new k-31

[legend]

i just picked up my first k-31,i dont know very much about them,you guys say ya love them,so,i bought one for cast only.it looks good as i can expect from SOG through a dealer.
anyone know how to tell what year it was manufactured from the serial number?
i will attempt to add a picture at a later date.
thanks for any help
legend

[EMC45]

Pull the buttplate off and see if there is a tag underneath. Mine has one and MGD45 actually tracked the guy down. He died about a few years ago. Still pretty cool to see a name and squad info.

[Calamity Jake]

If the sr# on the bolt matches the action then whatever date is on the bolt is DOM.

If you are going to handload for it then buy the Redding dies they are the only ones made for
the K31 the others are for the K11

[EMC45]

My #s match all around. Bolt, reciever, top wood, and stock. I was amazed.

[JeffinNZ]

:(No fair! I want one and they are like hen's teeth at this end of the world,

[beemer]

Look up SwissRifles.com ,there is a lot of info on the K31. You can find the year of production with the serial number. They are well made and usually accurate, just a little different. I also use the Redding dies,more expensive than others but seem to size to correct dimension work the brass less.

beemer

[Freightman]

180 g boolit with 19.5g sr4759 will give you a great group. I have LEE dies and never had a problem!

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Using dies for the K-11 does not cause a shooting or safety problem. Since the chambers for K-11 and K-31 are differently dimensioned in the shoulder area, the brass is worked more in full length sizing if you use K-11 dies for loading the K-31. Yes ,the concensus is that full length sizing is required for full power loads, as the caming of the bolthead is less agressive than the turnbolt rifles in lockup I understand that LEE has introduced dies now for the K-31s. BvT.

[C1PNR]

Be advised that when shooting low velocity loads your K31 will shoot to (I think) the right. The front sight is adjustable for windage using a special tool (or a plastic or brass rod and hammer), and taller front sights are available.

Probably has a very short throat (cast or slug for size of yours) so a long bore riding boolit mould is not what you really want. It usually has a pretty smooth action, not bad original sights, and a great trigger for a milsurp. Enjoy!

LOTS of information on http://theswissriflesdotcom (SRDC)! :drinks:

[legend]

i shot the k-31 yesterday and today;16gr 2400 with the cci 200,and 311299 shot a one hole group at 25yards in failing light.i was there in plenty of time to shoot groups,but,everybodys brother was at the range also and shot up most of the 50rds i had loaded up.mine came from SOG flyer and all numbers match,wood is beat(so am i)and was made in 1953.
thanks for all the help!
legend

[MtGun44]

Hornady is also making dies marked 7.5x55 K31. I have a new set that
I have only sized 50 cases with and I am now out of town on business and
haven't gotten the chance to finish them. They were back ordered
from Graf, took a few weeks, but I have found Hornady's new dies with
the floating bullet seating alignment tube to be about the same as the
excellent but pricey Redding competition dies (which I love and have a bunch
of, too). I'm hoping that they will help me make my accurate K31 even
more accurate.

Bill

[725]

If you have trouble finding brass, .284 Winchester works just fine. Run it through you sizer and trim to length.

[Cayoot]

Your gonna love the K-31!

[Ricochet]

Probably has a very short throat (cast or slug for size of yours) so a long bore riding boolit mould is not what you really want.
I believe that a very long bore rider is EXACTLY what the very short throat calls for, so the base of the boolit doesn't occupy too much space inside the case. However, it needs to easily fit into the lands of the bore, and many bore rider designs are too fat on the nose. The K-31 has deep grooves. Mine measures .296" between the lands, and .308" across the grooves. I bought a Lee 200 grain mould thinking it's about the ideal shape, and after reading several people on here complaining that theirs wouldn't shoot in standard .30 caliber rifles because the bore riders were only .298-.299" diameter. Mine, however, casts bore riders that are .302 x .304" in the initial batch I cast, and they are very hard to chamber.

[MtGun44]

Ricochet -
I'm sure the straight pull (push) doesn't help! I learned about the
short throat via misfires from too long a seating length on j-bullets.
Sounds like a great theory, post if you find a mold that will work in
the K31 bore.

Bill

[Ricochet]

I'd sure like to find one of those "defective" Lee 200 grainers with the skinny nose! Might have to draw one up myself one of these days; the "K-31 bullet" GB threads that have popped up a few times have gone in different directions. If I were making one from scratch, I'd make the body slightly shorter than Lee's so the base could end up flush with the bottom of the neck, and the nose of whatever length would make a maximum overall cartridge length for the magazine. I'd done some measurements for those dimensions a few months ago, but don't recall them at the moment. The weight would result from the dimensions.

[mike in co]

ricochet...go look at the two boolits 45 2.1 was drawn on my thread on a k-31 boolit.
i have some 165 rcbs sillywet boolits to evaluate. this boolit does fit the k-31....just sucks to be limited to a 2 hole mold.

[MtGun44]

Ricochet - I'd go in on a K31 bore rider design GB, I have a pair and would
like to shoot boolits in addition to the j-stuff that I have been shooting.
Too much work and travel and too little time to do important stuff like
work up boolits for my K31s! :-D

Bill

[Maven]

You know those undersized bore riders that Ben & I have been complaining about in the "molds" section? Many are quite usable and accurate in the K-31 for the reasons already stated. Even Aladin's .30HBC worked in the K-31, a rifle of truly catholic tastes.

[Ricochet]

Yeah, my only complaint about the HBC in the K-31 is that it has to be seated more deeply in the case than I'd prefer. I got some surprise hot loads that way, from not making enough allowance for the boolit's encroachment on the case volume and compressing 7383 too much. Learned something from that. Cut back a bit on the powder and it shoots great. (I think the .300 Weatherby with factory freebore is just about ideal for shooting this boolit. One of these days I'm going to get back out there and shoot some more groups with it.)