swiss k31

[357tex]

What is the deal with everbody loving these things?Yes it shoots good.But so does my 03A3 my yugo 48 even my nagant shoots fair.They all are much more pleasent to handle,and carry.Plus they please the eye.The k31 is like a 2 headed calf,its intersting and can be fun to show off but don't make a bit more steak.
Don't get me wrong I will keep it ,but not as a frist line shooter.I am not set up with dies and 284 brass yet.But will be before long,will try it with cast.I guess it just don't suit me.Its to different for a poor old country preacher. :confused:

[jballs918]

one of the things that is so good about the swiss rifle is that they shoot mil ammo really really well. your right that your yugo and your 03 may shot well. but on the whole the k31 are in better shape and they had been better made. tolances are better and they look cool. but you right there are some that shoot as well.

[drinks]

Graf and Sons will fix you up with a Lee die set and 100 7.5x55 new cases for about $60, unless they are temporarely out of brass.

[Ed Barrett]

The K31 pleasing to my eye in the care taken when they were made. Mine is as polished inside as outside. The triggers show this I have never seen a bad trigger on a K31. Just my opinion.

[j4570]

The factory trigger on a K31 is better than any other factory military trigger of that age I have seen. I have also not gotten my other rifles(ie, Mausers) to shoot as well with iron sights. I scoped one of my K31's and I didn't shoot any better.

Mine shoots sub 1" groups at 100 yards with Military Ammo, Hornady Ammo, Norma Ammo, and my Handloads. Nothing else I have will do that.

Is it heavier than other guns? Yes. Does it work differently? Yes.

I am selling one of mine, but it's more of a space problem than anything else. These are the best buy out there in my opinion right now.

[357tex]

They are well finished ,and mine has a wonderfull trigger.Maybe it will grow on me,only had it for a week.Have put 50 rounds of milsurp throuh it.I can't shoot 1 in groups at 100 yards with the issue sights,may be a scout scope.I will keep working with it .

[j4570]

357tex,

I was using a rifle rest up front (Midway's or Caldwell's The Rock, whatever they call it now) and sandbag underneath on the rear.

I can't always do that, but have done it with each of those ammo at some point.

I use RCBS Dies, and 165 Gr Sierra BTSP's.

[Buckshot]

..............I think the main attraction to these rifles is that they were all for the most part in VG-EX condition. No worrying and fretting about if the barrel was going to be a shooter or not. Then you add in the friendly price, the fact that you could use the super abundant 30 cal slug (Cast or jacketed) and that they were widely available.

http://www.fototime.com/2D96B837ED8482D/standard.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/11FC79263F6E94C/standard.jpg

Maybe even more would be the universal reports of great accuracy? Certainly the triggers and sights friendlier then the Mauser barleycorn and V helps.

....................Buckshot

[swheeler]

I think the unique action design attracted alot of people, something everybody doesn't have, and most are in very good shape. I enjoy the heck out of shooting mine with cast and flgc designs, accurate rifles at a good price.

[Shepherd2]

I really like the quality that went into making the K31s and their unique design. I bought 3 of them in about a 4 month period. All of them are great shooters. The good sights and triggers just make them that much more enjoyable to shoot. Even the chargers (stripper clips) are unique and I've never used any others that are as smooth. The feature that I like best is the bolt. Squeeze the trigger, pull the bolt back and push it forward and you're ready to fire again. They are fast to operate and I get a kick out of it.

I think the K31s are the best milsurp out there for the price. I've got a couple Mausers that will rival them for accuracy but I paid more for the Mausers. There is a lot of talk that the K31 barrel is about empty so if you have been putting off buying one you might want to move on it.

[Bret4207]

Although the stock could e a bit longer for me, I think the K31 is jjust a solid, plain ol'good shooter. Great sights, barrel and trigger. I missed the days of $1.50 Trapdoors, $12.00 Krags and $35.00 '03's. I'll take what I can get now and work from there.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I note that the Lee die set resizes the shoulder of cases fired in the K-31 to the smaller K-11 dimension. Redding has the K-11 full length die for the K-31. BvT

[swheeler]

Trp Bret; ya I missed the 25.00 1911 Colts and 18.00 M1carbines, but my brother inlaw didn't, I just don't get down there enough to shoot them!

[jh45gun]

Not every one these days can afford a 03 and I have went the milsurp route and found that some of the 8mm Mausers and Mosins really lacked in the accuracy dept. Yea there are good ones out there but a lot of not so good accuracy wise too even though the bores look good. I kept my Swede 96 made into a scout rifle and my Swiss K31 both are very accurate while I have had several turk 8mm's and several Mosins and they were ok but that was about it when I saw what the K31 and the Swede would do over the others the others went out the door. The Swiss guns are like the Swedes most every one you get will be accurate. You cannot say that for the other Mausers and Mosins. Most every post I have seen on the Swiss guns and the Swedes brag about their accuracy you cannot say that about the others.

