Oh my gosh.. the K31!

[HollowPoint]

I have nothing but good things to say about my K31; however, the older I get, the less tolerant I am about recoil. With cast bullets recoil isn't an issue for me. Heck, even with jacketed bullets it isn't all that bad with the lighter bullets at full power but, I have been dreaming of re-barreling and re-chambering mine in 6.5x55 Swede to lighten the recoil just a bit. I could then use it for everything from long range coyote hunting to elk hunting; all with superior ballistics. (generally speaking)

My research on the K31 found that you can actually order these rifles in 30/06 and 300 win mag if so desired. (this would make them single shots due to the length of these chamberings) The actions on these rifles are robust enough to easily take the moderate pressures (by comparison) of the 6.5 Swede..

I know many will say that the face of the barrel tang on the K31 rifles is a little tricky to machine but, from what I've seen, it's really not. Once I've accumulated the spare change for a new 6.5 barrel blank and the chamber reamer I believe I'll give it a go. In the mean time, I'll keep enjoying it as it is. 7.5x55 Swiss.

HollowPoint

[kawasakifreak77]

Keep us updated on that HP... I've got a soft spot for anything 6.5mm, especially Swede.

[HollowPoint]

I thought about the 6.5x284 also but, that would get me back to the same recoil levels of the 7.5x55 swiss; I think. Another thing was that the angle on the shoulder of a 6.5x284 is a little sharper so I was afraid it may give me chambering problems. Not to mention the fact that this latter chambering is said to be a potential barrel burner if a guy shoots alot.

On top of that possibility, I never was able to find out what the maximum pressure levels were on the 6.5x284. At any rate, I think the 6.5 swede would be a good choice for me. Others may prefer some other chambering. It's still in the dream stage until I can come up with the funds. I'll just have to wait and see.

HollowPoint

[MtGun44]

Hornady dies specifically marked for the K31, not 'just' 7.5x55 work extremely
well for me. I have Redding dies that were much more expensive that I do not
like as much.

[alamogunr]

Hornady dies specifically marked for the K31, not 'just' 7.5x55 work extremely
well for me. I have Redding dies that were much more expensive that I do not
like as much.

Wish you had posted before I bought the Redding dies. I haven't used them yet but plan to soon. I have other dies for the K11.

[Speedo66]

www.aimsurplus.com has the earlier Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifles and carbines for sale in their C&R section, same caliber, same type toggle action bolt.

[Multigunner]

If neck sized only reloads give any problems in ease of chambering you can try a trick I developed for my .303 Br reloads.

I use each fired case as a snapper at least once, to refine my trgger control.
The impulse of the striker blow micro sizes the case so that when neck sized and reloaded it chambers freely.

[kawasakifreak77]

Daw gonnit! I went back to AIM to order a walnut stocked version & they're out of the K31s. I've always wanted to have an old miltary boltgun with a silencer. Just seems like it would be SO COOL. I don't know if I could cut up an untouched example now..

They do have unissued bayonets though & I'm a big bayonet geek!

[madsenshooter]

CH4D also makes K31 specific dies. Sorta local for me, just up the road from grandma's house. Mine shoots too good to monkey with, though I too like the thought of a 6.5 version.

[jrap]

I'm going to be shooting mine for the first time later today

[sdcitizen]

I've converted the GP11 brass before, well worth doing, it is great reloadable brass. Use a #2 center drill in the tailstock of the lathe to bore through the old primer and make a flash hole, swage with large primer swager, and then clean up the bottom of the pocket with the large primer pocket uniformer. Can do about 500 in 2 hours.

[Tedly]

I've been shooting mine for the last 10yrs. using GP11 brass...hydraulic decapping method . I've been using PMC Berdan primers , laid in 10,000 for these guns and also shoot military brass out of the Swedish Mauser and Steyr straight pull...just not that much work and the quality of the brass is in all cases better than anything commercial...HTH...Tedly

[MtGun44]

Rebarreling a K31 is not trivial. Typical Swiss - do it a totally different
way. I have been told that the bolt locks into the barrel, NOT the receiver
and most folks here that rebarrel leave the barrel stub in place to give
locking recesses and thread the stub inside for the new barrel. Sounds
pretty much unappealing to me.

