The Commission Rifle Finale  —- The Turkish 88In case you missed Part I, Part II, Part III, Pa

The Commission Rifle Finale  —- The Turkish 88In case you missed Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VIWhen Germany adopted the Gewehr 98 the older Gewehr 88 became obsolete. However, not wanted to waste so many rifles, the German Army modified the Gew 88 into a more modern rifle (see Part VI), the Gew 88/05.  This was a good thing too, as World War I would leave Germany woefully short of weapons, and the Gew 88/05 was important as a stopgap rifle until Germany could produce Gew 98′s in sufficient quantities.  By 1916, German production of Gew 98′s caught up with demand. Most Gew 88′s were donated to Germany’s allies, Austria Hungary, and most especially the Ottoman Empire.  In desparate need of rifles, the Ottomans Turks received hundreds of thousands of Gew 88/05′s as well as a number of unmodified original Gew 88′s.After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey found itself in possession of an odd assortment of Gewehr 98′s, various model Mauser rifles, both foreign and domestic, captured Lee Enfields, and thousands of Gewehr 88′s.  In the 1930′s, Turkey set into motion a program to modernize it arsenal and standardize the many models of rifles in inventory. Original Gewehr 88′s would be converted to Gew 88/05′s, with a stripper clip system installed and conversion for use of spitzer ammunition. The barrel jacket was removed, and replaced with a wooden foregrip. A ring was also placed in the buttstock, a German feature which was used to aid in the field stripping of the bolt.  Finally, the sights were replaced, with a Mauser style v-notch folding elevation sight at the rear and a simple front sight.  Called the Gewehr 88/05/35, the new modifications of the Gewehr 88 were intended to make the rifles more like modern Mauser rifles.  The Gewehr 88/05/35 was issued as a reserve arm to rear echelon units of the Turkish Army.  After World War II they were phased out, most being sold as military surplus to civilians. -- source link

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