Product Description
This Swiss 1896/11 Infantry Rifle, produced in 1900, is in very good condition with 90% original finish. 4/5 Bore. 4/5 Stock. Stock and handguard matching serial numbers. Bolt matching serial number. Magazine matching serial number. Bore is bright with lightly worn rifling. Charging handle knob is cracked. Both barrel bands have good color bluing but exhibit some finish wear. Trigger plate finish is dark. Trigger guard has heavy edge wear. Magazine base plate's bluing is thinning. Stock has heavy handling marks, including multiple small gouges and pressure marks. Heavy denting/gouging found at the rear of the finger grooves on both sides. Handguard also has handling marks, including a gouge on the top of the handguard in between the two barrel bands. Receiver bluing is very dark but there is surface frost and light pitting present in small areas. Receiver is P 35 stamped. C&R Eligible. Discrete import engraving.
The 1896/11 rifle is a modernized version of the 1889 that was designed to handle the more powerful 7.5x55mm Swiss Gewehrpatrone 1911 (GP11) cartridge. GP11 has similar ballistic qualities to that of the 7.62x51mm NATO / .308 Winchester round. Other improvements were made in order to make the 1896/11 lighter and easier to handle, such as a new barrel and a 6 round capacity box magazine.