Posted on 03/19/2004 10:27:18 AM PST by -=[_Super_Secret_Agent_]=-
Sort of sounds like Texas. A few of the characters in that Texian Revolution were legendary as well, though they were certainly historically known to have existed: Crockett, Bowie, Travis, Houston, Milam, Deaf Smith, Maverick...too many to list. Might even have been a Switzer or two among those Texians, there were a couple of German colonies back in those days.
See the little spam can marked *591-1050*? That's your tin of Swiss GP90 5.56mm ammunition for the SIG Sturmgewehr 90 assault, as adopted in 1987 to replace the old 7,5mm GP11 rifle ammunition for the Stg 57 and straight-pull bolt-action Schmitt-Rubin rifles:
You can indeed have other ammunition, and not surprisingly, the Swiss have a relatively fantastic line of extremely accurate match target ammunition for the 5,56mm rifles...which some American military target shooters are using in their M16A2 target rifles for the 600-yard National Match competitions. The Swiss ammo even comes packaged on stripper clips for the Stgw 90, essentially identical to GP90 but uses the US-made Sierra Matchking bullet instead.
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You ever heard of any of their battleships getting sunk?
Switzerland does have a small navy of sorts. Lakes Konstanz and Leman (Geneva) form international frontiers, and the navy consists of a few patrol craft. Switzerland also has a major Rhine commercial fleet (you can see the Swiss flag flying all the way to the Netherlands), which can receive Swiss military patrol craft escort in time of war. Both the navy and air force are branches of the army (like the infantry and artillery). The air force is 1st in Europe -- so good that Israel used it as their model.
The National Flag of Switzerland is square. Their Naval Ensign is rectangular, with proportions of 2:3. It is only used by the Swiss commercial fleet outside Switzerland. On the lakes the usual square flag is used.
They're generally in excellent to perfect condition [the Swiss are not about to let junk be exported from their country, even used junk] About the worst ones I've seen are some of the rifles used by the Swiss bicycle troops, with wood perhaps a bit more dinged up than the average. But the machining and metalwork is so beautifully done that I don't feel two upset about getting a K.31 showing the scars it received over the course of defending its nation.
Back in 1967, I got to compete in a Swiss military rifle match at Thun, also open to the local reservists, which was virtually everyone. Being stationed in Germany at the time, and as a headquarters company artmorer with access to a battalion tank maintenance shop and the toolrom at the BMW motorbike plant in Munich, I had reworked a WWII German army K98k Mauser rifle to shoot the Swiss 7,5 cartridge using a US .30 Springfield barrel, and took it along to show off. The Swiss were very impressed and many wanted to try it, letting me try their 1911, K.31 and Stg57 assault rifles in return, as well as a few rifles in some other calibers; I also brought a G.I. match M14 in 7,62 NATO along.
I didn't score terribly well- some of those fellas could REALLY shoot, and were used to having a range on one mountain, with the backstop on the next mountain down the way. As a consolation prize, I got to try out some relics and collector's pieces, including a rare German FG42 parachutist's machine rifle.
The Swiss were superb hosts, and among other things, filled me in on the last attempt at an armed robbery in the country, which had happened a few years before. It seems some bank robbers from France had figured out a good time to hit a bank when most of the citizenry would be out of town, and hit the place, armed with little MAT-49 French Army submachineguns. During the process, a guard was shot and wounded, but managed to call out the alarm to the town's rifle range, where most everyone was off at the day's schutzenfest. And the robber's getaway route took them past the range's impact area....
Some three hundred expert Swiss target shooters opened up on the getaway car, most using Stg57 autorifles with 24-round magazines. The French banditos really outraged the quiet Swiss by shooting one of their neighbors, and those are not the sort of people to so upset that way. Amazingly, of the 4 bad guys in the well-ventilated car, one of them lived.
Handgun Control should work to repeal laws which prohibit Americans from owning howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, and other military weapons. Switzerland allows ownership of these weapons by anyone who can meet the simple requirements for a handgun license. And thanks to the "howitzer licensing" system there is no howitzer crime in Switzerland. Since Swiss-style handgun licensing is the main reason Switzerland has no handgun crime (claims Handgun Control), a Swiss-style system of howitzer licensing would also be a good idea for America.
