I have one of these, Styer, Arsenal refinish from Turkey. It is like new, has multiple German regimental markings struck out with a chisel but still decipherable. Stock is “new”, back then they didn’t sand them, they scraped them and the patterns are still there. It was in a book I read that the Turks bought them from Germany after they upgraded to the 98 knowing that the ammo was a problem that needed to be sorted out and that ~4 guns/100,000 might blow up but that was a gamble they were willing to take in their modern rearmament spree.
I have one of the turkish ones, i hunt with it often, its deadly accurate considering the combat sights, the sights are not suppsed to be used like American iron hunting sights, when these rifle where being used in battle the soldier fielding it would bury the front sight all the way to the bottom of the rear v notch so the shooter had a clean view of whoever they where shooting at
I have a 88-05 , in very nice condition , originally from a German reserve regiment , then sent to the Ottomans as war aide . I have not slugged the bore yet . Thanks for showing your rifle
Mine too is a .318 groove diameter. I choose not to use commercial ammo. I reload at lower pressures. But mine has Turkish marks. So I'm assuming it was shot using the high-pressure Turkish ammo. I agree with you that the bolt is smooth. Great rifles.
Mine is Turkish as well. I deff stay away from Turkish ammo. I think they are stronger than they get credit for. But i do not intentionally but known extra spicy loads in it.
I picked up a couple 88/05 barreled actions along with a couple Hanyang rifles that were complete but rough. I haven’t mustered the guts to shoot any of them yet. I also picked up a Turkish 1930’s (?) rework of an 88/05 that was reworked to use a Mauser 98 style trigger assembly, stock and internal box magazine. Also has a Mauser style barrel and sights. In my collecting I’ve also picked up a couple extra Hanyang stocks. One original but rough, the other a cut down sporter. It looks like they could have the barrel channel hogged out to fit the barrel jacket and used with the 88/05 actions. The bolts from both of my Hanyang and Turkish 88/05/38(?) fit and function in my 88/05 actions.
Really cool peice, I'd love to get one sometime, helluva lot cheaper than a Gew 98. Just found out recently that Ernst Junger carried one of these at one point
I have a 1890 Danzig, with all German markings and some ottoman crests, in about 90%-97% condition (depending on how harsh you rate condition percentage) My advice is personally the 88/05 works smoothly with Romanian ammunition both steel case and brass, the lower pressure in comparison to other countries leaves less overall risks. I bought two Romanian 8mm crates and I never had any issues yet, and the bolt is even smoother than my m24 yugo Mauser. The stripper clips I've learned to push the ammunitions down and back instead of forward and down, and I also learned clips that are a bit loose lock up compared to a tight fit stripper clip.
@@WastelandArmorer that's really interesting, I was stupid and put Yugoslav ammo in there and often had to rehit the primer but still worked minus that hiccup, then I've used Turkish ammunition and worked fine minus some bad individual bullets and still worked fine. Only the Romanian ammunition I have (steel case LMG 8mm mauser crates) works without any worries whatsoever though
Years ago there was a guy in Illinois who was converting these 88's to 45/70, one could also get a barreled action converted to 45/70 , or he would put together a nice rifle, nothing fancy, BUT, It was the cats ass for deer in the Illinois woods - He's Retired now- ( I beleive, at the time, a nice finished rifle was about $200.00 )-
I have been trying to get my hands on one of these for my channel forever now. They are a great rifle. But I am a huge fan of 8mm Mauser. Norwegian ammo uses .318 bullets, I made a video on those.
The problems with the early powder stem from it being reverse engeneered from the french Poudre B. This copykraut aproach failed to notice the necessary purity controls for the cotton, hence the breakdown of the powder.
Many of the commission rifles that I see out there in the wild were modified and/or overhauled by the Turks some time in the 30s. These examples are also pretty affordable in general. What’s the deal with these? Are they drastically different from the original German examples such that they should be avoided?
I think its honestly just bias against middle eastern guns. They have turk markings added. In my experience the turkish ones tend to have been maintained by the arsenels and often are actually smoother and more accurate than the German ones. The only issue that can happen is some have tight bores.
@@WastelandArmorer thanks for the feedback! I think I’m going to go ahead and jump on one of the Turk overhauls of this piece. They’re not too scarce and affordable, at least for this market. I see that the Turks also repurposed a fair share of Gewehr 98s that they acquired from the Germans. Seeing as how the German originals command a higher premium and I rarely ever see them, maybe this is also the way to go to patch that hole in my collection.
I have one of these, Styer, Arsenal refinish from Turkey. It is like new, has multiple German regimental markings struck out with a chisel but still decipherable. Stock is “new”, back then they didn’t sand them, they scraped them and the patterns are still there. It was in a book I read that the Turks bought them from Germany after they upgraded to the 98 knowing that the ammo was a problem that needed to be sorted out and that ~4 guns/100,000 might blow up but that was a gamble they were willing to take in their modern rearmament spree.
