The Gewehr or "Gew" 88 first produced in 1888 was the first German rifle designed to utilize smokeless powder cartridges.
This particular rifle was shortened to "Cavalry" length at some point in its life. It shows definite wear on all surfaces. Initially when I invested in this rifle it was absent the bolt head which proved to be a very illusive part as they seemed to have a hard time making it into the states. Eventually I did manage to source one via a gutted parts kit, as well as all other parts of a rifle minus a receiver. As a result with one bolt head between them there are the makings of two complete configurations of the rifle, the cavalry length and the full issued factory length.