Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifles do not have the date of manufacture stamped on any of the rifle parts, so determining when the rifle (and mismatched parts, if any) were manufactured must be determined from the serial numbers. The definitive work on this subject, and Schmidt-Rubin rifles in general, is Die Repetiergewehre der Schweiz, Die Systeme Vetterli und Schmidt-Rubin, by Reinhart, Sallaz, and am Rhyn (ISBN 3-7276-7102-5, copyright 1991 by Verlag Stocker-Schmid AG, Dietikon-Zuerich, Schweiz), from which the tables given here are adapted. The notes about the various models of Schmidt-Rubin rifles are pilfered almost verbatim from Rifles of the World, 2nd edition, by John Walter (ISBN 0-87349-202-1, copyright 1998, published by Krause Publications, 700 E. State Street, Iola, WI 54990-0001, USA). The rifle photographs are from Samco Global Arms, and are used with permission.

Below is a short description of the various models of Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifles, and then the tables that are necessary to determine when a particular rifle was manufactured (given the model and serial number).

Contents

• Introduction
• Model 1889
• Model 1889/96
• Model 1897 Cadet Rifle
• Model 1900 Short Rifle
• Model 1905 Cavalry Carbine
• Model 1896/11
• Model 1911
• Model 1911 Carbine
• Model 1931 Short Rifle
• Model 1931/42 and 1931/43 Sniper Rifles
• Model 1955 Sniper Rifles
• Bayonets
• Manufacture Dates

Introduction

Eduard Rubin (1846-1920) developed the first successful small-caliber copper-jacketed bullets that could withstand velocities higher than were normal in the 1880s. Rubin cartridges with a caliber of 8.1-9.6 mm were tested against an 8.6 mm Hebler pattern in Switzerland in 1882. The Hebler cartridge, which had a paper-mache core, attained a prodigious velocity but the Rubin pattern proved to be far more accurate.

In 1884, Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft converted 130 Vetterli rifles to fire 7.5 mm and 8 mm Rubin cartridges. Most were adapted from obsolete infantry weapons, but a few had been trial guns of 1873-75; these had a distinctive bolt-support guide extending back above the wrist of the butt.

Also chambered for Rubin ammunition, Rudolf Schmidt's first straight-pull bolt mechanism of 1885 relied on an actuating rod, set in a channel on the right side of the breach, to rotate the bolt through a helical channel cut in the bolt sleeve. Twin lugs were provided midway along the bolt sleeve, locking into the receiver directly above the trigger.

Back to table of contents

Model 1889

This rifle was officially adopted on June 26, 1889. Tooling had already begun in the state factory, and so the first deliveries were surprisingly speedy. The M1889 was a most unusual design, with a characteristically Swiss nose cap/bayonet lug/stacking rod assembly, and a receiver with a noticeable gap between the trigger guard and the magazine. The great length of the bolt weakened the Schmidt system greatly. Production ceased in 1897 after 211,890 rifles and 40-50 drill rifles (Exerzierwaffen) had been delivered.

Model 1889 rifles are available from Samco Global Arms.

Manufactured 1891-1897 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: about 212,000

Back to table of contents

Model 1889/96

The inherent weaknesses of the 1889-pattern Schmidt action were recognized after protracted experience with the standard 7.5 mm 1890-pattern cartridge had been gained. As soon as attempts were made to increase the muzzle velocity, the problems intensified.

Testing of 50 modified rifles allowed the improved Vogelsang/Rebholz action to be adopted on September 27, 1897. Though the 1889/96 rifle resembled its predecessor externally, the locking lugs had been moved to the front of the bolt-sleeve. This strengthened the action by placing less of the sleeve under compressive stress, and reduced the gap between the trigger and the magazine by 0.4 inches.

The rifles were reclassified as the '[Infantrie-]Gewehr 89/96' in 1909; by November 1912, 127,050 service rifles and about 20 Exerzierwaffen had been made.

Manufactured 1897-1912 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 127,000

Back to table of contents

Model 1897 Cadet Rifle

The Kadettengewehr was adopted on July 27, 1898, after trials with guns derived from the Mannlicher cavalry carbine and the Schmidt-system rifles. The single-shot M1897 had a special quadrant sight with differing sets of gradations for the Ordonnanzpatrone (to 1200 meters on the left side) or the reduced-charge Kadetten-Patrone (to 400 meters on the right). In addition to standard guns, about 40 sub-caliber trainers were also made.

