Schmidt Reuban

I have one of the 89 Schmidts K11 in .308 and the thing is a tack driver. Makes me want to get a K31 and scope it out. The one I have was bubba tapped no not by me on the top of the receiver so I need to cant the rifle to the side to eject the because of the scope being over the port. Does not matter though for a follow up shot is never needed with 168 gn HPBT lol.
 
Normal magazine capacity for the 1889 rifle was 12 rounds, but that was with the big, fat Swiss cartridges.

What they will hold with the relatively-svelte .30-30 could be truly awe-inspiring.

OTOH, the rifles are accurate enough that follow-up shots are few.

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The .30-30 Winchester cartridge is shorter than the Swiss round by far. First off, the casing itself is shorter THEN the bullet is seated deeply, length bing a critical factor with TUBULAR magazines..... but not so much with BOX magazines. And the Schmitt-Rubin has a BOX magazine.

It is a relatively simple matter to load your own ammo for one of these rifles, using a modern POINTED bullet, either a 150 or a 165. I would not go under a 150, being that the rifling pitch of these old rifles was calculated for a 212.5-grain bullet (TBSA - 1909). It could be a good experiment to seat the bullet OUT to suit the Magazine of the rifle. This would place the critical Ogive of the Bullet closer to the Leade, which would improve accuracy. A side benefit would be that the Charge could be increased (judiciously, please) and all-round performance enhanced while keeping within the 17.1 Imperial Long Tons (38,300 psi) working limits of the original round. In this way the smaller .30-30 casing with its diminutive base and the extra thickness around the Chamber would become additional safety factors.

Good luck!
 
The magazine that I have for mine for sure has same serial number as the receiver and it only holds six .308 rounds. It is far shorter the other K11 mags/12 rounders. I am thinking it must be a replacement numbered to the rifle after conversion to .308 Win. It is to bad that it was sportered in that process as well. No full or top wood just the main stock.

Big hello to smellie I have heard a lot of good things about you from Sirrus115 including you being very knowledgeable on the milsurp topics.
 
The 1889 origial 7.5x55 loading was with bullet of .299 inch dia. In 1911,a new load was developed with a .308 inch bullet so,as mentionned in others posts, 1911 spec loads must not be used in 1889 rifle.
Joce
 
snapshooter08 said:
I have one of the 89 Schmidts K11 in .308 and the thing is a tack driver. Makes me want to get a K31 and scope it out. The one I have was bubba tapped no not by me on the top of the receiver so I need to cant the rifle to the side to eject the because of the scope being over the port. Does not matter though for a follow up shot is never needed with 168 gn HPBT lol.
Click to expand...

A little clarification is needed not to confuse people further.

The 1889 was a twelve shot long rifle With TALL rear sights for the howitzer like trajectory of the GP1890 rounds which was original a steel cap, paper patched lead rifle bullet which was squeezed from a bullet diameter, with the paper, from around .32" to just just under .308 for the grooves. The bore was just under .30"
Locking lugs at the rear of bolt.
1889.jpg

Schmidt-Rubin 1889
Barrel Length - 30.7 inches: 3-groove, RH, concentric rifling, 1 in 10.63
Overall Length - 51.25 inches
Weight - 10.69lbs empty
Action - Schmidt-Rubin Straight Pull
Caliber - 7.5x53.5 Swiss (GP90 & GP 90/03)
7.5x54.5 Swiss (GP90/23)
Capacity - 12 round detachable box magazine
Sights - Quadrant sight graduated to 2000m
Total Production : ~212,000

Year Quantity Serial numbers
1891 24900 1-24900
1892 90100 24901-115000
1893 59100 115001-174100
1894 8787 174101-174887
75001-183000
1895 12500 183001-195500
1896 12500 195501-208000
1897 4000 208001-212000

The 1889 was NOT converted to .308Win, only to 30-30

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Next came the much stronger 1896 long rifles which were convert to become the 96/11 Long rifles firing the full powered GP11 rounds, when they became available, loaded from 6 round mags and flatter trajectory rear sights.
96-11.jpg

Schmidt-Rubin 1896/11 Rifle
Barrel Length - 30.7 inches: 4-groove, RH, concentric rifling, 1 in 10.63"
(approx 6000 96/11s had a twist rate of 1 in 9")
Overall Length - 51.2 inches
Weight - 9.94lbs empty
Action - Schmidt-Rubin Straight Pull
Caliber - 7.5x55 Swiss (GP11)
Capacity - 6 round detachable box magazine
Sights - Tangent-leaf sight graduated to 2000m
Total Production : 127,000
Model 1889/96 - Repeating Rifles (Repetiergewehre)

