Warrior1354
ax - hole
So my long dry spell has ended but I never thought I would get back into Gew 88 rifles again! Well I did and thanks to Bruce for pointing this rifle out to me. It was pretty funny seeing Bruce yelling across the SOS show at me saying "Hey you come here" basically he said looks interesting check it out. And off Bruce went. We all know how fast Bruce moves around at the SOS show! So I did and talk about a warhorse. This Gew 88 rifle sporting an original sling has been unit marked three times, and has been through two different depots in it's long service life Cologne and Ingolstadt. From taking a closer look at the stock and barrel I was pretty sure they were replacements. But the overall rifle was very nice the stock had lots of that rich color too it, but still the used not abused look. I could tell this rifle was most likely a war bond rifle or bring back missing the bolt head and the firing pin was most likely clipped. But after looking at that rifle for a little while I put it down and walked away. I was like no I'm focusing on Gew 98 rifles and Kar98a carbines.
So the show went on and later I ran into Chris and Marc, and of course we talked about Imperial German and all sorts of cool stuff. But Chris and Marc both said lets go see this Gew 88 they were curious too. Of course Chris really like it and it didn't help Marc was holding that really cool Kar 88 he picked up as well. So no pressure right! Plus it didn't help thinking about Gew 88 rifles kept reminding me about the Battle of Tannenburg and all the early WW1 battles that these rifles did play a major role in. Plus the gentleman that bought this rifle 40 years ago didn't want to take it home with him either lol! So I took the rifle in hand again and remembered hey I have some pretty cool Gew 88 accessories in my display cases. They would really fit perfect with this piece. So next the asking price the gentleman said $785. I countered with $650 we settled on $675. And I was a happy buyer glad I bought this piece and course thanks too you all for helping me.
Now the rifle is mostly matching and only has a few mismatched small components. I was correct the stock was replaced, but it does match inside the stock channel. I know that barrel was replaced from the older style to the updated improved barrel. Also matched to this rifle too. And boy was that barrel shroud a pain to remove. Thank goodness for the Craig Brown hair dryer method works wonders. Other then it being very dirty on the inside and 131 years old. I'm quite pleased in the end. No I didn't come home with that 1902 Erfurt Gew 98 or Amberg Kar98a carbine from the show. I still came home with a long serving old war horse that has so much character and history to it. You just can't help but say wow what a rifle!
So the show went on and later I ran into Chris and Marc, and of course we talked about Imperial German and all sorts of cool stuff. But Chris and Marc both said lets go see this Gew 88 they were curious too. Of course Chris really like it and it didn't help Marc was holding that really cool Kar 88 he picked up as well. So no pressure right! Plus it didn't help thinking about Gew 88 rifles kept reminding me about the Battle of Tannenburg and all the early WW1 battles that these rifles did play a major role in. Plus the gentleman that bought this rifle 40 years ago didn't want to take it home with him either lol! So I took the rifle in hand again and remembered hey I have some pretty cool Gew 88 accessories in my display cases. They would really fit perfect with this piece. So next the asking price the gentleman said $785. I countered with $650 we settled on $675. And I was a happy buyer glad I bought this piece and course thanks too you all for helping me.
Now the rifle is mostly matching and only has a few mismatched small components. I was correct the stock was replaced, but it does match inside the stock channel. I know that barrel was replaced from the older style to the updated improved barrel. Also matched to this rifle too. And boy was that barrel shroud a pain to remove. Thank goodness for the Craig Brown hair dryer method works wonders. Other then it being very dirty on the inside and 131 years old. I'm quite pleased in the end. No I didn't come home with that 1902 Erfurt Gew 98 or Amberg Kar98a carbine from the show. I still came home with a long serving old war horse that has so much character and history to it. You just can't help but say wow what a rifle!
