Scarce Pre-1899 Schmidt-Rubin M1896/11 Rifle, 7.5 Swiss

A scarce Pre-1899 Swiss M1896/11 rifle. This 7.5×55 Schmidt-Rubin straight pull long rifle is in particularly nice condition. 30.7” barrel, blued finish, hardwood stock, blade front sight and adjustable tangent rear sight. Marked on receiver, barrel, right side buttstock, and small parts with Swiss cross. Mismatched serial number (51056) stamped on comb of buttstock, along with ”BASEL-LAND”. Condition overall is very good, with less than 70% of the thinning and toning finish remaining on the metal and mottled color to the bolt. Forend has a chip and closed crack on the right side, otherwise wood is good, with old dents and handling marks. Action is smooth and the bore is excellent. No visible import marks. Wood shows typical handling marks.  This rifle’s serial number (22512X) places its date of manufacture in the last few months of 1898! (They must have a serial # under 236,500 to be legally antique.) Of all of the various Schmidt-Rubin straight-pull rifle variants, it is only the Model 1896  that is both Federally antique, yet also rated to safely handle the high pressure 7.5×55  GP11 cartridge and modern commercial cartridges. I’ll leave the treasure hunt for a possible soldier’s name tag under the buttplate up to you. (CUCG-863)