Soldiers mustering out of active duty were given the option of keeping or turning in their rifles. If they simply turned them in, the rifle went into storage in the armoury. If they opted to keep their rifles, the receiver was then stamped with a "P" to designate Private ownership. That P designation seems to be sought after in rifle purchases. Think about it.
An armoury stored rifle had been fired the obligatory number of rounds in training exercises and operations. The user/owner of the rifle kept after service was then very likely used in the nation-wide civilian matches that happen virtually every week at one or another 300m range in Switzerland. Factually that meant that double, triple or more rounds were fired from that rifle.
Would that be a reason to deliberately seek out a "P" stamped rifle as a shooter/keeper?
At first the imports were all armoury stored rifles, but as the armoury supplies dwindled, or when old Hans' rifle passed into the hands of a relative who had no interest in the rifle, those P stamped rifles began showing up among the imports. Our own armoury has not one single P stamped rifle for the above reasons.
An armoury stored rifle had been fired the obligatory number of rounds in training exercises and operations. The user/owner of the rifle kept after service was then very likely used in the nation-wide civilian matches that happen virtually every week at one or another 300m range in Switzerland. Factually that meant that double, triple or more rounds were fired from that rifle.
Would that be a reason to deliberately seek out a "P" stamped rifle as a shooter/keeper?
At first the imports were all armoury stored rifles, but as the armoury supplies dwindled, or when old Hans' rifle passed into the hands of a relative who had no interest in the rifle, those P stamped rifles began showing up among the imports. Our own armoury has not one single P stamped rifle for the above reasons.