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Gewehr 1888

The Gewehr 88 (commonly called the Model 1888 commission rifle) was a late 19th-century German bolt-action rifle, adopted in 1888.

Model 1888 commission rifle / Gewehr 88
TypeService rifle
Place of originGerman Empire
Service history
In service1888–1945
Used by25+ countries
See Users
Wars25+ wars
See Conflicts
Production history
DesignerGerman Rifle Commission
ManufacturerLudwig Loewe, C.G. Haenel, ŒWG, Imperial Arsenals of Amberg, Danzig, Erfurt, and Spandau, Hanyang Arsenal
Produced1888–1899
No. built2,800,000
VariantsGewehr 88/05, Gewehr 88/14, Karabiner 88, Hanyang 88 (unlicensed copy)
Specifications
Mass3.9 kg (8.6 lb)
3.1 kg (6 lb 13 oz) (Karabiner 88)
Length1,245 mm (49.0 in)
950 mm (37 in) (Karabiner 88)
Barrel length740 mm (29.1 in)
490 mm (19 in) (Karabiner 88)

CartridgeM/88
7.92×57mm Mauser from Gewehr 88/05 onwards
7×57mm Mauser(Karabiner 88;A small amount is exported to Brazil)[1]
ActionBolt action
Muzzle velocityWith m/88 620 m/s (2066 fps), 8mm Mauser 868 m/s (2847 fps)
Feed system5 round clip in a fixed external magazine

The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large-bore black powder rifles then in use obsolete. To keep pace with the French (who had adopted smokeless powder "small bore" ammunition for their Lebel Model 1886 rifle) the Germans adopted the Gewehr 88 using its own new Patrone 88 cartridge, which was also designed by the German Rifle Commission.[2] The rifle was one of many weapons in the arms race between the Germanic states and France, and with Europe in general. There were also two carbine versions, the Karabiner 88 for mounted troops and the Gewehr 91 for artillery. Later models provided for loading with stripper clips (Gewehr 88/05s and Gewehr 88/14s) and went on to serve in World War I to a limited degree. Unlike many German service rifles before and after, it was not developed by Mauser but the arms commission, and Mauser was one of the few major arms manufacturers in Germany that did not produce Gewehr 88s.[3]

Design edit

In 1886, fifteen years after their defeat by German forces in the Franco-Prussian War, the French Army introduced the new Lebel magazine rifle firing an 8 mm high-velocity projectile propelled by the new smokeless powder. This made Germany's rifle, the Mauser Model 1871, obsolete due to its large and slow 11 mm round propelled by black powder. The practical result was that the French rifle had greater accuracy and range, and needed cleaning much less often, giving French troops a tactical advantage over the German Army. In response the German Army's Rifle Testing Commission developed the Gewehr 88 which was adopted for service in 1888. For this reason the Gewehr 88 is also known as the "commission rifle," or "Kommissionsgewehr".

Cartridge edit

 
1888 pattern M/88 (left) alongside the 1905 pattern 7.92×57mm Mauser S Patrone

The first step was to select a new cartridge. This began by adapting a Swiss design, resulting in the Patrone 88 or M/88 of 1888, an 8 mm rimless "necked" cartridge (bullet diameter 8.08 mm/.318 in) loaded with an 8.08 mm (.318 in) 14.6 g (226 gr) round-nose bullet propelled by a single-base smokeless powder. In 1905, the 8 mm M/88 cartridge was replaced by the 7.92×57mm Mauser S Patrone (ball cartridge) which was loaded with a new 8.20 mm (.323 in) 9.9 g (154 gr) spitzer bullet and more powerful double-base smokeless powder, resulting in nearly 40% higher muzzle velocity and 30% more muzzle energy.

Receiver and magazine edit

 
Five-round clip with 1888 pattern M/88 ammunition

The Gewehr 1888 is a further development of the receiver and bolt of the Gewehr 1871 combined with a Mannlicher magazine. It has a receiver with a "split bridge" (i.e., the bolt passes through the receiver and locks in front of the rear bridge); a rotating bolt head; and the characteristic Mannlicher-style "packet loading" or "en-bloc" system in which cartridges are loaded into a steel carrier (an en bloc clip) which is inserted into the magazine, where it holds the cartridges in alignment over a spring. As shots are fired the clip remains in place until the last round is chambered, at which point it drops through a hole in the bottom of the rifle. This system was used in almost all Mannlicher designs and derivatives, and while it allows for speedy reloading, it also creates an entry point for dirt. To settle a patent infringement claim by Steyr-Mannlicher, Germany contracted the Austro-Hungarian company to be one of the manufacturers of Gewehr 88s, and Mannlicher together with Otto Schönauer derived from the Mauser-Schlegelmilch design a whole family of turn-bolt actions, the last of which was serially produced until 1970s.

