I wanted Swedish and ended up with Swiss

[brotherdarrell]

Got a hold of a guy today that had a Swede for sale, but was too late. After talking to another guy I ended up with this one.

101690

It appears to be in pretty good shape. The stock looks worse than it is. The metal, for the most part, is in good to very good condition. It would appear kpl Alfred Stouffer didn't do too much boot cleaning with his weapon. Is it proper protocol to leave the tag in place?

101691

I slugged the bore and came up with .310"/.298". I looks like I can finally put my Lyman 311291to work.

I have been checking out threads and feel I have a pretty start on this rifle, but I do have a couple of questions:

Are there any quirks and or do/do nots unique to the function and loading for this rifle?

Is there a good you-tube video about stripping for cleaning?

Any reason to shoot the box of factory or pull the bullets and go straight to boolits?

As I learn more I should find out what I don't know. More questions may follow.

Thanx

Darrell

oh yeah, $300 with the box of factory.

[madsenshooter]

Might as well shoot it, so you'll have a reference to work towards with your cast loads.

[Ilwil]

It was common for the model 1911s and the K-31s to have these ID slips under the butt plate, but not universal; neither of mine had them when I checked. I think you ought to put it back, for the next someday owner to enjoy it. I'm guessing you have a K-31; I couldn't quite tell from your picture. The butt stocks are often marred at the toe. I think this is because most such stocks are birch, and a Swiss reservist probably spent a lot of his weekend in formation, with the rifle grounded in melting snow, then being banged about by boots and such. I have not tried cast in mine, but I have shot Swiss surplus ammo and more modern loadings made in Portugal and Serbia. I recommend you shoot the stuff you have. If it is surplus, you will find it extremely accurate, and tough to beat.

[Dutchman]

311299 may be too fat in the nose and too long in the nose. The K31 has a very short throat. I found 311413 and 311332 both chambered ok but pay attention to seating depth. There is very little (like none) camming action to seat over-length cartridges in the Swiss rifles. The cartridge must chamber freely without interference.

Dutch

[Artful]

If your molds don't work look at this one.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?products_id=318

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/1111-050-K31-311.jpg
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/N.O.E._Bullet_Moulds_311_180Gr._FN.Jpg

[frkelly74]

I have to emphasize that these rifles do tend to have short tight throats. I have had a situation where the round did not fully chamber and when I opened the bolt the bullet stayed stuck in the bore and the powder charge ended up dumped into the Magazine. It was a mess. When you get the proper fit of bullet to chamber and bore they shoot quite nicely. Mine has a really nice trigger. That NoE boolit looks ideal. I have a Lyman 311644 if I remember right and someday intend to see how it does in a K31.

[brotherdarrell]

I mis-typed in the op as to the mold I am going to be starting with. It is a 311291, with a nose about .2985". I slips into the muzzle with a little pressure and engraves very nicely.

Darrell

[462]

The K-31 is an inherently accurate rifle with an excellent trigger.

I shoot the 308291 (311291) in my K-31 with great results.

You will find that cast boolits will shoot to the right of point of aim, so be prepared to move the front sight toward the muzzle.

As mentioned, the straight pull design doesn't provide a great deal of camming and it's easy to not close the action completely, which will result in a failure to fire. If the bolt's serial number is at the 12:00 position, the action is fully locked. If it's not, give the bolt knob a smart rap. You will learn to always check the number's location before pulling the trigger.

Enjoy.

[Gtek]

Go to www.swissrifles.com and check out the info. There are some that have been able to contact owners of weapons. I bought two cases of the issue ammo years ago with my walnut 31. I think I have only put 40 rounds or so and been a safe queen ever since, shot real well.

[brotherdarrell]

"They" say a picture is worth a thousand words. I can think of a couple of words!!!!


101710

At the start of the, "ahem", throat it appears to be .312"/.305". Towards the end of the slug it is .311"/.302". A couple quick measurements compared to the factory looks like I may be able to squeeze a .312" boolit into the chamber. Time will tell. The barrel slugged .310"/.298", twice. And, I trimmed the brass to get dimensions of the end of the chamber.

Darrell

[tomme boy]

0.310" is huge on these rifles. I have never heard of one this large before. Mine was 0.2975"x 0.3076"

[WineMan]

I like the RCBS 165 Silhouette at 309. I have a Swiss Rifles clamp on mount and a cheek piece. If I did it again, I would go aluminum mount and rings. The nice thing is with a scope, changing the POI is a snap. Sometimes the front sights can be tough to move and if you change ammo types, it is not as fun. Very accurate and as mentioned, no camming action either way. I got a bunch of 7x62x39 LR Berdan primers. With the Swiss GP-11 brass and a Aliant 2400 speed powder, they work fine as a cast load starter but they are too wimpy for slower stuff (click bang) . If Berdans don't scare you off the brass is great.

Dave

[AlaskanGuy]

I will echo what others have said about making sure you really push the bolt foreward. To be quite honest, i ram mine foreward pretty firmly, but watch the nuckles.....

Also, that alum clamp one screw scope mount is the bomb... I just love it... And so do my eyes... But the rail on it is smaller then the typical weaver mount that I am familiar with... Be prepared to get some rings to go with that mount unless you have a high end pellet gun you can rob like i did...

Once you get her setup, you will wonder what took you so long to grab one of these sweeties....

AG

[uscra112]

One of mine is .310 groove, all the way to the muzzle. A 311299 with a .301 nose slips right into the throat.

