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On December 20, 1866 the Swiss committed themselves to adopting a repeating rifle to arm their armed forces. At the time no suitable design existed. The task of designing the rifle was left to designer Friedrich Vetterli, who had joined the Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft Waffen-Department (SIG) in 1864. Vetterli already been involved in weapon design with the Germans, French, and British, and was strongly influenced by American rifle designs, most notably the Henry Repeating rifle. By 1866, Vetterli had already come up with a single shot, bolt operated rifle. The action was a modified Terry action, designed in England in the early 1850s. 1867 saw the wedding of the bolt action concept to the tube magazine, and 1868 resulted in a spring operated bolt. On February 27, 1868 the Swiss government placed an order for 80,000 Vetterli rifles.
 A brass mock-up of a Vetterli Rifle
This amount of firepower significantly outstripped that of any rifle in regular Military Service of the day. The Vetterli was chambered to fire the 10.4x38 Rimfire round. Although a rimfire round, it shot further and flatter than most of it's contemporaries. The Vetterli striker has a forked firing pin which passes through two firing pins holes in the bolt face for a double strike on the rimfire cartridge, improving the likelihood of ignition.
The Model 1867 Vetterli
Barrel Length: 33.5 inches
The Model 1867 was Vetterlis first repeating rifle design. It combined a bolt action with an under-barrel cartridge magazine. The under-barrel magazine tube, although inspired by the Henry rifle, different in function. Vetterli's design loaded the cartridge from the receiver, whereas the Henry design was loaded from the muzzle end of the tube. While the bolt was used to load and eject cartridges, the rifle used an external hammer. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer dropped, impacting the striker rod, free floating in the bolt, which then forces the forked firing ping to impact the rim of and ignited the cartridge.
The Model 1868 Vetterli
Barrel Length: 33.2inches
On February 27,1868 the Model 1867 Vetterli was accepted for service by the Swiss Federal Council. However, before the 1867 could go into production, Friedrich Vetterli, improved the design by replacing the external hammer with a spring cocking bolt. The new design was designated as the Model 1868. The initial Model 1868's were manufactured with their cleaning rods mounted on the left side of the stock. However, it was soon discovered that the rods were prone to damage. Consequently, in August of 1868 the design was modified, and the cleaning rod was moved to below the barrel. And the new rifle was designated the Model 1869. The 1868's side mounted cleaning rod The Model 1869 Vetterli
Barrel Length: 33.1inches
The Model 1869 Vetterli was the first model Vetterli to go into
full scale production. In addition to the moving of the cleaning rod,
there were several other differences between the Model 1868 and Model 1869.
Notably, the tube
magazine was shortened by one round. In addition, a knurled ring was added to the cocking piece, and a pair gas-escapes hole were
added above the chamber. The
rifle was also slightly shortened and lightened.
The loading mechanism of a Model 1869
Repeating Carbine built between 1869-1871
Barrel Length: 19.1 inches
These carbines were produced by cutting down M1869/71 Rifles. A rifle-style nosecap
was fitted with the front sight. There was no provision for a bayonet.
While it is believed this weapon was intended for use by the Border Guards,
there are no records of this carbine ever being issued. These rifles are
often mistakenly marketed as Model 1878 Border Guard Carbines. However,
Model 1878 was fitted with carbine style rear sights, and had barrel mounted
front sights.
Model 1870 Police Carbine
Barrel Length: 29 inches
This particular model was intended for
police use. It's length and weight were between that of the rifle and
carbine. However, while SIGs records suggest some of these model were sold
to police forces, there are no records of any Swiss Police forces actually using
this model. Police Carbines appear to have been based on both 1869 and
1878 models. Those which were based on 1878s had the sling swivel mounted
on the muzzle band rather, rather than the barrel band as pictured
above.
The Model 1870 Cadet Rifle
Barrel Length: 26.75 inches
This single shot cadet rifle was manufactured in limited number by SIG.
It had a one piece wood stock, and no provision for a bayonet. In order to
accommodate the smaller stature of the cadet, a reduced load round was
produced which used 3grams vs. 3.65grams of blackpowder, thus reducing recoil.
The Model 1869/71 Vetterli
Barrel Length: 33.1inches
In 1871 the Model 1869 was updated with an improved elevator system
and simplified receiver. The loading gate was omitted as was the
magazine cut-off, which had previously appeared on the left side of the
receiver.
Comparison of the 1869 & 1869/71 Left Receivers
Internally,
the loading mechanism was also modified. A Model 1869/71
loading mechanism Over the course of it's production life, several other modifications were made
to the Model 1869/71. The modifications include tighter barrel tolerances,
the omission of the ejection port cover, improvements of the front and rear
sights, and the omission of the gas escape holes above the chamber. A
Vetterli receiver with an ejection port cover
Model 1871 Carbine
Adopted on February 9, 1871, this carbine had a rotating ejector cover,
straight-edged fore end, and a spatula style bolt handle. Originally the
carbine was fitted with a folding leaf sight, but this was soon replaced
with a tangent sight. At the same time, the bolt handle and fore end were reshaped. Later, in 1874 a Schmidt-pattern rear sight was adopted,
and as rifle were sent in for repairs, the sights were replaced. Barrel Length: 30.9 inches
The 1871 Stutzer incorporated several modifications over the 1869/71
and was intended for riflemen.
The 1871 included double-set triggers and special heavy buttplates.
The rifles were shorter, and had a single barrel band. Early Stutzer
models used the Thury dual trigger set, however, after 1875 a dual trigger set
designed by Rudolph Schmidt was adopted. However, while the
Stutzer possessed a shorter barrel, it kept the Model 1869s rear sights.
