Swiss Vetterli 1869/71 POV firing

Original Swiss 1869/71 Vetterli made by SIG Neuhausen in February 1875. Originally chambered in .41 Swiss rimfire, this one has been converted to centerfire. Interesting mashup of an early bolt action design with a Henry/Winchester magazine.
Thank you to Kevin from ​⁠​⁠‪@Operator_Inquiries‬ for letting me get his rifle dirty and burn some of his ammo!

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

Howdy friends, like Mr. Harrell I’ll ask you to bear with any range chatter and gunfire you hear in the background. These nice fellas put up with my filming at their event, and let me borrow a lot of neat things. Thank you to Kevin from @Operator_Inquiries​⁠​⁠​⁠ for letting me get his rifle dirty and burn some of his ammo! Go check out his channel for old black powder stuff or new-fangled fancy guns: youtube.com/@operator_inquiries

[@stg-J]

Don't worry

[@BlankSlate-17]

Not hating on you but damn it took half the video to load that rifle lol

[@captainravioli2823]

You know it's juicy when the bolt is as big as your palm and you can only fit two rounds in your hand.

[@BV-fr8bf]

It may be old, but I still would not want to charge a trench with soldiers armed with the Swiss Vetterli 1869/71

[@NicholasIrvin]

The one thing I can look at at this old rifle is that similar characteristics to a Winchester were you loaded from the side of the old cowboy gun but with this 1 it's completely unique the way it looks

[@vampirecount3880]

-How many bullets do you want to put into this bolt action rifle? -Yes

[@Alwayscommentseveryday]

12 Cartridge, imarite?

[@TheMienaiChikara]

even the shooter 'phew's after reloading 🤣

[@АртемСереденко-с4б]

Свинцем засмітили водойму. Бовдури

[@TheManglerMaster]

Tube-fed weapons make wonders, really!

[@gamebriz4163]

Thats a decent amount of ammo for a rifle that age 👍

[@JJohn-dt7xf]

There are no more fish in that pond

[@Wayne72LEVRAI]

No one want to eat something who are coming from a pond with so mush lead in it anyway. Always surprised that shooting in water is not forbidden in America.

[@Gunsbeerfreedom87]

​@@Wayne72LEVRAIit's a private pond homie.

[@kanrakucheese]

Probably an artificial pond for flood management or the like. I don't think there ever were fish.

[@glebustinov5701]

They shoot at water devils, and those respawn infinitely till the end of the match

[@flawless49899]

@@glebustinov5701 haha true

[@thevillager8339]

This ain't grandpa's ol' reliable. This is great great great grandfather's old as sh*t revolution-starter kit.

[@Nixie_noobionlassie]

FYI when this was released that was considered the state of the art weaponry cuz mind you in 1869 muzzle loaded rifles were still in service

[@johnmcvey4243]

​@@Nixie_noobionlassie Some countries started to use breechloaders during that time one of those being the wanzl and werndl rifles.

[@Nixie_noobionlassie]

@@johnmcvey4243 Well yes they did but those rifles were single shot the vetterli was a repeater rifle

[@maplemaple1439]

Nah this was great grandfather's miner's union-defender and pinkerton destroyer

[@Nixie_noobionlassie]

@@maplemaple1439 The US civil war ended in 1865 the Vetterli was designed in 1869 (Not wanting to sound like a buzkill :/ )

[@smokingcrab2290]

1. Holy shit! Super rare gun 2. Beautiful 3. Big ass rounds that are expensive and rare 4. Holds a shit load of them. I never thought you were gonna stop reloading.

[@donwyoming1936]

Soldiers must have felt invincible with that much ammo in the tube.

[@amerikhan8507]

Used by the Swiss army so I don't believe any of them ever saw any action.

[@danthonygregory4157]

​​​@@amerikhan8507 Well the Italian army did buy this gun, serving long enough to see WWI. Course the Italians tossed out the tube magazine, first made it as a single shot, then updated it by adding a fixed box magazines.

[@amerikhan8507]

@danthonygregory4157 Were the Italian ones in the .41 Swiss cartridge? I remember reading something that they tested it back then and some said the round was barely adequate for deer. Which is interesting because that means it was basically an intermediate cartridge during an era when everyone else seemed to be using .45 caliber ~500 grain projectiles.

