doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 1888 Commission - Haenel Mannlicher

On another thread we've seen a fellow carrying one of these smokepoles, and there was some slight discussion of the cartridges/loadings suitable for these old rifles. There is general urban legend consensus that they are comparatively weaker than other rifles chambered for the 8x57 Mauser cartridge, no argument there.

My question is, have any of you actually seen any significant failure with this action, or actual evidence of such? How extensive was the damage, and what path did the failure mode take?

The famous Mannlicher-Schoenauer action has the same typical Mannlicher bolt design as the 1888 and it has proven to be quite strong with modern cartridges. It's my supposition that these earlier 1888 actions are strong enough for the originally-loaded 8x57 military-issue ammo, as evidenced by their extensive use as military rifles by several nations.

Logic and experience tend to tell me that the initial 1888 failure mode may often involve a longitudinal stretching of the receiver ring, thereby increasing headspace. Much the same failure mode as the small ring/large thread 1898 Mausers, at least that's my initial theory.

Has anyone here ever had any direct experience with any 1888 failures? Inquiring minds want to know the details...
Regards, Joe

Slightly germane is that I saw film clips of German soldiers leaving for the front in 1914, plus still photos of troops in combat in 1914, armed with Commission 88 rifles. I'm guessing they were reservists still armed with the old pattern rifles, and will further surmise they were using the same 8x57 ammunition as their comrades who were armed with 98's.

Did P.O. Ackley or Whelen or Hatcher,anybody else that did "blow up" testing of various bolt actions include the '88 Commission Rifle? I just can't remember it and don't have my books handy.

I do remember that one of the longest (and I suspect hardest!) users of the rifle was the Chinese "Army" (really a bunch warlords in the '20s and '30s). They used both German surplus rifles and Chinese-manufactured ones. Some of both survived long enough to show up in Korea.

The Turks were also using '88s as standard issue up to the 1930s and as reserve for a long time after. My impression is that it is a strong action, although certainly not as over-built as the '98.

I owned and shot the 88 on page 152 in my book. It was made by Schilling, everyone seemed to have made them. They don't differ just another maker.

I've read a lot of folks warning about using the wrong ammo but can't remember reading about any accidents with them. Mine had a trap over the bottom of the magazine so the clip did not fall out after loading the last cartridge.

The M88 "Comission" action is not weak as an action. DSteele is right, it is just as strong as the Mannlicher-Schoenauer action. Some small details led to badmouthing: In military service some design faults surfaced: If you remove the bolt and uncock it accidentially the bolthead may fall out of the bolt on recocking the bolt. If the loss of the bolthead went unnoticed by the soldier, the M88 rifle could be loaded and fired. Of course, firing any rifle without the bolthead leads to disastrous results. Haenel on it's improved, staggered magazine M1900 and 1909 models corrected this by installing a seperate firing pin tip in the bolthead.
When many M88 rifles were converted in WW1 to use the pointed fmj bullet of the 8x57 S cartridge, another fault surfaced. Like many modern rifles, the M88 is a push-feed action. The extractor only snaps over the case rim on closing the bolt fully down.Now, if a soldier on repeating under stress feels some resistance on pushing the bolt forward, he is inclined to pull it back again and slam it forward with more force. Doing so may leave the first cartridge already chambered. The bolt now picks up a second round. As the M88's clip feeds the cartridges straight into the chamber, the bullet point of the second cartrige hits the primer of the chambered first one -- BANG!!
Another weakness of the M88 design applies only to the old military rifles, not the Suhl made sporters. As you know the barrel of the M88 military rifles and carbines is encased inside a sheetsteel cover. To keep weight inside reasonable limits, the barrel proper was quite thin, especially on early guns. As the space between barrel and cover is connected to the athmosphere, the rifles are now over 100 years old and often served under unkind climatic conditions, the barrels often are severely rust pitted on the outside, invisible under the cover. Sometimes such barrels blow up, fortunately mostly at the proofhouse here in Germany. This is not a weakness of the action, but of the design of the military barrels.