From the February 2001 issue, pages 45 to 47

By Dolton G. Walker

During the years between World War I and World War II Turkey was saddled with a multitude of different firearms that they decided to try to standardize to a common configuration and caliber. They decided that their M1903 Rifle was the best long rifle configuration and that 8mm Mauser was the best caliber. Among the various types of rifles in storage were the British Enfields that had been captured during World War I. I have had the opportunity to inspect a small shipment of these that were modified to approximate the Turkish M1903 Mauser configuration in 8mm Mauser. There were several types of Enfield actions utilized during the conversions.

In order to accomplish this feat several changes were made to the Enfield rifles. First the Enfield barrel was replaced with one of the 29.1 inch Czech produced 8mm Mauser barrels. The only change that was made to the bolt was to modify the extractor by shortening it slightly and increasing the length of the claw in order for it to adequately grasp the 8mm Mauser cartridge. The only significant change to the receiver appears to have been the magazine catch. The original catch was removed and replaced with one that is "L" shaped with the very short leg of the "L" extending forward so it will secure the floor plate. There was also a long C shaped metal strip added to the exterior right side of the bolt raceway in front of the charger bridge to help guide the bolt head projection as the bolt was closed. The trigger guard and magazine was significantly modified to convert it to a Mauser configuration. This was apparently accomplished by cutting the trigger guard immediately in front of the trigger bow and welding a floorplate opening with a heavy sheet metal Mauser style magazine well insert that they had fabricated to replace the original Enfield magazine assembly. They used a modified Turkish M1893 Mauser floor plate for the conversion. The modification consisted of cutting a rectangular section out of the rear of the floor plate at the catch assembly opening in the original floor plate and milling a small depression in the center of the outer surface of the cutout. This modification produced short legs that extended rearward past each side of the trigger bow and allowed the short "L" shaped leg extension of the floor plate catch to protrude over the rear edge and into the depression of the floor plate thus anchoring it in place.

The original Enfield butt stocks were used but they apparently produced a new forestock for the modified Enfield to enable it to simulate the dimensions of the Turkish M1903 long rifle. Initially, I thought they may have used modified Enfield long rifle forestocks but upon inspection none of the specimens that I looked at have the long-range foresight disk cutouts found on the LE long rifle forestocks. The barrel bands are located at the same places as the Turkish M1903 rifle's barrel bands. A M1903 style handguard and cleaning rod was used on the rifle.

There are only two unique features required for disassembly of this rifle. After confirming that the rifle is unloaded the first step required to disassemble the rifle is to remove the floor plate by pushing rearward on the floor plate catch with a screwdriver or punch and removing the floor plate by pulling it rearward and upward. In order to remove the trigger guard the two guard screws are removed then the floor plate catch has to be pushed rearward with a screwdriver or punch to allow the triggerguard to clear it as it is removed. After that disassembly is according to standard Enfield disassembly procedures. A normal assembly occurs in reverse sequence.

SPECIFICATIONS

REFERENCE(specimens)

Length Overall: approximately 48 inches

Barrel Length: 29.1 inches

Bore Diameter: .312 inches

Groove Diameter: .323 inches

Number of Grooves: 4

Direction of Twist; right

Rate of Twist: 9.45 inches

Bolt Type 1 piece rotating head

Magazine: 5 round Mauser box-staggered column

Empty Weight: approximately 9 lbs.

Sights: front barley corn/rear v notch leaf

Range: 100 to 2000 meters

Stock: full length one piece stock

Sling Swivels: bottom of rear barrel band, bottom of butt stock approximately one fifth of the

Misc: Bayonet lug on bottom of nose cap.

MARKINGS

REFERENCE(specimens and 4)

Turkish receiver ring markings TC over star and moon, ASFA and ANKARA split and

British Butt Stock Socket markings

British inspector markings found on various Enfield parts

Turkish inspector markings

CARTRIDGE

REFERENCE (5, 10)

Name: 8mm Mauser

Alternate Names: 8x57 Mauser, 7.92 mm Mauser

Type- rimless, necked, centerfire

Type Primer: Berdan

Overall Length: 3.25 inches

Average Weight: 328.66 grains

Type Powder: Nitrocellulose

Approximate Charge: 53.9 grains

Type Bullet: jacketed spitzer

Bullet Length: .915 inches

Bullet Diameter: .323 inches

BAYONET

REFERENCE (7)

Type: Knife with metal scabbard

Length: approximately 14.5 inches with a blade approximately 9.6 inches

Misc: There were numerous variations of this bayonet. Some are new production while

REFERENCES

[1] Ball, Bob, "Turkey and the Mauser Rifle", Gibbs Military Collector's Club Quarterly, Spring 1998, pp. 1-4.

[2] Ball, Robert W.D., Mauser Military Rifles of the World, 1st Ed, Krause Pubs, 1996, pp. 58 & 235-244.

[3] Castle, Al, "The Turkish Mausers", The Military Rifle Journal, 46th Issue, October 1994, pp. 188-190.

[4] Hoffman, Richard A., & Schott, Noel P., Handbook of Military Rifle Marks 1870-1950, 1st Ed, Mapleleaf Militaria Pubs, 1994, pp. 18 & 37.

[5] Huon, Jean, Military Rifle & Machine Gun Cartridges, Ironside International Pubs, 1988, pp. 119-125.

[6] Keefe, Mark A. III, "Turkish Rebuilds", American Rifleman, Vol. 143, No. 3, April 1995, p. 32.

[7] Kiesling, Paul, Bayonets of the World, Vol. 4, Military Collectors Service, Plates 790-798 & 807-810.

[8] Olson, Ludwig, "Turkish Rifles", American Rifleman, Vol. 123, No 3, March 1975, pp. 48 & 50.

[9] Skennerton, Ian, The Lee-Enfield Story, Ian D. Skennerton Self Pub, 1993.

[10] Smith, W.H.B. & Smith Joseph E., The Book of Rifles, 4th Ed., Castle Books, 1972, pp. 239 & 395-399.

[11] Walter, John, Rifles of the World, 2nd Ed, Krause Pubs, 1998, pp. 312-314.

[12] Webster, Donald B., Military Bolt Action Rifles 1841-1918, Museum Restoration Service, 1993, pp. 113-116.