Mystery GEW88

[mikeym1a]

Recently saw a GEW88 barreled action on fleabay. Seller had stripped the rifle and sold off a lot of the parts. Described barrel as being shiny with good rifling. So, took a chance. When it came in today, I looked it over. Marked on the side GEW 88, as normal. NO arsenal mark or date. Only one proof mark on receiver. Barrel is very nice looking. No serial number on barrel, on the 'Z' in a circle. Made a chamber cast, and it is the 8X57I. Throat measures .318. Bore measures .307, grooves .318. My other '88's have many marks everywhere, this one very few. Anyone have any idea when this was made and where? The barrel is very clean, and sharp rifling. Thanks!! :D

[frnkeore]

Can we get pictures? Always worth a couple of thousand words :)

Frank

[mikeym1a]

Photos, as requested. 8-)

8053380534805358053680537

[frnkeore]

That's a great find, Mike and a very unique receiver. As I'm sure you know, the serial number are stamped on the receiver ring foreward of the GEW 88, with a letter prefix and numbers up to 9999. I see something there, could you do a close up of it?

I've never seen one with the receiver ring unmarked. The serial #'s go with the receiver markings, giving what company made it and what year, other wise a serial # doesn't mean anything. Also it's not modified to take stripper clips. It's as clean a receiver as I've ever seen for a 88.

Maybe it was made to sell commerially, as a sporter? I've seen two of those but, they are usually marked on the receiver by the company finishing them, but, that one doesn't appaer to have gone past the barreling step.

Try posting your receiver at these sites for a answer:

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/forums/92/GEW-1888-Commission-Rifles

http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?14-Mannlicher-Steyr-amp-Blackpowder-Cartridge-Rifles

Frank

[Dutchman]

No serial number on barrel, on the 'Z' in a circle.

Czech replacement barrel on an Ecuadorian Gewehr 1888.

Mine specs the same on bore & groove.

Dutch

[mikeym1a]

Czech replacement barrel on an Ecuadorian Gewehr 1888.

Mine specs the same on bore & groove.

Dutch
Does your have any arsenal or date stamp?

[mikeym1a]

That's a great find, Mike and a very unique receiver. As I'm sure you know, the serial number are stamped on the receiver ring foreward of the GEW 88, with a letter prefix and numbers up to 9999. I see something there, could you do a close up of it?

I've never seen one with the receiver ring unmarked. The serial #'s go with the receiver markings, giving what company made it and what year, other wise a serial # doesn't mean anything. Also it's not modified to take stripper clips. It's as clean a receiver as I've ever seen for a 88.

Maybe it was made to sell commerially, as a sporter? I've seen two of those but, they are usually marked on the receiver by the company finishing them, but, that one doesn't appaer to have gone past the barreling step.

Try posting your receiver at these sites for a answer:

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums.yuku.com/forums/92/GEW-1888-Commission-Rifles

http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?14-Mannlicher-Steyr-amp-Blackpowder-Cartridge-Rifles

Frank

Just finished reading one of the above posts. My mystery gun was apparently a South American gun with a czech replacement barrel which was apparently made in the 20's & 30's. This was a complete rifle until the vendor I bought the barreled action from got it and stripped it for sale. I'll made it into a usable rifle, and shoot it, as it has a new steel barrel, and like new rifling. It also tells me about my other two, and where they fall in. Interesting stuff.

[mikeym1a]

Oh, the serial # is 2907C. The '2907' is on one line, and below the 9 is the 'C'.

[Dutchman]

Does your have any arsenal or date stamp?

Yep. Ludwig Loewe 1891.

Don't know why your mfg crest was scrubbed. Some things will just always be a mystery :).

Dutch

[mikeym1a]

Yep. Ludwig Loewe 1891.

Don't know why your mfg crest was scrubbed. Some things will just always be a mystery :).

Dutch

There is no indication that the receiver has been scrubbed. If that had occurred, the receiver would be slightly flattened, or out of round. There is no evidence of that. It appears that it was never marked, at least to my eyes. And, there is only 1 proof mark on the right side of the receiver. My other two have 3. It is a curiosity.

