Milsurp After Hours

I've got a number of Swiss rifles, including several 96/11's. By far, my nicest is one that has a "P" proof mark on it, below the serial number.. The wood and metal are very nice, with few of the dents, dings, and scratches that most of my Swiss rifles have. Metal finish is also superlative.









I've read that the "P" mark might indicate that this was a "private" 96/11. Does that mean that it was sold to a private citizen and was not a military rifle? Does this explain its condition?

I think the P means that whoever had it might have elected to keep the rifle after doing their time of service. But.... I'm no expert. Here is a link to a few marks including the notation about the P. Whoever had it took real good care of it. That's a great looking stock.

http://www.swissrifles.com/proofs/

Did you look under the buttplate to see if there was a name and address like a lot of the K31's?

Thanks for the link --I'll keep it handy.

I haven't checked under the butt plate, it hadn't occurred to me that the soldiers placed their names under the buttplates on 1911 series rifles.

I'll be checking, however.

Steve

Outstanding rifle CalFed!
Looks to have been made in 1903.