History of WWI Primer 127: Swiss Schmidt-Rubin 1889 Documentary
Vložit
- čas přidán 2. 08. 2020
- Othais and Mae delve into the story of this WWI classic. Complete with history, function, and live fire demonstration.
C&Rsenal presents its WWI Primer series; covering the firearms of this historic conflict one at a time in honor of the centennial anniversary. Join us every other Tuesday!
Additional reading:
candrsenal.com/recommend-read...
Schweizer Militärgewehre Hinterladung 1860-1990
Ernst Grenacher
Swiss Magazine Loading Rifles 1869 to 1958
Joe Poyer
Special thanks to:
Bloke on the Range
/ @blokeontherange
• Swiss Straight-Pulls E...
Ammunition data thanks to DrakeGmbH
/ drakegmbh
Animations by Bruno!
/ @baanimations3689
Support this content at:
/ candrsenal
OR
www.subscribestar.com/candrsenal
Or buy prints from the show:
candrsenal.com/shop/
Snail Mail us at:
C&Rsenal
3642 Savannah Hwy Ste 116
Box 103
JOHNS ISLAND, SC, US, 29455
I'm seeing this episode has lured in some new viewers. If you're surprised by the length and depth of this episode, please give some thanks to our Patrons over at Patreon or Subscribestar! The community has made it possible to fund these massive dives into small arms history in a way that would be impossible with just CZcams advertising (even when they allow it!)
www.patreon.com/CandRsenal
www.subscribestar.com/candrsenal
For those of you already subscribed, Mae and Kevin (Black Powder Kevin from IV8888) are working on a new perk idea that we're revealing soon.
Can confirm the top ejection halariousness. I have the later k31. Same ejection. And it has sent spent cartridges down the back of my shirt and dropped them on my head. Lolol
@@RTJsims Sounds like a certain Austrian pistol I know about. Its almost as if those alpine types all think alike.
A lot of a lever guns do the same, for which the the standard Cowboy Action Shooting solution is, unsurprisingly: Wear a broad-brimmed hat.
I also dropped your name on a Drachinifel episode where someone mentioned liking long, involved looks at particular details. You may have gotten a couple people that way too.
We're spreading the word wherever we think appropriate!
I am again catching up on episodes... I am sure you guys have seen Letterkenney by now, so every time you say "to be fair", Othias, Mae, Susie, and Bruno need to harmonize it.
Neutrality were declared
LMFAO
Cue some grainy footage of dudes eating chocolate and attaching small implements to pocket knives.
Cut to footage of the "Toblerone Line", a string of tank traps across the valley at the west of the country, on the main route from France. See a recent video by The TimTraveller.
That's the neutrality alarm
The troublemakers of Europe.
"Switzerland declared independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499"
Othias's MP40 episode someday is gonna start with a synopsis of the Carolingian Empire.
Lol, reminds me of a comment I made on a C&R video a couple years back; "Before we go over the MG-42, we need to go over the backstory: in the year 800 AD, Charlemagne formed the Holy Roman Empire..."
@@nathanjohnson1853 which is silly because their already was a Holy Roman Empire in the East.
@@davidmiller9485 Byzantine Empire: Am I a joke to you?
Catholic Pope(s): ......yes.
Byzantine Empire: Well do you want to deal with these Turks?
Catholic Pope(s): .......no.
Byzantine Empire: THEN HELP US YOU BARBARIANS
Venice: Oh we'll "help" you alright....
@@fien111 That's even more stupid. starting with the 2nd Crusade the Catholics were up to no good (keep in mind both the West and the East were considered the "Holy Roman Empire", Not just the West) starting with the rape, killing theft of people in the East after the West had agreed to go east and fight the "Infidel". This has always been the issue with the Catholics. They let power and money (and to be honest the embarrassment of Constantine moving the throne east out of Rome) get the better of them.
Nah, the MP40 episode is gonna be like 30 minutes... the episode on the MP38 however? THAT is gonna start with the Carolingian Empire. But that episode is gonna be held up because they want to do an episode on the MP36 first, but that gun is unobtainium, so eventually they're going to skip from the episode on the Erma EMP, do the MP38 episode, and the top comment will be a guy in Belgium saying he would have been happy to lend othais an MP36
There's an old Swiss story, Kaiser Wilhelm II made a visit to Switzerland before the war, he was understandably given the chance to inspect an honor guard, and took the opportunity to compliment the sergeant on their discipline. He jokingly asked the sergeant "what would you do if I invaded with an army twice the size of yours?" the sergeant took a moment before responding "Your Excellency, we will all have to fire our rifles twice."
