Finally! 1888 Commission Rifle (pic heavy)

[Rongo]

Finally found a nice 1888 Commission Rifle. I have been hunting for a nice one for some time & finally found this beauty. It's an 1890 Spandau, Still good bore, bright & shiny barrel, complete bolt, cleaning rod, nice stock with a late WWI expedient bayonet with frog & vintage sling. Previous owner tested headspace & it passed. I will test soon myself but am unsure if I want to mess with the extractor. I may dremel a notch in the gauge to avoid it. Previous owner was getting 8" groups at 135 yds with handloads. In his notes he stated he used .318 bullets but I plan on slugging it to verify. Also, the bayonet was entered into an exhibition & received third place back in 2008 & got the ribbon & placard in the deal.

The stock had a decent crack at the crossbolt but I Gorilla Glued it & it's better than new with no evidence of the repair. Barrel sleeve threaded right off & I was pleased to see it was rust-free underneath. Screws are not buggered, sling is solid but a bit dry & the frog & bayonet are both in excellent shape. Overall I am very happy I held off for a good representative & didn't settle for the first one that came along. 8)

Here's some pics of it;


Gew 88 Commission rifle with bayonet, stripper clip & vintage sling


Repaired crack




Repaired crack on other side

[desdem12]

Nice

[Ban-One]

Thats a great looking rifle! I have become interested in these again and I have been reading everything I can get my internet hands on. They are a beautiful rifle with a great history behind them. Is there any commercial ammo availble for these or is this going to be a handload only?

[Rongo]

Thats a great looking rifle! I have become interested in these again and I have been reading everything I can get my internet hands on. They are a beautiful rifle with a great history behind them. Is there any commercial ammo availble for these or is this going to be a handload only?

One can shoot a limited amount of mild commercial loads in the 150grn range or less but hand-loads are strongly recommended.

[Ban-One]

Thanks Rongoman. I have been reading that these rifles with an "S" mark on the top of the reciever have most likely been converted so that the barrel has been resized for the .323 bullet and the chamber has been enlarged for the larger 8mm Mauser round as well, but that the pressures of military surplus ammo might be too great for a 100+ year old chamber. I would like to get a nice GEW 88 that could safely shoot the 8mm Mauser round but I still want to read up on this. This is one of the things that I love about these old rifles...you cant just pull one off the shelf and go take it to the range without doing your homework. Congrats on a great looking rifle!

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

I'm interested in finding a bayonet for mine, but there were no dedicated bayonets, were there?

Where can I find one that will work, or was modified to work?

I do like the long German sword type of that period, but will take any out there.

I'm looking to spend as little as possible as this will probably be used a couple times.

Thanks,

Josh

[Junk Yard Dog]

" this will probably be used a couple times" What exactly were you planning to use that bayonet for Josh? Pesky neighbors? Bayonets tend to get expensive when they are 19th century German, I will keep an eye out while I am trolling GB, something may turn up.

[Hlavinka]

Wow! That's a beaut!