This produced a point of impact error at when using the rear sights range
graduations.
Model 1878 Rifle
Barrel Length: 33.1 inches
Although attempts had been made to improve the 69/71 design, the Model
1878 action, aside from some minor improvements, changed very little.
Externally, the 1878 had only one barrel band and lacked the stock-dicing
of the earlier models. Other changes included the omission of the gas
relief holes, the adoption of a curved buttplate, and changes were made to the
metal finishing process. In addition, the 1878 front barrel band was
fitted with a bayonet lug to allow it to mount a sword bayonet, rather than a
socket bayonet. The older style sights were replaced with Schmidt
Quadrant Sight Note: many of rifles which are marked M.78, are
actually Model 1878/81s. See below. Model 1878 Stutzer Barrel Length: 32.8 inches
A limited number (400) of a Stutzer version of the Model 1878 was produced.
The Model 1878 Stutzer continued to use the Schmidt dual-set triggers which were
introduced in the 1871 Stutzer line. It is uncertain as to whether or not
the Model 1878 Stutzer was ever actually issued. It also appears that most
if not all 1878s, had their rear sights replaced with 1881 pattern
sights.
Model 1878 Carbine
Barrel Length: 18.5 inches
Adopted in 1878 for the dragoons, this carbine, while sharing the same
action as the rifle, was greatly shortened. While the Model 1878 Carbine
incorporated many of the same improvements the Model 1878 Rifle received,
the pivoting loading-gate
was retained. There were no
provisions for mounting a bayonet.
Model 1878 Border-Guard Carbine
Barrel Length: 19.1 inches
These carbines
are essentially shortened M.1878 Rifles with carbine style sights fitted.
However, these rifles were not conversions, they were purpose built. Examples of this carbine can be found both with and without the pivoting
loading gate . Note: the front barrel band was fitted with a bayonet lug. As the name suggests, this carbine was
issued to the Border Guards.
Models 1878/81 and 1881 Rifles
Barrel Length: 33.5 inches
This model was equipped with an improved rear sight. Also, various steel components replaced iron components,
and the 1881 continued to see improvements in metal finishing.
Otherwise, it was largely identical to the 1878 Rifle. Curiously enough,
even after the updates were made, the Swiss continued to mark these rifles with
the M.78 stamp on the left side of the receiver. It wasn't until around
1887, that the the M.81 mark replaced the M.78 stamp. M.78 marked rifles
are referred to as Model 1878/81 Rifles.
Model 1878
Sight
Model 1881 Sight The Model 1881 Stutzer, like it's predecessors,
was intended for sharpshooters. While externally very similar to the
Model 1881 Rifle, the internals are quite different. The 1881 used an
improved Schmidt dual trigger system. The
Model 1881 Stutzer's Trigger unit The
entire trigger unit is held in by a single screw. When the screw is
removed, the unit drops free of the receiver. As with most double trigger
designs, the rear trigger is the set trigger. When pulled back, it set the
forward trigger to release with almost no effort. While the Swiss never used the Vetterli in any armed conflict, it is
interesting to note the closest they ever came to combat was in Finland. According to Markku Palokangas, author of
the book Military Small Arms in Finland 1918-1988:
Finnish
supporters of active resistance against Czarist Russian oppression started
planning an armed uprising and in 1904 contacted revolutionaries in St.
Petersburg. It was agreed that weapons would be acquired in Central Europe and
were to be smuggled partly to the St. Petersburg area, partly to Finland. Colonel
Akashi, Japanese Military Attaché in Stockholm, became financier of the
operation. In this way Japan intended to cause confusion in Russia with who
she was at war at the time. With
funds received from Col. Akashi the Finn leading the project, Konni Zilliacus,
bought from Paris and Hamburg over 15,000 Vetterli rifles {ed. note - they
were Model 1869/71s} with ammunition,
discarded by the Swiss Army. Also an old cargo vessel, the S/S John Grafton,
was acquired for transporting the rifles. The
operation was carried out in August-September 1905. When no one from St.
Petersburg arrived at the agreed meeting point at sea the whole cargo was
shipped to Finland. Only part of the rifles had been unloaded when the ship
ran aground. In fear of being discovered the ship and the remaining cargo were
blown up and sunk. Nevertheless
the Russian gendarmes learned of the operation. Rifles from the ship were
recovered by divers and those stored ashore were confiscated. After
the unfortunate smuggling effort Vetterli rifles were known in Finland as
Graftons, after the sunken ship. During the following years a further small
number of Vetterli rifles were acquired and smuggled to Finland. The
Vetterlis featured in the secret preparations for the Finnish uprising but
when the War of Independence started in the winter of 1918 the rifles were
considered hopelessly outdated and lacked ammunition. Nevertheless,
more Vetterli rifles were obtained during the war when Russian arms depots
were captured and rifles confiscated 12 years earlier were found. The
Finnish Defense Forces never adopted the Vetterli rifle as a standard service
weapon but there was a small number stored in arms depots until the 1950’s." The Italians adopted the Vetterli in 1870 as a single shot. A box
magazine was later added, and in the early 1900s, many Italian Vetterlis were
converted to fire the 6.5 Carcano round. Some of these converted rifles
did see service in World War I.
It is significant note that while the rifle was the most advanced of
it's type when adopted, it was likewise the most obsolete when finally
replaced. The eventual replacement of the Vetterli, the Schmidt-Rubin
series, continued the tradition, of high quality, shooters rifles, started
by the Vetterli series.
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