Finished my Gewehr 88 Restoration!

Hey guys! Just today finished up my Gewehr 88 project. Bought it as a barreled action. Cleaned the entire rifle very thoroughly, sourced the parts I needed, then got in contact with Leszek Foks (fox-military) to ask if he could make me a new stock since originals are all beat to hell. At the time he didn't have them listed on his website, but he made one for me and now has added them to his website. I know 88's are pretty cheap rifles and not many people care for them like they do for K98's but just wanted to show off my build since all my gun buddies are kinda 'basic' in that they only like AR-15's, M1 Garands, Glocks, etc.

It's a 1894 Spandau that was not updated to the 88/05 standard (I'll have to source the old style clips for this soon..). This rifle went to Ecuador and got one of the 'new' czech barrels put on it, so it looks like a brand new barrel side by side with my modern rifles I have! Haven't taken it to the range yet but have high hopes for it.

Thanks guys!

Nice job. The grain pattern in that walnut is wild

What ammo are you planning to use ?

I was gonna use the factory PPU FMJ rounds. I'm not positive they'll feed very well but I figure I won't be shooting it as often as my other rifles so it's not a big deal. Plus from what I've heard on multiple forums is that the 8mm commercial ammunition produced these days is undersized a little in the interest of not blowing up old rifle barrels. I've heard the czech 88 barrels are a bit tight but I'm not sure I believe that or I would have heard more about exploding 88's.

if you do have a SA Czech replacement barrel they where made to shoot special made short Czech ammo with a .3158 dia bullet , not a .323 dia bullet . The .323 ammo is so large it may not even chamber in that barrel . Even German P-88 ammo with a .3188 bullet will jam in some . That is not a good idea .

ernie8 said:

if you do have a SA Czech replacement barrel they where made to shoot special made short Czech ammo with a .3158 dia bullet

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Slug it. It's really cheap insurance. I use egg sinkers made close in size with a sharp knife and a wooden dowel. I have dowels in 3 lengths.

heavy_mech said:

Slug it. It's really cheap insurance. I use egg sinkers made close in size with a sharp knife and a wooden dowel. I have dowels in 3 lengths.

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100% agree-- don't take any chances.

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Gosh dangit I just wanted to shoot this thing already
Guess I'll have the barrel slugged and/or have one of the lothar walther barrels put on. Shouldn't be difficult considering there aren't any sights mounted to it.

There are a couple of Turk 88/05's with new .323 barrels on them for sale on one of the gun auctions . They seem to go for about $300 ish . One of those would have made a nice shooter and still had more value than a parts rifle .

Nice job of bring that gun back to life. What did the stock set you back?

jimdvan said:

Nice job of bring that gun back to life. What did the stock set you back?

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After everything I think it was somewhere around $400. You could get an entire 88 for that much but I didn't want an eyesore with a stock that was ready to split after 100 rounds. I'd like to shoot the rifle a good bit, particularly since the barrels are essentially free floating.