A while back I presented a Gewehr 88 that was given to the Ottoman Empire by the Germans during WWI. That one is fitted with rear sights where the standard numbers are crossed out, and ottoman numbers stamped instead. I mentioned there that the markings on the war-aid Gew88 are pretty diverse, so I will devote a few Tuesdays to showing some different variations.
For the backstory on these, here is the previous blog:
This rifle is quite interesting. The rifle itself is in German imperial condition. No Ottoman marks at all, and standard German sights. So, it might simply be a German used rifle, but no.
The bolt is the most interesting part here, as it is a post-WWI Czech made bolt. The bolt has the Czech circled Z stamped on it. It has Ottoman serial numbers on it, and a crescent stamped on the bolt knob. Why is that? Just an armorers replacement part?
Well, yes in a way, but not quite… There is a more interesting story here.
When the Ottoman army in the Middle East surrendered to the British, the brits disarmed them by taking the bolts of their rifles and destroying them. The soldiers marched home with boltless rifles.
The natural place to buy new bolts would be Germany, but they were not allowed to manufacture weapons for export, so they turned to the Czechs who manufactured these.
So, a rifle that most probably fought the brits in the Middle East and was subsequently carried to Turkey sans bolt.
Next Tuesday I will show another variation.