I've heard about this story and what I heard was a different response which the Swiss reply went something like this, "Then we'll shoot twice and go home"
Smack-talking an actual Kaiser, what a madman
It's a joke from a postcard ;)
I've read this story too, but never with the german Kaiser as the asking person. The asking persons in the versions i have read ranged from US General to french, british and russian Military attachees ect.
@@nirfz I suppose it's just one of those old joke stories like the Russian asking for the new edition of Pravda.
Me: Alright, I'm caught up on all my usual channels. I think I'm done with CZcams for tonight.
C&Rsenal: Where d'ya think you're going, sunshine?
I don't like how accurate this is 🤣
"God, it's 3am and I have to be at work at 5. Maybe I can just give up and try and get a couple hours of sleep now"
C&Rsenal: Couple hours, you say?
1:02 "For today's story we are going to have to visit the mysterious land of Switzer, hidden behind a ring of mountains and populated by a race of elite soldiers who never war."
Honestly are the Swiss Dwarves? I mean, they hide in the mountains, horde precious metals and are master craftsman.
Yes. Yes they are.
Gnomes actually, but pretty much
Damn, they got us!!
Yes, we are dwarves, just tall ones. Beards and beer everywhere, we upgraded the caves to bunkers, hoard gold and love making overcomplicated mechanical devices, be it watches or guns.
And if you ever have seen the old ladies fight over discounted sweets near close of business, you'd know we love a good skirmish!
They also dig ginormous tunnels through mountains en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel I think you figured them out!
Fun fact:
J. R. R. Tolkien first story in the Lord of the Ring Universe "The Hobbit" is based on a group trekking trip threw Switzerland he participated in.
In medieval times the Swiss (or Switzer) actually believed that Dwarves and Elves exist. But they live deep inside the mountains and forests hidden from the human eyes.
That is why few ever see them.
**Looks around, waiting for Bloke's yay or nay**
hey mae, i heard/saw you like dinosaurs. Thought i would send you one : czcams.com/video/zYKupOsaJmk/video.html
God i'm old...
Foreshadowing.
Well, you got this Switzers approval. Really exited about the Swiss series and in typical Swiss fashion will make absolutely sure to point out even the smallest mistake!
@@spoeny Well if you're going to be that way about it, I think you meant _excited._
@@Ni999 I lol'd.
See that Ross?
That's what a successful straight pull rifle looks like.
Mannlicher 95: am I a joke to you
@@bendries4123 I think Schmidt Rubin is faster than Mannlicher due to smoother mechanism.
To be fair, the Ross rifle is pretty successful at what it was designed to be: A target rifle. It's just that Ross _also_ wanted it to be a military rifle.
Ross rifles are neat!
To be fair, the Schmidt Rubin didn't go through it's Beta Testing in the Somme.
These rifles, much like this show, are high art.
It's the barrelly bolt handle. From the Schmidt-Rubin to the Stgw. 57, they all had that mojo.
Most definitely. As I’m finishing up this episode on my larger screen tv... you and Mae are talking about ‘we never pull off the wall’ I’m all for a ‘mini’ series of just you and Mae pulling the guns off the wall just saying what it is, rating it, and just a quick look. The shooting compilation was awesome but... ‘pulling off the wall’ sounds great.
Art is understatement
There's one at my local Cabela's. I was highly surprised they would even have one!
Gun Store: I just got 7 of these 1889 Schmidt-Rubins
Me: Do you got any ammo for it?
Gun Store: *bursts out in maniacal laughter*
That reloading life
My 1889 is the reason I started reloading.
Just buy it
It's a reasonably gentle cartridge to reload for!
Now try Martini.. :P
Just cut the case neck down and lower the powder load in 7.5x55 swiss. The cartridges are VERY similar and will chamber in either gun. (Although not necessarily be safe in)
Some say the keg handle was specifically designed to remind shooters that there will be beer at the pub after the Feldschiessen.
Also so your hand didn't freeze to the thing atop a mountain range.. it actually surprises me that they didn't have a wood insert on the front of the magazine, which is the one place you actually do risk touching the metal.
At the pub? There's always beer available at the range itself, dude! :D
those pubs are called Schuetzenstube
Or the promise of "2 beers per kill" if war were to ever break out.
