Gew. 88 Regiment Identification

[JosiahP]

Hi there,

I'm attempting to uncover some history on an 1890 Gew. 88 rifle that I have made by Loewe Berlin.

It has the following numbers and letters stamped onto it:

87.R.4.139

and

B3.R.R.5.152

Any info is greatly appreciated. And above the Loewe Berlin maker stamp, is a moon on its side with the letter 'S' stamped above it. As far as I am aware, the S indicates rifle underwent an ammunition round modification. Not sure if the horizontal moon underneath it has any connection to the Turkish, though.

[bert.f]

Hello.

87.R.4.139-   Nassauisches Infanterie- Regiment nr.87, 4 company ,weapon nr.139

B3.R.R.5.152 - Bay, 3 Infanterie Regiment. Rekrutendepot, 5 company, weapon nr. 152

[shippingsteel]

2 hours ago, JosiahP said:

And above the Loewe Berlin maker stamp, is a moon on its side with the letter 'S' stamped above it. As far as I am aware, the S indicates rifle underwent an ammunition round modification. Not sure if the horizontal moon underneath it has any connection to the Turkish, though.

Yes the S indicates that the rifle has been modified to accept the pointed "S patrone" cartridge, as most of the older Gew88 rifles were.

And the Moon stamp is the Turkish ownership mark, which shows it was counted amongst the many that were sent out to Turkey from Germany as war aid during WW1.

Cheers,  SS

[AndyBsk]

The unit sometimes by Bavarian units doesnt mean its Rekruten Depot, sometimes is added the complete name also in case the first R is cursive it should be then a Bavarian Reserve regiment nr.3, 5.Company and weapon nr, i dont believe Rekruten Depot has 5 companies.

There was not fully coincidence about the S as allways a Spitz round conversion on american forum, there should be some other marking too, but in this case it would be as its turkish used, so mostly G88/05 or G88/14 conversion.

Edited 27 March by AndyBsk

[navydoc16]

On 27/03/2024 at 08:30, shippingsteel said:

Yes the S indicates that the rifle has been modified to accept the pointed "S patrone" cartridge, as most of the older Gew88 rifles were.

And the Moon stamp is the Turkish ownership mark, which shows it was counted amongst the many that were sent out to Turkey from Germany as war aid during WW1.

Cheers,  SS

Here is all I own left from a Turkish 88

A lot of soldiers were illiterate so First has been spelt how it sounds phonetically 

kind regards

g