JRD
10-19-2022, 04:44 PM
I'm trying to interpret some background on this gun. It's a Gew 88 actioned sporting rifle that we reportedly taken home as a sourvenier by a GI after WWII. The gun was said to be taken from a pile of guns to be burned in the middle of a village- so the sporterizing was done pre-war in Germany.
305861
305862
There are no makers names externally anywhere I can find on the gun. It has some nice features, and has some engraving, but honestly it impresses me more as journeyman level engraving versus true master work. Not that I'm an engraving snob, just how I perceive the gun.
Furthermore, the stock seems to have been recycled from another gun. There is a plugged hole for a recoil lug, and filled inletting for a lower tang that have been checkered over and a new recoil lug has been installed. I wonder if this was an expedient replacement or if the gun was just done one the cheap to begin with. While I describe the engraving as journeyman, the metal work seems much nicer than the wood so it makes me wonder if it's not replacement wood.
305865
Now to the proofs. This mark I believe means that it was proofed for smokeless and a "Stahl mantel geschoss" or a steel jacketed bullet and was done between 1891 and 1912.
305864
Next, I believe more nitro proof marks from before 1912, but what are the rest of the numbers? What about the star or flower symbol? Could that be a makers mark? Could the 12.10 correspond to December 1910?
305866
305867
There are stamps under the bolt too. It looks like a nitro proof stamp, that has been overstruck by a another crown symbol and a GF. The bolt with it's butterknife handle is from a Karabiner 88 or Gew 91.
305868
Finally, would this have been a surplus action that had any makers names polished off by the gunsmith, then the action was perhaps annealed, engraved, and re-case hardened? I imagine it had to be engraved before it was cased.
It's an 8mm Mauser, though I haven't measured the chamber and bore yet, I'm certain it's for the older small diameter 8mm rounds. I'll give it a good inspection and if it seems sound, I'll try some light cast bullet loads.
Thanks for any advice on interpreting the markings.
Jason
305861
305862
There are no makers names externally anywhere I can find on the gun. It has some nice features, and has some engraving, but honestly it impresses me more as journeyman level engraving versus true master work. Not that I'm an engraving snob, just how I perceive the gun.
Furthermore, the stock seems to have been recycled from another gun. There is a plugged hole for a recoil lug, and filled inletting for a lower tang that have been checkered over and a new recoil lug has been installed. I wonder if this was an expedient replacement or if the gun was just done one the cheap to begin with. While I describe the engraving as journeyman, the metal work seems much nicer than the wood so it makes me wonder if it's not replacement wood.
305865
Now to the proofs. This mark I believe means that it was proofed for smokeless and a "Stahl mantel geschoss" or a steel jacketed bullet and was done between 1891 and 1912.
305864
Next, I believe more nitro proof marks from before 1912, but what are the rest of the numbers? What about the star or flower symbol? Could that be a makers mark? Could the 12.10 correspond to December 1910?
305866
305867
There are stamps under the bolt too. It looks like a nitro proof stamp, that has been overstruck by a another crown symbol and a GF. The bolt with it's butterknife handle is from a Karabiner 88 or Gew 91.
305868
Finally, would this have been a surplus action that had any makers names polished off by the gunsmith, then the action was perhaps annealed, engraved, and re-case hardened? I imagine it had to be engraved before it was cased.
It's an 8mm Mauser, though I haven't measured the chamber and bore yet, I'm certain it's for the older small diameter 8mm rounds. I'll give it a good inspection and if it seems sound, I'll try some light cast bullet loads.
Thanks for any advice on interpreting the markings.
Jason