New to me K31 Swiss... Questions and questions.

[AlaskanGuy]

Yee haw.... Well I fix my desire to get a bubba mauser by grabbing up a nice swiss K31 today.... I have no experience with swiss rifles.... I do know that it will shoot some of the boolits I cast for the 308 like the lyman 311413....

Couple questions, can 308 brass be worked up to fit the 7.5x55??? Also, what dies should i get???? I read somewhere that the redding dies wont work for most of these???? What should I be looking for????? Too bad the other 308 stuff wont work....

AG

[wallenba]

A 308, no. A 284 Winchester, is an almost identical case except for neck diameter. It's a very easy conversion. I just FL size in the 7.5 Swiss die with a good lube inside the neck. Since you are going from a smaller caliber to a larger one, case neck thickness should not be an issue. Fireforming it will fix the shoulder permanently.

Also should note, the K31 is notorious for it's short leade. Not much freebore, so single radius cast boolits have to be seated deep. A possible solution to that is this mold for the K31 http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=31-185S-D.png I just received one but have not cast with it yet (waiting for the weather to break). Note the diameter above bore ride diameter. That should allow me to get further out. That mold is specifically for the K31.

[reed1911]

Um, the .284 has a rebated rim and will not fit the bolt for proper extraction.

[Kraschenbirn]

Um, the .284 has a rebated rim and will not fit the bolt for proper extraction.

Don't tell that to my pre-war (1937) K-31, it feeds, extracts, and ejects re-formed .284's as slick as if they were milsurp G-11s. My G96/11, on the other hand, needs 'real' 7.5x55 brass - either Privi or milsurp - for reliable extraction/ejection.

Bill

[JMtoolman]

Reed, you are mistaken, I have shot thousands of the reformed .284 cases, and never had a failure to extract. Granted the rim diameter is slightly smaller than the Swiss case, but it is not a problem. You can find the right cases though without any problem, 7.5X55 is now made by many makers with boxer primers. You can also reload the Swiss cases with .217 diameter Berdan primers. Best regards. the toolman.

[N4AUD]

New 7.5 Swiss cases are pretty easy to get hold of nowadays, I've got a pile of them.

[skeet1]

N4AUD,
I'm with you I would only convert .284 cases if the 7.5X55 cases were not available. I just got 100 PRVI cases from Midsouth (very good brass). I'm not sure but it might be easier to get 7.5 brass than .284.

Ken

[reed1911]

Guess it is luck of the draw on which will or will not. I've never had one work well with converted .284 brass, shoots fine, but extraction is iffy.

[john hayslip]

apparently many Swiss put their name on a piece of paper under the butt plate (may have been a requirement as the were all kept at home). Found a name under the last one I had.

[AlaskanGuy]

I found a name under mine as well, birthdate, unit and address.. Wouldn't it be cool to send an email pic to the guy that's name is under the plate???

Here are the pics of mine...

9483894839
9484094841

I cant wait to make it purty...

AG

[waksupi]

I like the reformed .284 brass. It reliably extracts when the bolt is manipulated smartly, yet if I am bench shooting, gentle opening generally lets the brass fall in the chamber where I can easily pick it out, and return to the box.

[462]

AG,
As you will soon discover, K-31s are inherently accurate, with the simplest of trigger mechanisms that you will swear are after-market rather than military.

Cast loads have a tendency to shoot to the right, so be prepared to move the front sight. If your reloading manuals don't list any7.5X55 Swiss loads, you can use those for the .308 Winchester. If brass is not available, Prvi Partizan ammo can often be found, and the brass in excellent.

Each gun is unique and your mileage may vary, but mine loves Lyman's 311291 (actually an ancient Ideal 308291) sized to .310", and Unique. Even with the K-31's notoriously short throat, the boolit does not extend past the neck.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well... Time to put up an add for Brass wanted... I need some brass to be able to shoot it for the first time... Cant wait to shoot this thing.... I just need about 20 cases to get me started, then i will look for larger quantities....

AG

[wallenba]

I like the reformed .284 brass. It reliably extracts when the bolt is manipulated smartly, yet if I am bench shooting, gentle opening generally lets the brass fall in the chamber where I can easily pick it out, and return to the box.

Same here. I pull the re-cocker back first just to lessen that sudden jerk that can send the brass flying. Pull back, and it drops close at hand.

[wallenba]

apparently many Swiss put their name on a piece of paper under the butt plate (may have been a requirement as the were all kept at home). Found a name under the last one I had.

My 1935 K31 has a plasticene tag in pencil of: Karl Marti, born 1915, assigned to 17th Telegraphen Groupen, (communications or signal corps ?) He lived at 18 Magden Strasse, Basel Switzerland.
I thought that was so cool! He'd be 100 years old next year, don't think I'll try to make contact.

[skeet1]

I just looked at Graf's and they have PRIVI 7.5X55 Swiss brass on sale for $41.99 per 100.

Ken

[enfieldphile]

SOME RIFLES can be fussy about dies. NOT ALL RIFLES, but some rifles don't like Lee dies.

The best dies for this caliber are Redding. They are cut specifically for the K-31, not the earlier chamber of the older rifle series.

[uscra112]

Some K-31s have a worn throat and will take the 311299, my "beater" K-31 among them. That boolit runs out of lube if loaded hot, however. At 1400 fps it works pretty well.

So don't assume that it's got a short throat until you try it.

[AlaskanGuy]

Hey enfield,

I thought that the redding dies were meant for the shoulder of the earlier model 11 and the k31 had a different shoulder?? Not major different, but different....

AG

[enfieldphile]

My understanding is the Redding dies are cut for K-31. I have seen 2 K-31 rifles that had issues w/ Lee dies (2 different sets of Lee dies), but worked perfect w/ Redding dies. A Redding rep. verified the redding die is cut for K-31 chambers.


Hey enfield,

I thought that the redding dies were meant for the shoulder of the earlier model 11 and the k31 had a different shoulder?? Not major different, but different....

AG

[Scharfschuetze]

Skeet1,

Thanks for the tip on the 7.5 brass at Graf's. My old Portuguese made brass is getting a bit long in the tooth.

[MtGun44]

I have a set of Redding dies that I would sell. PM me if interested.
I have been using Graf headstamped and PPU brass with great results for
years in competition. Mine have VERY short throats - workable because
the GP11 ammo uses a two diam bullet.

Bill

[AlaskanGuy]

Bill, tried to Pm ya, but your mail box is full

[AlaskanGuy]

Here is a pic of the Butt ID tag on Mine.... and a pic of my son, who has Adopted the K31 and thinks that it is OUR K31 and not just Mine.. LOL


95218

95219 95220

He sure looks like he is in love with that gun.. LOL

AG

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I found a name under mine as well, birthdate, unit and address.. Wouldn't it be cool to send an email pic to the guy that's name is under the plate???

Try writing to the address using snail mail. A lot of guys who did write have gotten back letters from the original owner along with pictures.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Here is a pic of the Butt ID tag on Mine.... and a pic of my son, who has Adopted the K31 and thinks that it is OUR K31 and not just Mine.. LOL

He sure looks like he is in love with that gun.. LOL

AG

Good looking young man. Reminds me of my son at that age. Mine would go through the gun safe before a planned range session and pick out the guns he wanted to shoot that day. After the first time, I told him he'd have to help clean them after the range session each time until they were all clean. Next session, the pile he picked out was a good bit smaller.:grin:

[AlaskanGuy]

Lol.... dave.... Well, i make my son help me reload and cast as well as clean afterwards....