We shoot the very misunderstood and woefully under appreciated Gewehr 88, the German Army’s first small bore smokeless powder infantry rifle. When it was adopted after an urgent development period by an army commission in late 1888, it was the most modern infantry rifle in the word. The “Commission rifle” was the first military rifle ever to utilize a rimless cartridge, in the iconic 7.92x57mm chambering that (in a later and higher pressure variant) is very well known as “8mm Mauser.” Most countries were still using black powder rifles when the Gewehr 88 entered service, but because it has a “modern” chambering, the Gewehr 88 has been unfairly judged against more modern rifles. For a first generation smokeless powder rifle, it was revolutionary. It’s flaws were many, but it deserves appreciation in the context of its era, and not subsequent generations of small arms development.
8 май 2021