Swiss factoid:
Switzerland has four official languages, the offical German name is Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft. This is usually translated to Swiss Confederation (even in the other official languages and in latin, the abbreviation CH comes from Confederatio Helvetica), but more accurate would be oath fellowship, referring to the oath sworn in 1307 by the representatives of the three original cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. So an old school noun for a Swiss person is Eidgenoss, literally comrade by oath.
Edit: The gents in the picture at 43:09 have their arms raised in the fashion of the oath, their three raised fingers symbolizing the three founding cantons.
Fact about factoids: a factoid is a thing that sounds like a fact, but isn't actually true. People use it to mean small fact which is entirely incorrect.
The Canton of Uri has one of the most badass coat of arms imo.
Is that were CH comes from? Interesting.
@@Nukle0n Factoid: The meaning of words can and does change over time, and if enough people say factoid to mean a piece of trivia then that is what it means.
@@loadeddice4696 Except we haven't reached that point. Look at a dictionary.
"first draw an S, then a more different S" I see you there Othais
I have a Schmidt-Rubin 1911 and K31. Both are like a Swiss watch (perfection). Really great straight pulls. Just make sure you stock up on the 7.5x55 Swiss ammo unless you reload. My 1911 is over 100 years old and the barrel is pristine. That''s what happens when you do not use corrosive ammo. Thank you for the video. I'm a Patreon menber for a long tine. I hope that helps. Keep them coming!
Man this is a great rifle.
_12 round magazine exists_
*cries in Californian*
Irrelevant for manual repeaters, though, right? Or did I miss a step in California's gradual worsening?
@@logitimate CAs law is on magazines, not semi auto magazines
I believe these may be exempt because they are all pre 1898 antiques and therefore not “firearms”. There’s a sporter one that been in my local pawn shop for forever here in California.
@@geeksgamesandgears2369 per leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&division=10.&title=4.&part=6.&chapter=5.&article=2 there's no exception based on age of the rifle
NAP51DMustang but a pre 1898 isn’t a firearm by federal law. No 4473 required. How can the law apply?
The straight pull bolt design is absolutely genius. And despite the cumbersome and odd looking trigger Mae seemed to have no trouble on that gun.
As an owner of a K11, I am beyond excited to watch this series. The accuracy of these rifles is incredible. The sights are calibrated to 2000m, and in Swiss service with their attention to marksmanship, deadly. Remarkable piece of engineering. My K11 has been rechambered for .308win. Still accurate, even when using the ranging marks as yards vs, meters. And the trigger is absolutely crisp (after the take up of course).
Thank you for the work you do to document the evolution of firearms.
"I like the cupping" - Mae, 2020
Swiss weapons are usually designed to be used defensively from prepared positions. They are higher precision designs and are less concerned with exposure to mud and debris.
Accuracy is very important in a defensive weapon being used primarily as an intimidation weapon to maintain neutrality. Weight and handiness, less so.
If smokeless was introduced 10 years earlier, the rifle would ve four inches shorter and a pound lighter, probably.
As soon as you pulled the bolt out, my only reaction was "well, that is very, very Swiss"
At last, the term point blank used basically correctly. _Thank you!_
Great work! Bonus points for the Trogdor reference!
I must say, I like your version of a walnut paneled study than most others.
Missing more.
But you’re right.
Excellent episode, and one I've been waiting for now for quite some time. Against the backdrop of rifles when "war were declared" it gets no love, but I agree with your analysis that amongst its contemporaries it was superlatively advanced even against the Lebel, as evidenced by its successive iterations, where the tube fed bloated whale cartridge of the Lebel was a dead end quickly superseded. Thank you!
Here it is, you've set a precedent. Now you'll have to do a series on the small arms of the Thirty Years War.
One thing about the start: according to historians (not wikipedia) the swiss neutrality wasn't chosen by the swiss on the congress of vienna, it was imposed on them by the more powerfull participants. (they might have gotten the idea from earlier swiss neutrality, but the swiss themselves did not push the idea during the congress nor voice the idea of it it seems.)
Absolutely amazing that the Swiss were so incredibly close to what amounts to a semi-modern semi-automatic rifle so early. A gas port, gas block, a spring, and extension to the op rod was all they needed. It even had a 12 round magazine, which is a decent amount more than many of the early semi-automatic rifles had.
As a non-American, I really feel what Othais says right there at the end, how this would look like some steam-punk rifle if it were not so common in the collectors market.
