Deciphering a K31 butt plate tag

[RimfireJim]

Bought a K31 recently and today I unscrewed the butt plate to get a look at the tag underneath. Here's a pic of it:


I've figured out that the first line is the Swiss soldier's name, though I don't know what the "17" at the right means. Age at time of issue?
"Basel" is a city in NW Switzerland, and I'm guessing the rest is his address, heavily abbreviated. "IM TIEFEN BODEN" translates (from German to Swiss) literally as "in deep soil", so I'm guessing the literal translation isn't quite right

Anybody have an idea how to decipher this better?

[paul0660]

I think it means he was born in 1917. What year is the rifle?

I have a 1934 with a tag indicating the soldier was born in '08.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

Basel is the town he lived in and Im Tiefen Boden 3 is his street address. You can put "Im Tiefen Boden 3" into Google maps and see an aerial photo of his old house.

[Spiggy]

Name, Year of birth
Unit
Location

[RaceDay]

This site helps decipher the tag: http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/tags/

[ChaparralCommando]

I looked under the buttplate of mine and found a tag. Using the above link, I see the owner was Studach Werner, a fusilier (rifleman in light infantry) in the third platoon of the 63rd Infantry Battalion. He was born in 1936 (the K31 was made in 1955) and lived in Zurich. Unfortunately no street address in a big city.

[TregoMark]

Nice find. Keep the tag safe. There arn't too many mil surplus rifles out there that have the original owner info attached to it.

[RimfireJim]

Thanks guys! I checked the site in the link RaceDay gave, and it looks like Walter Kupfer was either a motorized driver or in a motorized unit ("Motfz"), 2nd platoon of Company 132. My wife guessed that the "17" was his YoB, and she was right. The rifle was made in 1935 (info found here: http://members.cox.net/swissshooter/serial.html)
I left the tag exactly as I found it, and screwed the butt plate back on.