The East, as you know, is a delicate matter. Once it surpassed the West in terms of technology, but in this respect it remained the "world of artisans", while the West, which was inferior to it in handicrafts, quickly moved to the industrial level and already bypassed the East on it once and for all. At least he bypassed him in the 19th century, when his steam battleships and rapid-fire rifles wiped out the power of the local emirs, caliphs and rajahs. Well, they didn’t have machine guns, they didn’t, and without them what kind of war was there even then?
That is why the same Persia at this time, looking around, decided to attend to modern weapons for its army, so as not to at least lose the remnants of its former independence. Money? Well, money can always be obtained by striking the heels of his subjects with sticks, the zindan has not been canceled either, so the East has never had these problems. As with the Caribbean, however.
At first, for some reason, the Mannlicher rifles of the 1886 model of the year received the palm from Persia. It is not clear how they deceived the Persians, but deceived them. However, time passed, and they began to notice that Mauser rifles were better, more reliable, that at the end of the First World War, Austria-Hungary itself even switched over to them. That is, she acted on the principle of goodness, not looking for good, and this says a lot.
Mannlicher rifle model 1886 (Army Museum, Stockholm)
Mannlicher rifle device 1886
Therefore, already in 1929, Persia switched to the Mauser rifle, and received a "long rifle" model М1898 / 29, which in the same 1829 he ordered in Czechoslovakia at a military plant in Brno. And this same rifle received a different designation М1898 / 38, since the order was repeated. But we are interested in volumes, and they were quite large: 80,000 under the 1929 contract and 100,000 under the 1938 contract. True, there was a hitch with the last order due to the events of 1938, but Germany, having occupied Czechoslovakia, did not object to its fulfillment of this contract in 1940. So in the end Iran (Persia became Iran in 1935!) Still got it.
The state emblem of Iran on the chamber of the M1898 / 36 rifle.
The purely external features of this rifle are as follows: a blackened receiver and barrel, but a nickel-plated bolt with a straight reloading handle. Standard Mauser cartridge and standard German caliber. The inscription in Arabic letters is engraved on the chamber, so it is very easy to recognize the “Iranian Mauser” rifle both by the coat of arms and by this inscription.
The inscription on the bolt carrier.
Another difference was in the designations on the scope, where instead of the numbers we were used to, real Arabic numerals were used and in the marking of the rifle parts.
A sight with the designation of Arabic numerals and their translation into European ones.
It should be noted here that all Iranian rifles have a Farsi numbering system. Usually, the designation on the wooden parts was applied in three lines: first the serial number, followed by the second and third lines of symbols that mean the word "Infantry".
It also leads to confusion that the dates inscribed on the rifles often belong to the Iranian calendar. And it should not be confused with the Islamic calendar used in other Muslim countries. This is the so-called "Jalali Calendar", a purely Iranian calendar (by the way, it is also used in Afghanistan) - moreover, it is a solar calendar that begins every year from the vernal equinox and is determined by accurate astronomical observations in Tehran. The math behind all of these dates is complex enough, but there are easy-to-use programs on the Internet to translate dates from one date to another.
Only in 1949 did it come to the release of its own M1949 carbines at the plant in Mosalsasi, built again with the participation of specialists from Czechoslovakia. This model was based on the popular Czechoslovakian M1930 carbine, delivered to Iran under a 1938 contract. This time, the bolt handle on it was already curved and a recess was made on the stock under it. Interestingly, the year of manufacture was knocked out on the curved bolt handle in Arabic numerals, but the numbers on the sight were ours, European ones! A dagger bayonet from the M1898 / 38 rifle relied on the carbine.
Now we will move to Turkey and see what was there. And there was an impressive collection of weapons primarily from the United States, for example, the same 1876 Winchesters with which the Turks successfully fought with Russia in the war of 1877-1878.
But at the end of the 19th century, the Turks sharply reoriented themselves to Germany. German instructors trained the Turkish army, German rifles entered service with the Turkish army and fought in the two Balkan wars and during the First World War.
When Turkey decided to equip its armed forces with bolt-action rifles in 1887, they immediately ordered half a million model 1871/84 rifles from the Mauser brothers, and immediately became one of the company's largest customers. In many ways, it was this contract that guaranteed the financial survival of the Mauser brand and thus gave the firm huge profits that allowed it to grow further.
