Gewehr 88 Turk

[dogfood]

So my father-in-law came into this rifle. From what I can gather it's a gewehr 88 that was brought up to the 1938 standards. It has been chopped in regards to both the forearm and the bbl. It doesn't have any sights either. It functions (barely) my brother-in-law has reported several instances of misfire on reliable ammunition. Headspace issue?
I've read that the receivers can be weak and therefore 1950's yugo surplus or equivalent ammo should not be used. Is that true?
Other than being a conversation piece, is there any value in this firearm? As it is I know it needs work were it to be truly functional again. Is there any point in a semi or full restoration?
Thanks for your help,
dogfood

/apologies for poor photo quality

[Springfield45]

You can fix the misfire problem with a new main spring(misfire gun parts has them). As for ammo it can be tricky and complicated. Don't shoot any modern ammo through it. I would not even shoot WWII ammo in it. I made my own reloads for mine and down loaded them to 2000 fps. When it comes to value it is worth more parted out than in one peace. Because it is chopped it is not worth more than about $150. Sorry. They are interesting rifles and have seen over a hundred years of history around the world. Someday Gew 88's value will catch up with their history.

BTW Because they were made before 1898 the BATF considers these antique guns and do not require any background checks or FFL to buy and sell.

[dogfood]

Thank you much.

[smle-man]

I have one (88-05-35) still in its original configuration which I shoot with handloads. The Turks put thousands of their heavy loaded rounds through each of theses rifles but then the rifles we hold now are the ones that survived. The main issue for the 88 action is that it doesn't handle gas from failed cases well and coupled with the 1890s metallurgy if a case fails in a big way then the action is probably coming apart. That is why you want to stay away from surplus Turk and Yugo ammo both of which have had issues with base failures. In a 98 action it is no big deal but in an 88 action you have big problems.

[SVT-40]

It's been "sporterized" by someone here in the US. It's value is less then $100. You would be throwing your $$ away to try and make it really shootable. Hang it on a wall.