Bolt and barrel edit

The commission rifle's bolt action design was a commission modified Mauser action. The barrel design and rifling were virtually copied from the French Lebel. The rifle has an odd appearance as the entire 'floating' barrel is encased in a sheet metal tube for protection, but with the tube removed the rifle looks rather modern. This tube was intended to increase accuracy by preventing the barrel from directly contacting the stock, but in practice it increased the risk of rusting by providing a space for water to be trapped if the rifle was exposed to harsh conditions. The Karabiner 88 utilized a different bolt handle, which resembled those found on commercial sporting rifles.

Service history edit

Some early models had flaws due to rushed ammunition production. This was used in 1892 by the then notorious anti-Semitic agitator Hermann Ahlwardt, member of the German Reichstag, to spread an anti-semitic conspiracy theory. Many of the Gewehr 88-rifles were produced by the armament manufacturer Loewe & Company, whose chairman was Jewish entrepreneur Isidor Loewe. Isidor Loewe also held a controlling interest in the Waffenfabrik Mauser. According to Ahlwardt's claims, Loewe would either deliberately supply the German army with insufficient rifles, or, along with other Jews, secretly exchange rifles with flawed ones after they had passed the reliability tests. Ahlwardt accused Loewe of being a spy for France, and denounced the rifle as a Judenflinte ("Jews' musket"). After these claims were found insupportable, Ahlwardt was sentenced to 4 months in prison for malicious falsehood.[3][4]

Part of the production run was exported to China (see lower) or Latin America (for example Brazil army use them in War of Canudos in 1896–1897). The commission rifle saw field service with Germany's colonial expansion, including in China during the Boxer Rebellion (with the Gewehr 88s and the unlicensed Hanyang 88 copies also being used by the opposing Chinese troops),[5] and served as a front line weapon for German troops during World War I until 1915 when the supply of Gewehr 98s increased. When Germany replaced the 88 with the Gewehr 98, many of the rifles were given to Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire during World War I because both states had a shortage of rifles (however, it was used extensively by the Turkish Army even through the 1930s and 1940s). Many Gewehr 88 rifles stayed in active service in second-line units, reserves, and in armies allied with the Germans through and well past World War I.

Most of the Gewehr 88s seen in the US are the ones that were given to the Turkish forces in World War I and have been modified from the original design.[citation needed] The Turks issued these and updated versions at least as late as the 1930s. Gewehr 88/05 rifles were also used by Yugoslavia,[6] Czechoslovakia (for example as modified guard shotgun),[7] and Poland. Gewehr 88 rifles have been used widely during post World War I revolutions, uprisings and wars (on both sides of the Russian Civil War, the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–20), the Greater Poland Uprising (1918–19), the Silesian Uprisings, the Turkish War of Independence, the Polish–Soviet War,[8] by the Ulster Volunteers and by Lithuanians in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence). About 5,500 Gewehr and Karabiner 88s were delivered to the Lithuanian Army in 1919–1920 (granted by Germany and sold by France and the UK). Used by the paramilitary Rifle Union, the rest were kept in the storage and were re-barreled before World War II. Inter-war Germany used Gewehr 88 rifles only for the militia. Gewehr 88 rifles were also used in the Spanish Civil War by both sides.[9] At the beginning of World War II some Gewehr 88 rifles were still in use, by second line units or paramilitary organizations (or partisans) in Poland[10] and Yugoslavia.[11] Some of the ex-UVF rifles were used by Home Guard in the United Kingdom in 1940.[12] Ethiopean rifles (some ex-UVF rifles also found their way there) also saw action during the East African Campaign. These rifles were also used by the German Volkssturm in 1944–1945.[13]

 
Gewehr 1888 and its copy Hanyang 88 were the main rifles in China for over 50 years.

China also used this rifle extensively during the Qing dynasty and the Republican era. China first bought Gewehr 88 rifles for the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 and after that started production of the unlicensed Hanyang 88 copy. In the beginning of the 20th century China bought for a second time a large number of original Gewehr 88 rifles. During the following 50 years, the rifle and its Hanyang 88 copy were used in the Xinhai Revolution, the Chinese Civil War and the War of Resistance against Japan and proved more than adequate against the Japanese Arisaka Type 38 rifle, though the latter was newer by 30 years. The last time they saw action in Chinese service was during the Korean War, where some of them were captured and taken to the US as souvenirs.[14]

The rifle was adopted during a period of rapid development in firearms technology, and marked Germany's shift to a smokeless powder. This explains why its period as the primary German service rifle was just over a dozen years, but it remained in limited service for much longer. In 1898 a Mauser design was adopted, the Gewehr 98, which was the culmination of a series of Mauser models in the 1890s. It was a superior replacement using the same ammunition with a stronger powder charge. However, this rifle soon had to be converted to fire the new Spitzer round that Germany adopted after the turn of the century. With these modifications the newer design remained in use until the end of World War II.

