Beater K-31 Swiss rifles with good bores

[Hang Fire]

Was in a LGS and they had three K31 rifles, two were real beaters, with third not so bad. All had good looking bores and prices ranged from $269.00 to $325.00.

Question is with beater stocks and external metal, but good bores, is this a fair price?

While there, the wife did buy two Finn 1968 no name M39 rifles for $400.00 each, bit pricey, but she thinks of such as her personal 401k investments. They were like brand new internally/externally, it was bit of a shock to see perfect square cut rifling at a milsurp muzzle with my old unaided eyes.

[MtGun44]

K31s are quality guns, real shooters. They started at $100 or so and have been steadily
increasing - or more correctly the dollar has been steadily shrinking. Depends on your needs.

Bill

[jrayborn]

I paid $79 for each of my two K31's. Should have bought them all...

[HighHook]

You can look at it this way, Once you fire the first shot you will think $300. is a bargain...

[Hang Fire]

"I paid $79 for each of my two K31's. Should have bought them all..."

When?

[jrayborn]

I think about 7-8 years ago from AIM.

[tomme boy]

They never used corrosive ammo. That is why the bore look good. Just because it is shiny does not make it a good bore. Look to see how sharp the rifling is.

[Ole]

I paid $219 for my first one a few years ago and bought another one a couple months ago for $330 ($300 + $30 shipping).

[Andrew Mason]

i paid $275 for mine about 8 months ago
it is mint

[Kraschenbirn]

What, in your eye, makes those K-31s 'beaters'? My favorite K-31, from the serial #, was made in late 1937 and, according to the card under the buttplate, was issued to a corporal from Neuchatel on 04/03/38. When I acquired the gun through an estate sale, it looked kinda rough but, with a bit of elbow grease and some fresh gunstock oil, it cleaned up pretty well. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that, off sandbags, it'll still print 2" (or better!) @ 100M with either cast or JBs.

Bill

[uscra112]

They almost all look like they were used to drive tent stakes. The going rate is rising and rising. Mine both cost me about $180 a few years ago. I too wish I'd bought a truckload. As an investment they have so far rivalled gold. Every gun show now I see one or two asking $300 or above. People have found out how good they can be for "as-issued" competition. Some have very short throats and tight bores. Others do not. You have to figure each one out as an individual, but that's where the fun is. You are buying the bore. Ignore the outside.

[Hang Fire]

What, in your eye, makes those K-31s 'beaters'? My favorite K-31, from the serial #, was made in late 1937 and, according to the card under the buttplate, was issued to a corporal from Neuchatel on 04/03/38. When I acquired the gun through an estate sale, it looked kinda rough but, with a bit of elbow grease and some fresh gunstock oil, it cleaned up pretty well. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that, off sandbags, it'll still print 2" (or better!) @ 100M with either cast or JBs.

Bill

Oh, maybe because the wood and external metal on them looked like they have been dragged over 40 miles on a bad road.

Clean up is in the eye of the of the one doing the cleaning. Many things can be done beyond cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap to make a milsurp look better, to some. But once refinished, the collector value diminishes considerably.

[Hang Fire]

They almost all look like they were used to drive tent stakes. The going rate is rising and rising. Mine both cost me about $180 a few years ago. I too wish I'd bought a truckload. As an investment they have so far rivalled gold. Every gun show now I see one or two asking $300 or above. People have found out how good they can be for "as-issued" competition. Some have very short throats and tight bores. Others do not. You have to figure each one out as an individual, but that's where the fun is. You are buying the bore. Ignore the outside.

Beat up war time rifles used in combat have their own appeal as to looks. But the Swiss K31, like the Swede M96 and M38 do not fall into that category, and there is little excuse for them being beat up. This is my Swede 1942 Husky M38, it is almost pristine, I admire it IMO, as to being an example for one of the nicest Mauser models ever made and the workmanship which produced it.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/Swede11.jpg

This is my Finn 1942 Sako M39, which I believe bears the scars of combat from the 1941-44 Continuation War against the Soviets. I admire the M39 for being IMO, as one of the most accurate battle rifles of WW2.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/P1010273.jpg

[uscra112]

The Swiss probably follow the maxim "train like you fight", which means those rifles were dragged through an awful lot of rough terrain. Even if they weren't fired at an enemy, they still got used as if they were.

[Hang Fire]

That would be one train of thought, just not mine.

[tomme boy]

The reason that the butt stocks are beat up is because the soldiers wore steel strap on cleats on their boots. They were in the mountains all the time.

[Andrew Mason]

if any one dose ever run into a really beater K31, that has a bad bore.
i would be very interested,
i would like to do some rechambering work on a K31,
i think it could be very interesting

[Hang Fire]

Like your tag pic tomme boy.

[DanM]

The wood is often rough on these rifles. I have been told that Swiss soldiers would often knock the snow off their boots with their K31/K11 butt stocks. Have seen photos of them stacked with snow nearly up to the trigger guards. IMHO, they took excellent care of the actions and bores, but did not bother much with the furniture.

[Multigunner]

The reason that the butt stocks are beat up is because the soldiers wore steel strap on cleats on their boots. They were in the mountains all the time.

The Germans added a steel plate to the butt of the G33/40 Carbines issued to mountain troops for just that reason.

[Echo]

I've heard that when they bivouacked at night, they would jam their rifles butt-down in the snow - and occasionally they would be frozen in, and had to be kicked out. That, plus banging snow off their boots, meant that the stocks looked as though - well - as though they had been dragged down 40 miles of rugged road. At least my 2 look that way...

[uscra112]

The look suits me. Matches my pickup, which nobody is going to steal or even give a second look to see what's inside it. But it's low mileage and runs like new. And cost me less than 1 year's payments on a new F150. :bigsmyl2:

[Kraschenbirn]

Those dents and gouges aren't unique to the K-31s, either. My G96/11 bears the same scars.

Bill

[TNsailorman]

For me its all about how well the rifle put the bullets on target. Do that and I can overlook the dents and gouges, or, I can refinish the stock to take them out. A beautiful rifle that won't shoot well is a waste of time and money and won't stay with me very long. Works for me, james

[HollowPoint]

I'd love to get hold of another K31 in "Beater" condition as a project gun.

Been dreaming of re-barreling one in either 6x284 or 6.5x284. Both would work
out well for this platform I believe. I wouldn't have to change anything but the barrel.

I know all about the odd-ball tang angles on the chamber end of these barrels. I don't see
them as being as hard to machine as some make them out to be.

The hard part I think would be finding a good K31 candidate. I seen one a while back in one
of our local gun shops. I should have snapped it up when I could. It's long gone now; just
waiting for something else to come up.

If memory serves, the asking price for this "Beater" was just as much as I paid for my 1st
K31 about five years ago; and it was if really good shape.

It would be like installing a big-block-Chevy engine in an old Volvo without doing any body work on it.
The guys at the gun range wouldn't know what to make of it.

HollowPoint