AvtomatKalashnikova
09-18-2002, 02:57 PM
Just minutes ago the UPS guy surprised me at the door, and that's not the only surprise! FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, an item via UPS survived to here completely intact, not only that, no bending, tearing, or anything! The long package looks like in its pre-ship condition. Credit to SOG actually, they used a nice new heavy cardboard box to ship it. It was also well packed, there's newpaper stuffing both ends, the Mauser sat tightly inside, probably didnt' even touch the box's sides on the way.
But started I pulling it out, I was so disappointed at first! WHERE'S THE FRICKING BOLT?!?!?! The stock is abit cracked near the receiver, extending from the stock bolt screw. But there's no bolt! I pulled it complete out, and it looks okay, then at long last I saw the newspaper stuffing wrapped around the muzzle. I felt inside..hmm, heavy stuff, must be metal...I then hastily unwrapped it.....it's a bolt! Whew! :p
Okay let's grade:
Wood is in one piece, nothing falling off. There's little finish left, whatever it was on before. It looks very dry, abit splotchy in places, but I do not see any scratches, dents or gouges. In fact its in better "surface" condition than the $99 Yugo SKS I got from Century. The stock is suppose to have "repariable" cracks, and SOG got it right this time. There are about 3 visible cracks. 1 running from left stock bolt toward upper edge, about 3" long. There's a slight gap, but no wood is missing thanfully. I could probably glue it back with something securing the 2 sides. This one will take some work to make it look decent. There are 2 cracks running from right side stock bolt horizontally toward the back, 2.5" and 4" repectively. These are smaller hairline type cracks, should be a cinch to fix. There is also a very small crack from the front handguard running just about 1" long. It's not from any stress points so it must have been a natural crack...easy fix again. Overall I am very pleased with the wood, it'd say other than the 1 bigger crack, it's in G or even VG conditin, definitely better than I had expected all in all.
Metal is pretty okay, probably 30% bluing at best. There's little finish on the barrel or receiver body, or magazine bottom. Overall the the surface is in good shape, no scratches denting, etc, also no visible rusting that I can see. The stock cap is abit rough with some metal scratches. Those aren't major, just messy, like someone rubbed 60grid sandpaper on the metal. Rifling is very strong, I'm actually surprised the bore appears quite bright, may even get better once I clean it thoroughly. This particular T38 Mauser was made in 1945 judging by stamping, below the Turkish Crescent. Serial is 201XXX, but bolt doesn't match serial. Speaking of the bolt, it's in better condition than the receiver metal. It's quite shiney, no scraches, but with a few surface rust spots. Those may have developed when rain drops got on it long ago. It came with a cleaning rod, slightly bend, nothing too bad, with little bluing left. There's no other accessories, I would've like to have ordered the T38 bayo, but SOG ran out of those at the time.
This is my first Mauser so I have no idea if I'm missing any parts, but it looks like everything's there. I haven't tried to put the bolt in yet, I would like to finish reading the bolt disassebly guide posted in Mauser/Turkish Forum (thanks, Shuetzenman and Redstar! :)) One quick question, I can't see firing pin sticking out of the bolt face, but there appears to be a metal rod inside the bolt, is it suppose to be recessed in this state? There appears to be a little protrusion sticking out end of the bolt, just like PolyTech AK springloaded firingpin/bolt end, but I can't push it forward with my finger. Either there's a very heavy spring, in the retraced position, or it's stuck in there good.
All in all, I am very happy with this one. For $27.95 + $8 shipping + $0.50 CC charge, this is a bargain if you dont' already have a Turkish Mauser. I just wish I had gotten a bayo for it! Ugh! When I ordered, I made sure to tell the SOG lady that I wanted a "complete" and "repairable" T38 like their ads said! And that's exactly what I got! Unlike the Century "U-Fix-em" deals, I think there's a very good chance you get one in fixable and complete conditions! In fact I was hoping for more cracks as I enjoyed fixing my Yugo SKS cracks so much! :D As you know I don't have a digital cam, but I'll try to take an image with scanner later today. Just like the $88 Romanian SKS, I dont' think there are many left. When I ordered SOG said they're running low, they already ran out of the original $27.95 Grade 3 craked ones, and bumped these Grade 2 cracked down to that price. Now don't you all run to the phone at once, but I would seriously consider getting one if you don't already have one, or don't have the skills/parts to take on a U-Fix-Em.
