Markings on Mauser 1888 Commission Rifle enbloc clips

[NikA]

Picked up a clip of M/88 ammo (RN .318) dated 1911 in a suspiciously clean enbloc clip. I'm curious if anyone here has info on what markings might distinguish original clips from the OWS/Numrich repros? I would hate to use a nice original and have it be damaged.

Won't be shooting the ammo as my commission rifle is S-marked and therefore probably .323 groove (will measure before loading).

[hornady308]

Wish I could help, but my only clip is one of the repros from Numrich. I had to beat the Hades out of it just to get it to feed a little bit. By the way, the Lee 8mm Karabiner mold from Midsouth shoots great out of my '88. In fact, I may get an extra mold just so I can remove the gas check as I do not believe it is needed.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/000068mmkar/8mm-karabiner-215-grain-double-cavity-reproduction-mold

[Texas by God]

S- marked 88s usually just had the ball seat ( throat) enlarged; the bore should still be .318".
Slug it and see and let us know.
I wouldn't shoot that old ammo with high expectations- save it for collecting.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Gewehr-Guy]

NikA, my clips appear to be originals,and I will describe them as best as I can. The circular hole in the sides measure 1.255 in. dia.,
the length from the back to front 1.945 in., the height of the back spline is 1.900 and has raised "hump" .395 in. long that secures the clip in the magazine. On each end of the raised hump is a triangular cutout appr. .185 in length, and the back spline has a small line or letter I stamped on one end. The finish on mine are quite worn, but show they were straw-light plum color and one was light blue. Hope that helps.

[NikA]

Thanks for the info guys. It'll be a while before I get a chance to measure or shoot this one, I just moved and it's been stored elsewhere during the process.

Gewehr-Guy, do your clips have a small circular marking on one of the flat sides towards the front of the circular cutout? That is the only feature I can see in some photos of original clips (and on my clip) that I do not see on reproductions.

The clip in this picture has the marking I'm describing in the lower left: https://78.media.tumblr.com/2983bcac1ce32ac96f798a527315438f/tumblr_inline_orbulnecoY1rq29x2_1280.jpg

I guess I have to pick up a couple repro clips in the future to for sure and have spares.

[Gewehr-Guy]

You have good eyes, as I missed seeing the little circle. I have 4 clips, two have the circle, two do not, but all appear to be identical otherwise. Now as I am looking at the two circle marks, one is smaller dia. than the other, so there must have been many different suppliers of clips to feed these rifles. Probably 100 million of them in the bottom of the WW-1 trenches.

[KenT7021]

If the clip doesn't work and possibly won't fit in the receiver it is a Numrich clip.