History of WWI Primer 018: German Gewehr 1888/05 "Commission Rifle" Documentary 

I'm glad there is a channel that can enable my addiction to incredibly specific and nerdy facts about old firearms. I love watching these!

C&Rsenal covering the 1888/05 and Forgotten Weapons covering a Winchester 1895 in 7.62x54r, today is WWI as fuck.

Is it wrong that I say "BANG" every time the animation fires a round?

I have three 88/05's from three different makers and they all have very smooth bolts and never had any problem feeding or extracting. They are easily the smoothest bolt action rifles I've ever used. They are all accurate as well.

well it is clear from this video that the rifle I possess is one of the models that was sent to Turkey during World War I that being said I've personally never had a problem with mine feeding properly but I discovered that the extraction problem was wholly dependent on the type of ammunition used, at one time I have about 500 rounds of Canadian made eight millimeter in about five hundred rounds of British made eight millimeter and those bullets would feed and extract flawlessly regardless of how hot the rifle became but some German and Russian ammunition became increasingly difficult to extract as the rifle got hot causing at one point an extractor failure which I the had to replace. great videos guys keep up the good work.

I have a '39 dated '35, so I'm really liking this little '88 series. My rifle feeds surprisingly smooth, but single loading is definitely tricky because of the single stack magazine, much easier when you are dealing with a double stack or even slightly staggered magazine. I love what you guys are doing, keep up the good work.

10:52 Here ya' go, just like the poor man's Garand.

thanks my dad brought back 4 from WWII and mouser 22 training rifle .he gave them away to his brother's and a nephew I still cry about it today.

My God how have I missed this channel!? In my eyes Great War small arms have this mystique unparalleled by any other era, only approached by the Victorian black powder rifles of empire. Thank you for imparting your invaluable knowledge for free, and with excellent production quality.

Back in 1981 I bought a Gewehr 1888 from a friend with the S stamped in it. I shot that rifle a lot and I didn't have stripper clip, I loaded them in by hand. I don't remember having problems cycling the action. Maybe mine was used more and wasn't as tight. Back then I was interested in history of that rifles design and didn't find a lot back then. I'm glad I found your videos I learned a bunch about that old rifle. I also bought a Krag side loading carbine from the same friend but I never shot that one. Keep up the great work!

10:55 it does sound very familiar to the M1 Garand on the last round.

I just bought a gewehr 88/05/35 so I'm very excited for that video.

Every time I watch one of these I am impressed and thank full that I live in a time when I can enjoy entertainment so incredibly specific to my interests in hobbies, I cant imagine living in a time when there were 4 channels on television. keep up the great work guys.

Always interesting to see the development of these various period arms. Another top-notch video!

Getting home after a long day at work, I see that C&Rsenal has posted a new episode. You guys made my day. Thank you.

New to the channel but i've seen the videos you did on The Great War channel. I really enjoy the quality and effort put into your videos and i can't wait to see future content.

Another fantastic episode, thank you.

Clock out for lunch, check RU-vid and there is a new video on another German rifle. MADE MY DAY! Hahaha thanks again guys, I can't say enough how much I love this channel. Keep it coming!! :):):)

Another exhaustive and informative episode. Thank you all very much :-)

Even with the problems, i have the feeling the M88/05 is still a better rifle than the Mosin Nagant.

8:05 Ross is not amused.

Continue on man great work

Good coverage, another great show.

The best conversion would have been rechambering the rifle to .32ACP.

Simply stellar work once again.

Great episode guys, congratulations.

That enfield on the wall in the background is absolutely stunning.

Great episode. Interesting to see just how long and in how many guises the Gewehr 88 served. I think one could spend one's whole life studying Mausers. You should add Canfield's "The M1 Garand Rifle" (that really huge one that came out a couple years ago) to your Amazon store. That's one I hope to buy eventually, and when I do, I'd love for you guys to get a commission for it. :-)

very nice,thank you guys,you are the best!

the fear of every shooter, a barrel blow. great episode as always :D

Good job!

