Think Swiss watches are nice? You should see the inside of a Schmidt-Rubin rifle. The Schmidt-Rubin was originally adopted by the Swiss in 1889 with the 1911 version created as a modification and improvement of the original. The rifle is unusual to Americans because it has a straight-pull bolt action, but it is one of the nicest ever made. It was a very successful infantry rifle and saw service from 1889 into the 1950s. These days, the rifle has become quite popular in the military surplus market with the majority of the ones available in the K31 Carbine version. For more on the Schmidt-Rubin 1911 Rifle, watch this "I Have This Old Gun" segment from a recent episode of American Rifleman TV.
Even though 250 years have elapsed since the fateful first shots of the American Revolution—fired on April 19, 1775—there are still pieces of evidence remaining from the day’s fighting.
In 1971, Harrington & Richardson chose to celebrate its 100th anniversary—along with the company’s heritage of building firearms for the U.S. military—by recreating “America’s first general-issue, breechloading rifle.”
While the U.S. military is actively looking into drone defense solutions, companies such as Beretta Defense Solutions and Benelli Defense have improved the old fashioned shotgun to effectively stop inbound threats.