Gew 88 sights and shroud and idk what I'm doing

Hey guys so I picked up my first ever Gewehr 88. It's an 1894 spandau. Doesn't have the added receiver tangs or side wall cut for stripper clips, but it is marked 'S'. Turk-free. My question/concern is; the barrel shroud seems loose to me. Considering that the sights are mounted to the shroud, and when I hand-tighten the shroud on, it comes snug past vertical sight alignment. The shroud and receiver serial numbers match. The guy I bought it from said that the rifle was one of the ones that ended up in Ecuador and got a new Czech barrel there.

Is it normal for the barrel shroud to be so loose? I realize that when the rifle is fully assembled (still tracking down a few parts) that the barrel shroud will be held vertical by the forward action screw to the trigger guard. But I have trouble believing that a number-matching shroud to receiver wouldn't snug up at true vertical sight alignment.

Again I've never owned another gew 88, and have none to compare mine too. So idk what to think! If you guys could let me know if mine is goofy or normal I'd much appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

Since it is a Gew-88 it will be Turk free , as the Turks only used 88/05's . Does your receiver have the dot punch mark ? That will tell you if the shroud / nut was redone . Be careful , if it does have a post WWI Czech barrel the bore can be as small as .306 - .316 . Shooting that type barrel is a pain as it is very hard to get the correct .3158 dia bullets . The original Czech made is getting hard to find now .

Slug the barrel, neck down reloadable 8mm brass
Load weak. Use woodleigh projectiles
Better yet don't shoot it at all

The .318 Woodleigh bullet is a real bad idea for the small Czech barrels . It is a thick jacket with a lot of bearing surface , it will cause a lot of friction in a .318 or smaller bore . There is a reason that the German military and the civilian gunmakers used bore riding bullets for the long round nose type . It is also not a good choice for the standard .321 groove military 88 barrel . Does not seal well with no hollow base and thick jacket . Cost much more than other bullets that work better .

Yeah my plan was to put a lothar walther barrel in it before I finish the project so I'll be safe to shoot it then. The receiver does have a dot on it, so that means it was reworked? Still wondering if that much extra twist on the shroud is normal or not. If it's not normal I may buy a whole other barreled receiver and sell this one. My hope is to get a good shooter out of all this.

You really to slug the barrel to see what you have . If it really is a small Czech it will not be much of a shooter without a lot of work . If it still has the original .321 German barrel on it , shooting it is no problem with any 32 Win special .321 dia bullets . Putting a Walther barrel on it is pretty costly . You should have no problem getting a complete Turk rebuild 88/05 with a new condition .323 barrel on it for around $300.00 . I just watched 3 sell on the auctions .