Chinese Mauser Rifle, Hunyaug 88

I've been watching for these on Gunbroker and they are either beat to crap with what I consider a very high price or just an even higher price and still beat to crap, just not so bad.

There's been a "Wall Hanger" listed for the past week and I was the winning bidder today. It has issues but supposedly has rifling which is a plus.

It looks to me like someone tried cleaning the stock and cracked it in the process. As I need one to stick my bayonet on and point and say, "this is a Chinese Mauser" it should be fine for my purposes. Can't wait to get my hands on it and see how bad of shape it's in. Compared to most I've seen on there it doesn't look too bad. Hopefully it is functional or can be made to be functional. It at least looks complete. I don't know the condition of the stock beyond that one large crack. He said it has lots of cracks but the other seem minor.

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Very nice, that looks very similar to mine. This is the only surplus rifle I own that I will never shoot. I hear they are not made up to very good quality standards. I hope others will chime in.

---------- Post added at 03:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:52 PM ----------

Can I ask what you got it for?

I've been trying to find a Chiang Kai-shek rifle but seemed like the vast majority of them were produced after the war. I know they say the quality of those is quite variable depending on year, etc. I don't know much about this type and didn't find a lot on them yet. 1st rifle produced by China of this style (bolt action) I think.

The guy I'm getting it from has not ruled out firing it but said it is probably best as a display piece and that's probably all it will be for me. I'll wait until I can inspect if before final decision but it's a lead sled baby with a 20' string if I ever saw one.

First - and most important to the Chinese - the swastika is the mark of HANYANG (the usual transcription), the city where these rifles were built, not Hunyaug. Maybe it seems a bit picky, but Han is the mythical ancestor of the Chinese, so this is a pretty basic element. Or what would you think of a Chinese who wrote that the Statue of Liberty was in Naff Yolk Hardboard? Stick to the standard transcription - it makes it easier to find information.

Second - I once had to scrap a Chinese Mauser, for the same reason that is apparent in your example - the wood was appalling. Obviously not properly matured, and a poor cut, developing shakes from the shrinkage and a twisted grain - as you can see at the back end of the butt. This looks horrible, but is essentially cosmetic.

But the crack that would soon become dramaric if you were so adventurous as to fire it, is the one that starts behind the tang.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

It looks to me like someone tried cleaning the stock and cracked it in the process.

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I do not think so. This is the classic Mauser split (not only in Mausers, of course) caused by recoil that is not being adequately taken up by the recoil bolt behind the front trigger guard screw. Wood shrinkage means that the tang, which should have a visible clearance in the recess in the stock, is tight against the stock and acts like a blunt wedge when the improperly located system is rammed back by recoil.

Over-enthusiastic restorers please note: this effect is the reason why you should NOT use force to try to remove the recoil bolt. All you will do in most cases is loosen its fit by the twisting action of unscrewing, which - if it is to be a shooter - may lead one day to such a crack. If it is stuck, let it be and clean around it.

But that is academic in this case. I would not even attempt to fire it. Based on the example I had in my hands and the photos of this example, it is strictly wallhanger material.

The Germans sold a complete Gew88 production line before(?) WWI to China. The Chinese made piles of Gew88's, they were commonly seen in Japanese hands as WWII progressed. Also note the Germans sold something over 400,000 Gew88's into China. The rifle has quite a history in China. Not made in Manchuria (I believe), but Manchuria made Type 38's, Type 99's and Mod 98 Mausers all at the sametime with at least 3 different production lines running at the sametime. I used to see piles of Gew88's in the early 1990's in the big gunshows, very cheap ($20.00) and all beat. They were actually well made but all were really beat after serving in China for 100 years.

All the paperwork is done at my end. Now I wait. Kind of exciting, never did this before. The great unknown of whether this is a complete bust or not. I'm basically just looking at it as a piece of history, if it can be fired, great, but I don't need to fire it and probably won't. I bought it as a display piece and I'm excited about that.

I picked it up today. Definitely a wallhanger. The front of the stock is cracked nearly halfway. The crack at the tang doesn't appear to go that deep but the stock itself just feels light and looks like it might have worm damage. Bore has rifling but not much near the muzzle. Did not try putting a bullet in it yet. Barrel has some pitting on the exterior but not as bad as my Swede. I need a hand guard and a butt plate for it. Looks like there might be some parts interchangeability with some other types, have to investigate this.

It would appear that a Turkish mauser hand guard will fit with some modifications and the Turkish butt plate will also fit with no modifications. Makes things a little bit easier.

You are making me almost regret not getting a similar rifle that sat unloved for years in a friend's shop. Comparatively good shape. Don't know where it went.

If I wasn't totally enthused about the history of this rifle I probably would be disappointed with it's condition but I'll get if presentable again even if it never fires another shot.

Forestock is cracked 8 inches, basically split down the middle. Wood is not oil soaked so something should stick. I need to build up a few areas on the inside where there is missing wood.

Missing the hand guard. Turk hand guard will fit perfectly with shortening about an inch and removing some wood from the interior rear.

Missing the butt plate, Turk plate should fit it without alteration although I have not physically checked this yet.

Minor cracks in butt I can glue shut, big crack I'll probably fill.

Mechanically it's all there and functioning but the bore is toast. Probably would be like shooting a musket for accuracy, bullet will probably drop right through it. It goes in all the way to the case and is loose. The case won't go in at least.