[@danthonygregory4157]

@@amerikhan8507 No. The Italians used their own 10.4×47mm ammo, or 6.5mm carcano for those WWI vetterlis.

[@nickm5419]

​@@danthonygregory4157A Carcano round Vetterli is like the Stradivarius Violin of Rifles.

[@Makedeth]

Remember to extract that Rotjaw bounty!

[@dgnx1888]

You can even ear the avtomat shooting in the background

[@AAX11111]

Im pretty sure that was the 22 full auto we had.

[@michielvanmol3529]

More like Hellborn now. Don’t leave your spear at home!

[@cybermandan1960]

No fish were Swiss Vetterli'd in the making of this video.

[@reeseraymond8886]

Might be the best disclaimer comment I've seen 😂😂

[@krisko4653]

Probably

[@krisko4653]

🪦🐟. 😢

[@enby_kensei]

Dude wtf you're gonna attract every enemy player from across the map to your location with all that noise

[@cjanderic6181]

And smoke 💨

[@TheKnifeRaven]

This thing makes the Lebel look fast.

[@JosipRadnik1]

thats because you have to yank the bolt all to the rear in order to make the elevator jump up and bring a new cartridge from the magazine up in line to be fed into the chamber. This rifle was intendet to be mainly used in single shot mode and only use the magazine in an emergency (if you were about to be overrun by an attacker). This was achieved by timing the feeder/lift in such a way that it would not engage until you reached about 85 % of the travel of the bolt. Therefor if you use it in a way that you would normally use a bolt action mechanism, the feeder/lift stays down so you can feed a single round by hand. This on the other hand makes the mechanism slower than other, later bolt action rifles like the Lee Enfield for example - yet faster than any of its contemporaries exept for the Winchester (which wasn't really an army service rifle though)

[@AzureRoseMarshal]

@@JosipRadnik1what insane idiot thought limiting a rifle to a single shot when it can clearly do more was a good idea?

[@googlesucks2296]

I miss the days where I could actually find 1886 Lebels in great condition for cheap.

[@kleptu_]

This is the only channel where I always watch their videos

[@CrimsonWinters]

Same lol

[@thebillyd00]

First tube-fed bolt action I've ever seen. Interesting design.

[@munkbok]

it's fairly common with the amount of early bolt guns with the Kropatschek magazine system

[@soysauce4087]

Lebel 1886 is quite popular.

[@PanzerPC]

Ahh fellow hunters, we meet here in celebration of the staple that is, the Vetterli...

[@ralfgeollegue5272]

*Chime* "You live to die another day" *Fades to black*

[@marco8414]

When you have a challenge to kill water devils but you forget your Nagant poison at home

[@Tomozuru]

forgot swiss vetteris are wonders; the italian vetterli-vitalis are a close one too

[@mattraven69]

i have an croissant modeled explodey boi

[@Thunderous117]

Pretty remarkable rifle, especially when you consider just how early it was as a repeating bolt action rifle. The first adopted Vetterli goes back to model 1867 (February 1878 adoption) which is crazy when you realize this is a contemporary to the Chassepot rather than the Gras.

[@oliverbruce6240]

That darn Swiss rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week...

[@blookester6583]

HUNT SHOWDOWN MENTIONED‼‼‼

[@Imperial_Novatrooper]

Always some interesting conversations going on in the background at this little lake, man. Seems like a good time

[@impcec6734]

This is the coolest fishing video I’ve ever seen.

[@catstuckinawaterbottlecrate]

I know it's a jank design. I know it's got problems. It's a classic case of "before its time and suffering for it", but I can't help but love this rifle. I think it's the steampunk techno-cowboy feel of a bolt action tube fed rifle for me. What a beautiful rifle.

[@Edgardistillstanding]

My favorite part about this rifle is the elevator part for the cartridges

[@SStupendous]

The loading gate at the breech, as with winchester lever actions?

[@Edgardistillstanding]

@@SStupendous yes like in the Henry rifles or the volcanic I love that little detail

[@mentalcupcakes8142]

Press 0:01 to inspect weapon

[@resevsh]

Really like this one with short optic in hunt showdown, good looking and versatile

[@notgray88]

I'm so extremely jealous... This is my favorite long rifle of all time, and you even have the ammunition for it.

[@mysterioushomoguy]

12 round tube mag? Impressive!

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Cutting edge firepower in its day, the first magazine fed repeater adopted as the standard infantry rifle by an army.

