This was originally a Swiss Model 96/11, with about a 30 inch barrel. When the first batch of Swiss rifles appeared in the larly 1960s, there wre a lot of these, and Model 1911s. 7.5 Swiss ammo was very hard to find. Someone bought up a lot of them, and did apparently an assembly line modification. I've seen two GI rifle racks (40 rifles) full of identical rifles. First they set the barrel back almost two inches and rechambered it to 308. The setback was needed because the 308 case is thinner than the 7.5. Then they cut the barrels back to 22 inches and remounted the front sight. They also removed the upper handguard and bobbed the stock.
I paid the lofty price of $22.50 for this one in the late '60s. I didn't like the military open sight so I had it drilled and tapped for a Lyman 66 (cost more than the rifle). It was really accurate, and i shot it twice over the National Match Course, including the 600 yard stage. Shot Sharpshooter scores. Got hooked on high power and wound up with an M1A National match. Found out the Swiss liked 180 gr bullets better than 150s. Found a Lyman 48, but the 48's crossbar was too think to go down far enough for the front sight. Then someone made a run of high front sights, and I practically broke my arm writing himn a check. Mounted the 48, and i's a real tack driver. It looks like you could throw it in the back of a pickup with no harm, but it will deliver fast, accurate fire. One of my favorite rifles.
I paid the lofty price of $22.50 for this one in the late '60s. I didn't like the military open sight so I had it drilled and tapped for a Lyman 66 (cost more than the rifle). It was really accurate, and i shot it twice over the National Match Course, including the 600 yard stage. Shot Sharpshooter scores. Got hooked on high power and wound up with an M1A National match. Found out the Swiss liked 180 gr bullets better than 150s. Found a Lyman 48, but the 48's crossbar was too think to go down far enough for the front sight. Then someone made a run of high front sights, and I practically broke my arm writing himn a check. Mounted the 48, and i's a real tack driver. It looks like you could throw it in the back of a pickup with no harm, but it will deliver fast, accurate fire. One of my favorite rifles.
