Third Party Press

Erfurt 1890.91 Kar 88

Warrior1354

ax - hole
Alright been on the hunt for a nice Erfurt Kar88 to go with my Erfurt collection, to tell you the truth it's almost complete. I see need a Erfurt made Gew91 though and an early made Erfurt Gew 98. Anyway this came from my buddy Paul from Florida who sold me that awesome Kar71 a few months ago. I almost passed on it but it had a very unique date which changed my mind. I have not found a Kar 88 marked 1890.91 before. Which tells me the receiver was made in 1890 but was not assembled into a complete carbine till 1891. But it gets even more interesting. When I took the carbine apart I had to use the hair dryer method to get that barrel shroud off, lots of old dried grease in there. It's a good method to use and does not damaged the item. When I got it off, the barrel did not match and it was marked GF. Which I know GF was a known supplier of barrels for Amberg. So did the original factory barrel from Erfurt fail? We know that the early made Gew 88 rifles and carbines had problems with the barrels and some did burst. But the buttplate is not marked for a depot or anything.

I'll be honest I don't think bubba replaced this barrel post war. I could tell this carbine was never taken apart when I got it and the original owner that had it. Bought this well over 50-60 years ago. So maybe others could shed some light on this. I'll be honest there is more known from Storz book on Suhl Kar 88 production then the State run factories.

Another plus it came with the magazine dust cover with the clip ejector and I found an original Kar 88 muzzle cover for it! That little guy came out of Poland and was found on Ebay by my good buddy Mike. Has some old paint on it and still has the leather strap. But it's very dry and I didn't even try to open it afraid I might break it. The muzzle cover is also unit marked as well.

Lots of pictures will be posted with this cool carbine as well as some neat period pictures I have purchase. Enjoy guys!

Maker: Erfurt 1890.91
Receiver: 2808a
Barrel: 571
Barrel shroud: 2808a
Bolt head: 08
Bolt body: 2808a
Bolt safety: 08
Bolt firing pin: 08
Bolt cocking piece:08
Bolt end cap: 08
Bolt Extractor: 08
Rear barrel band: 08 15.H.4.56
Front barrel band: 08
Trigger guard: 2808
Front trigger guard screw: 08
Rear trigger guard screw: 08
Magazine follower: 08
Magazine floorplate cover: 08
Clip Release: 08
Front sight: 08
Rear sight: 08
Rear sight slider: 08
Rear sight Ladder: 08
Rear sight 300 meter adjustment slide: 08
Trigger sear: 08
Buttplate: 08
Stock: 2808
 

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Bolt group, Rear sight base, and Front sight:
 

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Stock, barrel shroud, and barrel bands
 

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Last pictures and the muzzle cover:
 

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Now how can you show off a cool Kar88 carbine without some cool period pictures.

1. Hussars armed with kar88 carbines goes well with my Hussar unit marked Kar88 carbine!

2. German soldier with winter coat armed with Kar 88 carbine.

3. Transport unit armed with Kar88 carbines.
 

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What a great piece! That barrel wouldn’t worry me a bit. The muzzle cover is amazing, I’d never seen one before, now I know what to look for!
 
I agree the covers are hens teeth, next to impossible to find.. only seen one, the one time I went to Louisville, in 2006-2007, Mauserbill had a buddy that was giddy over finding one, rightfully so as these are that rare.

What a great piece! That barrel wouldn’t worry me a bit. The muzzle cover is amazing, I’d never seen one before, now I know what to look for!
 
Muzzle cover is super cool, there was just one on eBay but in rough shape, nice find!
 
The photo is not that clear , but it looks like the barrel threading was cut through an old proof mark . I have never seen a German rebarrel that was not numbered to the gun . It could have been done in WWI as they did not always follow the rules then . I have a few WWI repairs that would not of passed pre war .
 
Do you recall what they were asking? Just wondering as I've never seen one in the wild.

Well I can tell you the one I got out of Poland with shipping cost me about $250. But the chances of finding another one for sale with the original leather strap is about impossible I took my chances lol! I do wonder if the paint that was applied on it was done during the war or post-war whenever it was done I'm not messing with it.
 
The photo is not that clear , but it looks like the barrel threading was cut through an old proof mark . I have never seen a German rebarrel that was not numbered to the gun . It could have been done in WWI as they did not always follow the rules then . I have a few WWI repairs that would not of passed pre war .

Ernie I will try to get a closer up picture if I can. I did notice the way the barrel was threaded I compared the pictures of it to the ones posted in Storz book. Like you stated it could have been done during the war but my question is why would they use the earlier style barrel? Either way I find it an interesting carbine.
 
Now how can you show off a cool Kar88 carbine without some cool period pictures.

1. Hussars armed with kar88 carbines goes well with my Hussar unit marked Kar88 carbine!

2. German soldier with winter coat armed with Kar 88 carbine.

3. Transport unit armed with Kar88 carbines.

The Hussars are likely from 2. (Rheinisches) Husaren Regiment Nr. 9.
(The only Hussars unit at that time in Strassburg)

The truck is from Immobiles Kraftwagen Depot Nr. 7 (Untertürkheim), a Wuerrtemberg unit from XIII.Army Corps
commanding officer: Major z.D. Diehl
 
Sometimes in the middle of the war they used whatever to get a gun back in service . I have a WWI bring back Gew-88 that has a very pitted receiver [ like a battle field recovery ] , a new bolt release and a trimmed down Gew-98 barrel .
 
The Hussars are likely from 2. (Rheinisches) Husaren Regiment Nr. 9.
(The only Hussars unit at that time in Strassburg)

The truck is from Immobiles Kraftwagen Depot Nr. 7 (Untertürkheim), a Wuerrtemberg unit from XIII.Army Corps
commanding officer: Major z.D. Diehl

Thank you for the data Amberg. I did want to ask is there a way I can find more information on these two particular units?
 
Thank you for the data Amberg. I did want to ask is there a way I can find more information on these two particular units?


Only for the Hussars and only in German:
http://preussische-armee.blogspot.com/2013/09/husaren-regiment-9-2.html

BTW: Diedrich Kalle wrote to his brother, who served with 8th coy. of 8th badisches Infanterie Regiment Nr. 169
"Dear brother, I finally found time to write ..... , Hope you are doing well......"
Looks like the Hussar survived the war. I did not find his name in our casualties lists.

To find out more about the Kraftwagen Depot will be more difficult. Let's see what I can dig out.
The postcard was sent to an engineer of the Bavarian Railways batallion in Munich.
 
Thanks Amberg! The handwritten old German can be tough to translate. I do enjoy reading these however.
 
Only for the Hussars and only in German:
http://preussische-armee.blogspot.com/2013/09/husaren-regiment-9-2.html

BTW: Diedrich Kalle wrote to his brother, who served with 8th coy. of 8th badisches Infanterie Regiment Nr. 169
"Dear brother, I finally found time to write ..... , Hope you are doing well......"
Looks like the Hussar survived the war. I did not find his name in our casualties lists.

To find out more about the Kraftwagen Depot will be more difficult. Let's see what I can dig out.
The postcard was sent to an engineer of the Bavarian Railways batallion in Munich.

Wow that is just awesome to hear! Always nice to hear more history on these items. Thank you so much for the translation!
 

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