The Gewehr 88 was also sometimes made into very elegant sporting rifles by gunsmiths in Germany. Examples of these usually show first-class workmanship and special features such as folding sights and altered bolt handles. Some Karabiner 88 carbines are known to have been produced in 7×57mm Mauser instead of the usual M/88 or the 7.92×57mm Mauser chambering.[15] These were likely intended for sale in South America, where use of the 7×57mm cartridge was widespread. All known 7×57mm Karabiner 88s were produced by Haenel.

Variants edit

 
Karabiner 88, German bolt-action carbine variants of Gewehr 1888

At the time of adoption, the M/88 "Patrone 7.9 mm" was loaded with a 14.6 g (226 gr) round nose bullet that measured 8.08 mm (.318 in) in diameter. In 1894/95 the German Army changed the barrel specifications from 7.9/8.1 mm to 7.9/8.2 mm hoping to improve accuracy and Gewehr 88 rifles made from that date on had different bores. The 8.08 mm (.318 in) bullet diameter however remained unchanged. After 1895 most Gewehr 1888 rifles were regrooved. In 1903, the Germany Army adopted a new service cartridge that fired lighter bullets measuring 8.20 mm (.323 in) in diameter. From then on, many Gewehr 88 rifles were rechambered to fire the new 1903 pattern 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge becoming Gewehr 88 S rifles.[2] This rechambering required more work as the 7.92×57mm Mauser chambering required a wider chamber throat to take the thicker brass of the new 1903 pattern cartridge. 7.92×57mm Mauser adapted rifles have the receiver marked with a large "S" rollmark. From 1905 the rifles were also converted to use the Gewehr 98 type stripper clip by adding stripper clip guides to the top rear of the receiver and altering the magazine becoming Gewehr 88/05 rifles. After the start of World War 1, some of the remaining Gewehr 88 S rifles were modified to the Gewehr 88/14 standard, which was generally similar to Gewehr 88/05 but with cruder workmanship. Some 88's were sold to various nations or armed groups, or captured in combat and therefore a wide variety of markings can be found such as Bulgarian stars, English proofs, Turkish crescents and symbols, Polish eagles etc. Gew 88's were re-serialized by the army capturing them in some rare cases (i.e.; Greece/Turks) or/and when they were re-barrelled. The markings found on Gew 88's are very extensive and therefore are a topic of their own.

Modern ammunition use edit

The maximum operating pressure for the Gewehr 88 commission rifle is less than that of any 8 mm Mauser rifle, as the makers of the Gewehr 88 did not fully understand the greater energy of smokeless powder compared to black powder. Shooters planning to use modern 8 mm ammunition in a Gewehr 88 slug their bore and chamber as there are four different possible bores and grooves and chamber dimensioning combinations found on the Gewehr 88 rifle. High performance and hence high pressure or military ammunition designated for machine gun use cannot be fired safely in a Gewehr 88 commission rifle.

Defects edit

Although the packet loading system proved to be a design shortcoming, it is not uncommon to encounter a Gewehr 88 today which still retains it. Some of them were modified to use the stripper clips used with the Gewehr 98 by milling a slot into the left side of the action and adding stripper clip guides on the top of the receiver. Through this slot projects a bar which retains the cartridges in place against the magazine spring's pressure. The hole in the bottom of the rifle is often covered with a small piece of sheet metal.

Unlike many rifles designed later, the bolt head of this rifle is able to be removed from the bolt body. This piece could be removed during disassembly, and was frequently lost. Additionally, both the ejector and the extractor that are attached to the bolt head are prone to falling out if care is not taken during disassembly and reassembly.

