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Managed to get the 1894 Steyr apart. Unfortunately the one bolt was stripped so I had to drill it. Then once the stock was off, it took some heat and a easy out to get the bolt out of the hole. Otherwise everything else came apart easily (except the magazine, I don't think I will be able to fully strip that). Replacement screws are already on the way, and I am pretty close to being done cleaning the rifles.
Next step is to make up some dummy rounds to get the repro mannlicher clips fitted to the rifles so they feed properly. I suspect that shall be a pain.
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So got them all cleaned up, now just need to get a couple small parts and should be good to go (front trigger guard screw is on the way, and possibly a new firing pin for the one bolt). Its interesting that now having several to compare you can start to notice some things. For example disassembling the Gewehr 88 bolt is a bit time consuming, especially with the gas shield cap. The original design without the gas shield is significantly easier to disassemble. The controlled feed bolt face is also more prone to damage during assembly and disassembly (as nothing is guarding that small extractor).
It turns out the rifles are mostly matching (at least the major components). The bolts aren't matching, the small screws aren't, and on the Steyr the middle barrel band isn't.
In any case here are some photos, hope you enjoy.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...v4mcbrfm-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...kwnfbuq8-1.jpg
The top is a 1891 Loewe produced 88/05, the middle is the 1894 Steyr, and the bottom is the 1890 Spandau.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...ra5pbbzy-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...lxxksx34-1.jpg
Just showing the original rear sight with the small flip up sight down and up.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...cnm7eghj-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...sh4ls3s5-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...2ysoy4qu-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...pzsmg3as-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...qpicqnwn-1.jpg
Non-controlled feed and controlled feed bolt heads.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...7etgfgs3-1.jpg
The gas shield and original caps.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...2kjubtfc-1.jpg
Showing the M13 modification, the top is a standard Gewehr 88 style swivel, and below it are the two M13s.
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bob q I want offer a apology over how I responded to you. I have done some more research and it turns out both these rifles are not actually M13s.
Turns out that the M13 sling swivel is roughly 1-9/16" wide by about 5/8" tall internally. The reason for this is because the Austrian-Hungarian M95 slings are approximately 1-1/2" wide. The sling swivels on these rifles are both smaller in diameter than that and would not accept a Austrian-Hungarian sling as such. I still need to do some more research, but it at the moment it is narrowed down to somewhere in South America based on the training plate nail holes and the smaller diameter sling swivels (going to look at possibly Chile first as if I remember correctly there were some M88/90s that came in a year or two ago from Chile).
I will keep everyone updated as I learn more, a little bit disappointing for my collection, but still fascinating as there is much about the Commission 88 rifles which is still unknown or barely known.
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I know what country they came from , and it is not Chile .
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Which one, Equador maybe? I recall reading somewhere that they had Gewehr 88s.
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Figured it out, Ecuador is the country they came from.
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That is correct . There are still records of the Czechs shipping those rifles to Ecuador in the late 20's and mid 30's . If by research you mean you got info from gunboards , that is a real bad source . There are a couple of people [ like a doc ] who have no idea what they are talking about . Like where you posted about Zeus' 88 rifle !!! The rear sight on that rifle is a German WWI grind down to resight it for S ammo . The Turks never ground any sights except in doc's imagination . He just makes up stuff to explain things he does not understand . The Gew-88/05 had THERE different rear sights - New made sights with a 400 meter zero for the P-88 ammo put on with the 05 update , A German WWI grind down for S ammo in "regular " numbers , and a Post WWI Czech grind down for S in Turkish numbers on rifles sold to Turkey . Zeus' rifle was still in Turkey for the 1930's rebarrel , so there is no way it was captured by the Greeks before then .