Cleaning rod is missing but I'm pretty confident I can make one. I've been experimenting with a cleaning rod for the Vetterli and the rod I have is too thick so I'll use it on this rifle. Have to make a brass head for it.

You must watch "1911". Many Hanyang Mausers and Jackie Chan is the Ahn Yee Ohk Li of all China.

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I watched a good movie about China and Japan in WWII but I'll be darned if I can remember the name. The Chinese were all decked out in German outfits so it was one of the elite divisions. They were getting their butts kicked but one Chinese Captain decided to protect a girls school or something of that nature and ended up being like a one many hit squad. Came out maybe two years ago.

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Originally Posted by MasterChief

You must watch "1911". Many Hanyang Mausers and Jackie Chan is the Ahn Yee Ohk Li of all China.

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Good movie. Found it a Wallymart some time back. Also several other Chinese movies about WWII.

The Flowers of War is the one I was thinking of:

The Flowers of War review: Christian Bale film proves China can give Hollywood a run for its money | Mail Online

I really enjoyed it and remember looking up the uniforms/weapons right after watching it and they were pretty accurate. The German uniforms really threw me off but this is how the elite divisions were equipped early on.

"City of Life and Death" superb Chinese-made WWII movie. Uniforms and equipment are correct in every detail. The story is very sad, but the movie is well worth watching.

Gave the metal a good cleaning yesterday. There is no import mark on this rifle. Wondering if that makes it a Korean or Vietnam bringback. How many of these were in the states before the big import. Can't be an accurate rifle the way the bullet drops in the barrel so I doubt anyone has been shooting it for a long time. Haven't done any work on the stock yet. I'm heading to a fun show today and I'll see if I can come up with any parts for anything I need today. It's not one of the biggest shows but big enough some of the parts dealers should be there.

Just looking at it tells me it was a recent (1990) import. Before Clinton stop Chinese imports. Parts are not easy to find, but do show up on Ebay.

Well, phooey. It wasn't a Chinese rifle at all. My friend finally found it, but the rifle I was thinking about was a Turkish conversion of an '88 Commision Rifle.

The rifle spent most of yesterday in and out of clamps being glued together and filled. So it should no longer burst into a pile of toothpicks while hanging on the wall. There is only one bolt holding this action to the stock, the tang screw. Other than that it's just the barrel bands. It has a recoil lug in it that has seen it's share of recoil. It's very worn.

The rifle is presentable again. All cracks are glued. Major ones are filled in. I found an 88 butt plate and a pair of brass screws to mount it. I made a cleaning rod for it and it fits and almost looks like the real deal. These had a cleaning rod with a brass tip which made cutting the slot a bit easier. I got a Turkish Mauser hand guard for it. Took a lot of fitting but it now fits and looks correct. I need to do a little downsizing on it so it matches the stock a bit better and get the red stain out of it. The seller threw in a nice repro sling for it that looks nice.

This rifle is worn, probably more worn than any I've ever handled. Makes me wonder how many thousands of rounds that went through this thing. I have not pulled a bullet to see if one will drop through but it is loose at the muzzle. The trigger pull is extremely light. Made me wonder about the drop test and it did go off once out of about 8 drops. The trigger and sear are both worn. They have a rounded groove where they line up. That has to be a lot of bullets downrange.

Mine sounds like it maybe in a bit better condition but it is also sooo worn out that it is the only rifle that I own that I will not fire.

Here are some updated photos. I'm happy with it. I made the cleaning rod out of a stock piece of steel rod and a brass bolt filed down to size using a file and a drill and then cutting the center out with whatever worked, drills files, etc. It is screwed onto the rod. Rod fits both ends. Hand guard came from Numrich and started life as one of the Turk Mauser hand guards but I don't know which one. It took a lot of fitting but is shaped to match from photos of others I have.

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That turned out very nice! :super:

I agree, overall well done. However, I would replace the brass butt plate screws with steel as was used on the original construction.

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Originally Posted by gew8805

I agree, overall well done. However, I would replace the brass butt plate screws with steel as was used on the original construction.

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That is something I might do. Brass were used on a lot of Turks and I had them on hand. If I come across some steel ones I'll replace them.

I have a Hanyang 88 myself. To say that it's a beater would be an understatement. Bore shot completely out, looks as though it never had a buttplate,very worn Hanyang arsenal marking. However, there's very little rust, which is unusual.
Believe it or not, it's one that everyone seems to gravitate to.."hey, that's an odd looking Gew 88. What? It's Chinese?"
Great conversation piece, and chock full o' history.

Aragorn243 -- I happened up on this post whist doing research to support some repairs I am doing on a Hanyang 88 rifle I recently acquired.

The buttplate on your rifle intrigues me. Did it come with the rifle? Or did you source it from somewhere?

My rifle evidently had a buttplate at one point ... but it was later replaced with a piece of sheet metal, which was nailed into place.

I intend to drill-and-dowel the original screw holes (which are all rotted out) and then install a replacement buttplate, but I am having some difficulty locating a buttplate that matches the contour of my buttstock.

Ostensibly, any "flat" Gew 88 or Gew 98 buttplate should work as a replacement, but that isn't proving to be the case. My stock -- like yours, it seems -- lacks the slight curve inward designed to cup the shooter's shoulder, and no buttplate I've ordered has proven to be a good fit. Even a buttplate sourced from another Hanyang 88 didn't match up.

Any suggestions?

Century International still has them. Cheap and beaters. BUT, they do come with a bolt.