1892 Spandau Gew 88 Depot Rework

[cj556]

It has been a good month for Gew 88s. I won a matching 1891 Loewe at auction too. Again I’ll say finding decent 88 rifles is a challenge. This one popped up on Broker. Bolt head missing & firing pin clipped. Bolt body was depot renumbered to match and it’s an Amberg bolt. One screw is mismatched but other parts are matching. Front band has a cancelled unit marking. Rear band has a replacement infantry battalion unit marking. From what I could find this particular regiment fought against the AEF in the Argonne. Perhaps it was captured there?

 

[cj556]

More photos

 

[RyanE]

Nice 88!

Looks like the Ersatz-Bataillon was located in St. Avold in Lorraine. The regiment ended the war fighting in the Argonne and on the Meuse.

IR 173 – GenWiki

wiki.genealogy.net

 

[chrisftk]

Another good one Marc! Glad you listened to reason. The Bavarian bolt is neat. For whatever reason 88s seem to be reworked at higher # depots. Maybe only certain locations were equipped to handle older rifles. Flat guess, but worth discussing.

 

[Warrior1354]

That was a cool rifle Marc glad you got it buddy

 

[cj556]

Ryan apperciate the unit info. Jordan and Chris thank you all too.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Another great 88! The Amberg bolt is cool as can be. Thanks for the photos, it's in the reference.

 

[mauser1908]

Great rifle Marc, what depot did it go through?

 

[cj556]

Thanks Cyrus and Sam. I guess I neglected to attach the photo of the buttplate but its depot 12.

 

[Warrior1354]

Hey Marc just wanted to let you know I checked my parts box. Thought I may have had the matching bolt head for you. I have number 67, and 33.

 

[cj556]

Hey Marc just wanted to let you know I checked my parts box. Thought I may have had the matching bolt head for you. I have number 67, and 33.

Thanks Jordan I’ll let you know perhaps we can work something out

 

[mauser1908]

Thanks Cyrus and Sam. I guess I neglected to attach the photo of the buttplate but its depot 12.

It’s interesting that this marking has been canceled. A lower level facility must have had it at some point.

 

[Warrior1354]

For you Marc you post a cool Gewehr 88 then you need a nice photograph to go with it. I like that this one shows a mix of the Gew88 as well as the Gew98.