GOOD CONDITION - with small, repairable crack stocks
ORDER #SLG-T38G2 $27.95 Each
http://www.southernohiogun.com/images/slg-t38sm.jpg
But started I pulling it out, I was so disappointed at first! WHERE'S THE FRICKING BOLT?!?!?! The stock is abit cracked near the receiver, extending from the stock bolt screw. But there's no bolt! I pulled it complete out, and it looks okay, then at long last I saw the newspaper stuffing wrapped around the muzzle. I felt inside..hmm, heavy stuff, must be metal...I then hastily unwrapped it.....it's a bolt! Whew! :p
Okay let's grade:
Wood is in one piece, nothing falling off. There's little finish left, whatever it was on before. It looks very dry, abit splotchy in places, but I do not see any scratches, dents or gouges. In fact its in better "surface" condition than the $99 Yugo SKS I got from Century. The stock is suppose to have "repariable" cracks, and SOG got it right this time. There are about 3 visible cracks. 1 running from left stock bolt toward upper edge, about 3" long. There's a slight gap, but no wood is missing thanfully. I could probably glue it back with something securing the 2 sides. This one will take some work to make it look decent. There are 2 cracks running from right side stock bolt horizontally toward the back, 2.5" and 4" repectively. These are smaller hairline type cracks, should be a cinch to fix. There is also a very small crack from the front handguard running just about 1" long. It's not from any stress points so it must have been a natural crack...easy fix again. Overall I am very pleased with the wood, it'd say other than the 1 bigger crack, it's in G or even VG conditin, definitely better than I had expected all in all.
Metal is pretty okay, probably 30% bluing at best. There's little finish on the barrel or receiver body, or magazine bottom. Overall the the surface is in good shape, no scratches denting, etc, also no visible rusting that I can see. The stock cap is abit rough with some metal scratches. Those aren't major, just messy, like someone rubbed 60grid sandpaper on the metal. Rifling is very strong, I'm actually surprised the bore appears quite bright, may even get better once I clean it thoroughly. This particular T38 Mauser was made in 1945 judging by stamping, below the Turkish Crescent. Serial is 201XXX, but bolt doesn't match serial. Speaking of the bolt, it's in better condition than the receiver metal. It's quite shiney, no scraches, but with a few surface rust spots. Those may have developed when rain drops got on it long ago. It came with a cleaning rod, slightly bend, nothing too bad, with little bluing left. There's no other accessories, I would've like to have ordered the T38 bayo, but SOG ran out of those at the time.
This is my first Mauser so I have no idea if I'm missing any parts, but it looks like everything's there. I haven't tried to put the bolt in yet, I would like to finish reading the bolt disassebly guide posted in Mauser/Turkish Forum (thanks, Shuetzenman and Redstar! :)) One quick question, I can't see firing pin sticking out of the bolt face, but there appears to be a metal rod inside the bolt, is it suppose to be recessed in this state? There appears to be a little protrusion sticking out end of the bolt, just like PolyTech AK springloaded firingpin/bolt end, but I can't push it forward with my finger. Either there's a very heavy spring, in the retraced position, or it's stuck in there good.
All in all, I am very happy with this one. For $27.95 + $8 shipping + $0.50 CC charge, this is a bargain if you dont' already have a Turkish Mauser. I just wish I had gotten a bayo for it! Ugh! When I ordered, I made sure to tell the SOG lady that I wanted a "complete" and "repairable" T38 like their ads said! And that's exactly what I got! Unlike the Century "U-Fix-em" deals, I think there's a very good chance you get one in fixable and complete conditions! In fact I was hoping for more cracks as I enjoyed fixing my Yugo SKS cracks so much! :D As you know I don't have a digital cam, but I'll try to take an image with scanner later today. Just like the $88 Romanian SKS, I dont' think there are many left. When I ordered SOG said they're running low, they already ran out of the original $27.95 Grade 3 craked ones, and bumped these Grade 2 cracked down to that price. Now don't you all run to the phone at once, but I would seriously consider getting one if you don't already have one, or don't have the skills/parts to take on a U-Fix-Em.
GOOD CONDITION - with small, repairable crack stocks
ORDER #SLG-T38G2 $27.95 Each
http://www.southernohiogun.com/images/slg-t38sm.jpg