[@mysterioushomoguy]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine I just think the cartridge is too long for 12

[@RodCalidge]

What a beautiful hunk of metal and wood. Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

[@dixonqwerty]

Wow that thing carries a bunch of rounds!

[@KweonHyukInn]

A gun ahead of its time. A pioneer in bolt action.

[@КумысМамбетов-й8ш]

That is a very nice rifle for 1869, just imagine that in the early 1800 people were using musket style rifles … And 50 years later -this 👍🏻

[@brobrofog]

I love to see early bolt actions that have tube magazines, it's always interesting to see how the technology was created and thought up over only a few 60 years

[@jacobzehner2004]

What did that lake ever do to you?

[@StudSupreme]

Wow, a bolt action that loads like a lever action. Interesting. What the blankety blank is .41 rimfire? Something tells me that's not smokeless powder...Recoil looks substantial, too.

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

The standard Swiss military cartridge for the time. Smokeless didn’t come around until the 1880s

[@the_timinator77]

I love discovering new guns I never seen nor heard of!!

[@predetor911]

Love child of lever-action Winchester & bolt-action Mauser?

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

A bolt action yes, but the design pre-dates the first Mauser

[@hydrolox_rl10b-2]

​@@TenaciousTrilobite is this one like Dreyse-level-antique?

[@JosipRadnik1]

Mauser came out about a year later in 1871 as this type was already in production and reaching troops. The original design was from about 1867, but with an outside hammer in the rear centerline of the action. Rumour is that Mr. Vetterli visited the US where he did not only see a 1866 Winchester but also got inspired by a Joyslin carbine if I am not mistaken. However, there is no good evidence of this afaik. What is confirmed though is that Swiss authorities purchased an 1866 Winchester and since their decision to demand a magazine fed rifle came about around 1866/67 it is very likely that they might have more or less taken the Winchester System and advised their constructors to try something similar. So the Magazine system of the Vetterli is most likely at least inspired by Winchester if not outright copied form it. The bolt action system itself is something very original and quite forward thinking with a lock on open system and three locking lugs. It was the first magazine fed rifle that was adopted as a standard issue rifle for any army in the world btw.

[@MB-ms3ud]

The original 41 Swiss cartridge is very similar to the original Winchester loads for the 1866/73 era and when I let my buddy fire one his immediate remark was "this feels exactly like my brother's Winchester".

[@SStupendous]

@@hydrolox_rl10b-2 This is designed 1867, the Dreyse was perfected in 1841.

[@billionsmustfight]

The ATF is currently looking for whoever was firing that fun switch gun

[@whyme4512]

dont worry, they are licensed. "wink wink"

[@chasebh89]

the british : sir weve found this inventor that can convert our muskets to cartridge!! the swiss, watching from a bush : hmmm theyve advanced. Johann, skip another 30 years ahead

[@SStupendous]

I love the 1860s. Wars like War of the Triple Alliance had both flintlocks and lever action repeating rifles. Truly a decade of contrasts, of very timely and old fashioned elements and yet many things directly recognizable today.

[@rocketdog5310]

"Okay, its an old gun, two is still better than a muzzleloader..." "Oh wow four is pretty decent" "Okay six is a lot" "That's enough bullets bro" "THATS ENOUGH BULLETS"

[@noahbianchi1920]

You remind me of myself. The guy next to me at the range shooting some black rifle and me shooting some relic.

[@mr.cathacker]

every time he put two rounds in i thought for sure he was about to chamber it... then he puts in two more!

[@ACDrone]

Meanwhile in the trenches.. Guy with a Carcano: give me 5 I'm reloading! Guy with an 1869 Vetterli: give me 5 I'm reloading! Guy with a Carcano: mate wth is going on? You're taking ages! Guy with an 1869 Vetterli: sorry, forgot to mention it's 5 MINUTES, not seconds

[@ZarthianOrder]

As always a great weekly video from the reincarnated trilobite, keep up the great work. Yes, I will keep doing this every week because it’s great content.

[@aralanstradivari2841]

My cousin actually has one from 1870, unfortunately he didn’t have any of the ammo for it, but being able to hold one and operate the action was still magical, and a reminder that such firearms are really more like machines. Older firearms especially tend to be that quite visibly, and dear god are they cool. Also, did the owner convert it to centerfire, or was that done beforehand? And, how does one even convert such a rifle I wonder. Still keep up the amazing content!