Apparently it depends on which subcontractor made the barrel.

[AlaskanGuy]

Mine slugged to .308, i been sizing to 310 and it shoots very nice...

[brotherdarrell]

AlaskanGuy, you got a link to the mount you mentioned?

Thanks for all the guidance.

Darrell

[MtGun44]

The only "throat" in a K-31 is from erosion. A new bbl has rifling all the way to the chamber
with a 45 chamfer on the back of the lands. This is because they use a two diameter bullet
design, bore diam outside the case, groove diam inside the case. The Swiss never gave a
rat's butt what anyone else thought was good for a rifle, they had their own ideas.

Bill

[Nobade]

I had one of those for a while, and found it to be an amazingly good shooter with the Lee 155gr. SKS boolit sized to .309". Loaded to 2000 fps with pretty much any midrange burning rifle powder it shot some very small groups. I used to use .284 Win brass, but now you can get the right stuff and not have to mess with that. Neat rifles!

-Nobade

[AlaskanGuy]

Here ya go darrel.....

http://www.brownells.com/optics-mounting/rings-mounts-amp-bases/rifle-bases/aluminum-k31-clamp-on-mount-sku100000725-1666-6109.aspx?cm_mmc=cse-_-Itwine-_-shopping-_-Swiss%20Products%20Schmidt-Rubin%20K31%20Scope%20Mount&gdftrk=gdfV21820_a_7c187_a_7c1021_a_7c100000725_d_ 100000725_d_10255

At first i thought No Way one screw is gunna hold this and keep it in place, but because of where and how it mounts, it works perfect.... Takes about 30 seconds to install, and although it is off center, it lines up easy and shoots well... I thought that it would take me a while to get used to how it lines up, but I was wrong again, and had no trouble and no adjustment trouble per say.....

AG

[brotherdarrell]

Thank you sir, I will check into that.

Darrell

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Darrell, comments in the quote in red.


It would appear kpl Alfred Stouffer didn't do too much boot cleaning with his weapon. Is it proper protocol to leave the tag in place? Trust me on this: If you move that tag off the rifle and lose it, you will regret it. Best thing to do is to write that address and see what kind of response you get.

I slugged the bore and came up with .310"/.298". I looks like I can finally put my Lyman 311291to work.

I have been checking out threads and feel I have a pretty start on this rifle, but I do have a couple of questions:

Are there any quirks and or do/do nots unique to the function and loading for this rifle? It's a straight pull, but it's still a bolt action and can be cleaned like one. The GI surplus kits for these, if you can find one, are darn nice and have an excellent grease that works well for lubing them or for storing any bolt action to prevent rust in barrel. And it only takes a tiny, tiny bit of it. I got a kit with one full jar and one partial. I've never used any out of the full jar in ten years.

Is there a good you-tube video about stripping for cleaning?Google is your friend, but it's pretty basic.

Any reason to shoot the box of factory or pull the bullets and go straight to boolits? The GI surplus is berdan primed, but the brass is excellent and the bullets work very well in that rifle. Before you buy or reload anything, I would suggest getting a box of the surplus and shoot it with that first. Those guys shoot and know how to make quality, accurate ammunition for their military.

oh yeah, $300 with the box of factory. You done good.

[upnorthwis]

I drilled and tapped my Swiss scope mount to fit a Weaver base. That way I could use my 30MM rings to hold a 6-24x50 Vortex. Have only taken about a 100 shots so far, but scope hasn't moved yet.

[brotherdarrell]

I am in full blown OCD at this point. As usual I am way over analyzing, but by the time I get the factory ammo shot and get lead loaded it will be a couple of weeks. So, if I am boring anyone I apologize. You would think I was loading 22 centerfire.

I decided to drop a Saeco #315 (NOE) into the "throat" and give it a little tap. This is what came out...

101827

The second small body band from the left shows where the start of the rifling lifted up some lead. This is the start of the throat. What is not so apparant in my slightly fuzzy photo is engraving on the first three body bands but not the nose, which is .301" (bore diameter is .298"). The body band with the lifted lead is .309" (groove diameter is .310"). I think I will be all right but, as usual, welcome any experienced opinions. I will also try to chill out a little until I actually shoot this thing;))

Darrell

[madsenshooter]

I drilled and tapped my Swiss scope mount to fit a Weaver base. That way I could use my 30MM rings to hold a 6-24x50 Vortex. Have only taken about a 100 shots so far, but scope hasn't moved yet.

Or, one can buy dovetail to Weaver adapters off e-bay. They come in a variety of configurations. I got one of the really tight SIG made barrels. .294/.306. Shoots great, no doubt my best shooting milsurp. Finding a bullet that'd fit the bore/groove without seating below the neck/shoulder wasn't easy. But I got lucky, I'd bought the cherry for the Eagan MX3-30AR off ebay and had a mold made with it. Perfect fit. Even the NOE K31 bullet was too big for my rifle. Looks like you may have found one already though. Here's the adapters I got: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vector-Optics-Compact-Dovetail-to-Weaver-Picatinny-Rail-Base-Mount-Adapter-Metal-/130821609043?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e75935653 Allows me up to a 40mm objective bell.

[madsenshooter]

"Small enough to make you smile". NOE's fatnosed version of the 315, their 314175 did just that that for me today. It was out of a Krag though. Top band on it is .304. :grin: