Original Item: Only One Available. Introduced in 1867, the Vetterli rifle system utilized the "Winchester" tube magazine system for cartridge storage under the barrel. The original 1867 model had an external hammer, like a Winchester, but in 1868 this was changed to an internal cocking bolt spring. The cleaning rod was moved to the side of the rifle, but this proved problematic, so the model of 1869 moved it back to the under barrel position. In 1871, the loading gate cover on the right side of the receiver and the magazine cutoff on the left side were deemed to be redundant, so a new model 1871 was introduced without them. It also featured strengthened barrel rings and a much thicker and sturdier rear sight leaf. Later models after this changed over to the box Magazine found on most rifles of the WWI era.

To accelerate the sluggish production of the Vetterli rifles, the federal authorities built a new arms factory in Berne, the Eidgenössische Waffenfabrik (W+F), in 1875. This factory is usually thought to have started with the M1878 variant of the Vetterli rifle, however this is definitely a transitional M1871 model, with some of the improvements on the M1878 already implemented. There is also no model number noted on the receiver, which we would see on the M.78 and M.81 rifles produced at Bern. The rifle has the 1000 Schritt rear sight as seen on pre-1875 manufacture, which was removed in later examples. However it is missing the two gas escape holes on the front of the receiver, which were seen on serial number 133392, offered previously Definitely an interesting piece of history!

This rifle is nicely maker marked on the left side of the receiver:

Serial number 136686 is found on the receiver below the maker mark, as well as on the chamber end of the barrel and 686 on the bottom of the feed block/ejector, sight base, and on the butt plate (faint). There are additional proof marks on metal components of the rifle, as well as some on the stock. 

Offered in very good service used condition, this was a rifle serving at the time of Britain's legendary Martini-Henry Single Shot Rifle, also introduced in 1871 and not replaced with a magazine rifle until 1888. The metalwork shows a lovely dark gray patina, faded from the original bluing, and there are some areas of rust and past pitting evident. The wooden stocks are in very good condition, with some dents and scrapes on the fore stock, while the butt stock is in great shape with some lovely figure to the grain. The butt stock however must have taken quite a blow at some point, bending the trigger guard downwards and shearing off the bolt going from the trigger guard to the receiver tang. This also cracked the stock a bit next to the receiver tang. We have not made any attempts to fix this, as it would most likely damage the metal further.

The bore is in good condition, with strong lands and grooves, however the finish shows a lot of past fouling and oxidation, very common for black powder breech loaders. Both sling swivels are still present, however the butt stock swivel is rust frozen, and the cleaning rod is unfortunately missing. The action cycles well, with the carrier block moving correctly, as intended, though overall the bolt is a bit stiff at times. The U-shaped striker for the rimfire ammunition is present and functional.

The Vetterli was an Italian design ahead of its time but was soon outclassed by the German Mauser 1871/84 magazine Rifle. This is a very nice example, in lovely condition with no signs of restoration. The Swiss Vetterli rifle is one of the very first bolt-action "repeating" rifles and getting scarce to find today.

Ready to research and display!

Specifications-

Years of Manufacture:  1875-1878
Caliber: 10.4×38mm Swiss
Cartridge Type: Rimfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 32 inches
Overall Length: 51 Inches
Action type: Bolt-Action
Feed System: 11 round internal tubular magazine

History of the Vetterli rifle: The Vetterli rifles were a series of Swiss army service rifles in use from 1869 to circa 1890, when they were replaced with Schmidt-Rubin rifles. Modified Vetterli rifles were also used by the Italian Army.

The Swiss Vetterli rifles combined the American Winchester Model 1866's tubular magazine with a regular bolt featuring for the first time two opposed rear locking lugs. This novel type of bolt was a major improvement over the simpler Dreyse and Chassepot bolt actions. The Vetterli was also the first repeating bolt action rifle to feature a self-cocking action and a small caliber bore. Due to the Swiss Federal Council's early 1866 decision to equip the army with a breechloading repeating rifle, the Vetterli rifles were, at the time of their introduction, the most advanced military rifles in Europe. The Vetterli was the replacement for Amsler-Milbank rifles, which were a metallic cartridge conversion from previous Swiss muzzle-loading rifles.

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