Ok....June first so time for a new Swiss topic...

The country that avoids war and the country that fights but has a hard time winning have been combined. The Swiss made some excellent firearms and the French made some unique and occasionally inspiring ones. We have added the Belgian and Dutch since they are neighbors.

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Guisan
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Ok....June first so time for a new Swiss topic...

Post by Guisan » Sun Jun 01, 2008 3:57 pm

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DuncaninFrance
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Post by DuncaninFrance » Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:31 am

Cocking handles :?: That's as far as I can go. So apart from the fact that they are broken what is it all about?
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ArchFluffy
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Maybe it's like:

Post by ArchFluffy » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:51 am

Scene:

A pretty day at the rang. Fluffy is finishing the best string of his life when the bolt knob breaks off of Renata the 96/11.

Fluffy (shouting): "Nooooooo!"

The General appears out of thin air with a replacement knob.

Guisan: "Fear not, Fluffy, for I have you covered. Behold, new knobs for clumsy shooters such as yourself."

Fluffy (much relieved): "Meow!"

Guisan: "Indeed."

The End

How was that? :cool:

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Niner
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Swiss soldiers aren't real careful?

Post by Niner » Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:23 am

So.... when they made K31's they used metal knobs?
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Post by DSchnopp » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:22 am

Soldiers can break anything. At least they could when I was younger.

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Post by joseyclosey » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:02 pm

I have 2 of those.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/j ... nob002.jpg[/pic]

....but until the old one actually falls off it won't be replaced.

Don't overtighten the fixing bolt???

Joe
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Post by Guisan » Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:46 am

The original bolt knobs of the 1889 and 1911 rifles were made of hard rubber, also vulcanite or ebonite, it's a hard, moldable, polished dark colored (ranging from brown to black) early rubber.

Vulcanite was produced by adding sulfur to vulcanized rubber. Corrosion makes the screw that holds the knobs to expand causing the rubber to crack, later replacement knobs were first made of bakelite and now they are made of plastic with stainless steel screws.

Original vulcanite grips often carry the serial number of the rifle.

The same vulcanite was used to make the grips of the 1878 and early 1882 revolvers and the Vetterli 1878/87 bayonets that's why we find some of these with brown grips.

Guisan. :D
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Niner
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Post by Niner » Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:32 pm

Now that's an education. Wonder why they saw any advantage in the hard rubber, vulcanite or ebonite to begin with? Any advantage you can think of over metal?
Last edited by Niner on Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Guisan » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:42 pm

Well solid metal can be very cold especially high up near the gletchers in the swiss mountains where it's freezing so I think this was the best solution at that time.

The bolt knobs of the K31 are not solid for that reason and made of a different alloy as the bolt cam follower plate, the same goes for the Stgw57 and the Stgw90 has a rubber covered cocking handle.

Guisan. :D
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