Gew 88/05 "S" Marked Barrel Specifics?
Hello,
I'm quite confused on this one.
My "S" marked Commission Rifle Gew88 slugs to 0.310" x 0.3165". However, the barrel seems to have a taper.
I have read and have been told that the whole barrel was opened up for the 0.323" bullet, if it was modified. My measurements don't bear that out.
I have read, and been told, that the chamber and leade were the only things opened up so as not to cause overpressure, but that the barrel diameter was kept the same.
Then I've been told several other things.
I know that it shoots well with a 0.318" 200grn jacketed bullet, about an inch at 50 yards.
However, I have primer setback at the minimum charge of Varget, and that seems to indicate low pressure (headspace is OK according to an old gauge, but I've ordered a new field gauge just to be sure).
A too-small bullet diameter would cause low pressure.
The barrel is not stepped, but rather tapered, and is German. It went to Turkey for WWII and I'm given to understand they used 0.323 ammo.
Any help clearing up this confusion would be very much appreciated!
Thanks,
Josh
Clarification (I hope) of the 8x57I /8x57IS confusion
As several queries have involved this matter, here is the real story.
1) With the Gew.88, the Germans introduced the 8x57I cartridge, the I standing for Infantry. In German literature you may find 8x57J. Don't worry, it's the same thing, but the Germans often used a capital J instead of I in print, to avoid confusion with the number 1.
2) It was discovered that the bullet was too small for the bore. Gas blowby led to rapid barrel wear.
3) The military therefore increased the bullet diameter when they introduced the Spitzer bullet (hence the S). This was a better fit in the bore, and resulted in both improved barrel life and improved accuracy. Note that the bullet was changed, to suit the barrel - not the other way around. The land/groove dimensions were not altered. But the neck end of the chamber + lead had to be reamed out to accept the larger bullet.
All military rifles thus altered were marked with an S (for Spitzer) and the chambering/cartridge was renamed to 8x57IS (or 8x67JS). As the offical date of this change was 1905, the Gew.88 rifles thus marked are known as Gew.88/05.
4) While the military was painfully facing up to the need for change, civilian gunmakers had long implemented their own solution - which was to change the barrel to suit the bullet!
So the bore dimensions (land/groove diameters) were reduced, enabling civilians to continue using the original bullets and cases (which must have been cheaply available by the million when the 8x57I was phased out by the military). It took nearly forty years until this chambering was officially recognized and standardized as 8x57I in 1939.
When wondering what ammo is right for your 8x57 is it therefore vital to distinguish between military and civilian rifles.
Military
Gew.88 with the S mark (i.e. Gew. 88/05)
- this has the standard 8x57IS chambering. No problem with cartridge dimensions. But please remember (as always) that the words "full load" and "century-old rifle" do not go well together.
If you came across some 8x57I ammo and fired it in these rifles - no problem, but probably poor performance (and throat erosion).
Gew.88 without the S
If you find one of these, do NOT try and feed it with 8x57IS ammo. If the cartridge can be chambered at all, the cartridge neck will be a jam fit in the chamber, and will therefore produce serious overpressure when fired. In this case, you must use 8x57I ammo.
Civilian
The civilian picture is totally unsure. The late introduction of the standarization distinction between 8x57I and 8x57IS, plus the fact that there are plenty of civilian rifles around that have been converted from military rifles, means that the ONLY safe thing to do with a civilian 8x57 is to measure the chamber before firing anything! (It's always a good idea for any rifle, regardless of what may be stamped on it!)
Patrick
:wave:
