I did promise Joe to post obscure objects, and this is one. The old Karabiner 88, the short version of the Gew88 rifle, is not very easy to find. With the strict restrictions of the Versailles treaty the number of weapons the Germans were allowed to have was limited, and the guns that went to the smelters will have been the obsolete ones.
However, the military kar88 rifles have a slot through the stock for a sling, like the later Kar98A, but this example does not. Still, the stock is original. How can that be?
The thing is. When production of the Kar88 stopped, due to the introduction of Mausers legendary 1898 system, and the Kar98A was phased in, there were leftover parts. Instead of scrapping those parts, some carbines were assembled using the leftover parts, and sold on the civilian market.
So, though 100% made of military rifle parts, this little carbine was sold to a civilian. This variant is very rare, few were made and few exist today. So, a fun little rifle, still in 7,92X57J. Not converted to JS as the military Gew88 were.