Users edit

Conflicts edit

Gallery edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ John from Texas (Webmaster). . collectiblefirearms.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  2. ^ a b 8×57mm IS cartridge portrait – Totgesagte leben länger, Wild und Hund 11/2006 (in German) 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Hardin, John. . Archived from the original on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  4. ^ Detje, Robin (8 January 2004). "ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl". Die Zeit.
  5. ^ Ball 2011, p. 150.
  6. ^ "Rifles of Yugoslavia and Serbia".
  7. ^ "VHU PRAHA".
  8. ^ "Broń strzelecka polskiego wojska w wojnie polsko-bolszewickiej".
  9. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-09-04.
  10. ^ a b . dobroni.pl. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  11. ^ "Fremden Gerät".
  12. ^ a b "Firearms of the Irish Civil Wars: Part 2 the Republicans: their Unionist opponents had a much better quantity and variety of arms, but the Republicans put theirs to a lot more use".
  13. ^ Thorsten Heber (2008). Kennblätter fremden Geräts. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 31. ISBN 978-3-8370-4042-5.
  14. ^ "1888 Commissioned Rifle Project".
  15. ^ John from Texas (Webmaster). . collectiblefirearms.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  16. ^ "M1913 Mannlicher Gew88 Austro Hungarian Rifle".
  17. ^ "brazilpage".
  18. ^ "Brazilian military rifle cartridges part 2: Steyr vs. Mauser and fn wins! - Free Online Library".
  19. ^ Philip Peterson (2011). Standard Catalog of Military Firearms: The Collector's Price and Reference Guide. Krause Publications. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-4402-1451-6.
  20. ^ Ball 2011, p. 127.
  21. ^ Scarlata, Paul (Mar 1, 2009). "Ethiopian military rifle cartridges: Part 2: from Mauser to Kalashnikov". Shotgun News.
  22. ^ "Rifles of Emperor Menelik II: Ethiopian Gewehr 88 and Karabiner 88". 5 February 2020.
  23. ^ Boniface, Jean-Michel; Vauvillier, François (July 1987). "L'armement des automobilistes, 1914-1918" [The weapons of the motorists, 1914-1918]. Armes Militaria Magazine. No. 22–23. p. 73.
  24. ^ "Germany". oldrifles.com. Archived from the original on 1999-03-02.
  25. ^ Wolfgang Peter-Michel (2017). Volksgewehre: Die Langwaffen des Deutschen Volkssturms. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 153. ISBN 978-3-7431-5333-2.
  26. ^ . Archived from the original on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  27. ^ "Israeli Small Arms IDF issue weapons [Archive] - UZI Talk Forums".
  28. ^ "Le G88 Kommission Gewehr". tircollection.com.
  29. ^ "Weapons of the Malay CTs 1948–1960". 17thdivision.tripod.com.
  30. ^ a b R. Bester, Boer Rifles and Carbines of the Anglo-Boer War, War Museum of the Boer Republics, Bloemfontein, 1994 (See also Wessels 2000, p. 80).
  31. ^ Garander. "Turk Mauser – Gew. 88".
  32. ^ "Issues | RifleMagazine" (PDF).
  33. ^ "Zbrojownia tamtych lat – Arsenał odrodzonej armii".
  34. ^ a b Jowett, Philip (21 Apr 2016). Imperial Chinese Armies 1840–1911. Men-at-Arms 505. p. 47. ISBN 9781472814272.
  35. ^ Jowett, Philip (15 Jul 1997). Chinese Civil War Armies 1911–49. Men-at-Arms 306. Osprey Publishing. pp. 7, 16, 43, 45. ISBN 9781855326651.
  36. ^ Howson, Gerald (November 1999). Arms for Spain. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 259–77. ISBN 978-0312241773.
  37. ^ Garander (2013). "Gew. 88". turkmauser.com.
  38. ^ "Weapons of the Irish Revolution – part I 1914–16". The Irish Story.
  39. ^ a b Scarlata, Paul (November 2013). "From Arisaka to assault rifle: The military rifle cartridges of Japan part 2". Shotgun News.
  40. ^ "ArmasBrasil - Carabina Mannlicher". www.armasbrasil.com. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  41. ^ "Fuzil da Comissão Alemã de 1888 "Gewehr '88" (Rev. 1b)". Armas On-Line. 5 August 2009.
  42. ^ http://www.wildlife-baldus.com/download/Maji_Maji.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  43. ^ a b "The "Bandit War" and the Porvenir Massacre" (PDF).
  44. ^ "Russian rifles of the great war, revolution & civil war--part I". Retrieved 2015-09-04.
  45. ^ "Weapons Of The Greco-Turkish War Part 2".
  46. ^ "Three members of the Ethiopian Zabagna, or gendarmerie, photographed about the time of the Italian invasion in the fall of 1935 [721 x 807] : HistoryPorn". reddit. 25 November 2013.
  47. ^ "República – Armas – Infantería – Fusiles".
  48. ^ . Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  49. ^ "Weapons of the Malay CTs 1948–1960". 17thdivision.tripod.com.
  50. ^ "The Official NJGF Photo Thread!". New Jersey Gun Forums. 11 April 2009.
  • Ball, Robert W. D. (2011). Mauser Military Rifles of the World. Iola: Gun Digest Books. ISBN 9781440228926.
  • Wessels, André (2000). "Afrikaners at War". In Gooch, John (ed.). The Boer War: Direction, Experience and Image. London: Cass.

