Spandau GEW 88 Rifle

The Gewehr 88 (commonly called the Model 1888 Commission Rifle) was a late 19th century German bolt action rifle, adopted in 1888.
The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large-bore black powder rifles then in use obsolete. To keep pace with the French (who had adopted smokeless powder "small bore" ammunition for their Lebel Model 1886 rifle) the Germans adopted the Gewehr 88 using its own new M/88 cartridge, which was also designed by the German Rifle Commission. The rifle was one of many weapons in the arms race between the Germanic states and France, and with Europe in general. There was also a carbine version, the Karabiner 88. Later models were updated (Gewehr 88/05 and Gewehr 88/14) and would go on to serve in World War I to a limited degree. Unlike many of the rifles before and after, it was not developed by Mauser but the Arms Commission, and Mauser was one of the few major arms manufacturers in Germany that did not produce Gewehr 88s
This particular rifle was manufactured by Spandau Arsenal in 1890 and is stamped "S" to indicate that it was manufactured to take the new S Patronen cartridge which was loaded with a new 8.20 mm (.323 in) 9.9 g (154 gr) spitzer bullet and more powerful double-base smokeless powder. The United States military followed a similar chambering modernization process from 30-03 to 30-06 Springfield.

The rifle has a plethera of unit markings and was nitro proofed by the Birmingham proof House in 2013.
This was the forerunner to the Gew 98 and the Mauser K98. This is a nice looking example with a good shooting bore of a rifle that is now getting scarce.
The bayonet is not sold with this rifle and is shown for interest only. This is a Section One Firearm.

Code: 50141