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What do you all know about these rifles? A friend of mine picked up one of these, an old Czech model, put a cheap $40 scope on it, boresighted the scope and took the thing to the range with him.
I took a look at it. There is absolutely no rattling or noise of any kind. When I put it to my shoulder it was actually one of the most comfortable firing rifles I ever fired. He picked this rifle up, along with the scope for about $160! I HATE scopes but was actually able to do quite well with this setup.
I have been told that these rifles were once commonly used by military snipers and are accurate to quite a distance. Based on trying his out and what I've been told so far I'm thinking about tracking one down myself. Can anyone shed some light on what I've been told so far?

I just bought one at a Big5 store last week .I haven't shot it yet so I can't say much about it VZ24 BRNO ARMS .manufactured by CZ . $59.99 was my downfall , just had to have one at that price .Good luck in your search for one .

Edited by - halcon on 09/07/2002 15:41:58

Edited by - halcon on 09/07/2002 15:43:47

A couple of my cousins still hunt with mausers my uncle brought back from World War II. Thay are as solid a rifle as has ever been made. With good ammunition, they'll keep up with any '06, both in accuracey and range. The best ones have the same serial number on all the main parts. If the serial numbers don't match, they were put together from several different rifles. The quality made not be as high on those.

Those mausers offer lots of bang for the buck. You can still get military ball ammo cheap for practice, and if you get a 98 action, theres no end to aftermarket parts available. The 8x57 cartridge is plenty powerful enough for deer and even bigger game too. Bullet selection is a little sparse, but theres an adequate assortment to be had for the handloader. Not sure whats available in factory ammo, probably just 150 gr bullets.

The Model 98 Mauser is still the benchmark (basic benchmark) for all modern bolt actions today. Sure, there ahve been MANY improvements over the years,............but the basic strength and funtion was there in the 98. The 8 X 57 cartridge is on a par with the 30/06. One can toy with it and make an 8 X 57 Ackley, or an 8mm/06, but is a darn good round just straight up. A Mauser in good condition can handle loads much hotter than the curent factory loadings. For a guy on a budget, its about the best way to buy a deer rifle.

T^he 8X57 is one of the great cartridges of the world. There's a reason why the Germans used it for almost a century!! A well-put together military Mauser can be extremely accurate. I have two, with scopes and altered bolt handles but no other changes, that will shoot under an inch (5-shot groups) with good ammo all day long!!

Keep yore powder dry!!

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm headed to the last day of the Bangor Gun Show (a once a year event) tomorrow and think I'll keep my eye out for one. I surely hope to find one in that $59 price range!
The ammo my friend was using was 170 grain soft point rather than FMJ. I don't recall the manufacturer but I believe it was either Federal or Winchester.

Accidental double post.

Edited by - Mainehunter on 09/07/2002 21:28:35

Dang! You shot a Czech made rifle and now need one for yourself. Bad move, since you'll probably end up buying more than one once you see the kind of quality you get for pocket change.

Here's what I know of Czech made Mauser 98's:

-Vz-24's: These are carbine length Rifles with what I beleive is a 23 1/2" barrel. They were accepted as the main rifle used by Czechloslovakia beginning around 1924, and were stilll being produced when the Germans invaded the country in WWII. The quality of these rifles was as good as if not superior to the quality of early K98k's.
These can be found for sale in some sporting goods stores that sell surplus rifles, They can also be ordered online from a few importers.
Most of these rifles have seen alot of use and wear. Pretty much every example I've seen have some pitting on the metal, and either a worn or counterbored muzzle. They going price is between $75 and $125 depending on condition and the seller. If one turns out to be a poor shooter, it at least has a superb action to build a custom rifle on. Its rear leaf sight is calibrated to be zeroed at 300 meters at its lowest setting.

VZ-98/22 These rifles were only made for only a few years from approximately 1922-1925. They are the forebearer to the Vz-24 and share the same action but have a longer barrel which measures approximately 29 1/2". These rifles were originally made from leftover parts from German WWI Gewehr 98's and evolved into a Czech design as parts ran out. Most seem to have been sold to other countries after the adoption of the Vz-24, as the sight graduation marks are commonly marked in Farsi and the bolts often have Turkish or Middle eastern markings on them. The barrels on most specimens I've looked at generally looked very shiny and free of wear and corrosion, though I've seen a few that had poor barrels. They tend to be very accurate shooters as long as their barrel isn't damaged. The only drawbacks that I can think of about these rifles is that they have a thin, fragile handguard and the lowest setting for the rear sight is zeroed at 400 meters- so you can expect these to shoot about 1.5 feet high at 100 yards using the original sights. These rifles generally sell for around $100.

98/29 Persian contract rifles- These rifles are the finest Mauser 98 rifles you will find anywhere. They were made for persia between 1929 and 1939 and have had very little if any usage. They are very similar to the 98/22 except with a better handguard and an extra bonus- sights that are regulated for 100 meters. There is also a carbine version known as the Camel Carbine with a 23 1/2" barrel, but these are pretty rare, and I've only seen one of these before. Most examples of these I've seen have metal that looks like new, perfect bores, but the stocks look somewhat worn, but still completely functionable. I shoot one of these rifles in high power matches as the one I own will easily outshoot garands and standard grade M1a's, though with a disadvantage because its slower to reload and cycle the action. The prices run anywhere from $200 to $600. They are more expensive than other Czech made rifles because of their condition.
You can see a picture of one of these and order one from http://www.samcoglobal.com/rifles.html#m9829 Mine doesn't look as good as the one they have pictured, but is a thing of beauty no less.

