Swiss 1882 revolver questions

M

MinuteOfDonut

Member
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Location
Alberta
Hi all,

I just picked up an antique Swiss 1882 revolver at the Calgary gun show and have a few questions regarding some markings that I found inside it.

First, here's a link to the pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzdPai4A7x7dN043UWpZNzRERUE?usp=sharing

From this I figured out that it was made in 1896, was sold to a civilian in 1962 and has all matching components. After disassembling it, I found a troop tag under one of the grips. Based on the troop tag I figured out that following about the man who carried this revolver:

His name, born in 1901
Motor Vehicle Repair, K/0.108(?) (not sure what this means, assuming something to do with the unit)
Sternmattstrasse (?) (St #), Lucerne

I know that troop tags did not begin to appear in rifles until 1930, so I would assume the same is true for revolvers.

So here are my questions:
1. Does anyone know what K/0.108(?) on the troop tag means?
2. Did I get the street correct?
3. Is it common to find troop tags in these revolvers (I can't seem to find any info about them online)?
4. Pretty much every part is serial numbered 64xx, but probably 2/3 of the parts also bear the number 120xx (ram rod, barrel, receiver, cylinder, one internal component). What is the significance of this second number?

Also I'm looking for a holster for this, so if one of you knows where to find one please let me know.

Thanks,

Tom
 
Last edited:
Other number is assembly number used at factory to avoid mixing parts from different guns before serial is applied, as serialization is one of the last operations along with quality and military acceptance.
Revolvers were not sold but given to servicemen at time of dismissal. I don't see P62 though on your revolver to indicate withdrawal from army inventory.
Can't help with tags, haven't seen them in revolvers.
 
Thanks for all the info.

That makes a lot of sense about the factory numbering. Also, I was wrong about the 1962 release date - it was 1961. There is a P61 present on the top of the topstrap, by the barrel.

Thanks for making sense of the tag, it definately looks to be a sloppy Kp. I will likely try to track down more info on the owner, so this will help a lot.

One other question I have is this: it appears most of these revolvers were left partially in the white. After looking online, it seems that some may have been fully blued. Is this true, or has someone gone back and blued the hammer, trigger guide rod retention spring and cylinder guide on mine? The bluing looks slightly different on these parts, but is identical to the frame on the ejector rod and loading gate. Also, wear patterns between parts seem to indicate that they have been blued for quite some time.
 
Original finish of hammer and trigger was straw colour "bluing". Yours are reblued. Those revolver had been in service and were reworked and refurbished. However I don't recall seeing that kind of bluing on trigger and hammer, even on refurbished ones. There's no much information about them so take my information with grain of salt, I'm not an expert.
 
Ok. I was looking online and that seems to be the case. I'll talk to a couple guys I know in Switzerland and see if I can find out more. If it turns out that these parts were redone after it was taken out of service by an individual, I may try to return them to the heir original straw colour.
 
Nice find.

They used to have baskets bull of them at the Zeughaus, selling them for 5.- swiss francs a piece.

But that must have been some time in the 70's, way before my time.
 
Just finished refinishing my revolver. After much research, I was convinced that the bluing on certain parts of the 1882 were not original and not as a result of factory refurbs. As such, I stripped the bluing and restored the straw colour. Process as noted below:
1. Degrease with acetone
2. Strip bluing with vinegar, brushing to loosen bluing
3. Remove vinegar/water with 99% isopropyl alcohol
4. Scrub parts with paper towel and brush
5. Lightly polish with 0000 steel wool
6. Convection bake at 400°F for 45 mins until heated through. Then increase 10°F every 15 mins until desired colour reached (435°F in my case)
7. Brush with steel wool/1200 grit sandpaper as needed to produce a less even, slightly aged look

The results: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzdPai4A7x7dZ2w4cnJPWVNjZG8

Thanks for all the input guys,

Tom
 
Very nice revolver. Look up the Swiss Military forum (link below)... lots of experts there. Yours appears to be a nice factory refurb, and certainly does not look like a bubba job in any way... I would have left it as is, but that's just me.

http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/

They are great shooters and very accurate with the right bullet/load combo. Have fun.

(you've inspired me to pop off the grips to see if I have a troop tag, but I will resist for now)
 
I'm pretty sure mine was done by a gunsmith - the bluing looked a lot deeper and shinier in person than the factory rust blue (perhaps hot blued, not sure). Either way, I like it better now that it looks like it did when it rolled off the assembly line in 1896. :)

Let me know if you find anything under your grips. You can just see the edge of it poking out in the pictures I took.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom