Turkish Model 1890

The Turkish Model 1890 rifle. This is not a Mauser. I have two of these guns, one of which is essentially a wall hanger. Mine were modified in the 1938 reworking program to fire 8mm Mauser. Parts are unobtainable, and despite what people tell you, parts from the German commission rifle and the Belgium 1890 didn't fit on my reworked Turkish rifle. Someone had removed the butt plate and the bayonet band on the wall hanger, and though I was able to replace them with parts from old rifles that fit well enough for display, the parts didn't fit exactly. The wall hanger also had a bad spring loaded retaining clip in the magazine that wouldn't hold the rounds in the magazine. I sent the gun to a gunsmith in Philadelphia who was highly recommended, but he sent it back saying he couldn't find the parts to fix it. Fortunately, the other Model 1890 I have is in perfect working order.

Surplus 8mm Mauser.

This is Yugoslavian 8mm Mauser surplus ball ammunition. I bought a case , and none I have fired has been a problem. I often wonder why you hear so often that you shouldn't fire Turkish military surplus in Turkish Mausers. The guns were reworked in the late 1930's and early 1940's to be rechambered for 8mm Mauser , among other things. The ammo was made to be fired in the guns. I have never heard about Turkish Mausers exploding, and you do hear when a trend like that exists, if only third hand in internet forums. My guess is that it's the well founded American phobia of lawsuits that inspires a lot of this.

Turkish Model 1893 Mauser

The Turkish Model 1893 Mauser very closely resembles the Spanish 1893 Mauser used in the Spanish American War. I have seen disclaimers by companies selling these rifles warning against using European commercial or surplus ammo. This is because Europeans load the 8mm Mauser to higher pressures than we do, as American ammo manufacturers have to worry about law suits. I have fired Surplus Turkish ball out of an 1888 commission rifle with no problems, but it's a judgment call and I probably wouldn't do so now. The 1893 Mauser hasn't been around in quantity for a long time, but Century International Arms just imported several hundred in good condition, so now is the time to add a couple to your collection.

Popular in the mountains.

Yugoslavian Mausers are very close copies of the German Kar 98. They are well made, and can be purchased in unissued condition for under $300.00 with a full array of accessories. They are very popular in my part of Appalachia, and the county gun store sells a lot of them. An M48 in good or very good condition costs less than $100.00. 8MM Mauser ammo and brass are readily available, and the rifle makes a good deer gun, truck gun, or self defense rifle for the house. It's not uncommon to see M48 rifles in the racks of trucks in our county, and there are a lot of them at the shooting range whenever you go out there.

Model 1924/47.

Yugoslavian Model 1924/47. These rifles originally went into production in 1924, then were refurbished by the Yugoslavians after World War II, in 1947. The Yugoslavians then began the production of new Mausers, the Model 1948.

Model M48A

Yugoslavian M48-A. It has stamped parts for cheaper and simplified production, but the rifle is still reliable and well made.

The Yugoslavian M48 Mauser

This is a Yugoslavian M48. It's essentially a copy of the German K98. You can tell this is an M48, which has milled parts, as opposed to an M48A , which has stamped parts, because it has a flat, milled butt plate instead of a stamped, cupped butt plate.

Long Branch Enfield No.4 MK. 1

This is a Longbranch produced Enfield No.4 Mk.1. There are several in my collection, and they are all well made and good weapons. I own some of the English produced guns, and though they are reliable and safe, they do show signs of having been produced under duress of war, things like machine marks and poor quality finish.

Commercial .303 British is plentiful, and reloadable.

You can buy .303 British ammo. Just about every major ammunition manufacturer makes it. However, you usually have to special order it unless you go to a gun store. You aren't going to walk into Walmart or a hardware store and find .303 British. I order mine from large scale suppliers and get it via UPS.

.303 British

The .303 British comes in five round stripper clips, or in paper wrapped packages of 15 or 20 rounds. You can top off the magazine in an Enfield with single rounds, so the clip isn't necessary to load it.

