Gew 88 stock value

[Carlsr]

I recently received a Gew 88 from my brother that once belonged to my Dad. It was missing the cleaning rod which was easily and inexpensively replaced.
The stock however is a different story. Seems that at one time the front, just past the barrel band was damaged then sanded down so that most of the barrel shroud is exposed.
I?d like to replace the stock but I?m not sure what their value is??
I?ve seen a couple on eBay but they seem to be highly priced.
Anyone here have an idea on the value of a decent stock?

[bruce]

Don't know if this will be of any help, but a lot of 88's were sent to Turkey. As a result, many that are now available are in less that good condition. Look around and see if you can find one of these rifles for sale. It might be worth the money to be able to swap stocks and then sell the rifle. This would allow you to hopefully upgrade your fathers rifle. Over the years I have used this method to fix up rifles I had for which parts/stocks were few and far between. HTH. Good luck with your project. Sincerely. bruce.

[Carlsr]

Thanks Bruce, that is an option I had thought about until I started shopping around.
Seems these rifles, like everything else has skyrocketed in price. I did find a listing of parts with a decent stock. Hopefully I’ll get it and if so would be an inexpensive fix.

[Carlsr]

I ended up getting a stock at a decent price with extra parts. Now I can put the rifle back to a respectable condition. Next will be to find or load some safe rounds an take it to the range

[bruce]

Just a suggestion ... the brass needed is the common 8x57 Mauser. The bullet needed is nominally .318. If there is a "S" stamped into the receiver ring, that indicates that it has been re-arsenaled for use with the later 8x57 round that used a .323 bullet. Find and buy a box of Remington 8mm Mauser ammo that will, if memory serves me, a 170 gr. bullet. These are sized and loaded appropriately for the 1888. The load is a bit light for the later M-98, but yours is a 1888 Commission Mauser so this will work for you. You will likely need to raise the elevation a bit. If you want to, contact Hunter Supply Company or any other producer of cast lead bullets. Order a box of whatever suits your needs and load over a basic starting charge of powder as recommended in a hand loading book. I use Speer, Hornady, Sierra. There are many others. This will allow you to shot the rifle w/o taking out a HELOC on your home! HTH. Sincerely. bruce.

[Carlsr]

Thanks for the information bruce. I have been doing some research on what rounds to use in my 88. There’s a lot of contradicting information out there as to what weight bullet, diameter to use. I ordered a custom bullet sizing die and neck expander to reload some 8mm brass I have.
From what I found is that the readily available 196 grain bullets and ammo are too large for the 88.
Remington 8mm Mauser seems to be no longer available on the market so maybe I’ll find some at a gun show??
There are other brands available but the bullet weights are heavier.
Think I’ll look for some 170 bullets then size them to .323
Turned out the stock I bought was for an 88, not the 88/05 which had new stock milling to allow for the updated parts to fit. With a little filling and milling I was able to get everything to fit perfectly.IMG_0038.jpg

[bruce]

Regret to read of the different milling of the stock which of course presents a problem. Thankful you were able to deal with this and thereby fit the stock to your barreled receiver. As stated, the 8mm Commission Mauser initially used a nominal .318 round nosed bullet. In 1905 bore diameter was increased to .323 using a 198 gr. spitzer bullet. Many of the 88's were reworked to use the newer cartridge. These usually have a little notch milled into the receiver ring as well as being configured to use standard 5 round clips. Gun shows are a good place to look for older ammo. Just pay attention to the necks of cartridges as seasoning cracks may be present. If you find 170 gr. bullets, they will almost certainly be of U.S. domestic production and will likely be .320 diameter which will not require resizing. If possible, slug your barrel with attention to the throat, etc. This will help you determine if you will need .318 bullets or if you will be able to use .323 bullets. Sincerely. bruce.

[Doc Sharptail]

The Rem 170 gr loads worked pretty well for me with little in the way of recoil.
Noise level a shade louder than .410.
Excellent short to midrange accuracy. I was able to put 5 of them into 3" at 85 yards with the open sights on my rough looking bore Chilean..

Regards,

Doc Sharptail