Here is a hurried up translation. I beg for pardon for any mistake in English since now, given that my mother tongue is Italian and as an "excusatio non petita" I must add that the Italian paper obtained through the Swiss Shooters Association of Canton Ticino is in itself a translation from the original paper that was written in German.
Latigo, there is always a batch of Chianti lying somewhere in my house... BTW, the Swiss friend who made a guesstimation of the availale stocks isn't Herr Frutiger, but another officer of the Armée...
And now, for your entertainment:
The future of GP11
Text by Heinz Frutiger, chief of shooting, ground forces SAT
How long will the GP11 stocks last? SAT's answer is reassuring. The stocks are sufficient for many years.
In the last years a recurrent question put by shooters is: “what's the future of GP11?” refetting to the forecast availability of the appreciated ammunition 11 in calibre 7,5, used for the muskeets and the Assault Rifle 57.
The statement of SAT referring to this recurrent question is the following.
The last batch of GP11 was made in 1994 in the [Federal] Ammunition Factory in Thun, now RUAG Ammotec. In the ammunition stocking facility at the Army Logistic Establishment are kept batches of production years between 1979 and 1994.
Every year 15 different lots are tested for functioning and precision. Furthermore detailed analysis are performed for those components subjected to aging, namely powder and primers. Only lots with full compliance to the strict quality requirements are deemed sutable and made available for “out of service” shooting.
High quality of the stocks in depot.
If we refer to the records of high quality of the available stocks and the average consumption of ammunition for training (it seems to me that these calculations may not take into account the world market – note by Andrea), it can be assumed that the GP11 will still be available for the next 10 years (from 2010, date of the paper – Andrea) for the “out of service shooting” and sporting purposes.
It is possible for RUAG Ammotec to restart GP11 production after 2020. However we cannot say today wether the ammunition will be provided by the army (to the Swiss shooters – Andrea) or if they will have to privately purchase them.