Gewehr 88 comes home....

[1-M-42]

Back in the early 70's my older brother had completed two tours of Viet Nam, had finished his service commitment to the Marine Corps and Uncle Sam and had moved from Texas back to Central California. He and I shared an interest in the shooting sports and though I was still in middle school, we competed locally in PPC competitions. Big Brother was working for the local PD and I, being a cadet there, even got to be a fill in on the PD's pistol team. During this time Joe managed to purchased a few old "Mausers" and I ended up with one of these relics. At the time, I had no idea what I had, really didn't have an interest in it and it floated around my garages as I got older, began my LEO career and got married. Still not knowing much about this old rifle I gave it away about 18 years ago when I packed up and moved to Phoenix for a gig with Maricopa County. That lasted only a year and I found myself back in Nor Cal working for another agency. I had totally forgot about "that old rifle" until one day I happened to run into my former co-worker whom I had given the gun to. I had developed this current intense interest in old military C&Rs by that time and I couldn't help wondering if he still had it...he did. Well, after a little bartering, my very first rifle came home to me today......
I now know what it is, a Gewehr 1888 Commission Rifle and even though it bounced around for nearly 30 years it was in surprisingly good condition. I spent the afternoon today tearing it apart and cleaning decades of dirt, cobwebs and gunk off of it. So, from what I can see its a Gew 88 made in Amberg in 1892. Its a mixmaster for sure and the bolt has crescent moons from the Ottoman Empire. It has the Turkish conversion stuff, magazine plate, stripper clip guides and the notch for the longer cartridges. Receiver is "S" marked as well. Lots of German Imperial markings remain and the stock, though dark and dirty, looks to have some really nice grain and tiger stripping. I know very little about German rifles so I hope some of you guys and gals can chime in to tell me what I have and what I should do with it. I know I should probably go on some Mauser sites but I've come to trust everybody here more. I'm loading a bunch of pics so have fun lookiing.

[1-M-42]

[1-M-42]

[1-M-42]

[1-M-42]

[McNally M.]

Its stories like this that enrich the values of rifles like yours. Your history with this rifle adds so much authenticity to it. And just imagine what this rifle has seen in the 90 years before your encounter with it began. What a great rifle, and an even better story. Thanks for sharing 1-M-42.

[knucklehead0202]

beautiful rifle. all you need to do is slug the bore to ensure it's .323 and not .318, then shoot it! preferably light loads. Most commercially loaded U.S. ammo is gentle enough for it. Prvi would probably be ok and a good low-cost ammo that you can also reload. who knows, that old gal may be plenty accurate too.

[smle-man]

Great story and nice rifle! I have a Turk 88/05/35 that has a .323 bore. It is very accurate and a great shooter. Even though mine probably sufficed for a couple generations of Turk basic trainees firing boat loads of nuclear powered Turk ball through mine, I shoot downloaded handloads only with commercial cases. Never shoot surplus through an 88 because if a case base lets go the shooter may end up getting his face rearranged by the bolt.

[ptoguy2002]

That is a pretty cool story.
Thanks for sharing.

[OldShooter32]

What a cool story...and rifle!

I'll take it!

[6mmintl]

Having had quite a few of these they are the smoothest rifle actions I have used next to the 71 71/84 Mausers and Kropachek.

If it has a good bore they shoot cast typically very well.

Romanian steel case 8mm is ok in these rifles if .323 bore.

[NOTABIKER]

neat rifle and story. this is what i love about C&R. thanks for sharing.

[Josh Smith]

Well, after a little bartering, my very first rifle came home to me today......
I now know what it is, a Gewehr 1988 Commission Rifle and even though it bounced around for nearly 30 years it was in surprisingly good condition. I spent the afternoon today tearing it apart and cleaning decades of dirt, cobwebs and gunk off of it. So, from what I can see its a Gew 88 made in Amberg in 1892. Its a mixmaster for sure and the bolt has crescent moons from the Ottoman Empire. It has the Turkish conversion stuff, magazine plate, stripper clip guides and the notch for the longer cartridges. Receiver is "S" marked as well.

Well, I'll be damned.

Mine's an 1892 Amberg as well, but the serial number is 5658.

Don't shoot surplus loads through it. Keep it around 45 grains of Varget under a 150 grain short driving band bullet (I use .323 Hornady.)

The markings tend to be cryptic. There was a website called gew88.com but it's not been up for a while.

You'll want to put some preservative on the barrel. Water gets trapped between the barrel and barrel jacket and rusts the barrel. This was one of the design's failings as a military rifle.

It's insanely precise, though, especially considering the time and place. It could have been a target rifle.

I'll be checking back!

Regards,

Josh

[Emdawg]

What a great tale. Things like this are what makes our hobby and passion worth it.

[1-M-42]

Josh, the barrel, under the liner, was nearly unblemished, still in the white. I've already coated it with a liberal dose of Lubriplate.
Thanks for the load advice but could you explain what a short driving band bullet is? I'm not familiar with that term or description.
How does that load perform at 500 meters? If I can get an adequate load I want to try this thing on the silhouette range