Gew 88, Loewe 1891, Matching....

pzjgr · Oct 26, 2018

Picked this up today....was so excited and happy to find it....with a little help... :happy0180:

1891 Loewe, as far as I can tell, all matching but safety. Has "S" stamp and dot, also a "z"...not sure what that means as of now.

Here are a few shots as a tease...when I take it apart, I will get good pics of all markings and details. This is the first original, un-turked Gew 88 I have found that appears original and unmessed with.

This is an "m" block, and makes a nice juxtaposition with my 91 Loewe "y" block, it being an 88/05, also all matching but bolt, and Turked....I will take some pics of both of them together also. The "y" block was previously posted a while back...

heavy10 · Oct 27, 2018

Nice finding any G88 in matching condition.

I have a '91 dated Loewe close to yours, matching except the bolt head. Serial 9098 'o'. Its 'S' marked, but no dot or 'z' markings, nor the 'new material' marking on the side rail. Canceled unit mark to 'Bezirks Kommando 24' on the rear band, then remarked on the front band to 'Landsturm Opeln'.

ernie8 · Oct 27, 2018

The dot means new reinforced solder on the barrel nut . The Z means a post 1896 replacement barrel with the .323 dia groove bore . No plain Gew-88's will be Turk marked , only 05's .

Loewe · Oct 27, 2018

Excellent pick ups, I would ask both of you to take clear photographs of the bolt bodies acceptance & FP pattern, - 8007/m was auctioned in 2011 (seller in Dallas) and he showed the bottom flat, but the pictures were very poor... the acceptance should be Loewe's normal acceptance that is found on many parts of matching rifles, but for trends work to be of value it must be accurate and as complete as possible.

Anyway, one of my favorite subjects, so lets see more details when you get a chance!

pzjgr · Oct 27, 2018

Loewe said:
Excellent pick ups, I would ask both of you to take clear photographs of the bolt bodies acceptance & FP pattern, - 8007/m was auctioned in 2011 (seller in Dallas) and he showed the bottom flat, but the pictures were very poor... the acceptance should be Loewe's normal acceptance that is found on many parts of matching rifles, but for trends work to be of value it must be accurate and as complete as possible.

Anyway, one of my favorite subjects, so lets see more details when you get a chance!

Paul, I will get pics of everything and post....bought south of Dallas, came out of a deceased collectors collection, so it makes sense...unfortunately not much in the way of long guns, mainly pistols...

The barrel, whenever replaced is a German accepted and marked barrel, I will get pics of all the markings on it to post...I have it all apart...strangely the bolt head is un-numbered, and missing the extractor....

The safety is mismatched, other than that everything appears matching, including stock (numbered in channel)

Warrior1354 · Oct 27, 2018

I like it and good pick up!

Did my 1889 Erfurt Gew 88 help influence this purchase! :biggrin1:

pzjgr · Oct 27, 2018

Warrior1354 said:
I like it and good pick up!

Did my 1889 Erfurt Gew 88 help influence this purchase!

Absolutely, I saw it, and remembered how much I would love to find an un-messed with German one!

Weird how sometimes you get lucky, although it does help to have a lucky buddy too.... :thumbsup:

heavy_mech · Oct 28, 2018

Very nice! Can't wait to see the comprehensive photos. :thumbsup:

bayoned · Oct 28, 2018

As stated above, its always nice to find any 88 in matching condition.
Your rifle is great.
Thanks for sharing.

heavy10 · Oct 28, 2018

Here are some images of the proof, inspection, and process marks on 9098 'o'.

pzjgr · Oct 28, 2018

OK, so here are the detail shots to start with...

Bolt head is un-numbered, and missing the extractor (how hard will it be to find one of those... :facepalm:

) but since I am not going to shoot it, ot doesn't really matter to me.

The only part otherwise that doesn't match is the safety....

Paul, you need any other detail shots let me know...

pzjgr · Oct 28, 2018

Some more...

pzjgr · Oct 28, 2018

And some more...

I have some overall shots, and some comparison shots with the Turk 88/05....will post them as soon as I get them resized and ready...

pzjgr · Oct 28, 2018

Ok, some overall shots and comparisons, the "Y" block as I said, is all matching but the bolt, Turk bolt, rear sight was re-numbered with Arabic numbers...rear sight on it is missing the flip up battle sight. Rear swivel point has had an swivel added. Sling is a repo...but a neat juxtaposition.

pzjgr · Oct 28, 2018

Some more...

pzjgr · Oct 28, 2018

Last few...

Loewe · Oct 28, 2018

Not sure which one I like more, Ken's with original barrel and bolt or the bolt matcher with the new barrel with deeper grooves with Bismarckhütte steel. The latter carries a Danzig style FP, so possibly done by Danzig or some facility/depot supervised by Danzig. Many things regarding the G88 are difficult to speculate over, so little work has been done trending rifles and Storz book is the only good work on the subject that I am overlaying some observations more applicable with the G98.

Really I should work to flesh out some general trends on the G88, I have learned a great deal trending 1898-1945 and I could make such a new project more efficient. Further, so few rifles are detailed to the extent these three rifles are and it would be a rather quick exercise... mostly maker/date, serials and acceptance. The various upgrades wouldn't factor in to any trends work, most are only relevant to the individual rifle.

Anyway, thanks for going through the extra effort, I think I may add a new research thread to the forum. If i do I will start with Loewe.

runner · Oct 28, 2018

Loewe 1891 Gew. 88

Just picked up this barreled receiver with a box of Mauser parts. It is also Loewe 1891, so I though I would add it for
comparison purposes. The markings are faint, and it didn't help that someone had decided to paint the receiver with epoxy.

Receiver date: Loewe 1891
Serian Number: ?988 b
Below the SN there is a 13
The barrel code reads: Acorn, X, N, P, H, M, U followed by two S's that are not in line.

Hopefully pictures will show the rest.

runner · Oct 28, 2018

Last pictures

ernie8 · Oct 28, 2018

pzjgr said:
Ok, some overall shots and comparisons, the "Y" block as I said, is all matching but the bolt, Turk bolt, rear sight was re-numbered with Arabic numbers...rear sight on it is missing the flip up battle sight. Rear swivel point has had an swivel added. Sling is a repo...but a neat juxtaposition.

The 05 rear sight was a new made part , made with out the flip up , so it is not " missing " .

Gew 88, Loewe 1891, Matching....

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