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

I believe the owner converted it. They stayed rimfire throughout their military service as far as I know

[@danielwright4964]

Shooting range burned down close to me. Never got to visit it. Now I shall live vicariously through your channel.

[@Gunsbeerfreedom87]

While I'm a bigger fan of the Italian Vetterli, its hard to deny the crispness and quality that the Swiss ones have

[@AAX11111]

Billy the Swiss have ALWAYS made shit to a higher stabdard. You know this.

[@Gunsbeerfreedom87]

@@AAX11111 No shit. But we all know I like garbage

[@brianthomas4276]

I love myself a good ol' Vetterli.

[@heibk-2019]

I always only see these full sized versions, does a shorter Vetterli like the one in Hunt: Showdown even exist?

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

Yes, the Stutzer Repetierkarabiner. They’re rare, though

[@heibk-2019]

@@TenaciousTrilobite yeah thats the one thanks for the info!

[@avaragecheeseenjoyer9948]

How do you get your hands on all these rare guns!?

[@alpha10165]

Online And at auction

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

This one was borrowed

[@evergreengaming2.053]

If the Winchester 1873 and the Lebel 1886 had a baby:

[@Lero958]

That bolt likes it rough huh? Didn't eject well while slow and steady but shoots butter smooth if you're rough with it

[@ZEBIGTONK]

The reasoning for the smoke in the air is from the 10.4mm Black Powder Cartridge

[@infernoreviews2529]

Beautiful, this weapon was waaay ahead of its time. Are the brass cases hard to get a hold of ?

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

These were converted from 8mm Lebel cases I think. I’m not sure if anyone makes proper cases

[@YossarianAssyrian]

It's the first I've heard or seen of this gun, but it really stands out! It seems remarkably advanced for an 1875-era rifle. Nearly a dozen shots loaded at once? It gives the Henry Rifle a run for its money! Edit: I found one of these at my local gunstore, and I immediately thought of this video! So fascinating to see it in person!

[@DakkerGamingDe]

Has your Vetterli been converted? I have an Orignianle at home that doesn't take modern ammunition.

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

This one was converted to centerfire

[@zacharyrollick6169]

Beautiful old gun. I have a model 1881 myself, Waffenfabrik Bern.

[@joaopedrobaggio4475]

Is this a very expensive gun?

[@JosipRadnik1]

@@joaopedrobaggio4475 depends on where you are I guess. Here in Switzerland they range from 300 to 600 Swiss francs, depending on the model and condition. I think in the US they might be about the same (but in Dollars of course 🙂 ) . The main problem is that you have to convert them to center fire as they originally were rimfire. This is not very complicated, but not everyone has a lathe in his garage either. The other thing is ammunition which is quite hard to get by and usually brutally expensive. So I would only recommend this rifle if you do some reloading. If you do, you'll have a lot of fun as it really is an impressive rifle for its time. It has a calibre of .41 which was quite small for a frontline service blackpowder rifle. This calibre was adopted from the Swiss Feldstutzer Sharpshooter rifle of 1851 btw. which introduced the calibre when 18mm was pretty much the standard all around the world.

[@thequeeninblack4390]

i can smell the hunt showdown in this clip

[@JackJackKcajify]

back in the day id rock this thing for sure. badass rifle.

[@L4dy_Kum]

Hunt show down engine upgrade looks crazy ngl

[@badgerrrlattin35]

In it's day, that was a serious piece of ordinance. Was in the field with Spencers, Henry carbines, Revolving rifles (cartridge & Cap&Ball), & Remington Rolling Blocks. Was a serious war machine in 1875.

[@SStupendous]

In which army? I didn't know the Swiss and Italians used all that!

[@braedenmetz888]

1:21 When the morning red bull cigarette hit

[@flyingninja1234]

Vetterli: We are Swiss! We don't need levers on our rifles!!

[@CrimsonWinters]

Wow I’ve never seen a rifle like that before. It’s bolt action but loads like a lever action Winchester. Also that thing can fit *A LOT* more rounds then I was expecting.

[@gigachad2162]

I can hear the droning of cicadas in the background lol

[@beowulfsrevenge4369]

That's a really cool rifle. Looks like you've got to cycle that bolt with authority.

[@Romoa345]

With enough bullets any body of water can become shooting fish in a barrel. That lake has experienced an extinction level event.

