German Model 1888 Bolt Action Magazine Carbine, Serial Number 4156d, Caliber 7.9 x 57 mm Mauser, a.k.a. Model 1888 Commission Carbine

Technical Description: German Model 1888 bolt action magazine carbine, serial number 4156d, caliber 7.9 x 57 mm Mauser, a.k.a. Model 1888 commission carbine. The 17.7-inch barrel is covered by a blued sheet metal barrel jacket on which the front and rear sights are mounted. The barrel is fastened by two blued steel barrel bands. The upper band is also the stock cap and front sight base, marked on the left side is B.5 Ch. 3. 51.. The lower band is secured by a retainer spring and has a sling bar on the left side. The right side is marked P.6. Ch. 1. 38. which has been lined through. The front sight is an inverted V; the rear sight is a small folding leaf graduated to 1200 meters. The left side of the barrel jacket forward of the receiver is marked 4156/d. The left side of the receiver ring is marked 4156/d. The top of the receiver ring is marked S and CG HAENEL / SUHL / 1890., the right side has three small proof or view marks. The left receiver wall is marked KAR. 88. in Gothic Script. The bolt handle root is marked 4156/d, other bolt parts are marked 56. The stock has a sling slot milled in the butt. The stock has an old coat of varnish, which is starting to alligator. Standard military configuration arm. The bore is dark and pitted. The blue is aging to brown. Historical Significance: This model carbine was issued to cavalry units. The German Model 1888 rifle was developed at Spandau Arsenal by a German military commission in 1887-88, and was based on variations of the French Lebel 1886 bolt and the clip-loading Mannlicher magazine system. Germany had scarcely completed equipping her army with the Model 1871/84 black-powder rifle, when the French adopted the Lebel 1886 smokeless powder 8mm rifle. This development, having the immediate effect of making all black-powder rifles obsolete, compelled Germany to adopt a similar arm. The Model 1888 was destined to have a short history as Germanys standard military arm. It was a good rifle; based on some of the best features used on military rifles at the time it was adopted. But the eighteen eighties and nineties were years of rapid arms development. The greatly improved Mauser rifle appeared during this period; it was so clearly superior to the Model 1888 that the Mauser was adopted to replace the Commission rifle in 1898. The Model 1888 continued in use as a limited-standard arm in Germany. It was also purchased by Austria and China in considerable numbers. During World War I Germany and Austria issued the gun to second-line units. Many were converted to use Mauser stripper clips and the Model 98 Mauser cartridge with Spitzer bullet. After World War I the Model 1888s were declared obsolete, and were sold to smaller military powers or on the open market.