The first time I saw this, I was like "what is that? What the Hell is that?" I was blown away. The Swiss made that? IN NINETEEN FRIGGIN' EIGHTY NINE??
At last: Eduard Rubin gets his moment. AS usual guys, job well done. Thank you.
Woooah. After that bolt explanation (~25min mark) I realize how esoteric Schmidt-Rubin actually is. Thank you for the great amusement, Othais!
The bolt probably has more machining time than some entire rifles. Absolutely monstrous, but beautifully engineered and made
The Swiss have always been enamored of complex mechanisms. Nor do they seem to worry about how much their rifles cost.
Those goofy looking chargers are the smoothest operating chargers ever designed. I have about a dozen of them. They make Mauser chargers feel like rusted and bent Mosin chargers. And the upcoming GP11 ammo is general issue target ammo. With careful handloading I can duplicate the standard issue ball as made by Ruuag, but it took a long while to get good enough to make better.
I've never owned the '89, but I've owned a K11 and still have a K31. And I do remember paying less than $100 each for them.
ah yes, ive been in that situation before when you are walking around in the bush with your schmidt rubin, casually taking aim at 2000m and all of a sudden a bad guy pops out of the bush and i beat the rear sight downwards.
Well done on this great Eps ,Thank you Bloke on the Range and Chap support on this Video,
Remembering when these old war time guns were cheap, I bought an 1893 Spanish Mauser in 7x57 back in the early 70s for $40 bucks at Woolco. That store was a subsidiary of Woolworth’s. The ammo cost me $5.00 for 100 rounds of Spanish 7x57 that had a 1920s head stamp. The old non-spritzer ammo shot pretty good with only an occasional misfire.
Well I'm glad that Mae has a type of firearm that is her favorite. The straight pulls are an interesting group. We need an air freshener that is Linseed oil scented now.
Thanks for all you do and When is that strange hand cannon from John Browning showing up?
1:45 sorry about being picky but just fyi yall, Napoleon didn't invade Switzerland in 1798, he was in Egypt and not in charge of the country nor the army.
@@strydyrhellzrydyr1345 uh I mean look it up for yourself man mistakes happen
@@strydyrhellzrydyr1345 well uh. according to history books in 1798 he wasn't in charge of anything in the french Republic. I don't know how you can have a second answer to that. I did not mean to say this in conflict but more as a tip if they ever wish to correct themselves or just to know.
And here we have the beginning of the famous beer keg charging handle. They're as fun as they look trust me.
I love watching you two, your chemistry and knowledge of Firearms is so off the charts.
This is the show that sold me on American gun culture.
I have watched this video over and over and continue to learn more. You, Mae and crew produce excellent learning and historical vids....Thanks so much and keep producing these as I try to watch each and every one!
I woke up this morning, bleary eyed and grumpy, i go online and see a new c&r vid and all of a sudden im smiling!
One of my favorite rifles. Extremely fun to shoot and operate.
Excellent work on the video and research!
I can’t wait to watch this later - thanks very much!
I've been waiting for this🤯🤯🤯🤯 thank you you beautiful human beings
Excellent video as always!! Fascinating old rifle, love to get my hands on one. Absolutely one of the best channels.! Looking forward to seeing the next one. 🇺🇸☠️🇺🇸
Thanx C&Rsenal, Ya'lls videos are pleasantly entertaining and informative. I like the historical and engineering aspects.
"What makes a man go neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?"
Brains
Superbly researched video, Uthayus. For all the brilliance of early arms developers, no one really thought of using the huge blast of gas emerging from the muzzle end.
I think 'rifle teepee' would be a great shirt for the next fundraiser. Words in a cool font, and a neat drawing of it.
Man, those empties are getting gone toot sweet! Can't even see them leaving the action, until the slow-mo segment.
That damned Swiss rifle that you load on Sunday and shoot all week!
Oh awesome. Appreciate the uploads
Oooooh, Swiss straight-pulls. *settles down to watch*
Always nice to see you guys working with other channels. Keep up the good work youzs guys
Great episode! Thanks for the nuance about the interplay between designs adapted to black powder and smokeless tech. ;)
Very interesting firearm. Keep up the good work. I enjoy each and every episode.
Very good review. I grabbed one of these rifles from a small gunshop going out of business, got it for a benny. Look forward to next episode on shooting and reloading maybe? Ive done a lot of homework on that issue so look forward to what you share .
Glad I got one before the Primer came out lol. The pries will no doubt go up now. Great video guys. Wish I could find some ammo for mine.