This was such a fun video, I came back to rewatch it a 2nd time haha
Thats funny! I thought i made a kinda boring video
I have one of the turkish ones, i hunt with it often, its deadly accurate considering the combat sights, the sights are not suppsed to be used like American iron hunting sights, when these rifle where being used in battle the soldier fielding it would bury the front sight all the way to the bottom of the rear v notch so the shooter had a clean view of whoever they where shooting at
I have a 88-05 , in very nice condition , originally from a German reserve regiment , then sent to the Ottomans as war aide . I have not slugged the bore yet . Thanks for showing your rifle
They are really nice rifles.
Great gun great review.
Mine too is a .318 groove diameter. I choose not to use commercial ammo.
I reload at lower pressures. But mine has Turkish marks. So I'm assuming it was shot using the high-pressure Turkish ammo.
I agree with you that the bolt is smooth. Great rifles.
Mine is Turkish as well. I deff stay away from Turkish ammo. I think they are stronger than they get credit for. But i do not intentionally but known extra spicy loads in it.
I picked up a couple 88/05 barreled actions along with a couple Hanyang rifles that were complete but rough. I haven’t mustered the guts to shoot any of them yet. I also picked up a Turkish 1930’s (?) rework of an 88/05 that was reworked to use a Mauser 98 style trigger assembly, stock and internal box magazine. Also has a Mauser style barrel and sights. In my collecting I’ve also picked up a couple extra Hanyang stocks. One original but rough, the other a cut down sporter. It looks like they could have the barrel channel hogged out to fit the barrel jacket and used with the 88/05 actions. The bolts from both of my Hanyang and Turkish 88/05/38(?) fit and function in my 88/05 actions.
Be careful with the Hang Yangs. I had one with cracked locking lugs. Those Turkish reworks are kinda cool.
Really cool peice, I'd love to get one sometime, helluva lot cheaper than a Gew 98. Just found out recently that Ernst Junger carried one of these at one point
That is interesting. They are really good rifles! Massively underrated.
I have a 1890 Danzig, with all German markings and some ottoman crests, in about 90%-97% condition (depending on how harsh you rate condition percentage)
My advice is personally the 88/05 works smoothly with Romanian ammunition both steel case and brass, the lower pressure in comparison to other countries leaves less overall risks.
I bought two Romanian 8mm crates and I never had any issues yet, and the bolt is even smoother than my m24 yugo Mauser. The stripper clips I've learned to push the ammunitions down and back instead of forward and down, and I also learned clips that are a bit loose lock up compared to a tight fit stripper clip.
Mine does not shoot the romanian ammo well but likes the federal ammo.
@@WastelandArmorer that's really interesting, I was stupid and put Yugoslav ammo in there and often had to rehit the primer but still worked minus that hiccup, then I've used Turkish ammunition and worked fine minus some bad individual bullets and still worked fine. Only the Romanian ammunition I have (steel case LMG 8mm mauser crates) works without any worries whatsoever though
Years ago there was a guy in Illinois who was converting these 88's to 45/70, one could also get a barreled action converted to 45/70 , or he would put together a nice rifle, nothing fancy, BUT, It was the cats ass for deer in the Illinois woods - He's Retired now- ( I beleive, at the time, a nice finished rifle was about $200.00 )-
In not normally friendly to sporterizing guns, but a 45-70 commission rifle sounds EPIC!
I have been trying to get my hands on one of these for my channel forever now.
They are a great rifle. But I am a huge fan of 8mm Mauser. Norwegian ammo uses .318 bullets, I made a video on those.
The Norwegian ammo might be a nice solution for non S chambered guns. They are getting more expensive but still are better priced than Gew98s
Had one I bought in 1975 for 15$ at wallmart. Couldn't hit a target at 25 yards. Traded to a neighbor for a bag pot.
Thats odd. That one i have is more accurate than the swede Mauser i had. Must have had a fried bore
This is not a "Mauser", The rifle was made by a Commission of German gun designers. The Mauser brothers were not involved in it's development.
Mine slugs at .320, so I use .32 Special bullets to load for it. Works out well, and no worries.
I believe some ammo makers load them with the same projectiles. Seems to be a good option!
Not yards nor meters but schrett I believe. I may have spelled it wrong. It's like 2.5 feet
The problems with the early powder stem from it being reverse engeneered from the french Poudre B. This copykraut aproach failed to notice the necessary purity controls for the cotton, hence the breakdown of the powder.
Makes alot of sense. And caused so pretty big issues at first
Been shooting these for years. Have 7 . Underated rifle
Massively underrated
Thanks gentlemen. I also collect Mausers.
or the commision rifle
Many of the commission rifles that I see out there in the wild were modified and/or overhauled by the Turks some time in the 30s. These examples are also pretty affordable in general. What’s the deal with these? Are they drastically different from the original German examples such that they should be avoided?
I think its honestly just bias against middle eastern guns. They have turk markings added. In my experience the turkish ones tend to have been maintained by the arsenels and often are actually smoother and more accurate than the German ones. The only issue that can happen is some have tight bores.
Mine is turkish
@@WastelandArmorer thanks for the feedback! I think I’m going to go ahead and jump on one of the Turk overhauls of this piece. They’re not too scarce and affordable, at least for this market. I see that the Turks also repurposed a fair share of Gewehr 98s that they acquired from the Germans. Seeing as how the German originals command a higher premium and I rarely ever see them, maybe this is also the way to go to patch that hole in my collection.