Professional Bubba-ing

Z

zfk55

New member
............. If Bubba-ing is a word?

In the late 60's and through the 70's, Golden State Arms imported hundreds of Swiss 1911 Long rifles and converted them to .308 for the American hunting market. All of them were professionally converted and refinished and subsequently became known as the Alpine Sporter. Every one of them was identical and all were drilled and tapped for their own scope mount rail.

I can attest to these .308 conversions as being incredibly accurate with the right load or factory cartridge. I'm absolutely anti-Bubba-ing any original issue Swiss rifles, but these were the best example of mass conversion I've ever seen.



 
sounds interesting, looks fairly decent for a mass sporter job. I just look at the millions of enfields and springfields that were just lopped off right in front of the rear stock band, with the handguards thrown away, and sling buttons drilled straight into the wood.
 
The answer to "Why" is always the same. Once introduced, the American demand and reviews were reason enough, and for Golden State, the dollars were great.
 
You're not understanding. In their early years nobody in the US understood what a Schmidt Rubin was, much less the caliber. With many hundreds of 1911 rifles sitting in Swiss storage, a business decision was made between the supplier and the importer to do an intensive magazine series of ads and watch for response. The response was overwhelming for a relatively inexpensive hunting rifle in .308. That being the case, it was accomplished. It had nothing whatsoever to do with individuals converting their rifles. Why is that so hard to understand?

Me personally......... You'll not find anyone more purist than the people here at Swiss Products.
 
Oh, I didn't know this was in the earlier years, must have missed that. I figured they were here since the Fifties, my bad. Sorry.

I've seen the work you guys at Swiss Products do, cool stuff, I must say. I've considered ordering one of your Clamp On scope mounts but figured I'd try my luck with Irons first then progress.

Also, what scope is on that 1911? Some sort of Fixed power?
 
I can understand people wanting to keep their collecibles "pure". That being said, however, that has got to be the butt-ugliest receiver I've ever seen. The bubba'd gun would have had to have been dirt cheap to entice me to buy sucha thing.
 
The K-31 ( I think ) Is a lot more refined than the 1911. Shorter action, shorter bolt, Lighter, I even think the action is a lot smoother than the 1911's. I never liked them. I know a lot of people like them.
 
Last edited:
Doyle, I believe that back then they were $49.00 for the 1911/.308

MM, that particular scope is a very rare Swift fixed 8 power, not made for at least 30 years. It looks to be adjustable, but it's not.

The k31 is the newer version, but the 1911 long rifles are the most accurate of all the Swiss rifles in that category, IE: 96/11, 1911, k11 and k31. The zfk55 was the last of it's type to be manufactured. After that came the stgw57 (PE 57) the AMT in .308 for the first time and then the 90PE in .223 caliber.
 
Doyle, when have you seen a more elegant looking rifle than the Swiss series of issue rifles?

The Vetterli











 
MM, they didn't switch with the large caliber. The Sig AMT is specifically made of the US and named the American Match Target. Everything else is 7.5x55 until the 90PEs showed up. Those were made for use world-wide as semi auto and 3 round burst. All of the photos are from our private collection.

This......... is a rare one. One of 5 known to be in the US.





 
Its nothing new. Birmingham Small Arms has been doing this since the 1880's ;)
BSAcatalog2_zpsce2ab9e5.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top