Manufacture ended in November 1912 Year Quantity Serial numbers
1895 50 1-50
1897 9000 212001-221000
1898 15500 221001-236500
1899 15500 236501-252000
1900 16500 252001-268500
1901 11500 268501-280000
1902 12000 280001-292000
1903 10000 292001-302000
1904 8000 302001-310000
1905 6000 310001-316000
1906 6000 316001-322000
1907 5000 322001-327000
1908 5000 327001-332000
1909 4800 332001-336800
1910 6300 336801-343100
1911 1900 343101-345000
1912 4000 345001-349000

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This led to the 1911 long rifle.
1911.jpg

Barrel Length - 30.7 inches: 4-groove, RH, concentric rifling, 1 in 10.63"
(S/Ns 350001 to 365000 had a twist rate of 1 in 9")
Overall Length - 51.5 inches
Weight - 10.03lbs empty
Action - Schmidt-Rubin Straight Pull
Caliber - 7.5x55 Swiss (GP11)
Capacity - 6 round detachable box magazine
Sights - Tangent-leaf sight graduated to 2000m
Total Production : 133,000


Model 1911 Infantry Rifles (Infanteriegewehre)
Manufacture ended on October 1, 1919 Year Quantity Serial numbers
1912 6000 355001-361000
1913 14000 349001-355000
361001-369000
1914 5000 369001-374000
1915 22000 374001-396000
1916 32000 396001-428000
1917 31000 428001-459000
1918 20000 459001-479000
1919 3000 479001-482000
? 200 P5000-P5200, Private series,
last manufactured on October 10, 1919,
entry in the export book of Waffenfabrik Bern
? 1 P5219
? 698 P5251-P5948

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Note the different shapes of the buttplate of the 96/11 vs the 1911
96/11 have a grafted on pistol grip
These two were the fodder from which the .308Win cutdown sportized conversions were made from in the States.

Never heard of an actual K11 being converted to .308Win
1911car.jpg

Schmidt-Rubin 1911 Carbine
Barrel Length - 23.3 inches: 4-groove, RH, concentric rifling, 1 in 10.63
Overall Length - 43.6 inches
Weight - 8.85lbs empty
Action - Schmidt-Rubin Straight Pull
Caliber - 7.5x55 Swiss (GP11)
Capacity - 6 round detachable box magazine
Sights - Tangent-leaf sight graduated to 1500m
Total Production : 184,200

Model 1911 Carbines (Karabiner)
Manufacture ended on July 11, 1933 Year Quantity Serial numbers
1914 6000 30001-36000
1915 4000 36001-40000
1916 13000 40001-53000
1917 16100 53001-54400
55001-62000*
62301-70000**
1918 19000 70001-89000
1919 2000 89001-91000
1920 6500 91001-97500
1921 8500 97501-106000
1922 7500 106001-113500
1923 7900 113501-121400
1924 7600 121401-129000
1925 7500 129001-136500
1926 9900 136501-146400
1927 12600 146401-159000
1928 11500 159001-170500
1929 12800 170501-183300
1930 9900 183301-193200
1931 8800 193201-202000
1932 9200 202001-211200
1933 3900 211201-215100
1913-1919 300 P2001-P2300, Private series
entry in the export book of Waffenfabrik Bern
Zoll 18 P2013-2030
Zoll 8 P2037-P2044
Zoll 30 P2071-P2100
Zoll 100 P2101-P2200
without entries 4 P2201-P2204
? 19 P2205-P2223
Zoll 50 P2251-P2300

Notes:
Zoll - Customs service
* Serial numbers 54401-55000 and 62001-62300 are missing (900 pieces)
** Serial numbers 69701-69750 have double entries, but are only entered once in this list. Consequently, the total of the Model 1911 Carbines listed here comes to 185150 pieces.

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Most of the .308 converted, cut-down sportized 96/11 long rifles and 1911 long rifles ended up looking like this:
smsantafeadd.jpg

Note the 6 round mag.
 
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Hello diopter thanks for clarifying that for me. I guess it is a 96/11 I seem to remember looking up my serial number and from what I remember it was made before 1896. It does look exactly like the flyer for the gunsmith rifle you added to the forum. That is a meeting piece of history. All I could find when I searched the net was a place to look up the rifle sin and year it was made. I have to say thank you once again for now I know what it used be.
 
Tony, that was with the 7.5 round, which is a lot fatter in the body.

Think you might be able to get 7 .308s into the later mag but I wouldn't want to push it; mags are darned scarce for these.

For the .30-30, I haven't tried it (yet) myself, but I will wager a whole slice of raisin pie that I can get 15 or 16 into it.

The horror! The horror!
 
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