A U.S. Produced Enfield No.4 Mk.1 (Savage)

I've already written at length about the Enfield No.4 Mk.I, but here's a nice picture of a Savage produced version. These all have a "U.S. Property" stamp on them, because they were specifically made for lend lease to Britain. They aren't any better made than the Canadian guns from Long Branch, but collectors will pay twice the money for one in good shape because they are harder to find. In the latest Southern Ohio Guns catalog, these American made rifles were selling for $200.00 in very good condition, while the same rifle from Long Branch was $75.00 less in the same condition. On an aside, I have noticed that the supply of surplus British .303 is really drying up. Sportsmans Guide and Southern Ohio Guns have some Pakistani produced .303 at reasonable rates, and of course Samco in Miami also has some because they charge like it was made of gold and no one can afford it. You can buy the ammo commercially though, and it's reloadable so there's no imminent shortage of ammo for this rifle.

Hungarian Model 1895

The Model 1895 Hungarian Carbine is a good shooting, handy, and well made rifle. I have two, and they are excellent weapons. There was a time in the mid 1990's when you could buy these rifles for $40.00 each in unissued condition. I only bought two, and I could kick myself now, because today all you can find are rifles with cracked stocks, etc. At the time, however, ammo was virtually impossible to get and I shoot my rifles.

M1895 En Bloc clips

Here are the ammo clips for the M1895. The lines on the side tell you which side goes up, even in the dark. You have to have the clips to load the weapon, it can't be loaded as a single shot. When the last round is fired, the clip falls out the bottom of the magazine. For years, it was almost impossible to find ammo. There was no boxer primed brass at all, though you could make your own, at great cost in time and expense, by cutting down the brass from the 45/70 cartridge which was readily available. Also, Old Western Scrounger sometimes had some made up ammo, but it was terribly expensive. Then Graf and Sons did a one off import of specially ordered 8X56R brass in 2001. I placed an order for 400 pieces, and though it took more than a year to get them, now I have all the brass I need. The bullet utilized in the 8X56R is not an 8mm Mauser bullet, but one slightly larger. Some people do load using the 8 MM Mauser, but the smaller bullet doesn't take the rifling well and isn't that accurate. Buffalo Bullet Company makes the right bullet for a reasonable price and I get mine from them.

8X56R ammunition for the M1895 carbine.

This is a box of 8X56R ammo. Virtually all surplus ammunition in this caliber that I have seen is dated 1936-1939. Ammo made before Germany occupied Austria does not have National Socialist markings on it, while that manufactured after the Anschlus does. Some of this ammo is sure fire, and some of it will misfire about 1 round in 4. There's no way to tell from looking at it. I bought two full cases of 8X56R back in 1992 when some came into the country, and that has been reliable. I bought another case a few year later that was essentially only good for pulling the bullets and reloading in boxer primed brass. It's a powerful round and kicks hard in the short carbine.

Once common, the M95 is rare now.

I have two M1895 carbines. Both mine were made by Styer, though I have seen the M1895 marked "Budapest" on the receiver. In the mid 1990's, there were a lot of these rifles on the market, and they were very cheap even for one in excellent condition. This was because 8X56R ammo was unobtainable.

Hungarian Model 1895

The Hungarian Model 1895 carbine is a straight pull action weapon firing the 8X56R cartridge.

The Hungarian M1895 Carbine was used by the Russian Navy in the 1930's. 

Polish .22LR Training Rifle (1950's)

Both of my Polish .22LR training rifles were made in the early 1950's. They are in excellent shape, showing little use. Although they resemble the Mosin Nagant rifles, they are not of that family, though they may have been intended to train people to use the M1891/30 , M38, or M44.

