Swiss Sturmgewehr 57 battle rifle

[HARRY THE MOLE]

A rather interesting pick-up from Last Sunday's Preston arms fair was this Swiss army STGW 57 (Sig 510-1) battle rifle. Modern weapons don't interest me that much, but there is something a bit 'different' about this weapon that appeals to me. In some ways it reminds me of a toy gun that people of a certain age will remember from when it came out in 1964... the 'Johnny Seven OMA' (one man army). I was never lucky enough to get one for Christmas, my parents - like many at that time - just couldn't afford it, and there was just one lad on our stretch of road that got one. It fired single shot, full auto, launched grenades, and fired rockets... it even had a built in pistol that could be removed at the flick of a switch and then loaded with a roll of caps. A few years later when I was about 14, I was leafing through a copy of: 'Guns Of The World' in the local library and came across the Swiss STGW 57. I read up on it and straight away I was reminded of that toy rifle from 1964. Click on images to enlarge.





When I read up on it I was amazed at its capabilities, and at that time it was reckoned to be the most expensive military rifle ever made. Its no lightweight - coming in at over 12 lbs and some 44 inches in length. The sights on it are reminiscent of the German FG42, and the gun itself - which is admittedly somewhat ugly - is made of steel stampings and castings.





The rifle was designed to replace the K31 bolt action rifle along with some of the smg's and lmg's still in service. It operates on the roller-delayed blowback system has single shot and full auto capabilities, with a rate of fire of between 450 and 650 rpm, and also fires rocket propelled grenades. When firing in semi-auto the bipod is set in front of the receiver, and on full auto it is slid forward to sit just behind the foresight to offer greater stability. When firing grenades in a flat trajectory in the anti-tank roll it has a range of about 250m, and when used as a mortar it can reach out to 400m. The bipod legs are marked with a scale to aid accurate ranging. A string is hung from the bayonet lug and weighted with the Swiss army knife (what else? ) and with the butt resting on the ground, the rifle is tilted to the range required. There is even a folding 'winter' trigger for use when firing the grenade so that the firer's fingers don't get injured by the recoil. There is a smaller magazine for use with the grenades, the cartridges being shorter in length. For safety reasons, the rifle has to be re-cocked manually when firing grenades - as the rifle will not reload.






The rear sight has micro settings for greater accuracy up to a range of 600m, and the foresight has a luminous dot set in the casing to aid night firing.






There is also a bayonet, and as you might expect of the Swiss, is beautifully made. The rifle was once referred to as the Rolls Royce of infantry weapons, and when you look at the craftsmanship it is easy to see why. Approximately 740,000 rifles were made for the Swiss army, with around 450,000 of these being scrapped after the introduction of the Sig 550 in the early 1990's. This particular example is one made for the Swiss army - the export guns being different - and was manufactured in 1969. It is all matching numbers and in superb condition.

Cheers,
Steve

[Watchdog]

Very nice Steve. I too recall the Johnny 7 and the one kid who got one making everyone else jealous yet him not so popular!!

I have always thought it looked modern beyond it's years and for sure the "clock makers" don't cut corners on quality. If it was a car you would have to say it has "kerb appeal"

Regards

Mark

PS
There is a Johnny 7 presently on Ebay at £500

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Mark,

I was looking at the Johnny Seven on eBay the other day, but I have to say that some of the modern Nerf guns are much more fun! My grandson has a fair few - and we have some great shoot-out with them. Even the local wood pigeons raiding my flower beds are target's for the foam bullets!

Cheers,
Steve

[Watchdog]

Hi Mark,

I was looking at the Johnny Seven on eBay the other day, but I have to say that some of the modern Nerf guns are much more fun! My grandson has a fair few - and we have some great shoot-out with them. Even the local wood pigeons raiding my flower beds are target's for the foam bullets!

Cheers,
Steve

Haha yes the NERF is a lot of fun with the kids but it would never have survived the battle of the Council Tip, the taking of the M62 Rake Wood Viaduct or the assault crossing of Rochdale Canal!

Regards

Mark

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Haha yes the NERF is a lot of fun with the kids but it would never have survived the battle of the Council Tip, the taking of the M62 Rake Wood Viaduct or the assault crossing of Rochdale Canal!

Regards

Mark

I lived in the more secluded backwaters of Wythenshawe where our battlefields were Bluebell wood (Japs & Commando's), and around the back of Ringway Airport - now called Manchester Airport - where we went to war in Styal Wood along the banks of the River Bollin. Even back then some of my 'toy' guns were actually quite real, one being a WW1 Mauser Gew 98 (minus bolt) which came out of a neighbours coal house!