Thanks for this nice episode and explaining this particular system in detail (from a happy owner of a '44 K31)
Ever since you mentioned the Rubin test rifle in the Lee Enfield episode, I’ve been wondering what that entailed. Glad to see I wasn’t disappointed.
"More different S." Nice homestar runner reference bro.
“NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ABOUT! THAT WAS AMAZING! I MEAN YOU I CAN’T BELIE... THAT WAS! I’M BUYIN’ YOU A PIZZA!”
- Strong Bad to Othias and Mae
Dang that is a beautiful design! It seems to be cutting edge for it's time.
One of my favorites in my collection. Shoots well with mild loads in 7.5x55 brass. So I shoot the factory ammo in my k31 or 1911, and load the brass for the 1889.
Thank the gods - over an hour of Othias and Mae, and I've just finished catching up on _all_ my youtube subs. YAY!
Awesome history.
Working the bolt on these is just a treat. Unlike an Mannlicher, you can kinda “throw” the bolt home on the forward stroke ( using thumb and index finger). Easier on a K31, but it works on the un-Furrer’d actions too.
I loved hearing about how that was Mae's gun and some talk about the market and all that. Would love to hear any personal history like that on guns you own in future episodes. I got into guns around 2011 and as soon as I bought a K31 I knew the Swiss guns were a steal at the time and would go waaaaaay up in price soon so I grabbed one or two of each. I could just tell with how well they were made and how accurate they are that the market hadn't caught up to how awesome they are. Same with GP11 ammo at the time.
Nice rifle. Can't wait for the next one.
Excellent video.
Great series! Keep it up!
l love this post , as l collect Schmidt Rubin's . l do not shoot my 89 or 96 , but l do shoot all of my 1911's and 31's . My first was purchased because l liked the very different design . THEN I discovered just how incredibly accurate these rifles are . And l do like accurate rifles . Launching small pieces of metal , at high speed , over long distances, at small pieces of paper , can't be beat .
I just love how this rifle looks, very elegant
It looks like your barrel bushing needs cleaned. You can pull the stock off and wrap an oily index card around the barrel and pull the bushing back over it. Then twist it back and forth to clean the corrosion off. Also soak the bolt knob in oil because the screw will continue to rust until the knobs crack and fall apart. You usually can't remove that screw so don't try.
you do know they have a gunsmith working with them. He's owns the Mark Novak channel.
@@davidmiller9485
You know marks a very busy guy and these things are simple enough you as a gun owner should be able to do...
Noting the "straight pull" concept. Seems like ALL semi-auto's today are essentially straight pull. Love this channel. Gosh I rue the day you run out of content.
In order for a gun to be semi auto it essentially has to be.
I have been waiting for this since you started on the neutrals.
Excellent content
Love the channel
You should really do a full episode on the Chassepot needle gun! Every rifle you've shown so far had elements of the Chassepot. The way the firing pin can be removed on the Schmidt rifle is exactly how you remove the needle on the Chassepot.
I'm so glad I bought these when they was super cheap along with the entire line up till the K-31.
Would you recommend getting one of these? I could purchase a Mauser G71 1888 or a Remington Rolling block from the 1870's instead of this. Not sure what to pick.
@@David-lu4gq Yes!!! Get one!!
Awesome rifles shot the k31 at camp Perry many years
That is one of the quickest ejections I ever seen.
There's actually a mention in some Swiss literature of not working the bolt at the hip cos you're highly likely to get it in your face...
That bolt assembly shows why this rifle is so praised in the collector community. They really were a spring and gas system away from making a semi-auto.
I was happy to see this video make an appearance. I love Swiss rifles (my 1943 K31 especially). In saying that, seeing Mae just casually toss the cartridge chargers aside made my eyes pop a bit. Mainly due to the fact I can't find any to use in my K31 (original or reproduction) at anything resembling a reasonable price.
www.ebay.com/itm/7001-3D-Arsenal-K-31-Stripper-Clip-for-Swiss-Schmidt-Rubin-K31-Hold-/332789071871 are these bad prices? are they even worth it?
'Marksmenry' a new word for me in the intro.....
very good content. Excellent information. Thank you very much. Pronounciation is ok too.
The complex straight-pull bolt is easier to disassemble than my Mosin bolt, way to go Schmidt!
