Vetterli Mod. 1870

About the Vetterli Mod. 1870

The Vetterli Mod. 1870 was the standard single-shot, bolt-action service rifle of the Kingdom of Italy, adopted in 1870 and chambered for the 10.35×47mmR Vetterli black-powder centerfire cartridge. Designed by the Swiss engineer Johann Friedrich Vetterli, the Italian pattern deliberately omitted the tubular magazine of the Swiss original in favor of a simpler single-shot mechanism. It was one of the first widely issued bolt-action metallic-cartridge military rifles and served as Italy's principal infantry arm until the repeating Vetterli-Vitali and Carcano rifles replaced it.

The Mod. 1870 was among the first bolt-action centerfire rifles adopted en masse by a major army, and its obsolete stocks proved deadly a generation later: World War I soldiers reported severe wound infections from Vetterli cartridges whose antiquated ammunition and poorly maintained bores drove debris deep into flesh.

Vetterli Mod. 1870 specifications

Original black-powder loads used a roughly 28-gram lead bullet; after 1890 a lighter (~16 g) metal-jacketed smokeless bullet was introduced. Most single-shot Mod. 1870 rifles were later converted to the repeating Vetterli-Vitali Mod. 1870/87 pattern, and many were rebarreled to 6.5×52mm Carcano during World War I.