Not a Mosin, But Almost As Good...

[Deadly Z Driver]

Awesome deal there! Looks like a fun project! You should be charged with armed robbery... lol

 

[Westside]

 

[sgreen3]

Very cool! Nothing like a cheap project

 

[gunman41mag]

Those guns killed a lot of people in WW1

 

[Zephri]

Those people killed a lot of other people with those rifles in WW1

Fixed.

 

[LarryHoosier]

GEW88

What you have there is the "commission rifle of 1888" and the Mauser 98 model was the reason that it only had a life of 10 years. If yours is all there you did quite well. Many times they are found without bolt head and extractor, as well as missing cleaning rod. Repro bolt heads are available but at what you bought that rifle for you wouldn't want to go there. Does your rifle have any Turk marking? My 1890 Amberg was in Turkey and has markings on the bolt. The reason I bring that up is because many turk weapons had barrel replacements and the bore will not be .323 and even the german barrels aren't the .323 bore that we think of as 8mm. There is an excellent forum (GEW88 forum) that will give you specifics if you haven't discovered them as yet. Good advice is to slug that bore and know exactly what you are dealing with before reloading 8mm for it.

Sorry, I missed the last of your original post. Never mind.

 

[steif]

M88

Hi,
Yes, that is a nice rifle.
It is a model GEW 88/05 and has seen turkish service. The rear sight markings and crescent moon mark on the bolt is a clue for that.
I think it's great to shoot the .318 ammo in it, but I think the turks probably shot whatever they felt like in it..lol.. I'm not sure about shooting 323 in it either. You might find some loading data if you look up "J bore 8mm mauser" J was .318, I have a break open chambered for 8mm JR, which is by definition J bore .318 and R for rimmed. same as the mauser but rimmed. I have never loaded for it or could tell you more.

Anyway, it is a very nice rifle, and the stocks and condition is a lot better than most I have seen. If it is left as is as far as stock finish and metal condition I think it might go for more than $200-225. cleaning the stock or sanding and refinishing will reduce its value by at least half.
Interesting on the barrel band marking, I am not sure what the B7 stands for, but the RR is a reserve regiment, and the last numbers would be 5. 71 I think I see. The whole thing is B7 (unknown to me) Reserve regiment (RR) reserve regiment number 5 (5.) and weapon number 71 (71).

 

[SSGSAD]

IMHO, I would say, you did GREAT !!!!!

 

[PINski1015]

Looks great. I've never heard of that kind of rifle. What exact caliber is it? Have you posted this before? I swear I've seen this post somewhere before.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Hello,

I've not posted this before here, but I did on several other sites when I was trying to figure out what it was!

Turns out it's a $400 rifle. They're usually missing cleaning rods and are in terrible shape. Even had this one been a wall hanger, it would have been worth $200.

Made in 1892 and still precise. I'm happy!

Regards,

Josh

 

[thompal]

So, is that a Gewahr 88?? I've never seen one before.

It was your mention of 'Mauser' that got me into this thread. I used to have a K98 that I bought in the 70s for $15. I stupidly sold it at a tidy 25% profit in the 80s, and have regretted it ever since. It was a tack driver!

 

[vork08]

It's awesome to hear when someone finds a diamond in the coal. Well done!

 

[Fordtough25]

That's a neat old rifle and cheap to boot! Wow.

 

[Wabatuckian]

So, is that a Gewahr 88?? I've never seen one before.

It was your mention of 'Mauser' that got me into this thread. I used to have a K98 that I bought in the 70s for $15. I stupidly sold it at a tidy 25% profit in the 80s, and have regretted it ever since. It was a tack driver!

Hello,

That is a Gewehr 88, yes. It is also known as the 1888 Commission Rifle as it was decided upon by a commission. It's about half Mannlicher and half Mauser.

It was decided upon to replace the Mauser 1871, and came before the Mauser Gewehr 1898, which superseded it.

The original 1888 hand an en-bloc clip that ejected from the bottom. It was decidedly not rugged enough for the field and was replaced with stripper clips in the 1888/05 conversion (this is what mine is).

The barrel is free-floated. The cover allows this.

Its lugs are relatively weak as the original 7,9x57J cartridge was a 200 or 220 grain bullet pushed to only 2200fps or so. This changed after the Germans were beaten by France in the Franco-Prussian War, and the new spitzer bullet driven to almost 3000fps required a third (safety) lug. The bullet was also increased in size from 0.318" to 0.323" diameter. Though my Gew88 was modified to shoot either, using a 0.323" chamber throat but retaining the 0.318" barrel, I choose to duplicate the old J loading by necking down 8mm Mauser commercial brass or simply making it from .30-06.

It shoots nicely, and is fun. It's pretty much what I would have designed as a military bolt action, but I would have added a third safety lug ala the Mosin-Nagant, and I would not have regulated the original front sight for more than 100 meters on the battle setting. This is, of course, an American rifleman's thinking.

Regards,

Josh

 

[JohnP82]

Wow!!!! Very cool and hell of a deal! Congrats

Looks nice and very cool history with it.

 

[sgreen3]

Nice find Josh! A rifle that shoots for 37bucks heck yea

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Hello,

I've not posted this before here, but I did on several other sites when I was trying to figure out what it was!

Turns out it's a $400 rifle. They're usually missing cleaning rods and are in terrible shape. Even had this one been a wall hanger, it would have been worth $200.

Made in 1892 and still precise. I'm happy!

Regards,

Josh

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...lease_tell_me_everything_you_know_thanks.html

 

[paperboy]

$37.50 for a shootable Mauser???? Man I wish I could come across deals like that!!!! You did awesome my friend.....

 

[Wabatuckian]

Not a Mauser, a Commission Rifle!

Most don't look this good. By the way, this one was given to the Turks by the Germans in WWI...

Indy Guy... Oops! Oh well. This is a good thread too, and couldn't remember if I'd posted it before. Not an exact duplicate, anyway. Didn't know what I had before; now I do and can give history on it!

Regards,

Josh

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Congrats on the nice buy! You got lucky there!