Folks: I GREATLY appreciate the input so many have provided these past months regarding the Gew 88 serial numbers. I am presently pulling this information together for a brief article to be submitted to The Military Rifle Journal and felt it appropriate to share some of the findings (with the understanding that these figures are subject to change as additional guns are recorded).

Rifles were recorded dated from 1889-1891 and 1893-1896. Not every arsenal or factory produced these every year and the following years of manufacture have been recorded:
Amberg: 1889-1890
Danzig: 1890, 1893
Erfurt: 1889-1890
Loewe Berlin: 1890-1891
Spandau: 1889-1891, 1893, 1895-1896
Steyr: 1889-1890, 1894
It appears that no Gew 88's were made in 1892, the time frame in which various modifications were being made to remedy feed problems, bursting barrels, etc., by the government arsenals.

Presuming that all serial numbers have been copied correctly (and some letter suffixes are hard to read), the serial number ranges indicate that 1,884,058+ rifles were manufactured by these facilities in the years indicated. Paul Scarlata's book indicates that 1.9 million Gew 88's were delivered to the German government but he also notes that tens of thousands were made of overseas customers (e.g., Brazil and China) so it seems that total Gew 88 production exceeded 2,000,000 rifles. Frankly, I have been pleasantly surprised that production output as expressed by the recorded serial numbers comes so close to the documented production appearing in Scarlata's study of this rifle (these figures exclude all carbines and later sporting rifles as well as those manufactured in China).

The serial number ranges recorded thus far indicate that these arsenals produced the following numbers and percentages of the total output of Gew 88 rifles:
Amberg: 130,534 (6.93%)
Danzig: 398,788 (21.17%)
Erfurt: 104,842+ (5.56%)
Loewe Berlin: 391,325 (20.77%)
Spandau: 509,666 (27.05%)
Steyr: 348,903 (18.52%)

I have no doubt that serial numbers exist which would enhance the accuracy of this preliminary study and would encourage all forum members who have not done so to post the serial numbers of the rifle(s) in their collection. All of us stand to gain by having access to this information.

C96Guy, thank you so much for bringing this this Amberg Gew 88 to my attention. Now if I could just read the serial number. I have no doubt that the preliminary information I have come across could be further expanded with enough input from forum members and it is a certainty than no one of us can hope to "track down" every rifle and personally examine their arsenal, year, and serial number. Your observation helps move this effort that much further down the road toward completion and is greatly appreciated. If possible, could you post a link to the web site in which this picture appeared?

Strangely, in my Gew 88 collecting efforts the only arsenal from which I do not have a representative rifle is Amberg. One of these days.

As a personal aside, being from Tennessee I sharve your fondness for things southern and frequently recall a statement attributed to President Woodrow Wilson that "The South is the only place where you don't have to explain everything to me." I may live in Kentucky but I still love fried okra and sweet corn bread.

Chuck, I am once again in your debt for some great detective work on documenting another year/arsenal of Gew 88 production. Including the rifles you have brought to my attention, over the past few days I have seen pictures (but not serial numbers) of Gew 88 rifles produced in the following years:
Amberg -- 1892, 1894
Danzig -- 1894, 1896
Erfurt -- 1891
Spandau -- 1892
I have seen comments that Gew 88's were produced in 1897 but have yet to document one manufactured in that year.

In light of some additional serial numbers I have seen, the 'nose count" on Model 1888 rifles now stands at 1,996,431 rifles. As there is no way that I can enumerate the number of rifles produced i the above noted "No Data" years, at present I am inclined to conservatively estimate the number of Gew 88 rifles manufactured at 2,300,000 (further research may show that this number should be larger). This quantity includes a number manufactured for sales outside of Germany.

My short article on Gew 88 production is coming along very well but I have no doubt that there are gaps in its coverage which simply cannot be adequately addressed without further input on specific serial numbers from various arsenals. Still, I think it is a reasonable point of deparure for further study in this area.

4x4fun -- first off, welcome aboard! Congradulations on the recent addition to the family! I think you'll enjoy looking over the many interesting postings in this board and will learn a lot about your Gew 88 in the process. Should you be interesting in shooting your rifle, you might want to both check the rifle's head space and slug the barrel. There is a wide variance in bore diameters in these rifles. For goodness sake, please do NOT use any surplus 8mm military ammo -- the pressure is way too high for Gew 88 metalurgy. Thoroughly disassembling and cleaning your rifle was a very good idea. Sadly, I've found that some Model 1888 rifles I've purchased apparently haven't seen a drop of oil in (literally) decades.

Being an 1889 rifle, there should be a stamping on the left rail of the receiver marked "G.Mod.88." This making was changed to "Gew.88." some time in 1890.

The "X" marks you mentioned were placed on the barrel band to obliterate an earlier regimental marking -- in other words, the unit to which the rifle was first issued. When a rifle was recalled for repairs or modifications, it would be issued to a second unit and their marking would typically be placed on the left side of the front barrel band. I would note that I have seen a very few regimental markings stamped on: (1) the left rail of these receiver; and (2) the butt plate. There are the rare exceptions rather than the rule. There are literally hundreds of regimental marks that were used and some letters were stamped in Roman block letters whereas others were stamped in capital italics. The type of lettering is very important for correctly identifying a given unit and not confusing with a unit based elsewhere in the Germany.

Thank you for the serial number information. Thus far, this is the highest reported Spandua 1889 serial number I have seen thus far.

Don't be a stranger! Drop in any time!

gunnutt69, thank you so much for your contribution. Yours is the highest 1891 Erfurt serial number I have seen thus far. This project has benifited so much because of folks like yourself taking the time to submit their serial numbers.