Manufactured 1898-1927 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 7900

Back to table of contents

Model 1900 Short Rifle

Adopted on April 9, 1901, the Kurzgewehr was based on the 1896-pattern action; apart from its length, the smaller magazine and reduced-range sight, it was similar to the M1889/96 infantry rifle.

Many surviving 1900-type guns were among the 26,340 carbines and short rifles converted to '1911' standards by Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik in 1913-1920. Accepting 7.5 mm Ordonnanz 11 cartridges, they had four-groove rifling.

Manufactured 1901-1911 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 18,750

Back to table of contents

Model 1905 Cavalry Carbine

Preceded by a handful of experimental designs - including one with a folding stock and another with a three-piece cleaning rod carried beneath the forend - the Karabiner 05 was adopted in 1905 to replace the 1893-type Mannlicher. Stocked virtually to the muzzle, preventing the attachment of bayonets, it had a full-length handguard and a sling-slot in the butt.

A decree signed on January 13, 1911, ordered the Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik to modify 26,340 surviving M1900 short rifles and M1905 carbines to approximate to the 1911 pattern. The work was undertaken in Bern in 1913-1920. The converted guns had four-groove rifling and chambered 7.5x55 1911-type cartridges.

Manufactured 1906-1911 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 7900

Back to table of contents

Model 1896/11

As might be expected, this model markedly resembled the Model 1911 Rifle, some of the differences being:

• rounded buttplate on the M96/11, flat on the M11;
• pistol grip worked into the stock on the M96/11, integral to the stock on the M11;
• cutouts on the bottom of the receiver for older magazines on the M96/11, none on the M11 (picture);
• slightly differently shaped trigger guard on the M96/11 than on the M11 (picture).

Back to table of contents

Model 1911

A universal increase in muzzle velocity, arising from widespread adoption of point-bullet ammunition, caused further problems with the Swiss rifles. Trials were undertaken in 1908-10 with modified bullets and rifles embodying a strengthened Vogelsang/Rebholz action. Apart from the tangent sight, these guns resembled their predecessors externally - though, once dismantled, three large holes were found to be bored through the bolt sleeve to reduce weight.

The perfected [Infantrie-]Gewehr 11 was formally approved on January 10, 1913, together with adaptations of several earlier weapons. The new guns had a strengthened action, a hold-open to signify an empty magazine, a pistol-grip stock and an improved rear sight.

Manufactured 1913-1919 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 133,000

Back to table of contents

Model 1911 Carbine

Adopted concurrently with the 1911-pattern infantry rifle in January 1913, to replace the short rifle and cavalry carbine, this was readily distinguished by its short barrel and stock. It was mechanically identical to the rifle.

Model 1911 carbines are available from Samco Global Arms.

Manufactured 1914-1933 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 184,200

Back to table of contents

Model 1931 Short Rifle

By 1930, it had become clear that important changes were required in the 1911-type Schmidt action to keep abreast of improved technology. On January 22, 1932, therefore, the Bundesrat approved the manufacture of about 20 experimental short rifles; the Karabiner 31 was formally adopted on June 16, 1933.

Great changes had been made in the action which, though retaining the essence of the original Schmidt principle, locked into the receiver ring rather than behind the magazine well. In addition, the bolt did not project as far beyond the bolt carrier, reducing the length compared with the 1896-type action by 2.4 inches.

The Karabiner 31 had a longer barrel than the Karabiner 11, which was of similar overall length. An improved sight was fitted, and the semi-pistol grip stock - with a sling bar let into the left side of the butt - was retained by a clamping nose cap accepting any of the standard Swiss sword bayonets.

Military production finished in 1958 after more than half a million Karabiner 31 had been made in the Bern factory. A hundred otherwise standard examples were supplied in the 1930s to equip the elite Swiss Guard (or 'Papstliche Schweizergarde') in the Vatican; these guns were apparently numbered 249047-249146.

Several cutaway examples of the Karabiner 31 were also manufactured. Illustrated are photographs of the top and left side of the receiver area of one example (photographs courtesy of Thomas Wenk).

Model 1931 short rifles are available from Samco Global Arms.