AS far as 8mm hunting ammo goes, there really isn't much to choose from for American made ammo. I've tried 170 grain remingtons and can tell you to not even bother with them unless you are buying them for the brass. I reload for all of my 8mm's using Remington brass, and IMR 4064 and IMR 3031. I've tried 150 gr Hornady spire points, 170 gr Hornady RN bullets, and 200 gr Sierra sp's in all of my rifles and find that suprisingly the 170 gr Rn bullets give me the best accuracy.
For practice I shoot the plentiful Turk surplus, which puts a huge hurt on my shoulder long before it puts any hurt on my pocketbook.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?

Here's another little secret to give some thought to:
Swedish Mausers are not:
-Poorly made
-horribly inaccurate
-ugly
-heavy, unwieldy, and unbalanced
-chambered in an anemic outdated cartridge
hard to find in excellent condition
-a rifle used for a couple of years for military use
becuase of all of the flaws listed above.<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?

Well I hope I've done a good thing. I just got back from the gun show where I found and purchaswed a 1938 Turkish Mauser in 8mm. The wood isn't the prettiest but is solid, there is no rattling or movement (believe me when I say I shook the heck out of it), the bar. looks very shiny with clear rifling and no pitting that I could see, and the tag said $75. I figured even if it ends up a poor performer I can unload it for that much or more.
With another $34 I had myself 75 rounds of non-corrosive FMJ ammo (1970's production) and a box of 20 Soft Point rounds to try it out on the range.
On the side of the muzzle just before the front site blade the bar. is stamped with "M1938 TURKISH 8mm, A.1. GEORGIA VT" Does that have some special meaning I should know about?
At the same time, on the top of the bar. just in front of the bolt there is stamped "TC, AS FA, ANK ARA, K. KALE, 1944" There is a star between the AS and the FA with a horizontal crescent moon below it between the ANK and the ARA.
All of the numbers I've seen are stamped with the same last three digits of the full length serial number that's on the side of the chamber.
The seller mentioned something about this having a larger ring than the swedish Mausers. Not exactly sure what that was all about either.
Well it is just a $75 experiment that may in fact work out to be worth much more than that to me. If not it will be a cheap lesson.
Can anyone explain any of the stamped info?

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quotequote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>M1938 TURKISH 8mm, A.1. GEORGIA VT <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>
This is the importers stamp, which is required for all guns imported.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>TC, AS FA, ANK ARA, K. KALE, 1944 <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>
This is the receiver crest. I'm not sure what the TC As FA stands for, but its on most of the turkish rifles. K.Kale stands for KiriKale which is probably the manufacturer of the rifle, Ank ara is for Ankara, Turkey the city it was manufactured in. 1944 is the date of manufacture.

The crescent moon and star is the symbol for the country of Turkey, it is also used by a number of other Muslim countries.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>All of the numbers I've seen are stamped with the same last three digits of the full length serial number that's on the side of the chamber <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

The parts are stamped with a serial number, having a matching receiver and bolt is a positive thing, as most turk rifles do not match, and having all of the parts match makes the rifle at least a bit more valuable than the average turkish rifle, if the rifle is in really good condition, with a good bore and matching numbers, $75 isn't a terrrible deal.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> The seller mentioned something about this having a larger ring than the swedish Mausers<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

This is the reciver ring, the section of the action that has a crest on it. Most M-38 turks have a large ring receiver with a similar diameter to a common K98, but are threaded for a small ring barrel such as those found on a swedish Mauser. A 6.5x55 barrel from a 96 swede should be able to thread into the receiver, but another 8mm barrel from anotehr large ring mauser will not fit. Some turks, mainly model 1903 were made with a small ring receiver and originally chambered for another caliber, but were rebarelled to 8mm. A few m-38 turks may have a small ring receiver, as these rifles were cobbled together with whatever was at hand. The only time this info may ever come into play is if you decide to make a sporting rifle out of it, the turk receiver can only handle moderately pressured cartridges where a true large ring receiver can handle almost any cartridge.

Before firing the rifle, make sure that it is squeaky clean, an there is no grease in the chamber or barrel, which might damage you and the rifle. Also strip the bolt and clean it very carefully, as dreid grease in the firing pin spring and bolt can cause incosistant firing, or cause the rifle to not fire at all. Here's a link to help you out with this. http://home.earthlink.net/~paralax1/...semblypage.htm
Also try the Turkish forum at milsurpshooter.net for any other questions you might have.

Don't be alarmed if the rifle shoots high, as it was designed to do this. This can be cured with a taller front sight. If you shoot corrosive ammo, such as Turkish surplus which was made for the rifle, clean the barrel and bolt face up right away by running a few patches soaked in windex to neutralize the primer salts before giving the rifle a normal cleaning with solvent.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms... who's bringing the chips?

Briman-Thank you very much for the technical and historical information. Your comment on grease in the chamber area is right on. I noticed heavy grease both on the bolt and also in the internal magazine. All of that metal seems bright and shiny too so I can't complain so far. I will most definitely give this thing a thorough cleaning before taking it out to the range though. Your link to breakdown info will certainly come in handy for that.
Again thank you. I'm looking forward to trying this new toy out.

At last I have purchased a rifle so inexpensive that my wife has not complained about it!

mainehunter...

i found a site that has peep sights instead of the rear sight. i will try to find that site for you.