Mauser rifle М1871 / 84. (Army Museum, Stockholm)
This contract was so important that it was personally discussed by Isidor Loewe and Paul Mauser, both of whom went to Turkey to sign an agreement with the Turkish government. The order was to be distributed between the Loewe and Mauser factories, but in the end all rifles were made at the Mauser factory in Oberndorf am Neckar. The Turkish model 187l / 84 differed from the standard Mauser in that the Turkish rifle used the 9.5x60R cartridge. The Turks named this weapon the Model 1887. The rifle had an under-barrel magazine for eight rounds, and two more could be carried on the feeder and in the barrel. Muzzle velocity 550 m / sec. - was a record for a soft lead bullet. In general, this sample of a rifle with an under-barrel magazine was more perfect than all the others and even more perfect than the original sample! It could be said that the 9.5 mm caliber for the black powder cartridge was optimal. The rifling in the barrel was not as quickly leaded as in the smaller calibers, and at the same time the recoil was not as strong as in the larger ones. It got to the point that when the Turks began to use smokeless powder, they did not replace the bullet in this cartridge. It was left the same, that is, it was made of pure lead and wrapped in paper. Mauser rifles of the 1887 model were later in the Turkish reserve forces and were used on the Caucasian front in 1914-1917.
Cartridge 9, 5x60R.
One of the terms of the contract was that Turkey could use any new developments in Mauser rifles that took place during production. In 1890, when about half of the contract was ready, Turkey decided to switch to the more modern model of 1889, ie. the so-called "Belgian Mauser". Thus, about 250,000 Turkish models of 1887 were produced.
The 1887 Mauser was good for everyone, but in 1890 the Turkish government wished to order a new batch of rifles, called the Turkish Mauser M1890. The Belgian Mauser M1889 was taken as a basis, but with changes. Its trunk has lost its outer "shirt" and received a very short upper wooden trim on the trunk. In addition, the Belgian model was originally designed for the 7, 65x53 mm cartridge, and the Turks wanted a rifle for the German 7, 92 x57 mm cartridge. The chambers of these rifles were stamped with "Tohra" - the monogram of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, who ruled from 1876 to 1909. The badge was a text drawn in Arabic script with the following content: "Abdul Hamid is always victorious, a victorious warrior." It was also placed on the pommel of the bayonet handle.
"Tohra"
The next model of the Mauser rifle for the Turkish army was the 1893 model rifle. This time the "Spanish Mauser" was taken as a sample, which became "Turkish". The main difference is a magazine recessed into a box with a staggered arrangement of cartridges. The rifle was modernized in 1933 and became known as the M1893 / 33.
Here is what is written here. In Arabic, of course: "Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf Neckar-DeutcheRiech".
In 1903, a new delivery followed, now based on the Gewer 98, but still with a straight bolt handle. Again, they were originally designed for the 7, 65x53 mm cartridge, but were re-shot under the "German 8-mm caliber" chosen by the Turks at the Ankara arms factory. The rifle was modernized in 1938 and became known as M1903 / 38.
Rifle with the hallmark of the factory in Ankara.
During the First World War, Turkey received from Germany many "commission" M1888 rifles. Many of them were converted in 1938 to fire the Model 1905 "S" rounds. They removed the "shirt" of the barrel and put a wooden barrel pad.
In the early 20s, Czechoslovakia became a supplier of rifles for Turkey and began to produce M1898 / 22 rifles for it. On the chamber of these rifles there was an inscription: "Сeskoslovenska zbroevka BRNO".
Berthier carbine with five-round magazine Mle 1916 (Army Museum, Stockholm)
During World War II, the Turkish government held several thousand (from 5 to 10 thousand) French Berthier rifles, mainly models 1907/15, but also Mle 1916. Most likely these weapons were sent from Syria to Iraq by the French government of Vichy at the request of Germany. After the war, Turkey had problems with illegal logging of its valuable Circassian walnut forests and the government felt it was necessary to equip its foresters with suitable weapons. It was decided to use a non-standard caliber of ammunition for these foresters-rangers, in the event that their guns were stolen, they would not be used. Berthier rifles chambered for 8x50R Lebel were the most affordable in this regard, which is why they were chosen for this purpose. The store contained only three cartridges, so one can not talk about the serious combat value of this weapon.
M48 foresters carbine.
The rifles were cut, and some of the parts for them came from Mauser carbines of 1905 (without a bayonet). A new stamp appeared on the chamber: "TC Orman" (Turkish Republican Forestry Company) with the date of 1948. From 5,000 to 10,000 rifles were converted. By the way, they are inexpensive on the collection market - $ 250-300, since the demand for Turkish weapons is generally low.
Designation on the chamber of the carbine.
