Tag under Swiss K31 rifle!

tootall

tootall

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I bought one of the K31's that Calgary Shooting Centre has recently added.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/979099-Swiss-7-5x55mm-K31-rifles-for-sale

I had read of others finding a tag beneath the steel buttplate with the info of the person the rifle was issued to.
I was delighted to find this hidden in my new purchase!
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Mitr.
Steiger Jakob
Schw. Fus. Kp IV / 109
alle Landstr. 82
Meilen ZH

A little internet sleuthing led me to these sites:
http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/tags/

http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/topic/3029#.UnWTJhCvS-5
(not selling anything, so hotlinks allowed)

So, if I understand it correctly, Mr. Jakob Steiger was a Machinegunner in Heavy Fusiliers Company IV / 109 (not sure how this works...) and lived in Meilen, Zurich canton.
The word alle means all, and the Landstr means Landsturm, or Land Storm, for Home defense troops 46+ years. I'm not sure why the word alle is there, or the signifacance of 82.

I wonder if he is still around. It would be awesome to hear from the previous owner!
 
 
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Outstanding!
I got goosebumps when I put on satellite view and looked right down on the very house it came from.
 
Dumb question here.:) What was the point of putting the owner's name on the gun, never mind under the butt plate, where you have to disassemble it to find it ? Tag is specially made to catch one of the butt plate screws, so some thought must have gone into this. Mine has the same type of tag but is only stamped with the Zurich arsenal.


Grizz
 
In case of loss , or theft.
Person it was issued to is responsible for it to the military.
He loses it, he pays full replacement price, no matter what.
Falls overboard crossing a river or glacier cravace, $$$$.
Takes wrong rifle from K31 rack on a crowded Swiss shooting range,
and he has a chance to get his own back and return the mistake to the rightful owner.
 
I have 3 Swiss rifles, nothing under the buttplates!

Going to stick some Canadian Tire money under there for the lulz.
 
I picked up a nice K31 today and I was very pleased to find a named tag under the butt plate. The soldier who had my K31 lived in Eschert of the Berne canton. From google maps, it looks like a small village with 12 or so houses.

I am going to see about trying to contact the family, perhaps the soldier is still alive ?
 
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