Wow! well done Othias! you're the only one I have seen who can explain the action of the Smidt -Rubin rifles from 1989 on up. You make is easy and simple and show Smidtt to have been an exceptional designer without parallel . Rubin came up with the cartridge around the time Paul Mauser designed his cartridge. Is there any chance Mauser saw the Rubing cartridge before he made his?
loved the episode. i do have one question id love to hear about eventualy what is May's top list of straight pulls like in order.
You've really outdone most other channels with this video. The historical context of Swiss neutrality is best explained by its history, and that's exactly what you did here. Great video.
Edit: The uninterrupted sight line is just theoretical, at least on later Swiss straight pull designs. You've got to lift your head on a K11 or K31 when cycling the bolt because of its length.
EditEdit: Ah so the change from BP to "semi smokeless" to "smokeless" explains the length of the action.
legend has it those cartridges were still flying up to this day.
When you guys did the loadings for this for the shooting segments, did you load the 90/23 type with a standard .308 bullet or did you go the paper-patch route? This video was the nudge I needed to buy one and pushed my M95 carbine a little further down the list so thanks for that :D
By the way... with that wall, I've been meaning to ask ... how do you handle dust control??
Let me see if I understand this. The locking surfaces for the action aren’t on the bolt they are on a sleeve . The sleeve is at the rear of the bolt. The bolt is something like 5 inches long. Maintaining Headspacing seem like it will be fun. Good thing this is a issued to Swiss troops. The squad watchmaker will definitely be needed.
Yo, right as I was getting ready for bed😂. Well guess I'm stayin up. Keep up the great work!
Wait a minute.........we are getting a different M1911 video than what we were expecting relatively soon......aren't we? Lmao
Aww, the straight pull handle even has a little barrel to fit with the Swiss rescue St. Bernards
So, is this the start of a race between Othias and Bloke, to see who can complete a Swiss straight pull series first?
Well Othias can't finish his before he gets to world war two, so Bloke still has a chance
@@MrSam1er He'll make it to the 1911 before me, at least! And I've already skipped ahead to the snipers since an opportunity to shoot 2 of the 3 presented itself a while ago.
Boat tails create an expansion fan at supersonic speeds (basically smoothly decompressing the air compressed by the bow shock), recovering some of the energy put into the compression wave at the tip and thereby reducing drag. By doing that, and by virtue of having a smaller bullet base, one reduces base drag which shifts the bullet's centre of pressure a bit further forwards.
Sounds like an insignificant change, but this results in increased pitching moment rate (the amount of pitching moment added per degree of pitch... or radian) which in turn decreases static stability. This is why boat tail bullets tend to require a bit more spin (thus tighter twist) than square base bullets to maintain stability.
More importantly, adding a boat tail shifts the Magnus centre further forwards which has the potential to create dynamic instability, though this is more pronounced in spitzer-type projectiles (representing a further drag reduction), where a Magnus inversion (Magnus moment changing direction with pitch due to the Magnus centre's proximity to the bullet's centre of mass) can create the type of dynamic instability that can make a bullet tumble no matter how fast it's spinning.
In some more modern projectiles (168gn Sierra MatchKing comes to mind), this type of dynamic interaction results in interesting (and somewhat beneficial to precision) limit cycle motion, where at very low pitch angles, the projectile will tend to tip its nose away from the centre of its trajectory, whereas at higher angles it will tend to return. If I remember correctly, the 168SMK likes to settle somewhere around 1°-2° of pitch and then just spiral on nicely towards the target (or backstop). The upside of this is that any significant perturbations during firing tend to upset its trajectory less. The downside is that with a reduced margin of dynamic stability, they tend to tumble as soon as they go transonic, effectively limiting their range to around 1000-1500m.
Regarding the large "wings" on the rear sight: these can be used as a rapid close-combat sight by aligning the entire front sight - including the base - in the large "U" formed by the wings. It's fast and the sights are easy to pick up for engaging surprise targets at close range. The same technique can be used with the Gewehr 98. Early M-16 Field Manuals retained this technique, sighting over the top of the rear sight (not through it) and using the entire front sight assembly to get the barrel aligned. I just wish I could find the older rifle marksmanship references....
I like the expression of the Prussian soldier at 11:13, on the ground with three cartridges, and missing a boot? He seems very contemplative, "hmm, zhree kartridges, zis vill not do"
I'd love to go out and shoot mine some day but between not really having the room for a reloading set up and being intimidated by the reloading process I may never get the chance. Love seeing this 1 in action.
The reloading process really isn't difficult. I have my whole set up on an old wooden desk in a spare bedroom.