Mauser Model 1903

About the Mauser Model 1903

The Mauser Model 1903 was a Gewehr 98-pattern bolt-action rifle ordered by the Ottoman Empire and built by Mauser at Oberndorf. Originally chambered in 7.65x53mm Mauser, it adapted the Gewehr 98 by replacing the Lange Visier with a simpler tangent leaf sight, simplifying the nose cap, and retaining compatibility with older Ottoman M1890 bayonets. After the First World War many were rebarrelled and rechambered to 7.92x57mm Mauser, paving the way for the later Turkish M1938 standardization.

Adopted by the Ottoman Empire in the twilight years before the Great War, the Model 1903 was Constantinople's bid to field a modern smokeless-powder Mauser; its rifles soldiered through Gallipoli and the Middle Eastern campaigns, and survivors were later cannibalized and rechambered into the famous 'Turkish club' M1938 rifles of the Republic.

Mauser Model 1903 specifications

Source figures vary; quoted weight of about 4.17 kg and length near 1240 mm reflect the full-length infantry rifle. Many surviving examples were converted to 7.92x57mm in the 1920s-1930s, so original 7.65mm rifles are comparatively scarce.