Polish Training Rifle

This is a Polish training rifle. It's single shot, and .22 caliber. I own two. They were imported by Century International Arms for a very short while a couple of years ago. I got mine from Southern Ohio Arms. If you shoot high velocity ammo out of them, you get gas back in your face. This is true of mine, and was also the experience of another club member who bought one. However, if you shoot .22 LR standard ammo, they function fine. I had good luck with Russian steel cased, lead round nose ammo.

Commando MK 45

This nickle plated Volunteer Commando Mark 45 more closely resembles mine, although mine is configured as military issue. I found the following on how to disassemble the weapon on a forum on line.

My "BABY" Commado Arms Mark 45, Nickel Plated, 30 round magazine.Volunteer Enterprises, Inc. offered a 1 year warranty plus a 90 round magazine.

Disassembly: (for the few I asked but didn't know how)1. Remove the 2 buttstock screws, remove buttstock

2. A large slotted screw is revealed underneath lower receiver, remove it.

3. Upper and lower receiver detach, NO flying parts or springs.

4. Loosen Allen head screw located on rear sight guard...caution rear plug is under recoil spring tension, once screw is removed hold/ease out plug and recoil spring.

5. Slide bolt rearward and align cocking knob with cutout in upper receiver and remove.

6. Bolt can now be slid out the rear of the receiver. No further disassembly is recommended or required. All parts can be easily cleaned/oiled. All metal parts are steel (magnet test). Design and quality of parts are on a par with a Marlin Camp 9 or 45 carbine. Takes about as long to disassemble as it does to read this. Seems to have shallow micro-groove rifling but in this case the relatively slow 45 ACP shot just fine with lead reloads and NO leading of the barrel! No hammer, firing pin operates by striker. Fires from a closed bolt and has 16.5 inch barrel.

Tennessee Volunteer Arms Commando MK. 45

The Tennessee Volunteer Arms Commando Mk. 45. It's a replica of the Thompson submachine gun, which uses M3 grease gun mags. My example is configured with a wooden grip under the barrel as the gun was produced for military issue, rather than the pistol grip on this example.

Commando Mark 45Q: A friend of mine asked me to look at a semiauto version of the old Thompson submachine gun. It is made by Volunteer Enterprises and stamped "Commando Mark 45." The serial number is 57XXX. It's in about 98 percent condition. Can you give me some background information and an approximate value? --A.K., Indianapolis, IN


A: Volunteer Enterprises manufactured the Commando Mark III Carbine in Knoxville, Tennessee, from 1969 to 1976. These semiauto blowback weapons look very much like the 1928 Thompson submachine gun. After 1978 Volunteer Enterprises became Commando Arms. In 98 percent condition, your Tommy Gun lookalike should command $500. Guns and Ammo Magazine.

World War II American Battle Rifle, The M-1 Garand

The M-1 Garand was the main battle rifle of the United States in World War II. It has a full powered rifle cartridge, the 30-06. This is a heavy rifle, but sturdy and reliable.

M-1 Garand compared with other rifles

From top to bottom. An L1A1 with a sporter stock, a Yugoslavian SKS model 1956, an M-1 carbine, and the M-1 Garand.

M-1 Garand left side

The M-1 Garand is known as the thumb buster, because in loading the clip and releasing the bolt forward, it's easy to smash your thumb.

M-1 Garand right side

The M-1 Garand is a fairly expensive rifle to obtain for your collection. CMP is the best way to get one. I have one CMP rifle in excellent condition, and one rifle re-imported from Korea by InterOrdnance many years ago that is in good condition.

M-1 Garand En Bloc clip and 30-06 ammo.

The eight round clip and some 30-06 ammo. The M-1 Garand was originally chambered for 30-06, and the vast majority of them are still 30-06. However, in the 1960's some were modified for the U.S. Navy by inserting a piece into the chamber that converted the rifle to .308 Winchester. These proved to be somewhat unreliable and they are fairly rare.

M-1 Garand

The M-1 Garand. A fairly heavy, bulky rifle. It uses 8 round "en bloc" clips. You can't top it off, and without the clips you can't load it. Even so, it's a fine rifle.