External links edit

gewehr, 1888, gewehr, commonly, called, model, 1888, commission, rifle, late, 19th, century, german, bolt, action, rifle, adopted, 1888, model, 1888, commission, rifle, gewehr, 88typeservice, rifleplace, origingerman, empireservice, historyin, service1888, 194. The Gewehr 88 commonly called the Model 1888 commission rifle was a late 19th century German bolt action rifle adopted in 1888 Model 1888 commission rifle Gewehr 88TypeService riflePlace of originGerman EmpireService historyIn service1888 1945Used by25 countriesSee UsersWars25 warsSee ConflictsProduction historyDesignerGerman Rifle CommissionManufacturerLudwig Loewe C G Haenel ŒWG Imperial Arsenals of Amberg Danzig Erfurt and Spandau Hanyang ArsenalProduced1888 1899No built2 800 000VariantsGewehr 88 05 Gewehr 88 14 Karabiner 88 Hanyang 88 unlicensed copy SpecificationsMass3 9 kg 8 6 lb 3 1 kg 6 lb 13 oz Karabiner 88 Length1 245 mm 49 0 in 950 mm 37 in Karabiner 88 Barrel length740 mm 29 1 in 490 mm 19 in Karabiner 88 CartridgeM 887 92 57mm Mauser from Gewehr 88 05 onwards7 57mm Mauser Karabiner 88 A small amount is exported to Brazil 1 ActionBolt actionMuzzle velocityWith m 88 620 m s 2066 fps 8mm Mauser 868 m s 2847 fps Feed system5 round clip in a fixed external magazine The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large bore black powder rifles then in use obsolete To keep pace with the French who had adopted smokeless powder small bore ammunition for their Lebel Model 1886 rifle the Germans adopted the Gewehr 88 using its own new Patrone 88 cartridge which was also designed by the German Rifle Commission 2 The rifle was one of many weapons in the arms race between the Germanic states and France and with Europe in general There were also two carbine versions the Karabiner 88 for mounted troops and the Gewehr 91 for artillery Later models provided for loading with stripper clips Gewehr 88 05s and Gewehr 88 14s and went on to serve in World War I to a limited degree Unlike many German service rifles before and after it was not developed by Mauser but the arms commission and Mauser was one of the few major arms manufacturers in Germany that did not produce Gewehr 88s 3 Contents 1 Design 1 1 Cartridge 1 2 Receiver and magazine 1 3 Bolt and barrel 2 Service history 3 Variants 3 1 Modern ammunition use 4 Defects 5 Users 6 Conflicts 7 Gallery 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksDesign editIn 1886 fifteen years after their defeat by German forces in the Franco Prussian War the French Army introduced the new Lebel magazine rifle firing an 8 mm high velocity projectile propelled by the new smokeless powder This made Germany s rifle the Mauser Model 1871 obsolete due to its large and slow 11 mm round propelled by black powder The practical result was that the French rifle had greater accuracy and range and needed cleaning much less often giving French troops a tactical advantage over the German Army In response the German Army s Rifle Testing Commission developed the Gewehr 88 which was adopted for service in 1888 For this reason the Gewehr 88 is also known as the commission rifle or Kommissionsgewehr Cartridge edit nbsp 1888 pattern M 88 left alongside the 1905 pattern 7 92 57mm Mauser S Patrone The first step was to select a new cartridge This began by adapting a Swiss design resulting in the Patrone 88 or M 88 of 1888 an 8 mm rimless necked cartridge bullet diameter 8 08 mm 318 in loaded with an 8 08 mm 318 in 14 6 g 226 gr round nose bullet propelled by a single base smokeless powder In 1905 the 8 mm M 88 cartridge was replaced by the 7 92 57mm Mauser S Patrone ball cartridge which was loaded with a new 8 20 mm 323 in 9 9 g 154 gr spitzer bullet and more powerful double base smokeless powder resulting in nearly 40 higher muzzle velocity and 30 more muzzle energy Receiver and magazine edit nbsp Five round clip with 1888 pattern M 88 ammunition The Gewehr 1888 is a further development of the receiver and bolt of the Gewehr 1871 combined with a Mannlicher magazine It has a receiver with a split bridge i e the bolt passes through the receiver and locks in front of the rear bridge a rotating bolt head and the characteristic Mannlicher style packet loading or en bloc system in which cartridges are loaded into a steel carrier an en bloc clip which is inserted into the magazine where it holds the cartridges in alignment over a spring As shots are fired the clip remains in place until the last round is chambered at which point it drops through a hole in the bottom of the rifle This system was used in almost all Mannlicher designs and derivatives and while it allows for speedy reloading it also creates an entry point for dirt To settle a patent infringement claim by Steyr Mannlicher Germany contracted the Austro Hungarian company to be one of the manufacturers of Gewehr 88s and Mannlicher together with Otto Schonauer derived from the Mauser Schlegelmilch design a whole family of turn bolt actions the last of which was serially produced until 1970s Bolt and barrel edit The commission rifle s bolt action design was a commission modified Mauser action The barrel design and rifling were virtually copied from the French Lebel The rifle has an odd appearance as the entire floating barrel is encased in a sheet metal tube for protection