Mauser test AAR

So I took the Turkish Mauser out to the range for an evaluation today. I guess the phrase "Caveat Emptor" still applies as I made the following discoveries:

1. the ejector is broken or missing. Spent cartridges have to be levered off of the bolt face manually.

2. The firing pin spring is either gunked up or worn or broken. Primer hits are light and rounds have to be hit twice to go off.

3. The front sight was drifted as far to the left as it could possibly go by parties unknown. Unsurprisingly, the rifle hits about a foot to the right at 100 yards. (Who the hell does stuff like this? Are you telling me that some Turk actually shot this rifle like that?) The sight, as is typical with these old rifles, resisted the entreaties of the hammer that I borrowed at the range to try to drift it back. Heat and a bigger hammer are going to be required.

On the plus side of the ledger: It's spang on for elevation with the rear sight set to 100 meters. Typically these old rifles will print way high or way low but this one...right where it should be, except off the target to the right, that is. And the windage is fixable. Also it has a nice clean break to the trigger and seems to group reasonably well. No deformities or problems noted with the brass or extraction of same. I think that it'll be a pretty good shooter once I correct items 1-3 above.

Silver lining: I have a workbench project for those rainy days when I don't feel like going out to shoot. I will rehab this old warhorse and then I'll seriously enjoy shooting it. The nice people at Sarco have the parts that I need so this shouldn't take too long.