Part 2 History:
The Vetterli rifles were a series of Swiss army service rifles in use from 1869 to 1889, when they were replaced with Schmidt–Rubin rifles.
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.
On December 20, 1866 the Swiss committed themselves to adopting a repeating rifle to arm their armed forces. At the time no suitable design existed. The task of designing the rifle was left to designer Friedrich Vetterli, who had joined the Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft Waffen-Department (SIG) in 1864. Vetterli already been involved in weapon design with the Germans, French, and British, and was strongly influenced by American rifle designs, most notably the Henry Repeating rifle. By 1866, Vetterli had already come up with a single shot, bolt operated rifle. The action was a modified Terry action, designed in England in the early 1850s. 1867 saw the wedding of the bolt action concept to the tube magazine, and 1868 resulted in a spring operated bolt. On February 27, 1868 the Swiss government placed an order for 80,000 Vetterli rifles.
This design represented a significant advance in European Military Technology. Up to this point, the Swiss had been using Milbank-Amsler Rifles, single-shot muzzleloaders, which had been converted to fire rimfire cartridges (for more information about Milbank-Amsler rifles, click here and here.) The Vetterli Rifles were capable of holding up to 13 rounds, and a rate of fire of 21 rounds per minute.
This amount of firepower significantly outstripped that of any rifle in regular Military Service of the day. The Vetterli was chambered to fire the 10.4x38 Rimfire round. Although a rimfire round, it shot further and flatter than most of it's contemporaries. The Vetterli striker has a forked firing pin which passes through two firing pins holes in the bolt face for a double strike on the rimfire cartridge, improving the likelihood of ignition.
Vetterli Bolt Face showing the two striker fins for the rimfire ammo
As one of the few rimfire cartridges to see military service, the 313 grain bullet and 1,400 fps muzzle velocity was respectable compared to its contemporaries. The most popular arms chambered for this round were the Vetterli series of rifles. This type of round was also used in the 1867 Peabody. Adopted in 1869 along with the Vetterli turn-bolt rifle, it was discontinued, along with the rifle, in 1889. With a 334 gr (21.6 g; 0.76 oz) bullet, it is adequate for deer, and only at short range.
The original round's case was made from copper which held a round nosed lead bullet. In 1871 and 1878, the paper patch was improved, but ballistic performance was only marginally improved.
The round continued to be commercially available in the U.S. until sometime after 1946 with 310gr bullets loaded by Winchester (K4154R) and 300gr lead bullets loaded by Remington (R326)
Original Swiss Military Box of Ammunition
10.4x38R Rimfire Rounds Rim View
10.4x38R Rimfire Rounds Side View
US Commercial Ammunition
Conclusions:
While the Swiss never used the Vetterli in any armed conflict, it is interesting to note the closest they ever came to combat was in Finland. According to Markku Palokangas, author of the book Military Small Arms in Finland 1918-1988:
Finnish supporters of active resistance against Czarist Russian oppression started planning an armed uprising and in 1904 contacted revolutionaries in St. Petersburg. It was agreed that weapons would be acquired in Central Europe and were to be smuggled partly to the St. Petersburg area, partly to Finland.
Colonel Akashi, Japanese Military Attaché in Stockholm, became financier of the operation. In this way Japan intended to cause confusion in Russia with who she was at war at the time.
With funds received from Col. Akashi the Finn leading the project, Konni Zilliacus, bought from Paris and Hamburg over 15,000 Vetterli rifles {ed. note - they were Model 1869/71s} with ammunition, discarded by the Swiss Army. Also an old cargo vessel, the S/S John Grafton, was acquired for transporting the rifles.
The operation was carried out in August-September 1905. When no one from St. Petersburg arrived at the agreed meeting point at sea the whole cargo was shipped to Finland. Only part of the rifles had been unloaded when the ship ran aground. In fear of being discovered the ship and the remaining cargo were blown up and sunk.
Nevertheless the Russian gendarmes learned of the operation. Rifles from the ship were recovered by divers and those stored ashore were confiscated.
After the unfortunate smuggling effort Vetterli rifles were known in Finland as Graftons, after the sunken ship. During the following years a further small number of Vetterli rifles were acquired and smuggled to Finland.
The Vetterlis featured in the secret preparations for the Finnish uprising but when the War of Independence started in the winter of 1918 the rifles were considered hopelessly outdated and lacked ammunition.
Nevertheless, more Vetterli rifles were obtained during the war when Russian arms depots were captured and rifles confiscated 12 years earlier were found.
The Finnish Defense Forces never adopted the Vetterli rifle as a standard service weapon but there was a small number stored in arms depots until the 1950’s."
The Italians adopted the Vetterli in 1870 as a single shot. A box magazine was later added, and in the early 1900s, many Italian Vetterlis were converted to fire the 6.5 Carcano round. Some of these converted rifles did see service in World War I.
It is significant note that while the rifle was the most advanced of it's type when adopted, it was likewise the most obsolete when finally replaced. The eventual replacement of the Vetterli, the Schmidt-Rubin series, continued the tradition, of high quality, shooters rifles, started by the Vetterli series.
Specific Rifle Data for the rifle in this post
Models 1878/81
Barrel Length: 33.5 inches
Overall Length: 52 inches
Weight: 10.19 lbs empty
Chambering: 10.4x38 (.41) Swiss Rimfire
Rifling: 4 groove, RH twist, 1 in 26"
Velocity: 1425 fps
Capacity: 13 (12 round tube magazine +1 in the cartridge elevator)
Total Production: 37,010 Model 1878/81s
Manufacture Dates: 1882-1889 Eidgenössische Waffenfabrik, Bern
This model was equipped with an improved rear sight. Also, various steel components replaced iron components, and the 1881 continued to see improvements in metal finishing. Otherwise, it was largely identical to the 1878 Rifle. Curiously enough, even after the updates were made, the Swiss continued to mark these rifles with the M.78 stamp on the left side of the receiver. It wasn't until around 1887, that the the M.81 mark replaced the M.78 stamp. M.78 marked rifles are referred to as Model 1878/81 Rifles.
The key difference between the M78 and the M78/81 was an improved rear sight with graduations up to 1600 meters
M78 Sight
M78/81 Sight
The M78 and the M78/81 were also the first Swiss rifles to use a blade/sword type bayonet as opposed to a socket bayonet
M78 Bayonet
Next Post: Stock and Rust..
