1895 erfurt (mauser 8mm)
I am trying to find a history on this rifle. My father-in-law did not give me any info when I got it from him. It is a wicked rifle. I got that it was definitely military issed. On the side (left) where the bolt is the are in German GEW 88. Is this a true Mauser made in Erfurt or a true Erfurt? Any enlightenment would be grateful
The only fences we need to worry about are those we put in our minds
The only fences we need to worry about are those we put in our minds
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Your rifle is not a true Mauser it's known as a "Commission Rifle" it was adopted by the Germans as the official service rifle in 1888. The basic design was made up from elements from many different engineers. Mannlicher and Mauser being the most prominent. Many of these rifles were later converted to function with the larger diameter ammo (.323) and the conventional Mauser stripper clip.
Erfurt was the Prussian state arsenal, the firearms they produced were used by all the German states.0 -
Off the top of my head, here is the deal on the 88.
In 1884, Germany modified their model 1871 single shot 11mm black powder cartridge rifle to accept a magazine. In reality it was a totally new gun, but shared many features of of it's predecessor. It was called the 71/84. While a good gun, it was very quickly obsolete with the French adoption of smokeless powder in their 1886 Lebel. Not wanting to be one upped by the French, a German governmental commision set about designing a new rifle. The result of this labor was the Model 1888 Commission rifle. Contrary to common thought, Mauser had nothing to do with the design; it is basically a Mannlicher and requires a 5 shot enbloc clip to be used as a repeater. Mauser did have a lot to do with designing the ammo though, the 7.9X57I (here, I is for Infantry, often mistaken as "J" by western readers as it is generally written in fractal script and looks like a J). The resulting arm was a reliable, hard hitting, servicable gun. But. Germany still felt that they could do better and Mauser then introduced the Model 98, chambered for the same 7.9X57I round. The new gun was far stronger, did away with the strange barrel jacket of the 88, and was all in all seen as a more rugged, serviceable weapon. So Germany rearmed with the 98. A few years into the 20th century, with the advent of spark photography, it was found that a pointed bullet actually performed better than the herefore used round nose bullet. So Germany lead the way in converting to a pointed, or Spitzer bullet. For ballistic reasons they increased diameter of the round from .318" to .323" and designated the new round the 7.92X57IS, or Infantry, Spitzgeschoss (pointed bullet). WARNING- the old 88 guns were not rebored to take the new cartridge. Some were modified; these have a large S stamp on the reciever and generally have a bore diameter of .321". Many weren't modified and still have a bore diameter of .318". DO NOT shoot modern commercial or surplus ammo out of this gun! The oversized bullet will create excessive, possibly dangerous pressure. If you would like to shoot it, I would first slug the bore with a piece of lead and measure with micrometer to determine true bore size. If you handload you can then use a bullet of suitable diameter. www.ows-ammunition.com has the proper ammo, advertised as 8mm J bore ammo. It is expensive though. Personally I shoot cast lead bullets sized to .319" in mine with good results.
Best,
Jon
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0
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