but with the tube removed the rifle looks rather modern This tube was intended to increase accuracy by preventing the barrel from directly contacting the stock but in practice it increased the risk of rusting by providing a space for water to be trapped if the rifle was exposed to harsh conditions The Karabiner 88 utilized a different bolt handle which resembled those found on commercial sporting rifles Service history editSome early models had flaws due to rushed ammunition production This was used in 1892 by the then notorious anti Semitic agitator Hermann Ahlwardt member of the German Reichstag to spread an anti semitic conspiracy theory Many of the Gewehr 88 rifles were produced by the armament manufacturer Loewe amp Company whose chairman was Jewish entrepreneur Isidor Loewe Isidor Loewe also held a controlling interest in the Waffenfabrik Mauser According to Ahlwardt s claims Loewe would either deliberately supply the German army with insufficient rifles or along with other Jews secretly exchange rifles with flawed ones after they had passed the reliability tests Ahlwardt accused Loewe of being a spy for France and denounced the rifle as a Judenflinte Jews musket After these claims were found insupportable Ahlwardt was sentenced to 4 months in prison for malicious falsehood 3 4 Part of the production run was exported to China see lower or Latin America for example Brazil army use them in War of Canudos in 1896 1897 The commission rifle saw field service with Germany s colonial expansion including in China during the Boxer Rebellion with the Gewehr 88s and the unlicensed Hanyang 88 copies also being used by the opposing Chinese troops 5 and served as a front line weapon for German troops during World War I until 1915 when the supply of Gewehr 98s increased When Germany replaced the 88 with the Gewehr 98 many of the rifles were given to Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire during World War I because both states had a shortage of rifles however it was used extensively by the Turkish Army even through the 1930s and 1940s Many Gewehr 88 rifles stayed in active service in second line units reserves and in armies allied with the Germans through and well past World War I Most of the Gewehr 88s seen in the US are the ones that were given to the Turkish forces in World War I and have been modified from the original design citation needed The Turks issued these and updated versions at least as late as the 1930s Gewehr 88 05 rifles were also used by Yugoslavia 6 Czechoslovakia for example as modified guard shotgun 7 and Poland Gewehr 88 rifles have been used widely during post World War I revolutions uprisings and wars on both sides of the Russian Civil War the German Revolution of 1918 19 the Revolutions and interventions in Hungary 1918 20 the Greater Poland Uprising 1918 19 the Silesian Uprisings the Turkish War of Independence the Polish Soviet War 8 by the Ulster Volunteers and by Lithuanians in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence About 5 500 Gewehr and Karabiner 88s were delivered to the Lithuanian Army in 1919 1920 granted by Germany and sold by France and the UK Used by the paramilitary Rifle Union the rest were kept in the storage and were re barreled before World War II Inter war Germany used Gewehr 88 rifles only for the militia Gewehr 88 rifles were also used in the Spanish Civil War by both sides 9 At the beginning of World War II some Gewehr 88 rifles were still in use by second line units or paramilitary organizations or partisans in Poland 10 and Yugoslavia 11 Some of the ex UVF rifles were used by Home Guard in the United Kingdom in 1940 12 Ethiopean rifles some ex UVF rifles also found their way there also saw action during the East African Campaign These rifles were also used by the German Volkssturm in 1944 1945 13 nbsp Gewehr 1888 and its copy Hanyang 88 were the main rifles in China for over 50 years China also used this rifle extensively during the Qing dynasty and the Republican era China first bought Gewehr 88 rifles for the First Sino Japanese War in 1894 1895 and after that started production of the unlicensed Hanyang 88 copy In the beginning of the 20th century China bought for a second time a large number of original Gewehr 88 rifles During the following 50 years the rifle and its Hanyang 88 copy were used in the Xinhai Revolution the Chinese Civil War and the War of Resistance against Japan and proved more than adequate against the Japanese Arisaka Type 38 rifle though the latter was newer by 30 years The last time they saw action in Chinese service was during the Korean War where some of them were captured and taken to the US as souvenirs 14 The rifle was adopted during a period of rapid development in firearms technology and marked Germany s shift to a smokeless powder This explains why its period as the primary German service rifle was just over a dozen years but it remained in limited service for much longer In 1898 a Mauser design was adopted the Gewehr 98 which was the culmination of a series of Mauser models in the 1890s It was a superior replacement using the same ammunition with a stronger powder charge However this rifle soon had to be converted to fire the new Spitzer round that Germany adopted after the turn of the century With these