[frnkeore]

I can see no evidence the the receiver ring is modified in any way, it looks pristeen. I never seen one serial numbered that way, either. I have 6 of these receivers (4 rifles, 2 barreled receivers) and they have numbers preceeded by a letter. I've handled about 10 others, all numbered the same way and seen pictures of many, many more, again with numbers in line with and preceeded by a letter. In it's day, it would not have been able to be traced w/o the receiver stamp and date, but there may be 22,906 more of them by your serial #.

Since it's so different, I'd be temped to build it into a very rare Wehrmann GEW 88. I have a GEW 98 Wehrmann but the 88 is extreemly rare.

Frank

[Syntax Error]

Looks like an unconverted Gew 88 action. During WW1, the Germans converted a lot of their old Gew 88s in stockpile as emergency ersatz weapons for second-line troops. They milled away some of the left side of the receiver as a thumb groove, welded on a clip guide, and rebarreled/rebored the barrel to .323" for the standard S round (8x57).

[mikeym1a]

I may have solved the mystery of my 'mystery' action. I pulled the action out of the stock to make a chamber cast for my Steyr action, and do the same for my 'mystery action. With them sitting side by side, I noticed that the Serial #'s were done in the same manner. The four digits of the number, with the letter centered under the numbers. On the right side of the receivers is a single proof mark, a 'crown' over what appears to be either IR or 1R. Can't tell which, even with a magnifier. Perhaps they were both made by Steyr, as they are marked the same way. My '94 dated Steyr has an 89xx serial with the letter 'd', while the 'mystery' has serial 29XX with the letter 'C'. It would appear the 'mystery' receiver, if it was made by Steyr, is the older unit, although it has a new(er) barrel. I will try to shoot it tomorrow. :D

[gew98]

Looks like an unconverted Gew 88 action. During WW1, the Germans converted a lot of their old Gew 88s in stockpile as emergency ersatz weapons for second-line troops. They milled away some of the left side of the receiver as a thumb groove, welded on a clip guide, and rebarreled/rebored the barrel to .323" for the standard S round (8x57).

OK ; Some common errors here. The gew88's were NOT rebored. They were nominally .321 bores and only had their throats enlarged for obvious reasons (with the S patronen adoptionin 1903 ) . The typical conversion for S patronen on chargers was a milled cut to the receiver ring and a slightly relieved reciver wall for loading chargers , as well as the charger guides pinned/welded to receiver bridge.And of coures a modified magazine.The german mods to gew88's to make them S patrone compliant did not kick off until fiscal year 1905. Before and even after that many were sold off surplus. Many more unfinished peices were made into sporters of varying qualit for the sportsman market worldwide. Typically the rifles so made for sporting purposes had the tight .318 bore and some even the tighter bore like the 8.1x46R.
Anyhow these former south american reworked/rebarreled rifles are not rare , and usually exibit tomato stake exterior condition. I've encountered them with struck out arsenal markings and scrubbed..to include some so worn they appeared scrubbed. Measure your receiver rings and get an average and that will likely tell you you have a very worn and or scrubbed receiver. No mystery here to me.

PS , Many frontline german units carried the gew88 in 1914-1915 , especially on the eastern front.

[mikeym1a]

The mystery part was the lack of an arsenal marking. Some of these are very prominent, some very light. This action is very clean. It shows nominal wear. The proof mark on the right side is fairly clear. If it was badly worn, or the action scrubbed, it wouldn't be. Other sources I have read stated that the Czech's made replacement barrels for the south american guns in the 20's and 30's. This barrel has the Czech Z in a circle. The bore exhibits some wear, but only a little. Yes. There is no great mystery here. Sorry to disappoint you. It was only a small mystery that interested me, and which got several very nice replies. Have a nice day.

[Eddie1971]

Any new info on this topic? I ask because I have found a mint all numbers matching Gew 88 with no receiver marking stamp, but all other markings are as clear as can be.