Two Austrian-Hungarian M13s (Gewehr 88s)

Hi all,

Just thought I would share my most recent project, two Austrian-Hungarian issued Gewehr 88s. Both have the M13 modification (rear sling swivel replaced so as to allow the usage of the standard M95 style sling), and have just recently come out of deep storage. Apparently they were stored after WWI, and forgotten about until being re-discovered recently (Corwin Arms in Canada just recently brought this batch in).

One is a 1890 Spandau with the 'S' modification which would have been given to Austria-Hungary by Germany during WWI as aid, well the other is a 1894 Steyr which would have originally been intended for export but was never sold. Then as WWI broke out, Austria-Hungary bought and issued those rifles from Steyr as they needed them. The 1890 has the common bolt upgrades (bolt head reworked to allow for controlled feeding, and the gas shield cocking piece), well the 1894 has all the original features.

Both seem to be mostly matching (odd parts here and there aren't but most the major features excluding the bolts are).

So far I have managed to get the 1890 Spandau stripped down, and have spent several hours cleaning off rust, and trying to get it back into shape (so far issues include a broken rear sight leaf spring, a broken magazine screw, and a bent firing pin body). I am going to leave the 1894 for a bit as I want to get one done properly before I start on the next one.

Here is some teaser photos, later on I should have some more to show. Also they both happen to have consecutive rack numbers, which I think is pretty cool.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1uco6sjy-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...wgylyw62-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...p2j05dqs-1.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eaglelord17

.... The 1890 has the common bolt upgrades (bolt head reworked to allow for controlled feeding, and the gas shield cocking piece), well the 1894 has all the original features.

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The controlled round feeding mod to the bolt head has eluded me since I first read about it in the early 1980s! Still looking....

Later on I shall have photos up of it, as at the moment I have 3 of the 4 possible configurations. Gas shield with standard bolt head, gas shield with controlled feed head, and no gas shield and standard bolt head.

It is amazing me with how small the tolerances on the bolt must be. The firing pin body is slightly bent, but with some bending back towards where it is supposed to be by me, it is workable now. Still binds up a bit, but I don't think I can get it much straighter by simply bending by hand. I might have to file the one of the two sides of the firing pin slightly to reduce the diameter where it is binding to get it to work 100%.

Otherwise the 1890 is now done (managed to get the receiver back into the white, instead of that ugly brown corrosion) and the cleaning of parts is complete (my main goal is simply to clean the parts, stop corrosion, and get them working 100%). Took about 7 hours to get that one clean and good to go (other than the firing pin). I left the other broken parts as they are still functioning, if they break to the point they don't then I shall replace them.

Yes they used to be Austrian m-13 and were used in WWI . Then they went to South America . The one looks to have the training plate nail holes on the side of the butt stock , common on the SA imports . I own over 50 of those [ unlike some people who own none but write about them] and have inspected over 200 . Most all of the S-94's went to SA and where later supplemented by Ex A-H rifle from the Czechs after the war . The first rifles that went to A-H from Germany were rifles in reserve that had been pulled from front line units and A-H did the sling mods . By 1915 they were so desperate they did not due the mods [ just look at period photos of A-H troops later in the war ] , the rifle came straight from German units as they were re-fitted with Gew-98's . Some SA rifles will be found with the last set of unit markings from Reserve units that did not show up until WWI , meaning they were in Germany in WWI , not sold in 1900 . You will see these thing if you have the rifles you write about , but they are hard to afford at $200.00 an article . A mix of the early features are found on the SA rifles , CF bolt heads , no shrouds , plus some later updates German Z barrels and new made Czech barrels . Besides the A-H rifles the Czechs got all the German parts reserves after the war , and used them to rebuild rifles to sell to SA . They even got barrel making equipment from a civilian company , and used it to make the civilian spec barrels and ammo found in SA . Also trips to the archives in Europe will let you read original documents as many are still there , again hard to do on 200 and not being able to read German . It is easier to just get your information from the Gunboards chat . I followed the guy who came up with the 1900 idea as he spent 6 months getting data to come up with the bad info , I found it interesting as I knew the truth . But some here do not what to hear the truth , so this info is not for you . But some may and this is for them .

So how does my Steyr 1894 fit into your theory? It is a M13 (has the sling swivel modification), which makes it a Austrian-Hungarian rifle and not a South American rifle (which according to you should have went straight to South America thereby avoiding the M13 modification). These rifles were not from South America, the importer himself said he got it from a Ex-Austrian-Hungarian storage (other things which he was selling at the same time was a couple 1888/90 rifles). Corwin has also been very honest and forthcoming to the firearms community so I have no reason to doubt him (unlike quite a few companies). All his rifles were M13s, which if they were from South America, they would have been a mixture of standard sling configurations, and M13 configurations not only M13.

What method did you use to get it in the white?

Brass wire rotary brush (attaches on the end of a drill). Didn't do anything to the markings but removed the crud from it. I also used it on the barrel (under the jacket) to get rid of the crap on there as well. I'll get a couple photos up in a hour or so with the results.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...vowxbbnd-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...en7bbv9v-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...4lwfp3j2-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tobo3pbs-1.jpg

Never thought a brass wheel would do that. Might have to give it a try myself. I can't get the shroud off mine. did some serious tapping on it with a hammer yesterday with no movement. Figure I don't want to bust anything so I'll leave it alone.

Yeah, mine had a little bit of movement so I was able to tighten and loosen it until it came off. The thing you need to watch with the brass wheel is that you don't press too hard, and that you only hit in the white areas as it will strip any bluing off there.

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.

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.

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.

I know what country they came from , and it is not Chile .

Which one, Equador maybe? I recall reading somewhere that they had Gewehr 88s.

Figured it out, Ecuador is the country they came from.

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 .