I thought I knew about these rifles... haha... I was wrong. I knew about the Gewehr 88 and 88/05, but the other stuff was all new to me. I need to dig out my 88 and see what it is now. Great video!

Although I knew the bore diameter changed from .318 to .323 due to the deeper rifling, I thought the change was in the 98 series. Thank you for the great video.

Awesome videos! Since i'm from Italy, i do hope i'm not gonna see for much long that '91 carcano laying on the rack!

someone get the 2x4s its bash open the bolt time!

Very Informative. I was watching The Great War and I was sent here

Great series, fabulous detail! Regarding ammunition, was Mae shooting .323 S Patrone diameter rounds in the 88/05 demo? I've always loaded .318 bullets for my Loewe 1890 88/05 (Turkish crescent on the safety) as a precaution against overpressuring the rifle. Spitzer .318 bullets have been hard to find and the round nosed projectiles don't feed well from the magazine. I've read that U.S. factory ammo has been downloaded to adjust for the larger diameter S Patrone.

I had heat problems with my 1944 K98 too, rapid fire of any kind made it hot to the touch. You could smell the wood handguard heating up after ~40 rounds.

I haven’t had a trouble with my 88/05 with loading or pulling the bolt back but what I think could cause the sticky bolt is maybe the pressure for the improved spitzer would expand the case enough to cause a little friction in the chamber. Just a guess.

Hi Othias, I’m Ryan! That’s how I start off every one of these videos, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet! 😅✌🏻

Heyo C&Rsenal, you guys really do a bang up job on these videos. Also, love that you have a strong female as the shooter. You go Mae! Perforate those paper soldiers!

A very good presentation! I own a gew 88/05 with all the proof marks that show it is good to shoot and it is in great shape. I know that you covered it in the video but I have heard conflicting stories about ammo. I am hearing that you cannot shoot off the shelf 8mm mauser ammo, but I also hear that you can. My rifle has the nm, S, Z, the good barrel taper and is in great shape. Any help would be great

Thanks again

Great episode guys. I especially like the animations in the light doo hickey.

Great video guys, I get the chance to see very few of these guns in the wild (at least at the gun shows and collector shows around me) and it kinda makes me wonder where, if there were high production numbers for some of these, where they've all disappeared to. Is it worth doing a video in the future about the Russian M91, M91 Dragoon and M07 Carbine, or have these rifles been talked about to death already? Keep up the good work, can't wait for another update.

Fascinating and well presented as ever. I am going to struggle to think of Germany as the "underdog" but I will try. Thank you.

maybe this would be best for me to post on the Mauser G98 video; however, I wanted to just mention it here... I simply adore the Mauser 1889 Belgian model and especially the Spanish 1893 7x57mm as well as the Chilean models in the same caliber. they seem to have a much farther point-blank range, and I find them to be inherently more accurate just because of the 7x57mm rather than the 8mm Mauser cartridge. what do you guys think? have you guys fired both the 7x57mm and the 7.92x57mm Mausers (1893, 1896, and 1898 especially)?

Thanks to Mae for wrasslin' that unwieldy thing around and to everyone at C&Rsenal for the great episode about the Gew. 88/05. I'd bet the Turks don't miss it either. I enjoy finally being able to understand the model variations.

Thank you for your help in identifying my mystery gew 88! It's an 88-05 with a Turkish rear sight. Got it for $400 today, but it has had the bolt handle hammered down to clear a scope. Did I get a decent deal?

Great video as always! Do you ever come across information about the original cost of these guns? It makes sense that upgrading Gew 88s cost less than buying a brand-new 98 but I'm curious what that actually worked our to in marks and pfenning.

Wow natural selection played it's part that's a relief.

I enjoy your videos. Good job. Gewehr Turk 1888/05/35 video still coming?

Did they ever do the video on the Turkish 1888/05/35? I just bought one and would love to know more about it.

yay! new video

I have one of the double ground rear sights i think. Also the barrel was forced matched to the reciever by over stamping the serial with receiver serial. Is this the work of fudds?

