Scarce Pre-1899 Schmidt-Rubin M1896/11 Rifle, 7.5 Swiss — Nice Wood!

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. All serial numbers match except for the stock.  Very nice bore, nice metal overall, except for the buttplate and bottom of the magazine, which have been worn to gray and show some light pitting–typical of Schmidt-Rubins that saw many years of militia service. (See detailed photos.)  This M1896/11 has particularly nice condition wood. This rifle’s serial number (21863X  P) places its date of manufacture in mid-1898 (They must have a serial # under 236,500 to be legally antique.) The “P” serial # suffix indicates “Privat”  — a Swiss military service rifle that was privatized when a Swiss militiaman retired. 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. (BAHS-864)