Swiss ZfK-55 Sniper Rifle
Forgotten Weapons
•
3m 36s
The ZfK-55 is basically a K31 action, with a bunch of modifications to convert it into a very nice marksman's rifle. The more obvious changes are the muzzle brake (very reminiscent of the second model FG-42, which makes sense as the Swiss experimented with those rifle quite a bit after the war), pistol grip stock, bipod, and 3.5x optical scope. In addition, the barrel is significantly heavier than a standard K31 barrel and the whole action has been rotated about 15 degrees to allow clip loading and ejection without interference form the scope. A clever and quite Swiss solution to that problem! Most other countries either simply abandoned the ability to use stripper clips in their sniper rifles (like most Mausers) or offset the scope on the side of the receiver (like the M1 Garand and Arisaka). Rotating the action allows the best of both, with easy loading and a center-mounter scope, at the cost of simply being more expensive to make.
Anyway, I took some video of the rifle, which will hopefully help folks get a better feel for them. I am really looking forward to being able to shoot one of these some day!
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Streetsweeper Shotgun
It may seem sometimes that I've never met a gun I didn't like...but I can assure you that isn't the case. The Streetsweeper, for example, is a pretty terrible gun.
Originally designed in 1983 by a Rhodesian man named Hilton Walker, the Striker shotgun was refined and manufactured in South Afri...
-
Shooting the Singapore Technologies S...
We lucked into a chance to disassemble and shoot a pretty rare black rifle recently - an SAR-21 bullpup made by Singapore Technologies (and this is why we take a camera everywhere we go). Singapore is another one of those countries with an impressive arms industry that most folks don't know about...
-
Shooting Elmer Keith's Carry Pistol
I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try my own hand at shooting the legendary Elmer Keith's personal carry gun, a Smith & Wesson pre-Model 29 in .44 Magnum. It's a fantastic piece of shooting steel, and was a joy to shoot, even if I couldn't handle it anywhere near like Keith did.