[Bob S]

The bolt does not lock into the barrel, but the barrel breech bolster is way oversized compared to what we gringos are used to; and the primary extraction cams are machined into the breech face. See the pix. Krieger will make you an oversized barrel blank, for a price (first-born male child comes to mind), but machining that cam surface is probably beyond the ability of most gunsmiths these days. Larry Racine was rebarreling K31's very successfully by using the existing, or a spare, barrel as a bushing. There is nothing wrong with this method if it is done carefully, and Larry was known for producing long range rifles with high precision. I'm not sure he is still in business. He's older than me, and I am older than most dirt. Not all, but most.





Respectfully,
Bob S.

[MtGun44]

Bob, thanks so much for the clarification. I was only reporting what I had heard, now
it is good to get the straight scoop. Apparently the basic point of the barrel stub being
used as a busing for a new barrel is correct, but for different reasons (diameter and extraction
cam surfaces) than I was told.

I appreciate the education, sir.

[kawasakifreak77]

Anyone rebarreling one of these Swiss rifles would be far more ambitious & talented than myself! A lot of the attraction of this rifle is it's ability to use 308" bullets, which I have a ton of.

I nabbed another K31 this morning off an ole boy local here complete with sling, a couple strippers, half a box of boxer ammo & a neat little gun sock to protect it.

Sooo.. the first K31 is now at my local smith's getting threaded for my silencer! Once I can find dies (dangit midway sold out!) & shoot up a pile of boxer brass, I'll develop a sub load with Lapua 200 grain FMJs.

Can. Not. Freaking. Wait!

[MtGun44]

You will need to seat those 200 gr bullets very deeply, as there is essentially
no throat beyond a chamfer of the back of the rifling in a new bbl. As they wear,
there is a throat that develops, but still usually very short.

[kawasakifreak77]

Perfect! That will use up case capacity, which there will be gobs of. Thankfully I have a good supply of Trailboss which is not only super fluffy but very quiet. The Lapua B416 sub bullets also have a very short ogive so that will use up even more case.

I just got back from the range with my second K31 & MAN! How could you get a better rifle?? After moving the front post forward a bit & double checking POI, I was picking off PIECES of clay pigeons at 100m! I could barely see them but if I could see them, I could shoot 'em!

[HollowPoint]

Anyone rebarreling one of these Swiss rifles would be far more ambitious & talented than myself! A lot of the attraction of this rifle is it's ability to use 308" bullets, which I have a ton of.

I nabbed another K31 this morning off an ole boy local here complete with sling, a couple strippers, half a box of boxer ammo & a neat little gun sock to protect it.

Sooo.. the first K31 is now at my local smith's getting threaded for my silencer! Once I can find dies (dangit midway sold out!) & shoot up a pile of boxer brass, I'll develop a sub load with Lapua 200 grain FMJs.

Can. Not. Freaking. Wait!

If I were to post a picture of the same K31 tang as shown above, with the angled-cam digitally removed, it would show that turning the tang on a K31 is in some ways similar to turning the tang on a remington action; or many other threaded tangs. The difference being that the remington doesn't have that angled-cam. It has more of a circular counter-bore instead.

It will be a long time before I can accumulate the spare change for a new 6.5 barrel and chamber reamer but when I do, I intend to try re-barreling and re-chambering my K31. Maybe I'm just stupid but, I don't see it as being all that complicated. In my minds-eye, I see myself going at it in the same way I rebarreled my Lee Enfield.

I used the Savage Barrel-Nut method. On the K31, using this method would allow the use of a less expensive yet, quality barrel without having to shell out for the added diameter. As far as that angled-cam section, I envision myself initially turning the tang to shape, leaving that angled-cam section as a full counter bore like on the remington and actually shaping it using my vertical mill to rough off most of the excess metal that forms the angled-cam and then using a quality set of finishing files to finish it up.

I'm afraid that trying to describe what I have in mind with the written word makes it sound far more complicated than it really is. I don't want to make a bushing out of my existing barrel. It's in excellent condition and a fine shooter. I just want something different that's all. It's a personal preference thing. If I wanted to change it back down the road, I could still do that; or I could sell the original barrel. I could probably get a good portion of my money back that I'll be paying for the new 6.5 barrel.

Of course, the purists frown on such things but, I don't really care. My rifle; my preferences. In researching the re-barreling of these K31's, the vast majority of comments I came across seemed to echo the sentiment of it being a complicated endeavor. I just don't see it that way. Proving the nay-sayers wrong would be my secondary reason for wanting to re-barrel and re-chamber my K31.

HollowPoint

[kawasakifreak77]

Well I take my hat of to ya for the endeavor man. A Swede M96 barrel wouldn't help you along would it?