Yesterday was one of the official date for military shooting in Switzerland. This is meant for the militia soldier to keep his proficiency with his gun, mostly rifles at 300 meters, but also pistol at 25 meters. I was not in the military but the day is open to all. Simple format, 5 shots shot by shot, 60 seconds each shot, then 3 times five consecutive shots in 50, 40 and 30 seconds.

As usual I chose my 1922 Waffenfabrik Bern Parabellum 06/24 in 7.65 mm Parabellum (Swiss Luger in .30 Luger) over my 1954 Sig 210 in 9 mm Parabellum, as I shoot marginally better with it. I shot the Sig in practice.











Result



You receive an honorable mention at 174 points and above



The Sig 210

Nice shooting. I love seeing you using those classics. Great seeing the documentation also. Thanks for sharing.

Where is the MK II ? Can you take any number and type of guns to those shoots ?

I already liked your post on that other forum, so I thought I'd comment on it here.

Back when Gun Digest really was the "greatest gun book in the world", they ran an article or two over the years about this tradition. I enjoyed the pictures of men and women travelling by train and walking to the matches with rifles slung. Really showed it's people and culture, not the firearms that's a problem.

Something else I found admirable is that military maneuvers are not at isolated locales, but mixed within the populace. The first week I was in Switzerland, I saw two soldiers in a camouflaged machinegun position at the end of my street.

Shortly after that, a friend called and told me to come to the elementary school where she teaches. As I entered the village, there were signs posted, warning that the military was active. Armor and machineguns covered the intersections. Troops were in private gardens and snipers were on rooftops. I parked at the school just as soldiers were crossing the playground while firing their rifles. I entered the school walking past sentries at the door. The "war game" had the school as a target of opposing forces. All the while, my friend's 2nd grade class paid no attention to numerous weapons being fired around the school.

Another equally impressive sight was a bank parking lot full of anti-aircraft guns that shook the village when they fired in unison, yet drew little attention from the citizenry.

Soldiers in the playground.

Nice pistols and good shooting, do you see many different types of firearms on shooting days, or fairly standardized?

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Halfway and one more step

For the official shooting only Swiss ordnance and some derivatives are allowed, so Swiss Luger (P03), Sig 210 (P49), 220 (P75), and some other Sig, Glock, Sphinx etc.. (as those have been used by various police forces or customs etc..). There is an official list of what is allowed.

Ammo is gifted by the gvt. (in this case 20 rounds, plus a few for warmup).

.22 lr are also allowed but not for military competition, they have separate ones.

In general people attending are fairly conservative and bring just their ordnance weapon. Depending on the range there is a certain level of tolerance, which is the case in my club. I am the loony toon there so for training days I can bring any 9 mm weapon and smaller as well as my revolvers in .357 Mag but shooting .38 spl only. I generally bring abt 5 guns, like my BHP, a couple of S&W, and it makes for a nice discussion with the other members.

The Walther PPK in .32 ACP was particularly impressive at this distance, 25 meters (well except for that flyer).

Thanks for posting that, indeed a safe and civilised country here, where weapons are used by the military but also a lot by shooting enthusiasts with support from the gvt.

Those are nice pistols and fine shooting.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

Awaiting a range report on the Glock 18.

Good shooting with the pistols!

Did you shoot any rifles?

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Merle, retired
western PA

Such a great place for shooters. I remember seeing armed people in many locations, just an everyday occurrence. I really enjoyed watching fighter jets doing practice landings on Autobahns. Nice shooting with your classic pistols.

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No baby we aint

I had the great pleasure and honor of firing both a vintage Luger and a Sig P210 on a Swiss indoor firing range, and was afforded an attempt to try for the certification. Unfortunately, being unfamiliar with the sights on either one, I shot mostly high left, and missed the score needed. Great experience, compliments of one of our Forum members.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I've always felt the way the Swiss approach small arms proficiency, particularly in regard to their service arms, exemplifies the same spirit as embodied in the US 2nd amendment.
For anyone impressed enough to wish to investigate, we actually have in the USA a similar system to small arms proficiency.
It is the CMP (civilian marksmanship program) Matches and qualification program.
Here, for example, is a link to the Pistol Rules:

http://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads...df?vers=041019

In it, you can read about the various courses of fire, how matches are run, and a list of approved service pistols. The latter contains a fairly comprehensive list of service type pistols such as the US 1911 and Beretta M9, but also many others such as SIG, Glock, etc.
The course of fire for a typical CMP pistol "leg" match consists of 30 shots not dissimilar to the Swiss match.

Jim

Haha, shot it once, fantastic experience. Filmed it on video but that was a ****** failure. I’ll try and go back soon and do a better job and range report.

I did not but it is a possibility, I have a Stgw 57, or Sig 510. I’ll need to practice some more with it.



Sig 510 or '57 assault rifle

Te felicito por tus armas y tu buena punteria.
Me gusta la Parabellum,la Walther PPK pero la que mas me gusta es la SIG P210.
Gracias por mostrarlas.

That reminds me. I received a M31 straight pull as a gift from a forum member. I need to get out and shoot it.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Some idiot gave you one of those?!? He must not know what they're worth. I would expect better of a forum member.

Edited to add that I know the guy well, and was just messing with him. Wouldn't want yal'll to think I'm a bigger jerk than I actually am.

Awesome !
Your Swiss Luger is just DDG ( drop dead gorgeous) !!!
Nice shooting ,
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Thank you for sharing a part of your culture. Greatly admired by many of us in the US.
I'm curious as to how neighboring European countries view it?

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Obviously they are plenty of them here so they are almost worthless, typically 100-150 $, and the offer is so much larger than demand that it’s not uncommon for them to be gifted.

To be honest I rarely discuss firearms with non-gun people. My perception is that if 1 in 3 Swiss has some interest in guns, our neighbours numbers must be 1 in 10 or 20, due to their restrictive laws.

I have my Father's military marksmanship medal from Switzerland. It was from prior to 1921 and is marked as being held in Vevey. I cannot remember the exact date and cannot get to it right now as it is packed and in storage. He always carried this in his front pocket and until he died it was never anyplace else.