sporting rifles based on this action usually follow the serial numbering practice used on military arms, though they are not always stamped with the date of manufacture. Military rifles seldom have the caliber designation stamped on them. On sporting rifles, the caliber is usually stamped on the barrel, but it may be underneath the barrel, requiring the removal of the stock to see it.
Strong and Weak Points
The German M88 actions are well made, all the parts are of steel, machined and finished to close tolerances and properly heat-treated. The outside of the bolt body, the inside of the receiver and all the contracting surfaces of the firing mechanism within the bolt and receiver carry a very fine finish, resulting in exceptionally smooth and easy opening and closing of the bolt. Despite the slotted receiver bridge, there is little sloppiness of the bolt in the receiver, even when the bolt is open. Feeding of the cartridges from the magazine is smooth and reliable, and there is ample extraction camming power. The bolt stop is quite rugged; the safety positive. Although the bolt head is a separate part of the bolt, and the front end of the bolt is hollowed out to accept it, there seems to be ample metal at the front to adequately support the dual locking lugs.
This action, however, has more weak and undesirable features than strong ones. The weakest part is the very small extractor. Not only is it weak and delicate, but it can be lost easily when the bolt is taken apart. The ejector is small and delicate also.
The separate bolt head can be readily disassembled and can be easily lost—another undesirable feature. The bolt can be assembled in the action minus the bolt head, and it is possible to fire a cartridge in the rifle with the bolt head missing with unpredictable consequences.
The worst feature is the need for a special clip to hold the cartridges in the magazine. When the M88 rifle was used as a military weapon, with the ammunition supplied in clips, these clips were then expendable. However, when these rifles were used as sporting arms, the sporting ammunition was not furnished in clips, and their easy loss became a problem. A small device known as a “clip-saver” was developed to prevent the clips from dropping from the magazine. It was a small, sliding spring cover slipped over the rounded edges of the bottom of the magazine. Covering the hole in the magazine held the empty clip in the magazine. Commercial sporting rifles made on this action often had a hinged magazine hole cover serving the same purpose.
Another undesirable feature is the mass of metal attached to the striker, resulting in rather slow lock time. This mass includes the heavy striker, massive cocking piece, striker nut, safety, and safety spring.
No provision is made to allow powder gases to escape harmlessly from the action in the event of a pierced primer or ruptured case head. There are no gas escape vents in the bolt or receiver ring.
Minor design faults include the forward position of the bolt handle, inconveniently placed for rapid bolt operation. The split bridge design prevents installing a conventional receiver sight and also places some limitations on the choice of scope mounts which can be used. The magazine box extending below the stock line is also a nuisance in carrying the rifle. Although not an action fault, the barrel jacket is not a desirable feature.
Takedown and Assembly
Open the bolt and, while depressing the bolt stop, withdraw the bolt from the receiver. Disassemble the bolt as follows: Press the safety forward and unscrew the striker nut. Remove the cocking piece from the firing pin. Holding the bolt in the left hand, firmly grasp the bolt head with the fingers of the right hand and turn the bolt head ½-turn clockwise. Bolt head, firing pin and mainspring can now be pulled out of the bolt. The extractor is removed from the bolt head by raising the hooked end and sliding it forward. The ejector can be removed by pushing it back with a drift punch. Reassemble the bolt parts in reverse order, as follows: Lay the bolt on a table with the lugs to the right and the bolt handle toward you. Place the bolt head on the firing pin with the ejector lug aligned with the flat spot on the rear of the firing pin. Slip the mainspring over the firing pin. Now, grasp the bolt with the left hand and, with the bolt handle pointing toward you, insert mainspring, firing pin and bolt head into the front of the bolt. With the ejector lug pointing away from you, or opposite the bolt handle, push the bolt head into the bolt as far as it will go; then turn the bolt head ¼-turn counterclockwise so the ejector lug is aligned with the left locking lug. Place the cocking piece over the rear end of the firing pin, with the safety lug in line with the bolt handle. Insert the safety and spring into place with the safety wing to the left and, while depressing the safety, turn on the striker nut until the rear end of the firing pin is flush with the end of the nut.
Top view of the M88 German Commission action.
Remove the barrel, action and magazine assembly from the stock by removing the front and rear guard screws from the bottom of the magazine/guard. Remove the bolt stop by driving out the bolt stop pin from the bottom. Remove the trigger assembly by driving out the trigger sear pin. Depress the follower arm and insert a wire or brad into the hole exposed at the end of the follower plunger. Then remove the follower screw to remove the follower. Remove the magazine plate screw and slide out the magazine plate. Remove the clip catch screw and remove the catch and spring. Pull out the wire or brad from the follower plunger to move the plunger and spring. Reassemble in reverse order. Do not unscrew the barrel jacket or barrel from the receiver unless you have the proper tools available.
Remodeling
As soon as the M88 rifle had been adopted, German and other European gunmakers began making sporting rifles on this action. The practice continued long after the M88 was dropped in favor of the far better M98 Mauser.
At first, these sporting rifles were generally chambered for the 8mm cartridge originally designed for this action. This round was originally known as the 7.9mm, and later on as the 7.9x57mm or 8x57mm Mauser. Its commercial designation was 8x57J, the “J” meaning Infanterie.* This cartridge was loaded with a bullet of .318” diameter to match the normal bore (.311”) and groove (.320”) diameters of the military barrel. Therefore, the correct ammunition to use in the military M88 rifles and carbines is the 8x57J. The sporting rifles were also chambered for the 6.5x57mm, 7x57mm, 8x56mm, 9x57mm and other cartridges, all of them originally factory loaded to breech pressures of less than 45,000 psi. That was considered maximum safe working pressure for this action.
The clip of the M88 will accept and handle any rimless cartridge having the standard 30-06 head size and those that are no more than about 3.250” long. Cartridges feed in a straight line into the chamber, and even those as short as the 35 Remington will function very nicely. In past years, I have seen several M88 carbines rebarreled to 35 Remington, and their owners liked them very much for hunting deer. I have also seen some rebarreled with an M98 Mauser 8mm barrel so that commercially loaded U.S. 8mm Mauser hunting ammunition could be safely used. U.S.-loaded 8mm Mauser cartridges show a breech pressure of less than 40,000 psi and, therefore, are quite safe for these old actions if the new barrel fitted has a groove diameter matching the .323” diameter bullet used in these cartridges. In fitting the M98 barrel to this action, it is necessary to turn and thread a new shank.
M88 German Commission action, opened.
German Model 88 Commission Rifle
General Specifications
