Steyr-Mannlicher M1888

Repeating Rifle Muster 1888
Mannlicher M1888 rifle, from the collections of the Swedish Army Museum.
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	Austria-Hungary
Service history
In service	1888–1945
Used by	See Users
Wars	Chilean Civil War 1891 First Sino-Japanese War 1894-1895 Philippine Revolution 1896-1898 International blockade the island of Crete 1897-1898 Boxer Rebellion 1899-1901 Second Boer War 1899-1902 Xinhai Revolution 1911-1912 First Balkan War 1912-1913 Second Balkan War 1913 World War I 1914-1918 Russian Civil War 1918-1920 Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia 1918-1919 Revolutions and interventions in Hungary 1918-1920 Hungarian–Czechoslovak War 1918-1919 Polish–Ukrainian War 1918-1919 Polish–Czechoslovak War 1919 Polish–Soviet War 1919-1921 Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922 Pacification of Libya 1923-1932 Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935-1936 Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 Sudeten German uprising 1938 World War II 1939-1945 (limited) Greek Civil War 1946-1949 Israel's War of Independence 1947-1949
Production history
Designer	Ferdinand von Mannlicher
Designed	1887–1888
Manufacturer	Steyr-Mannlicher, Fegyver És Gépgyár
Produced	1888–1896
No. built	1,095,000
Variants	M1888-90, M1888-95, M1888/24
Specifications (M88)
Weight	4.41 kg (9.7 lb)
Length	1,280 mm (50 in)
Barrel length	765 mm (30.1 in)
Cartridge	M88 8×52mmR M88-90 and M88-95: 8×50mmR M88/24: 8×57mm IS
Action	Straight-pull bolt action
Muzzle velocity	530 metres per second (1,700 ft/s) with M1888 ball cartridge
Feed system	5-round en-bloc clip (stripper clip in M88/24), integral box magazine
Sights	Iron sights

The Repeating Rifle Muster 1888 better known as Mannlicher M1888 was a bolt-action rifle used by several armies from 1888 to 1945. Derived from the M1885 and later M1886 models, it was Ferdinand Mannlicher's third rifle that utilized the "enbloc clip".

It was succeeded by the Mannlicher M1895 as the standard service rifle of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The M95 uses a more secure rotating-bolt, in contrast to the M88's wedge-lock bolt.

The M1888 was a direct and immediate descendant of the M1886 Austrian Mannlicher. This rifle too was a straight-pull, bolt-action, box magazine repeater. As early as the beginning of production of the M1886 the need and desirability for a small-bore rifle was evident. This rifle is virtually identical to its predecessor but for chambering a newly designed 8 mm cartridge, loaded originally with black powder and denominated 8×52mmR.

Shortly thereafter, the M88 cartridge was converted to semi-smokeless powder. The new cartridge was designated 8mm M.1890 scharfe Patrone and its dimensions were 8×50mmR. The sights of existing black powder 8mm Mannlicher rifles were converted to accommodate semi-smokeless ammunition by the functional arrangement of screw mounting re-graduated sideplates onto the outsides of the existing rear sight walls. The converted rifles were denominated M.88–90.

When in 1890 semi-smokeless powder became available, manufacture of rifles with a longer and thus stronger chamber and modified sights began. Although the smokeless powder filled M.93 8×50mmR cartridge can be used in this rifle, the generated pressure at 40,000 psi (275.8 MPa) is marginal, as the wedge-lock bolt system this rifle uses was originally designed to be shot with less potent black powder filled 11×58mmR ammunution.