Manufactured 1933-1958 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 582,230

Back to table of contents

Model 1931/42 and 1931/43 Sniper Rifles

Experiments had been undertaken with optically-sighted Karabiner 11 as early as 1919, but the project had been shelved until trials with Karabiner 31 and Zeiss, Wild, Gerber and Kern sights began in 1935 in the Schiessschule Walenstadt.

Though the low-power Kern sight was accepted in November 1940 and a hundred experimental carbines had been manufactured in 1943, the perfected Zf.-Kar.31/42 was not approved until July 1, 1944. It had a 1.8x sight, offset on the left side of the receiver alongside the bolt. Each sight had a small auxiliary tangent sight and a unique pivoting periscope head.

Otherwise identical to its 31/42 predecessor, the Model 31/43 had an improved 2.8x sight on the left side of the receiver.

Manufactured 1944-1946 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 2240

Back to table of contents

Model 1955 Sniper Rifles

Based on the Model 1931 short rifle and featuring a top-mounted Kern 3.5x sight (graduated to 800m), this rifle was adopted in 1956 to replace the M31/42 and M31/43. The 1955-type guns had a special half-stock with a checkered pistol grip, a folding bipod and a special muzzle brake.

Manufactured 1957-59 at Eidgenoessische Waffenfabrik, Bern.

Total production: 4150

Back to table of contents

Bayonets

There are six basic types of sword bayonets for the Schmidt-Rubin rifles, all of which have a muzzle ring and a short, flat quillon approximately 1+3/4 incles in length. There is also a rod bayonet, for which see below. Color photographs courtesy of Ronnie Wilson, and nomenclature from Bayonets from Janzen's Notebook, with alternates (indicated by italics) being from Reinhart, Sallaz, and am Rhyn where they differ from Janzen.

• Model 1889: The fullered blade is 11+5/8 inches in length, and it has plain wooden grips. It has a tendency to slide out of the scabbard.

 

 
 








(Closeup of ricasso)

• Model 1889/99 (1889/1918): Similar to the Model 1889, except for a stud which was mounted in the fuller's groove to prevent the bayonet from sliding out of the scabbard.

 

 
 








(Closeup of ricasso)

• Model 1889/11 (1899): Also similar to the Model 1889, except that a ramp was machined into the fuller's groove to prevent the bayonet from sliding out of the scabbard.

 

 
 








(Closeup of ricasso)

• Model 1892 (1889/92): An all steel rod bayonet manufactured using the blade from an old socket bayonet. It was issued to cyclists and machine gunners.

 

 
 










• Model 1906 Pioneer: A transitional sawback bayonet having a Vetterli blade and a Schmidt-Rubin handle.

 

 
 










• Model 1914 Pioneer: The long, heavy sawback blade is approximately 19 inches in length. The blade is fullered on the right side, and flat on the left.

 

 
 








• Model 1918 - Similar to the Models 1889, 1889/99, and 1889/11 except that the blade is double edged and unfullered.

 

 
 








(Closeup of ricasso)

Manufacture Dates

To determine the date of manufacture of a particular rifle, one needs to know both the model and the serial number. Given the model, go to the appropriate table and look for the range of serial numbers that spans the given serial number. The corresponding date for that serial number is shown in the left column of the table.

For example, given a Model 1911 with a serial number of 2673xx, the tables show no such serial number for a Model 1911. There is a range spanning this serial number for a Model 1889/96, however, showing a manufacture date of 1900. Knowing that the M89/96s were converted to approximate the M1911 form, we conclude that this rifle is a Model 1889/96/11 manufactured in 1900.

As another example, given a Model 1931 with a serial number of 9999xx, the tables indicate that this rifle was manufactured in 1953.
 

Note:
Zoll - Customs service
 
 

Notes:
Zoll - Customs service
* Serial numbers 54401-55000 and 62001-62300 are missing (900 pieces)
** Serial numbers 69701-69750 have double entries, but are only entered once in this list. Consequently, the total of the Model 1911 Carbines listed here comes to 185150 pieces.
 

Notes:
KTA - Kriegstechnischen Abteilung des schweizerischen Militaerdepartements
W+F - Waffenfabrik
 

Note: KTA - Kriegstechnischen Abteilung des schweizerischen Militaerdepartements
 

Note:
Zoll - Customs service
 

Notes:
KTA - Kriegstechnischen Abteilung des schweizerischen Militaerdepartements
KMV - Kriegsmaterialverwaltung
W+F - Waffenfabrik
 

Back to table of contents

Back to Bryan's home page