This guest article was contributed by Omer Sayadi, a researcher who studies symbols, weapon markings, and vexillology of the MENA region. He holds a Master’s degree in Arabic & Islamic Studies from KU Leuven. His work can be found on Twitter, and on his website.
The Gewehr 1888 is a 19th century German bolt-action rifle designed by the German Rifle Commission in the late 1880s. The rifle was developed in the wake of the introduction of smokeless powder in an effort to keep pace with European rivals. The German army immediately adopted this rifle for military service under the colloquial name of ‘Reichgewehr’, or commission rifle. Pressured by the French development of the Lebel Model 1886 rifle, firing 8 mm cartridges with a smokeless propellant, the Germans developed a similar type of ammunition to be used with their new commission rifle, resulting in the creation of the M/88 8 mm cartridge, loaded with a round-nose bullet.