The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The North Corral > Curios and Relics

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old May 8, 2010, 04:47 PM   #1
clintj
Junior Member
 
Join Date: February 6, 2010
Posts: 3
Can anyone identify this?

Thanks guys. It was my dad's and what you see is what I know about it!






clintj is offline  
Old May 8, 2010, 04:59 PM   #2
Clark500
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 12, 2010
Posts: 168
Looks like a Gewehr 88. The bolt appears to have the Arabic numbers 2 and 7 along with the crescent moon. A commision rifle for a middle eastern country maybe?
Clark500 is offline  
Old May 8, 2010, 05:01 PM   #3
Stnwll
Junior Member
 
Join Date: October 17, 2009
Posts: 4
Looks like a 1888 Commission rifle. Made in Danzig. Somewhere along the line the Turkish military had possession of at least the bolt. Looks like a replaced barrel too.
I have one that was re-arsenaled by the Turks in 1938. Standard 7.92 caliber was part of the upgrade. Yours has the curved cutout in the receiver for the 7.92 spitzer ammo as well.

I think I got all the terms correct. Drawing on memory ya know.

Someone will correct me if necessary.
Stnwll is offline  
Old May 8, 2010, 05:03 PM   #4
kodiakbeer
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 10, 2010
Location: Kodiak, Alaska
Posts: 791
It's a Gewehr 88 Commission rifle which was the German military rifle that preceded the Gewehr 98 - the Mauser. It's based on the Mannlicher design.

I can't tell if it's the long or short version.

Last edited by kodiakbeer; May 8, 2010 at 05:04 PM. Reason: Edited to say - damn, you guys are quick!
kodiakbeer is offline  
Old May 8, 2010, 05:57 PM   #5
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
The Model 1888 was loaded with a 5 round "en bloc" clip and was chambered for an 8x57 round using a bullet with a diameter of .318 inches, called in the civilian world the 8x57I.* It was found that the rifling was subject to corrosion and erosion and the rifling was deepened even though the bore diameter (.311") was not changed. Later, the same case was enlarged at the neck to take a .323" bullet. The civilian name for the new round was 8x57IS. The military, in the perverse ways of the military, changed the name of the cartridge from 8mm to 7.9mm, even though the bullet was actually larger!

In any case, the old rifles were converted simply by reaming the chamber, thus enlarging the chamber neck to prevent high pressures, and altering the magazine to use the new ["stripper"] clip, so that standard 7.9 ammunition could be used. Later, many of those rifles were given to Germany's ally, Turkey, and some remained in service for many years in that country.

*The I stands for Infanterie (pronounced Infan ter' ee); but at the time, there was no "J" in German. In other words the German alphabet had only one letter between "H" and "K", though it could be pronounced either as an English "I" or as a "Y". Many non-German companies adopted the "J" instead of the correct "I" for the ammunition, and that has stuck, so the cartridges are also called the 8x57J and 8x57JS.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old May 9, 2010, 03:02 PM   #6
clintj
Junior Member
 
Join Date: February 6, 2010
Posts: 3



Here are some other photos. So does it have any value?


BTW Thanks everyone!

Last edited by clintj; May 9, 2010 at 03:09 PM.
clintj is offline  
Old May 9, 2010, 04:17 PM   #7
simonkenton
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 25, 2008
Posts: 891
Guys is that the original stock?
It looks sporterized to me.
simonkenton is offline  
Old May 9, 2010, 04:21 PM   #8
Hawg
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 8, 2007
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 16,177
It's original but has been refinished.
Hawg is offline  
Old May 9, 2010, 07:12 PM   #9
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
They had been selling for around $150, but maybe bring more now. Not a high ticket gun, but an interesting one with a lot of history.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old May 9, 2010, 08:59 PM   #10
tater134
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 22, 2009
Location: NE,PA
Posts: 390
Quote:
They had been selling for around $150, but maybe bring more now. Not a high ticket gun, but an interesting one with a lot of history.

Jim
Prices have risen a bit lately.Its pretty hard to find one below $250 in my area.The refinished stock will hurt the value a little bit but if all the bolt parts are there I think $200 would be a good estimate on value.
tater134 is offline  
Old May 10, 2010, 11:27 PM   #11
clintj
Junior Member
 
Join Date: February 6, 2010
Posts: 3
Thanks everyone, and yes everything is there. We have even shot it when I was younger.
clintj is offline  
Old May 11, 2010, 07:10 AM   #12
Esteban32696
Member
 
Join Date: February 10, 2010
Location: Fl.
Posts: 80
A lot of info on here.

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/vie...4d26343fcccc11
Esteban32696 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:19 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.07752 seconds with 8 queries