modifications the newer design remained in use until the end of World War II The Gewehr 88 was also sometimes made into very elegant sporting rifles by gunsmiths in Germany Examples of these usually show first class workmanship and special features such as folding sights and altered bolt handles Some Karabiner 88 carbines are known to have been produced in 7 57mm Mauser instead of the usual M 88 or the 7 92 57mm Mauser chambering 15 These were likely intended for sale in South America where use of the 7 57mm cartridge was widespread All known 7 57mm Karabiner 88s were produced by Haenel Variants edit nbsp Karabiner 88 German bolt action carbine variants of Gewehr 1888 At the time of adoption the M 88 Patrone 7 9 mm was loaded with a 14 6 g 226 gr round nose bullet that measured 8 08 mm 318 in in diameter In 1894 95 the German Army changed the barrel specifications from 7 9 8 1 mm to 7 9 8 2 mm hoping to improve accuracy and Gewehr 88 rifles made from that date on had different bores The 8 08 mm 318 in bullet diameter however remained unchanged After 1895 most Gewehr 1888 rifles were regrooved In 1903 the Germany Army adopted a new service cartridge that fired lighter bullets measuring 8 20 mm 323 in in diameter From then on many Gewehr 88 rifles were rechambered to fire the new 1903 pattern 7 92 57mm Mauser cartridge becoming Gewehr 88 S rifles 2 This rechambering required more work as the 7 92 57mm Mauser chambering required a wider chamber throat to take the thicker brass of the new 1903 pattern cartridge 7 92 57mm Mauser adapted rifles have the receiver marked with a large S rollmark From 1905 the rifles were also converted to use the Gewehr 98 type stripper clip by adding stripper clip guides to the top rear of the receiver and altering the magazine becoming Gewehr 88 05 rifles After the start of World War 1 some of the remaining Gewehr 88 S rifles were modified to the Gewehr 88 14 standard which was generally similar to Gewehr 88 05 but with cruder workmanship Some 88 s were sold to various nations or armed groups or captured in combat and therefore a wide variety of markings can be found such as Bulgarian stars English proofs Turkish crescents and symbols Polish eagles etc Gew 88 s were re serialized by the army capturing them in some rare cases i e Greece Turks or and when they were re barrelled The markings found on Gew 88 s are very extensive and therefore are a topic of their own Modern ammunition use edit The maximum operating pressure for the Gewehr 88 commission rifle is less than that of any 8 mm Mauser rifle as the makers of the Gewehr 88 did not fully understand the greater energy of smokeless powder compared to black powder Shooters planning to use modern 8 mm ammunition in a Gewehr 88 slug their bore and chamber as there are four different possible bores and grooves and chamber dimensioning combinations found on the Gewehr 88 rifle High performance and hence high pressure or military ammunition designated for machine gun use cannot be fired safely in a Gewehr 88 commission rifle Defects editAlthough the packet loading system proved to be a design shortcoming it is not uncommon to encounter a Gewehr 88 today which still retains it Some of them were modified to use the stripper clips used with the Gewehr 98 by milling a slot into the left side of the action and adding stripper clip guides on the top of the receiver Through this slot projects a bar which retains the cartridges in place against the magazine spring s pressure The hole in the bottom of the rifle is often covered with a small piece of sheet metal Unlike many rifles designed later the bolt head of this rifle is able to be removed from the bolt body This piece could be removed during disassembly and was frequently lost Additionally both the ejector and the extractor that are attached to the bolt head are prone to falling out if care is not taken during disassembly and reassembly Users edit nbsp Austria Hungary 16 nbsp Brazil 17 18 nbsp Kingdom of Bulgaria 19 nbsp Czechoslovakia nbsp Ecuador 20 nbsp Ethiopian Empire obtained after 1896 from German and Belgian arms dealers 21 22 nbsp France captured carbines were issued to second line soldiers such as car drivers 23 nbsp German Empire 24 nbsp Nazi Germany Used by Volkssturm 25 nbsp Kingdom of Greece 26 nbsp Haganah 27 nbsp Irish Republic 12 28 nbsp Malayan National Liberation Army Karabiner 88 variant supplied by Soviet Union only in small numbers 29 nbsp Orange Free State 30 nbsp Ottoman Empire 31 nbsp Peru 32 nbsp Second Polish Republic 10 33 nbsp Qing dynasty 34 nbsp Republic of China Nationalists warlords and anti Japanese guerillas used the Hanyang 88 a copy of the Gewehr 1888 35 nbsp South African Republic 30 nbsp Republic of Lithuania About 5 500 rifles and carbines from 1919 1940 nbsp Spanish Republic Acquired approximately 2 000 through Poland during the Spanish Civil War 36 nbsp Turkey received during World War I 37 leftover Ottoman stock used in Turkish War of Independence nbsp Kingdom of Yugoslavia nbsp United Kingdom Used by Home Guard Ulster Volunteers 38 Conflicts editFirst Sino Japanese War 39 Revolta da Armada Federalist revolution 40 War of Canudos 41 Second Boer War Boxer Rebellion Herero Wars Maji Maji Rebellion 42 Mexican Revolution 43 Mexican Border War 43 Chinese expedition