Modified 96/11

[condorjohn]

I found this 96/11 about 10 years ago. At the time I had 3 other Schmidt Rubins so this one just got stuck in the closet and pretty much ignored.
I call it modified because of the odd muzzle and stock setup. I always thought the barrel at the muzzle end was threaded but upon further inspection I found the sleeve was just a slight tight fitting taper fit.
I have never seen anything like this. So maybe someone can enlighten me as to its purpose. I thought maybe, grenade launcher?
Also, the muzzle is counter bored down to where the two holes are. KInd of hard to explain.
Rifle was given a name too, (+ELZEA+)

[condorjohn]

Is this a case of "Stump the panel" or just lack of interest? ;)

[butlersrangers]

My theory is that your Schmidt-Rubin was made into a lamp and the 'barrel holes' once held the wire frame for the shade.

People re-purposed '$15 guns' back in the 1950's & 60's. "Odd European Ammo" was hard to get and prohibitively expensive!

IMHO - No Swiss would have done those barrel holes!

Is the 'name plate' a piece of DYNACO label maker tape or something else? Is it E.L.ZEA or ELZEA? The "+" or 'cross' at the front and end could be Swiss inspired and done by a Swiss owner.

CAUTION - make sure the chamber was not altered to .308; some vendors did some sketchy things to sell Schmidt-Rubin rifles.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Swiss rifles and bayonets were common and demand & interest was low.

[butlersrangers]

FWIW - 94% of the time Elzea is a Surname or last name. It is found almost exclusively in the USA.

[Ned Butts]

I think it is an early muzzle break

[butlersrangers]

There is a very knowledgeable Swiss Rifle Forum.

It might be worthwhile to post some pictures and your questions on that site.

It is directly in their 'wheelhouse'. You will get good feedback.

[condorjohn]

Thanks for the replies. Definitely not a lamp! The machining is too exact. Also, not 308 as I have fired it several times. At 100yds I got 3" group with Swiss surplus ammo but about 4' left of center.

I did try the SWISS RIFLE FORUM but I could not download pics from my computer and I do not use a photo host url. Actually the
Swiss Forum is the first place I tried.

Looking at the name again, it does look like +E.L.ZEA+ and it is made from the plastic strip stuff.

Thanks Again, John

[butlersrangers]

Elzea and Zea are not Swiss surnames.

How good is the "crown" left by the counter-boring?

[waterman]

Is that front sight fitted into a dovetail? That might explain shooting to one side or another. But 4 feet?

I tend to think it was some sort of recoil reducer also. Could the barrel have been slightly bent during modification? It would not take much of a bend to put the impact point that far away from center.

I entered Elzea into the Ancestry.com search engine with an arbitrary date of birth as 1930. I came up with 7 individual men and one woman, all in the US. My bet is that the plastic strip is the name of a former owner.

My K31 had a piece of paper under the butt plate, The paper had a number on it. Years back, I was in a gunshop that is on a tourist route. A guy from Switzerland was in the gunshop, just browsing. I asked him about the number. The guy asked how many digits? I said 7 (at least that's what I remember, this was 20+ years ago). The Swiss guy said it was probably the phone number of the guy it was issued to, done in case he came home with one not issued to him. Anything like that on yours?

[condorjohn]

Sorry for the typo! Shoots 4" (inches) left, not 4' (feet)

The front sight is a standard 96/11 sight. See attachment. Because the sleeve can be removed and replaced by hand, although a tight fit, it makes me think it can be used as a regular rifle or configured for some other purpose. That's why I was thinking grenade launcher.