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 and a bolt system derived from the German Dreyse needle gun. They were also the first repeating rifle to feature a self-cocking action and a small caliber. 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 Milbank-Amsler rifles, which were a metallic cartridge conversion from previous muzzle loading rifles.
Read more about Vetterli Rifle: Repetiergewehr Vetterli, Modell 1867, Repetiergewehr Vetterli, Modell 1868, Repetiergewehr Vetterli, Modell 1869, 69/71, Repetiergewehr Vetterli, Modell 1871, Repetierstutzer Vetterli, Modell 1871, Kavallerie-Repetierkarabiner Vetterli, Modell 1871, Repetiergewehr and -stutzer Vetterli, Modell 1878 and 1881, M1870 Italian Vetterli
Famous quotes containing the word rifle:
“Many times man lives and dies
Betweeen his two eternities,
That of race and that of soul,
And ancient Ireland knew it all.
Whether man die in his bed
Or the rifle knocks him dead,”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)