/Yavuz

Turkey must have had several Gew88 rifles remaining after the first world war. The Turks hardly ever discarded any weapon, and rebuilt or altered them repeatedly in sometimes bizarre ways. Many Gew88s where re-arsenaled by the Turkish. Some retained their original configuration of straight stock, barrel jacket, etc. with the only change of having the familiar Turkish Quarter Moon stamped on the receiver, yet leaving German/Prussian markings still intact. Many have later replacement parts obtained from Czechoslovakia. These parts will be marked with a tiny z in a cirle marking. Other Gew88 rifles were drastically changed though. Many types of rifles were refurbished in the mid to late 1930s as a standardization effort by the Turks. Resourceful as the Turks were, they even combined British Enfield rifles captured at Gallipoli with M1893 Turkish Barrels and forends during the same 1930s standardization period. See Thomas Thompson's picture of his "Enfauser" below. This standardization to the .323 diameter 8mm caliber is why we encounter the 88/05/38 Turkish Commission Mausers. Using old Gew 88s obtained from Prussia/Germany years before for the war, the Turkish Arsenal in Ankara converted many of the Gew88s. This involved grinding down the receiver, removing the old markings and adding their own markings on the receiver ring and other parts. They discarded the old barrel/cooling jacket and installed a new heavier G98 style stepped barrel in 8x57 Mauser in the standard .323 bore diameter. Stocks where replaced with the M1903 to M98 style stocks with rounded pistol grip and bolt disassembly disc of the 98 series Mausers. These conversions took place in the mid to late 1930s, but most seem to have been done in 1938. I have received a report of a 1910 dated example though with this conversion.

From the Turkish rifle collection of Thomas Thompson click for larger pictures

John Spangler provided this great set of pictures of a M88/05/38 that sold on his website for $200. It was in surprisingly good condition as most have been used hard and are in horrible condition today.

The rifle at left and also the same rifle pictured at the top of this page is a Turkish 88/05/38 Commission Mauser in the collection of Big L.E.E. Big L.E.E. has a wonderful website at www.swissrifles.com. Thank you LEE for the use of the picture!

Here is a translation of the receiver markings on the Turkish Commission conversions

The crest on this rifle is T * C, AS FA,"Turkish Moon" ANK ARA,

The "AS.FA" translates to "Askari Fabrika" and means Military Factory.

ANK ARA would stand for Ankara or the Ankara Rifle Factory. A Turkish facility in the Ankara suburb of Kirikale.

The 1938 date would be the year of conversion.

Below are some pictures from Greg Cooke who is an "Old Salt" on the Curio and Relics listserve. This particular Turkish Conversion rifle was imported and sold by an American Store in the 1950s. Please click on the images for larger pictures

Note the oval sticker on the side of the stock. This is a warning label originally placed by the store that first sold the rifle.	Nice view from the top.	Here is a great picture comparing a standard Gew88 with a Turkish 88/05/38

The same care should be taken in shooting the Turkish converted rifles as with any other M1888 German Commission Mauser. Even though they have been re-barreled to the modern .323 bore these rifles should only fired with minimum hand loads and preferably cast bullets. The receivers where built over 100 years ago and were not designed to take the pressures of modern ammo. It is recommended they not be fired with any Modern European or American Ammo.

German ship pictures taken from "The Ottoman Steam Navy 1828 - 1923" , Bernd Langessiepen and Ahmet Güleryüz, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1995.


88/05/38	Enfauser

Turkish Model 88/05/38 Conversion Rifles