[@NesReports]

How do you buy specially designed casings like this do you make them?.

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

I believe the rifle’s owner converted 8mm Lebel cases

[@AkioHabana]

Wow this Vetterli is in really good condition. Most Vetterli actions look like they are about to transform into shrapnel

[@IvanZehirov]

Thanks a lot ! Awesome POV video !!!!

[@ReconRaccoon]

Where do you get all these historical firearms?! There so awesome

[@alternateaccount6913]

We changing the meta of hunt with this one 🗣🗣🗣

[@Bolotnik_]

Потрясающая многозарядность для своих лет.

[@ВРАГБАНДЕР.Самоделки]

речку не по годам загрязняют. там дроби больше чем микробов

[@astridisaacs8129]

legit bolt action rifle, while other nations were using breech loaders. thats crazy

[@superguy5738]

could you show us how to make the ammo for that? ive been looking into buying one but obviously the ammo is not exactly for sale lol.

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

Not my rifle or my ammo. I believe it was made from 8mm Lebel brass

[@Astrawboy_NameAlreadyInUse]

A cool gun! But the brass is ejecting to the unnervingly dangerous direction! I got a sense of anxiety from watching the spent cartridge, but a very old design I see. A cool gun including that iconic trait btw!

[@smithsonian2464]

Off topic question, you still have cicadas in your region of the country? Sounds like it. After hearing that far-away drone for the the better part of three months, I recognize that background noise anywhere

[@glizzy2.O]

I couldn't believe how many bullets went into that thing

[@benjones9429]

I had one of those years ago. I sold it after I didn’t have any use for it as a wall hanger. A gunsmith luckily had a few rounds on hand to shoot it after it sat on a wall for 30 years before that. Cost us $4 per bullet

[@flip849]

Love your channel man. Where else would i find a pov of a vetterli?

[@stephenbachman132]

What were the hunting back in the day crocodile? Dam that's a big bullet

[@CeylonMondegreen]

Before smokeless powder could make tinier, pointier bullets go very very fast, and before penetration became a real factor, your best chance of downing a dude was believed to be tossing a big slug of lead his way to harness most of the power. Mass retains energy at the cost of velocity and flatness of trajectory.

[@afallencheetah6610]

The are two wolves inside of you: one wants to collect and hand load antique black powder guns and gain vast knowledge from our ancestors... The other wants to mag dump into trash

[@notnaanton630]

God I love this rifle

[@mikewazowski9678]

This happens when a lever action and a bolt action rifle have children

[@Trippedo]

The drip factor on that rifle goes hard

[@sathancat]

Neat loading manner and magazine capacity for such adated rifle!

[@Rogue-Mike]

I remember this gun from Battlefield 1. Those are some big ass rounds.

[@frantiszek9433]

I'd like to have such a toy! Thank you for sharing!

[@bustagill9115]

I got jumpscare by the bullet hitting the camera when I watch this at night.

[@King_CreepaLot]

I had the option to pick up a Vetterli '69 with the loading gate, but didn't. Kick myself for that, but at least Vetterlis are (for the most part) reasonably affordable still!

[@joaopedrobaggio4475]

Very exotic gun.

[@thefancytiefling]

If that ain't some steampunk looking bolt-action rifle I don't know what is

[@MaximG.]

That looks like a really unfortunate extraction design. Are you supposed to tilt the rifle or your head to not get a face full of hot brass?

[@AAX11111]

Did you get to fire ALL of the BP stuff we had on camera?

[@TenaciousTrilobite]

Maybe? I fired what I was given

[@cheezball0340]

What a beautiful rifle

[@indigomer]

I haven’t ever seen one of those before but I am intrigued

[@linkfreeman1998]

Man i wish more designs adopted that mag system...

[@giausjulius4]

Its crazy to me that European countries were adopting this rifle while the US was still using the Springfield as its standard issue. Its quirky like the Lebel but its a huge step up from single shot breech loaders which were contemporary only 10-20 years before this was adopted by the Swiss. Insane just how fast firearms technology jumped forward with the advent of metallic cartridges.

[@arctichoundtv2823]

Such a fun gun in Hunt Showdown 🔥🔥🔥

[@666toysoldier]

A lot of these were brought into the US by Bannerman, and were fairly popular as deer rifles.

[@elmenohernandez1091]

very good rifle but I think you got tired when you put force on the bolt.