Need some lowdown on a Gew88!

[Anzac15]

Finally broke down last weekend and bought my first Gew88. It is a Spandau made in 1890. Receiver is marked with the 'S', but aside from that, no modifications have been done to the rifle. No charger bridge, no notch in too of the receiver ring to clear the new cartridge, no tin cover over the hole at the bottom of the magazine. What gives? I have never encountered a rifle that is so full of 'mystery' concerning ammunition. Have always wanted one of these, it's kind of a 'must have' I guess you could say in the way of European military firearm development. Would also like to put a few rounds through her, not often, but just enough to say I have! Rifle is in very decent condition, good bore, everything feels tight. Mismatched bolt, of course. Any thoughts on this old girl would be appreciated. Thanks!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[burb1989]

I love those old "mystery" rifles too! I`m a bolt-action rifle collector and a German rifle was top on my list. I went to a gun show trying to buy a mauser and come out with an 1894 Steyr commission rifle. The whole thing is mismatched but I found out during the period this was commonplace when they needed the rifles that badly. It has all original, period correct parts for it, it never went to Turkey, and has an Imperial Germany bolt on it. Concerning the ammunition it can be tricky to find ammo for it but I found some 8 X 57J ammunition at old western scrounger a few months back. Just because the barrel has the 'S' doesn`t mean the 8 X 57JS ammo will work for it since the gun is so old and higher charge ammo could turn it into a pipe bomb. But still it is a neat piece of history since it is the only "modern" rifle in Germany`s history that was never touched by the Mauser Brothers.

[Anzac15]

True! Mauser was a bit peeved that he hadn't been consulted...
The thing that was puzzling me about this rifle was that, again, there are no modifications to this rifle. Just the 'S' designation. I was under the impression that all 'S' stamped rifles received the notch, thumb notch, charger guides and metal plate on the bottom of the magazine. I am primarily interested in British hardware ( Lee Enfields, Martinis, etc) but these old Teutonic gals have really grabbed my interest lately.

[Patrick Chadwick]

The thing that was puzzling me about this rifle was that, again, there are no modifications to this rifle. Just the 'S' designation. I was under the impression that all 'S' stamped rifles received the notch, thumb notch, charger guides and metal plate on the bottom of the magazine.

Not so. There is nothing peculiar about your rifle - there were 2 major stages of development of the Gew.88:

1) The "S" (spitzer) bullet was approved in 1903. Pre-1903 Gew.88 barrels were reamed out in the chamber to accommodate the slightly fatter neck of the "Patrone S"cartridge with the 0.323" bullet and provide a longer lead. Rifles built or adapted to take the "Patrone S" were marked with the S stamp.

2) The Gew.88/05 was approved in 1905. This version had the modified magazine and loading bridge for the Gew.98 -type loading clip.

As usual in such matters, production limitations meant that by no means all rifles made it back to an arsenal for upgrading. So there are Gew.88s around in various stages of upgrading - original, S-barrel, and '05 conversions. A hand-me-down policy of distributing new rifles to first-line troops and passing older versions on to reserve units and the colonies meant that the older the rifle, the more likely it was to end up in a rack in the backwoods and remain undisturbed for decades!

[Anzac15]

Thanks Patrick. I didn't really think there was anything peculiar about it, I just kept seeing info saying that the S stamped rifles usually had these modifications.
So, in a nutshell, what would be a safe round to put through this? Or is this a rifle that only should be used with hand loads?

[Patrick Chadwick]

So, in a nutshell, what would be a safe round to put through this?

Officially: the normal 8x57IS. But that was 110 years ago! If it was mine, I would do the same as for any rifle of that age - start at the bottom end of whatever your reloading manual advises. Full-power military loads are not necessary for accuracy, and harder on the rifle, your shoulder and your wallet. Not that I think it will go to pieces, but why hammer the locking lugs and bearing surfaces harder than necessary?

[Anzac15]

Exactly. Actually, I'm not really concerned about accuracy with this rifle (well, not overly). I'd just like to be able to put a few rounds through it now and again. Like you said, she's old, she is what she is. No need to beat it up any more than it has been! Thanks again!

[jmoore]

The factory Remington ammo seems to be fine in these rifles. It's fairly underpowered just because of these chamber and bore variations. Funnily enough, it's proven to be quite accurate out of a couple of K98k rifles in the past couple of years. The older ammo didn't seem as good. Last outing we shot the 170gr RN bullets out to 500 yards. Just had to crank in some moe elevation.

[kanterj]

I too am confused about one of my 88s. What is the correct trigger guard/magazine. I am building this rifle, so I don't have the original configuration. My guess that I have a 05 modification for the reciever. What is the correct trigger guard. I have one that is the original and I have the bottom cover. Ialso have one that has a box-like fixture and only one spring. I have a hunch that this is for the 14. Which is the correct one to use?

[kanterj]

I'm replying to myself. The boxy trigger guard is for an 05. This was in my Gewehr 88 reference book. I guess I can use both types.