Swiss 1897 Schmidt-Rubin Kadettengewehr Training Rifle
Forgotten Weapons
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7m 37s
The Swiss replaced their Vetterli rifles in the late 1880s with the new Schmidt-Rubin pattern, and this eventually trickled down to the cadet corps. These youth programs had been using short single-shot 1870 Vetterli carbines, but as those became obsolete and in need of replacement, the 1897 Kadettengewehr was adopted. This was a single-shot short version of the Schmidt-Rubin 1889/96 action. Just under 8,000 were made between 1898 and 1927, and they would see use at least into the 1950s. The most interesting detail on the rifle is the rear sight, which is graduated for two different rounds - the standard Army GP90, and a reduced cadet load. The reduced load was calibrated so that its muzzle velocity matched the velocity of the GP90 at 100m, thus meaning that the trajectory of the two rounds matched, with a 100 meter different in range. Therefore, the rear sight to have identical graduations for both rounds, with the 200/300/400 meter settings for the cadet load being equal to the 300/400/500 meter settings for the GP90. Clever!
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