|
|
Mausers of Turkey and The Ottoman Empire |
|
|
||||||||||
Gew. 98 |
||||||||||
|
The Gew.98 was the standard infantry arm of the Imperial German Army during WWI. Many of these were acquired by the Ottoman Empire during the war, and probably some afterwards. There are several clues that differentiate this rifle from a Turkish made K. Kale. The first clue is that it is a large ring without a bullet cut out (so it's not a 1903) and does not have the K. Kale markings. Another great clue, you can often see some remnants of the original German markings. Of course, some of these were not rebuilt and will look pretty much just like a German Gew.98 but with a Turkish crescent stamp here and there.
While not a guarantee of a Gew.98, the presence of lots of original Gew.98 parts is normal. It should be possible to mix Gew. 98 parts with K. Kale's, but it doesn't seem to be that common since the Gew.98s seem to have been rebuilt before the K.Kale's were produced. Any repair parts needed later on may have been K. Kale parts or left over Gew.98 parts. Gew.98 parts should have either the rifle serial number, or the last two digits of the serial number. Which it has depends on the size of the part. The German Imperial crown is a common mark on original German parts. Often these parts will not have the Turkish Star or Moon mark. Gew.98's have a sling attachment hole in the front of the trigger guard. Additionally, a locking screw can be found on the front magazine screw.
|
||||||||||
