doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion German & Austrian Sporting Guns @ doublegunshop.com Aug Wolf Suhl 88 stalking Rifle

This little rifle came from South Africa where it obviously had seen some hard use. In addition to the multiple stock problems,someone had fitted a M-98 magazine and an unusal repair for a stripped front receiver screw.
Despite the many changes the barrel and receiver look original. The barrel is a trim 18" with a full rib and the top flat is marked "Aug Wolf Suhl". It is 8mm and nitreo proofed. I'll try to post some pictures today.
Does anyone have any information on Aug Wolf?
Otto

Some Pictures.
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There is some info on this post from Raimey

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...229b3f069eaf438

doughk. Thank you for the link. That is what I had hoped to learn.
The rifle is now in pieces with the crack at the wrist and the stripped front guard screw as the first repairs to be done.
In the lower picture,just in front of the receiver, you can see the upper part of a So.African repair for the stripped front receiver screw. The saddle like piece contains the new front screw attachment which extends down and is held in the stock by a screw through the bottem of the stock.
Otto

An August Wolf, gunsmith, is noted in Suhl, Rimbachstr. 27 in 1935. This date is quite late for your rifle, but he may have been an old man by 1935. At least in 1945 an Ewald Wolf is listed as owner of the August Wolf shop, a son?
The problems with the front action screw is common to many sporterized M88 actions, as on the military rifles and carbines the front screw threaded into the barrel sleeve, not into the receiver. Gunsmithes who built sporters on these actions came to individual solutions. On many such sporters they used simply a wood screw or a screw with a nut inletted into the barrel channel to fasten the bottom metal to the stock. The barreled action was held muzzleloader-fashion by the tang screw and a wedge throgh the foreend. Frank de Haas recommended a barrel band with a screw forward on the barrel and foreend instead of the wedge. Other gunsmithes welded, dovetailed or brazed a threaded stud to the barrel to accept the front action screw, but doing so may seriously weaken the barrel in the chamber area. So that saddle soldered to the barrel may have been August Wolf's original solution, not a SA repair.

Yes, I think you may be correct Axel in Ewald Wolf being a descendant. I'm somewhat removed from my notes for a time but I do have a few images of an Ewald Wolf example.






Note the Eduard Kettner K�ln on the Rhine( & Suhl early on) concern's/house mark of an acorn and leaf on the bottom of the forward lug. I had thought it to be that of B�Hag's but Axel set me on the straight & narrow.


Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Thank you Axel for the information on August and Raimey for the pictures of Ewald Wolf's work.
Additional information on this rifle.
The magazine attaches to the receiver like the M-98 with front and rear screws.In addition the post of the saddlle is threaded and accepts a screw through the bottom of the stock.
Based of the quality of the work, the saddle,M-98 magazine and possibly the front barrel attachment were added after Aug Wolf made the rifle.
I removed the saddle which was soft soldered to the barrel and made a chamber cast.It looks as if most of the proof and work marks were lost during the metal prep for the saddle. A 7.9 and eagle over N are the only ones that I can find. The rifle is chambered for the 8X57 (.318")
Does anyone know:
Were M-88 sporter conversions common and when done was wood added to cover the bottom of the magazine?
Does anyone have a picture of one of these conversions?
Based on the action and maker, what would be a guess as to the date of manufacrure?
What was the intended use for the sporting rifles?
Were full power loads used or did these rifles use special loads?
Otto

Is the eagle the post 1939 type or the stylized eagle adopted by the 1st proof rules? As I recall the 1939 rules would not allow the 0.318" chambering so the rifle would date between 1910 & 1938, unless there was a reproof. Mike Ford notes an Herr Wolf from Bad Kissingen that was keen on adjustable cheekpieces on rifle stocks. His stock making factory was sourced by the larger concerns. He was active in the 1970s.

When in South Africa was it used?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

No, the 1940 proof law merely prescribed the clear-cut differences between bullet diameters and the designations 8x57I and 8x57IS, extended to other 8mm cartridges like 8x60S, 8x68S. It also prescribed minimum dimensions for both the ordinary, I or Normal, .318" diameter and the S or Magnum .323" diameter. It also prescribed all rifles to be marked clearly with the name of the cartridge, fi 8x57IS instead of the formerly used bore diameter 7.9 and case length 57. Cartridges were only allowed to be sold as complete,sealed 10 shot boxes. Boxes containing S bullets had to have a black stripe behind the cartridge designation and a warning "for use in S barrels only". Individual S cartridges besides the headstamp were to be marked further with a black primer and a stippled line around the bullet. Until very recently every candidate for the J�gerpr�fung = mandatory hunter's examination had to know these rules and markings. The I .318" diameter was regarded a the "civilian", while the S .323" was more the "military", but both cartridges were loaded to the same ballistics in 8x57. Only some time after WW2, when german hunters were allowed to rearm, the I diameter went out of use, because most used sporterized K98s, remains of the Wehrmacht pulled out of the bushes or rusted out prewar rifles rebarreled with plentyful 8x57IS military barrel blanks.

Kuduae, yours is an excellent explanation of the I/IS issue.

With kind regards,
Jani