any idea of value of m78 vetterli rifle?

S

scottycoyote

New member
A friend of my fathers has this rifle, he was approached by a dealer to buy it and was told by him it could be worth about $5800. Then the dealer looked it over and offered him $2200. Now hes worried the guy is trying to rip him off and my father told him i might could find out (thanks dad ) so here i am.

Im going to type a few bits from the dealers written appraisal:

".41 caliber M78 rifle manuf. by Waffenfabrik Bern circa 1878. All matching numbers, wood original finish, not import marked, very clean.

This particular model holds 13 rounds (12 in tubular mag, 1 in elevator)."

then he goes on to talk about the history of the rifle in general and places the value at $2200. Ive done some searches and i cant find anything, and theres nothing in my gun value book. Any opinions, advice, info?
 
I will caveat this by saying that perhaps there is some rare variation I don't know about, but that sounds like a standard M78 rifle to me. The caliber is 10.4mm (.41 Swiss) rimfire. Ammunition is about unobtainable even though it was once made here because of the large number of those Swiss rifles imported in the 1920's and 1930's. They have been converted to center fire calibers, but it is only out of curiosity as they are not really worth it. In spite of the caliber, they do NOT accept any other .41 ammunition.

The rifles are interesting, being one of the earliest bolt action repeaters, but I can't imagine one being worth $2200, let alone $5800. IMHO, if anyone offered me $2200 for mine, he would own it, but cash only and no refunds! They normally run around $200 (there is one on GunsAmerica right now for $199) with an exceptionally nice one going up to $400 or so.

Here is a site you might be interested in.

http://theswissriflesdotcommessageb...Vetterli-serialnumbers-Waffenfabrik-Bern.html

Jim
 
from what little i could find i agree with you as far as this gun usually isnt worth very much. But I do have the appraisal on this guys stationary, so hes definitely offering the 2200. Im gonna keep hunting for the next couple days for an answer before i report back, anybody else got a clue as to what might make this model worth so much more?
 
vetterli

search "swiss rifles" they have whole site on these.now where near 2 grand
about $ 500 or less.I have one I am converting.make shells from 348 win and lee has dies,and a .430 mold.:rolleyes: :eek: :D
 
I bought a nice clean one for $175 already converted with the cleaning rod and bayonet lug. Post pictures as there was a competition one made with a set trigger and a set of better sights.
 
Too bad no pictures, I would dearly love to see a 5000 dollar Vetterli rifle. It must be a very rare variant.
 
I had a nice looking but non functional Vetterli awhile back. I did not know the firing pin was nonfunctional when I bought it for maybe 200$, I sold it for less than that. If someone offered me 2200$ I would just pretty much grab the cash and run away before the guy's buzz wore off.
 
swiss 41

I have one and converted it to center fire very easy and about an hr.make cases from 8 mm lebel/348.lee has dies.lyman has molds.feed is copy of 73 win.:rolleyes::D
 
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