I took the picture just for the Vetterli. Breaks your heart to see collectibles be destroy just for propaganda reasons. They did get $100 for it at this turn in (the picture was taken in Phoenix this spring).
When the Swiss Vetterli was introduced, it was the finest, most deadly military rifle in the world, and it stayed that way for 15 years. I would 20 times rather be armed with a Swiss Vetterli than a Trapdoor Springfield, or an 1871 Mauser, which is a fair comparison.
Yes, the 71/84 Mauser was a great gun, but it was introduced 18 years after the Vetterli. Only the Winchester lever guns could match it for rate of fire (it used the Winchester tube system).
I think the perception problem mainly stems from the Italians, who could only a afford to purchase a single shot version, and then went through multiple upgrades, still fielding the rifle in a greatly modified version during WWI 40 years after it was introduced, during the most rapid period of rifle development in history. Don't ever fire an Italian M1870/87/15 with the barrel/chamber insert for 6.5x52 Carcano round.
For their part, the Swiss replaced their Vetterli with the 1889 Schmidt Rubin, which was also arguably the best rifle in the world when it was introduced. A 12 round removable magazine with a semi-smokeless 7.5x53 cartridge was way ahead of its time. As a side note, the Italian Vetterli was a centerfire, the Swiss Vetterli was a rim fire. The Swiss guns can be shot by with an easy bolt conversion, resized .348 Win or 8mm Lebel brass, black powder, and soft lead.