After seeing the Forgotten Weapons video on the Winchester 1895 lever action built for the Russian army in 7.62x54r, I really hope to see you guys do a video on that rifle.

You provided my snow-bound Colorado butt entertainment that doesn't include watching Disney movies over and over and over with my 4 year old. Thanks for another great episode! Also, I love how earnest you both are. It's cute.

At what point does a spitzer bullet stop being the most effective shape? I've heard you mention something about diminishing returns with caliber.

Have you thought of having an end of year or era show and cover your favorite long gun and pistol that you have covered.

I am currently looking into your shows! I personally enjoy educated people who put their prioritizing moments on the viewers wanting! I personally want to learn some information I may not know of on my Dou 44 kar98k- all matching.

I think the gun can be improved by adding a laser and break-action to it. :)IAS... great episode guys!

Excellence is certainly your base line

Keeping my fingers crossed that the 'Ankara Gewehr 1888' appears soon. That's a cool-looking variant of the rifle

Hey, can you provide me the dimensions of the spring and the position of the spring on the dust/ mud cover on the bothom? Like the one at 10:09. Thank you!

Did you have to work the bolt to unload these? Like a blind box on a hunting rifle?

I suppose if you ended up as a reservist in the trenches, this rifle wouldn't cheer up your day. Excellent work as usual. Question to Mae. Would it have been easier to work the bolt if you had more arm strenght, or was the bolt just that sticky?

I have a Danzig 1888 with Turkish sights. with 1937-1943 manufacture Turkish ammo I do have difficulty with extraction as described here. I did have to replace the front sight as it was way too short for a 100 yds point of impact. you really provided a fascinating historical story regards the Lowe "jewish" conspiracy. Some things just never change.

great as always! i really smell what your, ummmm, cooking? my theory for the difficult extractions? clearly the weapon is becoming hot and bothered being handled by may. clearly.

Pinging the clip out the top is so ingenious. Surprising more mannlicher systems didn’t try it.

I really like my 88/05. I don't have any problems with loading or extracting but then again I am steering clear of WW2 and Cold war 8mm Surplus and run handloads with a .321 diameter bullet. I would like to try the Romanian steel cased ammo in the rifle as that has a .318 diameter bullet and a lighter powder load. They are neat little rifles. I figure that if I want to shoot a LOT of 8mm then I will shoot one of my 98 variants.

Is there a recording of the shooting without the music in the background? I wanted to see if the shooting sound could be repurposed for a game, with your permission.

Was the extractor at fault for the failure to extract/eject once the rifle heated up?

Does anyone have the link for there video on the gew 88/05/35?

Othais and Mae, I have has my GEW.88/05 for a bit over a month now, and I think 5 range trips. While it is certainly not as easy to extract as my Argentine Mausers, I am really having no problems and it is smoother with more leverage than my WWI era Mosins because of the longer bolt handle. I am using PPU Match 200 grain ammo. Maybe less pressure than the ammunition you were using? Overall I like it enough to get an 88/05/35. That one is smoother yet. Still looking for an actual GEW.88 but that will come eventually. Thanks again for all you do.

Thak you! Is it better than Mosin Nagant?

Time Warp? Photo at 11.06 back row on the right, is that a young Mark from Anvil?

Nice gun

How would you distinguish between the 88/S and the 88/05?

Keep it up

The Germans could have extended this rifles life by issuing it with a Pedersen device in .32 auto.

No surprise at the "No" on this one, I could easily see the problems with ejecting/loading the next round as the gun heated up. I'd actually stick to my muzzle loader flintlock instead of this one :P

Yo C&Rsenal can you talk about 1888/05 can you shoot the hanyan 88 rifle

Mine obviously does not have its original bolt. So tight to install and work!

