Posted 11 years ago
fortapache
(3415 items)
Back to the Rose Bowl finds. These rifles were used by the German Army from 1888 - 1915. This one has been marked 1940 and has Turkish writing on it.
The bayonet is Spanish and fits the rifle perfectly but I don't think it is the correct bayonet. It is a 1913 Mauser bayonet.
Thank you Crisnp for your information.
Perfect timing fortapache, since I posted '88s the last couple of weeks and I'll be posting one of the "foreign" 88s this week.
Your receiver marking is Asfa Ankara - the Turkish armory outside of Ankara Turkey. Starting in the 1930s, the Turks completely rebuilt the 1888 commission rifles the Germans had given them in WWI. These are sometimes called the Turkish 1888/35. Most importantly, they replaced the barrels, so that the bore diameter is the modern 8x57 Mauser, and not the old .318 bore. They also used all new wood – no metal barrel shroud. The new stock was different in that it had an upper hand guard, a semi-pistol grip, and a grommet in the stock for taking down the bolt - which I can see in your photos, and that's what gave me the clue I needed. The rear sights were replaced with a K98 type rear sight, which should be in Turkish characters.
Thank you very much Chrisnp. Your description is much better than mine. Looks like I should amend the description a bit.
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