[Reibert]

...
There is also a bayonet, and as you might expect of the Swiss, is beautifully made....

Swiss Model 1957 Bayonet

[MG42UK]

Hi Steve - I also have one of these in my collection, and it is bit of a "curate's egg" - I think the sights would be frustrating to use in real battlefield conditions (they are too fiddly and cumbersome), likewise the bi-pod, which is really just more detail not needed, and ergonomically it feels awkward. A bit like the FG42, it feels like it is trying to be a rifle, assault rifle, sniper rifle and LMG all in one. But, the build quality, attention to detail and overall feel is top-notch (even the magazine on mine appears to have been machined, and not stamped). So happy to have it, even if it doesn't get put on show that much...

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Steve - I also have one of these in my collection, and it is bit of a "curate's egg" - I think the sights would be frustrating to use in real battlefield conditions (they are too fiddly and cumbersome), likewise the bi-pod, which is really just more detail not needed, and ergonomically it feels awkward. A bit like the FG42, it feels like it is trying to be a rifle, assault rifle, sniper rifle and LMG all in one. But, the build quality, attention to detail and overall feel is top-notch (even the magazine on mine appears to have been machined, and not stamped). So happy to have it, even if it doesn't get put on show that much...

I think that we have to agree to disagree on some of your points! I don't have a problem with the rear sight, and although it a complicated piece to manufacture - it reputedly has more parts than the Russian Makarov - it is relatively straightforward to use. From 100 to 200m the range is increased in two steps of 50m increments, from 200m to 300m it drops to 33m increments, and from 300m to 640m it is in steps of 20m increments. This gives great accuracy for a rifle with iron sights, with groups of 3.5 inches achievable at 200m and 10 inches at 600m. On a 4 - 6 shot burst it can achieve 18 inches at 200m and 48 inches at 600m. That isn't bad at all for an assault weapon, and when fitted with a telescopic sight it makes a very effective sniping rifle.

As for the bipod, it really IS needed when the gun is being fired in bursts to aid control and accuracy of the weapon - and don't forget that it is also a useful tool for gauging the range when firing rocket propelled grenades over distance. The weapon was designed to replace existing infantry rifles, smg's, and lmg's - and it really was a very good all-round weapon. The Swiss army was basically a defensive army, and not one which was designed or equipped for an offensive role. So the strategy was to have an individual weapon system for the soldier that had all-round capabilities, and that was a role that it filled extremely well.

On another note, very few of these guns were deactivated, and trying to find one for sale is difficult. I can see these rising in value very quickly.

Cheers,
Steve

[MG42UK]

I'm strictly speaking an armchair deactivated firearms expert, and form my opinions from what I read and see online, but also, more importantly for me, by holding and seeing weapons in my collection up close and personal. That will probably differ in some instances from someone who has live-fired the same firearm, or been in the armed forces using one, but is it based on a certain set of data.

It will be interesting to see if the value of these go up, certainly UK dealers were knocking these out for GBP500-600 a few years ago, but the supply seems to have dried-up now. To your point about not that many having survived and been deactivated.

[MG34]

I am a long time Swiss firearms junkie and am always on the lookout for nice condition Swiss firearm. Unfortunately, original Stgw 57s are not allowed in the US, but its semi-auto only versions, PE57 and AMT, are allowed. After many years of searching, I was fortunate to acquire one example of each.

I got my PE57 from an oil company engineer who was relocating from Houston Texas to South America. He was moving with his girlfriend to run an oil prospecting project in the Amazon. She was originally from Venezuela and was a secretary who worked at Enron. You remember Enron, don't you? They went bankrupt after swindling millions from investors. Anyway, the girlfriend was hot as hell and actually appeared in the Playboy Magazine photo spread entitled "Women of Enron".



Here are a few pictures of my PE57.







I wish I could shoot my PE57 more, but 7.5X55 Swiss GP11 ammo is very expensive here in the US.



I prefer to shoot it with a scope as my eyesight is crap. I use a Hensoldt FERO Z24 mounted on a Stgw 57 scope mount.





I even have the SIG factory test target for my PE57. If you look closely, you can see that it is dated 1982.



I got SIG AMT back around 2000 from a firearms dealer in Ohio who was going out of business. This AMT is a very early import from 1969 and is marked "Katsenes CIE". They did business in Santa Monica California under the name "London Guns". My AMT is the softest shooting 7.62 NATO/.308 Winchester semi auto rifle I have ever fired. It is extremely controllable and unlike an HK91/G3, you won't get a blue shoulder. Here is my AMT in its transport case.



Again, because of my poor eyesight, I picked up a scope mount with Hensoldt scope to use with it. The scope mount was made by the late Estes Adams who offered them about 15 years ago.