From the Mountains of Switzerland — The Vetterli Rifle.When the Vetterli rifle was first i

From the Mountains of Switzerland — The Vetterli Rifle.When the Vetterli rifle was first introduced it was the most advanced military arm of its time. It combined the best that firearms technology had to offer, a tubular magazine from the Winchester rifle and a bolt action. Designed by Johann-Friedrich Vetterli, the Vetterli rifle became a favorite of the Swiss Army and was used up to 1890 when replaced by the Schmidt-Rubin.Manufactured by WaffenFabrik-Bern and SIG, the Vetterli Rifle was first produced in 1871. It fired a 10.6mm (.41 Swiss) rimfire cartridge and the magazine tube held 11 rounds. Various calvalry and carbine models would also be produced.At the same time the Italian Army also adopted the Vetterli, however the perfered their own version chambered in a 10.35×47mmR centerfire cartridge. At first the Italians only used a single shot version but would later update them with a four shot box magazine. During World War I Italy suffered from a major shortage of rifles, so they refurbished and converted many Vetterli’s to the 6.5x52 Carcano round.A shipment of surplus Vetterli’s was sent to Finnish freedom fighters during WWI (Finland was a part of Russia at the time) but the shipment was intercepted and some saw service with the Russian Army. -- source link

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