1888 Commission Rifle

[Eaglelord17]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share with you all my latest acquisition. It is a 1888 Commission rifle. I am really not sure what to call this particular model as it is a bit odd.

When I bought it I kinda jumped on it quickly as I thought it was a 1888'S' rifle (the variant which the 1888/05s were made out of and is also fairly rare as most were converted to 88/05s or 88/14s). Due to some pictures that only showed the receiver and the whole rifle, and the fact that it used the mannlicher clips still I thought it was a simple decision.

Well I have it now, and it is a Turkish 'capture' rifle (wasn't advertised as one, however they didn't say it wasn't either), and it is a complete mismatch (only part that isn't is the barrel jacket and receiver). That all being said, I am still happy with it and I still paid a reasonable price for it.

Now for the questions. This particular rifle was at one point a 88/05 rifle, which was then reconverted back to using mannlicher clips, by removing the charger guide, and the round holder (magazine lip?) from the receiver. The Turkish, apparently much preferred the standard 88/05 configuration as they would rather have the rifles using the same stripper clips as their Mausers. Would this conversion have been done by the Turks or by someone after being sold on the civilian market? It doesn't make much sense for either to do so unless someone wanted a .323 bore rifle with the mannlicher clips, or the Turkish ran out of 88/05 parts in the rebuild process and converted this back to the original configuration because of that.

Also I know the barrel band isn't from this rifle originally, however I am interested in who the barrel band originally belonged to, so if someone would be able to identify the regimental markings that would be great.

Any opinions are welcome, now for some photos








Sorry about the blurriness of the above picture, the intent is to show the cut in the receiver for the magazine round holder.

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