Primer 093: Ottoman Mauser 1893

Here's a question. Just reading the amazingly in depth book "The Belgian army in the great war" from Verlag publishing. It's more focussed on uniforms than weapons but most photos show, as expected, troops armed with the 1889 Mauser. However, there are at least two photos which note that the soldier shown is armed with an "M1893 Turkish Mauser rifle". What's going on here - weapons captured by the other allies in the Dardanelles?

John S Wren

Once someone thought of integrating the semi pistol grip into the tang, it should have been made standard.

lovot

I think the next episode will make you very happy!

C&Rsenal

VERY true. We sort of avoid it as it introduces a whole other issue. Short of crown damage, at 70 to 100 yards we'll get about the same out of a mildly worn or fresh bore when standing. It's also why we don't do bench shooting!

C&Rsenal

It is actually fairly interesting how Australia and Turkey have shared the memory of their fallen.

C&Rsenal

yes?

C&Rsenal

Oooh that's a nice one

C&Rsenal

Great show as always. Like fine wine, Othais and Mae appear to be improving with time. Othais, right before you said it, I was saying to myself that I'd take the Turk 93 over the GEW 98 any day. The weight and funky sights of the GEW 98 really is an issue for me. Of the full length commonly issued WWI rifles, the M93 is definitely in my top 10.....might even squeeze into fifth place on my top 5 (cock on close is a non-issue to me...and I might even prefer it owing to the force it takes to rotate the bolt on most cock on open rifles of the era --- particularly in extracting the crap ammo that was all too common). As an aside, I think one of the defining points of whether the box for the cutoff was left on or milled off during rework was whether the original straight grip stock was reused. I bought a case of the reworks when they came in ($29.99 per rifle and accompanying 5 pounds of grease). The ones with the cut-off box had the original stocks. The ones without had "new" semi-pistol grip stocks. All the pics I've seen on-line tend to confirm this distinction.

Richard Anderson

Yay I've really been looking forward to the Mauser '93. The Mauser and Mannlicher/Steyr rifles are my favorite episodes.

TwentythreePER

Bore condition in these old rifles is rarely mentioned. Kudos to Mae and your ammo loader for getting some of these to group as tight as you do.

Love that catchphrase.

Minion

Fun fact re: Australian vs Ottoman troops during WWI. Every year, Australia has a national holiday called ANZAC Day, when we remember those that were lost fighting in wars. All former service men and women, their relatives (if deceased) and members of allied nations that fought with us, take part in parades. The ONLY country which was NOT an ally of Australia, which is represented, is Turkey. There's more to the story, but I think that enough attention to the Land Down Under for now...

Minion

@36:54 ...And in the 1930s a series of conversions would wipe out nearly all original 1903s converting them into a standard pattern more like the 1903....

I guess it's better than "Ambitious, But Rubbish"...? Although I've always been partial to "Professionals are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs."

moosemaimer

Crazy year,but the hard work is definitely appreciated by this vet and I am sure all your supporters as well. Made my night at work now..I recently joined few weeks ago, and slowly watching EVERY single primer video. I enjoy WW1 firearm history

James G. Jones

.... We'll be there for the divorce!

C&Rsenal

Currently on my honeymoon and this just made the trip!!

Wonderful work!!! Looking forward to PL!