88 comm.rifle?

[flinter62]

Can someone tell me if small ring barrel from midway screw into 88 commison receiver? Thanks

[sturf]

The small ring barrell is made for a Mauser. The 88 or commission was made by the German Rifle Commission and predates the Mauser. Could be wrong, but I suspect they will not interchange.

[3006guns]

According to Frank de Haas' book "Bolt Action Rifles", the two are actually very close. The Commission 88 shank is .986 and the 93,94,95 and 96 are .980. The only problem I have with the idea is that a modern barrel chambered for a high intensity round is asking for trouble. The commission rifle was designed at a time when chamber pressures were lower...and life was a little slower paced!

I'd suggest using a 98 action and let the poor 88 have a well deserved rest.[smilie=1:

[3006guns]

Forgot to mention that all the actions mentioned have 12 threads per inch. My advice still stands though.........

[flinter62]

I was planning on Cal. 7mm,6.5 swede or even 35 rem. Think that's feasible?

[3006guns]

If the 7mm you mentioned is the 7x57 mauser, I would say all three are doable. By "high intensity" I meant a magnum or hot wildcat. I would still recommend taking the action to a gunsmith that knows rebarreling and get an opinion. The 88 action is not particularly sought after for sporter conversions (weak and easily broken extractor, needs a clip to use as a repeater) and there's a ton of good 98's out there, so why not build something you KNOW is good. In fact, certain parts of the 88 such as bolt heads and extractors are getting hard to find and may have enough value to a collector that he would swap for a 98 action.:)

I have two 88's myself, a carbine and full length rifle. I shoot cast in both sized to .320 if memory serves. Most of the originals had a .318 bore for the earlier 8mm Mauser round. The later 8mm size is .323. American ammo manufacturers have known this for years and deliberately sold a slightly undersized bullet in 8mm Mauser. Less liability if fired in the Commission 88 which could come apart if the pressure got jacked too high. Some of the 88's were rebored (by the Nazis) deepening the grooves to allow firing the .323 bullet. If this was done to your action it will have an "S" stamped on top of the receiver ring.

[Trailblazer]

I wonder if the 1889 Mauser has the same threads as the 88? If so they are close to a small ring but not quite the same. Numrich had 1889 Mauser barrels in 30-06 for cheap a while ago. A fellow tinkerer put one on a small ring threaded Turk Mauser. He had to deepen the threads a little and shorten the shank to put it on the Turk and then deepen the chamber.

[KCSO]

The Model 88 was originaly offered in a sporting version in 7-8-9 mm ctgs. All were 40,000 pound range. The s/r bbl can be adapted and the 35 remington is really close to the 9mm mauser ctg, but then why not go with the 9mm to start with. I am kinda with you on this one as I had a M88 carbine that was one handy slick shootin' gun and I wish I had rebarreled it rather than selling it. I have shot a M88 sporting rifle in 9mm and it was a nice outfit, I wish I would have had the $900 the fellow was asking.

[flinter62]

Thanks guys. I was just thinking of doing something different.Uncle give me rifle 40 years ago. Shoots good with cbs stock just not the best shape.