Many facets to why Germany never did. One, they needed third party banks to deal with. Two, swiss are armed and quite capable of giving them a blood bath. Three, those dang alps. But the alps would not have been a problem around basel .... getting to the other side would have been the problem. So the swiss erected giant concrete blocks in the pass's between the mountains to block tanks. Thos "blocks" are still there today.
Another factor: the leftover Czech-built G13 *Hetzer* tank destroyers built on old Czech T-38 tank chassis that Switzerland first purchased from Germany as the Jpz-38, then obtained more of and rebuilt to their own specifications after the war's end, finally manufacturing the things in their own national armory.
Quietly parked and covering a mountain pass or bridge, the Hetzer and its 75mm gun made a very servicable *ambush tank* for buying time until the reservists were assembled and equipped, and for covering demolition parties blowing those bridges and passes. It was only in the last decade or two that the Swiss began selling off the still-efective relics, now to populate the world's museum collections, mostly painted as when they were in German WWII service. 
Well, you're familiar with their development of the stealth flying submarine, aren't you?
& re: #24 Tag line by Gandalf_The_Gray (If you can read this, thank a teacher!)
To be all inclusive:
(If you can read this, thank Dad & Mom!)
If you have a suitable rifle, no problem.
If not, you could do a lot worse than to pick up one of the surplus Swiss K-31 rifles. The ammunition is a bit uncommon in this country- you likely won't find it stocked at your local hardware store or discount mart, and will have to resort to mail order- but extended rifle fights with terrorists are unlikely, and a couple of clips worth would likely get you by, like that 24-round pack kept by Swiss militiamen.
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Only A Few Left!!
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-THE ULTIMATE STRAIGHT-PULL RIFLE Swiss quality manufacture and fit of parts (built like a swiss watch!) The smooth straight pull design allows a very rapid bolt action. The magazine is a removable 6 round box that is loaded from the top of the open action. Superior accuracy is accomplished by means of a precision and free-floating barrel utilizing a unique bedding system. It is not uncommon for these rifles to produce 5 shot groups under 2” with irons sights. |
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Caliber:7.5X53.5
overall length: 43-1/2"
barrel length: 25-3/8"
weight: 9 lb 10 oz.
sights: front-square blade
rear-tangent from
100-1500 meters |
Good to Very Good Condition Retail: $299.95 |
Handpick: Add $10.00 #SLG-K31S |
$84.95 Each |
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If you'd do a little research in General Julian Hatcher's Hatcher's Notebook, you'd find that Swiss boattail projectile discussed at length. Indeed, Hatcher arranged for a massive U.S. purchase of the 172-grain Swiss projectiles to be used for the first American .30-06 Match rifle ammunition loads for use at the Camp Perry National Matches, and the Springfields and M1917 *Pattern 14 Enfields* of the day just loved the stuff. Too, the Finns came out with the Harry Manser-developed M28-30 version of the Finnish Mosin-Nagant rifle, still one of the most accurate military rifles ever fielded, and which routinely took top awards in international centerfire Biathlon competition until that sport was reduced to rimfire competition in 1978 so that girls could play.
One thing's certain: the Swiss used that old GP-11 7,5x55mm cartridge long enough that they had it about as developed as was possible. If you've worked up some good loads for the 7,5mm cartridge I'd be very interested. I found a couple that work and stuck with them, but anything else useful or notable would be of interest to me as well.
They might have come up with something more typically resembling the Swiss tradition of craftsmanship than the stamped tin-and-cardboard stripper clip the GP11 ammunition uses. The things are bloody awful.
Not a dumb question at all; that's the magazine for the model 1889 Schmit-Rubin rifles, the first of the Swiss straight-pull breed. I've never tried the magazine of one in a k.31 or the intermediate long-barrelled 6-shot Model 1911 rifles, but it could well work. Gun Parts Co lists the things for $72.05 each but shows them out of stock at present. Might be an interesting thought for someone with an M1911 model rifle without a magazine- I recall them selling for as little as $49.95 each in that condition. The Model 1889 rifles had some issues regarding strength of the actions and unsuitability with modeern ammo. I prefer to stick with the Model 1911 and K.31 rifles.
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$89.95 Each