to Tibet 1910 34 Xinhai Revolution World War I Easter Rising Warlord Era Russian Civil War 44 German Revolution of 1918 19 Revolutions and interventions in Hungary 1918 20 Greater Poland Uprising 1918 19 Polish Soviet War Irish War of Independence Silesian Uprisings Turkish War of Independence 45 Lithuanian Wars of Independence Sheikh Said rebellion Ararat rebellion Constitutionalist Revolution Chinese Civil War Second Italo Ethiopian War 46 Spanish Civil War 47 Dersim rebellion Second Sino Japanese War 39 Sudeten German uprising 1938 World War II 1948 Palestine war 48 Malayan Emergency 49 Korean War 50 Gallery edit nbsp Cutaway model of the Gewehr 88 nbsp Schematic Images 5 and 6 nbsp Cartridges M88See also editList of infantry weapons of World War IReferences edit John from Texas Webmaster German M 1888 7MM Commission Carbine collectiblefirearms com Archived from the original on 2011 07 16 Retrieved 2009 10 23 a b 8 57mm IS cartridge portrait Totgesagte leben langer Wild und Hund 11 2006 in German Archived 2011 10 01 at the Wayback Machine a b Hardin John The Model 1888 Commission Rifle Archived from the original on 2008 10 30 Retrieved 2009 10 19 Detje Robin 8 January 2004 ZEIT ONLINE Lesen Sie zeit de mit Werbung oder im PUR Abo Sie haben die Wahl Die Zeit Ball 2011 p 150 Rifles of Yugoslavia and Serbia VHU PRAHA Bron strzelecka polskiego wojska w wojnie polsko bolszewickiej El Fusil Aleman Modelo 1888 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2015 09 04 a b Karabin i karabinek Mannlicher Mauser wz 1888 dobroni pl Archived from the original on 2016 03 05 Retrieved 2015 09 18 Fremden Gerat a b Firearms of the Irish Civil Wars Part 2 the Republicans their Unionist opponents had a much better quantity and variety of arms but the Republicans put theirs to a lot more use Thorsten Heber 2008 Kennblatter fremden Gerats BoD Books on Demand p 31 ISBN 978 3 8370 4042 5 1888 Commissioned Rifle Project John from Texas Webmaster German M 1888 7MM Commission Carbine collectiblefirearms com Archived from the original on 2011 07 16 Retrieved 2009 10 23 M1913 Mannlicher Gew88 Austro Hungarian Rifle brazilpage Brazilian military rifle cartridges part 2 Steyr vs Mauser and fn wins Free Online Library Philip Peterson 2011 Standard Catalog of Military Firearms The Collector s Price and Reference Guide Krause Publications p 162 ISBN 978 1 4402 1451 6 Ball 2011 p 127 Scarlata Paul Mar 1 2009 Ethiopian military rifle cartridges Part 2 from Mauser to Kalashnikov Shotgun News Rifles of Emperor Menelik II Ethiopian Gewehr 88 and Karabiner 88 5 February 2020 Boniface Jean Michel Vauvillier Francois July 1987 L armement des automobilistes 1914 1918 The weapons of the motorists 1914 1918 Armes Militaria Magazine No 22 23 p 73 Germany oldrifles com Archived from the original on 1999 03 02 Wolfgang Peter Michel 2017 Volksgewehre Die Langwaffen des Deutschen Volkssturms BoD Books on Demand p 153 ISBN 978 3 7431 5333 2 Weapons Of The Greco Turkish War Part 1 Archived from the original on 2015 10 05 Retrieved 2015 09 18 Israeli Small Arms IDF issue weapons Archive UZI Talk Forums Le G88 Kommission Gewehr tircollection com Weapons of the Malay CTs 1948 1960 17thdivision tripod com a b R Bester Boer Rifles and Carbines of the Anglo Boer War War Museum of the Boer Republics Bloemfontein 1994 See also Wessels 2000 p 80 Garander Turk Mauser Gew 88 Issues RifleMagazine PDF Zbrojownia tamtych lat Arsenal odrodzonej armii a b Jowett Philip 21 Apr 2016 Imperial Chinese Armies 1840 1911 Men at Arms 505 p 47 ISBN 9781472814272 Jowett Philip 15 Jul 1997 Chinese Civil War Armies 1911 49 Men at Arms 306 Osprey Publishing pp 7 16 43 45 ISBN 9781855326651 Howson Gerald November 1999 Arms for Spain New York St Martin s Press pp 259 77 ISBN 978 0312241773 Garander 2013 Gew 88 turkmauser com Weapons of the Irish Revolution part I 1914 16 The Irish Story a b Scarlata Paul November 2013 From Arisaka to assault rifle The military rifle cartridges of Japan part 2 Shotgun News ArmasBrasil Carabina Mannlicher www armasbrasil com Retrieved 2022 09 05 Fuzil da Comissao Alema de 1888 Gewehr 88 Rev 1b Armas On Line 5 August 2009 http www wildlife baldus com download Maji Maji pdf bare URL PDF a b The Bandit War and the Porvenir Massacre PDF Russian rifles of the great war revolution amp civil war part I Retrieved 2015 09 04 Weapons Of The Greco Turkish War Part 2 Three members of the Ethiopian Zabagna or gendarmerie photographed about the time of the Italian invasion in the fall of 1935 721 x 807 HistoryPorn reddit 25 November 2013 Republica Armas Infanteria Fusiles The rifles of Israel 1948 1980 Israel Military Forum Archived from the original on 2017 10 17 Retrieved 2017 06 01 Weapons of the Malay CTs 1948 1960 17thdivision tripod com The Official NJGF Photo Thread New Jersey Gun Forums 11 April 2009 Ball Robert W D 2011 Mauser Military Rifles of the World Iola Gun Digest Books ISBN 9781440228926 Wessels Andre 2000 Afrikaners at War In Gooch John ed The Boer War Direction Experience and Image London Cass External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gewehr 1888 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gewehr 1888 amp oldid 1202537877, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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