The heat seizing is interesting; I've had my Mosin-Nagant do that on me as well on hot days after 20-30 rounds. I've done some quick research online, and common thought is that there's still enough cosmo in the chamber, along with residue/debris building up, that heat expansion becomes an issue. I haven't had a chance to try (and with 7.62x54R prices being what they are now, no real pressing need) to go in there and give the chamber a *serious* cleaning to see if that fixes the problem. I wonder if you guys were running into something similar? I"m guessing that rifle spent a good long while in deep storage at some point.

your extraction binding with heat up is actually easy to explain, that jacket. it's not ventilated, and makes barrel contact with only a couple percent of the barrel surface (and thusly, the interior surface of the jacket). the rest of the internal volume is "dead air space". the barrel is, essentially, a thermos bottle. radiative loss only really occurs in the boring, not off the exterior. now, our nice hot barrel gets LONGER as it heats, and is held in compression between fore and aft barrel jacket mounts (and the jacket, being insulated by the dead air space, heats less). add in barrel machining "induced stresses", voila, your barrel "kinks", at really tiny scale, of course. as the biggest "natural stress risers" (sharp corners) on that barrel is the barrel shoulder/receiver interface (and both ends of the jacket mount), you get most "shimmy" right in the middle of your chamber. pretty much why the non-ventilated barrel jacket went the way of the dodo, except in sporting recoil op models. had Mae been shooting at 500 yds from a solid rest, she would have seen her point of impact go all kinds of "wanderlust" as the heat built. that was a major battlefield moan of the 88 in the "great war", it REALLY wandered under heat. it seems that jacket was more a curse than a feature worthy of paying to keep, lololololol. funny how often that happens in "fad brilliance"

Gotta love a good light doohickey

Will yourself and Mae ever decide to transfer to a WW2 small arms soon? I wish to see the Fliegerfaust; if possible.

So if you keep trying to avoid doing the SMLE I'm wondering if your planning on doing the MLE first the Long Lees.

So are these general safe to shoot? They've been converted but I've heard you should still be cautious because of their lack of strength compared to a 98.

I have a question you may know the answer to. why do some gewehr 88s have the S marking but not the notch on the receiver?????

You mention that some slight modifications were needed in order to use the new spitzer round in the older 1888s while still being able to use the old M/88 round nose ammo. Could the older M/88 rounds be used without issue in new firearms that were designed with the 7.92mm spitzer round in mind? I ask because China up through WW2 was producing the M/88 alongside spitzer rounds and was curious if they utilized the M/88 only in their Hanyang 88s or if they could just shove them into anything chambered in 7.92 Mauser. Thank you.

What is the rifle with the bayonet hanging on the wall?

Good, a new video, just in time to take my mind off my 40% shot at getting an M1 carbine. Fingers crossed - come on CMP!

Dam I feel sorry for Karl over at InRange trying to run his 88/05 in their 2 gun match.

There is no "Z" mark on the receiver. It means the rifling grooves had no been deepened from 8.08 mm to 8.2 mm. Is there any risk of excess pressure?

Dose anyone have a Gewehr 88 stock i’m fixing a 1894 gewehr 88 and I need a stock and the barrel shroud

My Loewe G88/05 (Turkish) has a dark brown finish on the receiver and barrel jacket instead of being blued like the example shown in this video. Is there a specific reason for that or could it be post-service modification?

How can ı have this mauser magazine?

Years ago I had a "guild" sporting rifle built on a 88 action in 8X57mm spitzer that had been used on safari by professional hunters. It ended up in Panama where the original owner settled down before WWII. He lived out his last days there as a security specialist for a fruit company. His daughter married a banker and eventually resettled in Miami during the 80's . When he passed she sold it to a neighbor who eventually offered it to my father who was not interested but put me in touch with the seller. $200 later it was mine for almost a month when I was offered $1000. That was about 1993 and I was recently married with a new mortgage and my first child on the way so the money was too much to resist. That and I kept hearing how brittle they were which made me a little worried. But I did shoot a lot of light target loads in that short period I owned it. It went to a good collector of early smokeless powder sporters and target rifles. Upon his passing all those old rifles went to auction and the collection was broken up. Pity.....loved those old schutzen rifles old John had. Sorry for the long post........just wanted to share a tangential experience.

Another rifle that goes 'PING' when it's done! :D