[rbstern]

I bubba'd a $59 shooter K31 "carbine" into a real carbine size. After shedding about 7" of barrel and a pound or so of weight, it's truly a great handling little rifle.

http://www.gunsandbullets.com/articles/images/k31-15.jpg

[mike in co]

I note that the Lee die set resizes the shoulder of cases fired in the K-31 to the smaller K-11 dimension. Redding has the K-11 full length die for the K-31. BvT


i think the proper way to say this is that the redding die is the correct die for the k-31. all other dies are correct for the earlier1911 swiss rifles, and will work for the k31 but will over work the brass. two different rounds. the 7.5x55 and the 7.5 swiss, close but not the same.

[Buckshot]

............rbstern, That looks factory. Appears you did a fine and thoughtfull alteration. Any chance you took photo's along the way during the 'build'?

................Buckshot

[Sailman]

One thing about the K-31 that I like is that you can mount a scope on the rifle and shoot the issued military sights or the scope without taking the scope off the rifle.

I am currently experimenting shooting 20 shot groups with the issued sights and then shooting 20 shoot groups with the scope. I am using the same load for both the issued sights and the scope.

As of now, it is beginning to look like shooting with the scope will give me groups of one to one and one half inch smaller groups than the groups with the military or iron sights. I have done this with several loads and the results are all about the same.

I agree with Buckshot's comments about the K-31. However, I would add one comment about the K-31. It has a very complicated bolt. Because of the bolt, the K-31 would be the last rifle I would want to carry into combat with all the dirt, filth, etc in the trenches or what ever. My comments are based upon my father's experience in WW-I with the Canadian Ross rifle and my limited experience in Korea. If I had to go into combat with a bolt action rifle, the only one I would consider would be the British 303 SMLE.


Sailman

[rbstern]

............rbstern, That looks factory. Appears you did a fine and thoughtfull alteration. Any chance you took photo's along the way during the 'build'?

................Buckshot

Buckshot, thanks, but I can't claim real gunsmithing skill. Made it up as I went along and it happened to come out pretty nice (even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while).

Here's the write up: k31 project (http://www.gunsandbullets.com/articles/k31tanker.asp)

[Frank46]

Saw your K-31 site, I'd say that it came out very nice. kinda reminds me of the persian camel carbines. Had the opportunity to fire one once. Sellier and bellot 196gr fmj. Massaged my face real well. One good thing about the K-31, no mystery metal. Frank

[Bret4207]

RB Stern- Interesting site, lotsa Marines apparently. Always a good thing. A little different flavor than we have here, but a cut above a lot of other boards I've seen Good job. Nice job on the K-31 and 10/22 too.

[rbstern]

RB Stern- Interesting site, lotsa Marines apparently. Always a good thing. A little different flavor than we have here, but a cut above a lot of other boards I've seen Good job. Nice job on the K-31 and 10/22 too.

Thanks, Bret. Yeah, a bunch of us knew each other from a fishing web site, and we kept talking guns, so I decided to make a gun place for us to call home. Yes, a few Marines. Crusty fellas. Good guys with a lot of experience.

[jh45gun]

Well the Swiss carried them in the mountains in the snow and dirt and crud and they never had no problems. You can tell they been in the field from most of the stocks. You cannot compare the K31 or any Swiss straight pull to the Ross totally different in they way they work. The Ross had problems from its conception the Swiss guns did not. I would gladly use one if I had to and know that I could shoot like a sniper when I needed to over other battle rifles.

[jh45gun]

You guys had me wondering about the dies so I asked at the Swiss site and this is what I got.

I'm sure a picture will show up to explain this but it boils down to the fact that the 1911 chambers are tighter than the K-31 chambers.a fired K-31 case has to expand more to fill the chamber,and when you resize it the brass has to be resized more to get back to spec. the Redding dies are made to the K-31 spec. if you use a Redding die on brass for the 1911,it won't chamber,and you can tell the difference when sizing brass,not as much grunt required to size with the Redding,compared to other dies. jwr


http://telecom.hartford.edu/images/shouldersize.jpg

Now that I understand what you guys are talking about I guess I will not get too upset as this would not be much different than resizing every time for a gun like a lever gun that needs the factory specs over just neck sizing a round for a bolt gun. The full sizing will work the brass more but you have no choice in the matter. I am not sure how much this sizing of the brass will shorten the case life and if it would be enough to warrant a new set of dies?

[C1PNR]

I would recommend you have the "correct" sizing die for each, if you have both K-11 and K-31.

Finding brass, either 7.5 or .284 Winchester, can be problematic at best. Reducing case life unnecessarily, rather than investing in an additional size die, seems like false economy.

My own plan is to use resized .284 headstamp brass for the K-11 (I only have one) and 7.5 headstamp for the K-31s. YMMV

[jh45gun]

True But I can get 284 brass easy and how much does it really shorten the life? If it is a major problem then I could just neck size too since I will only be using the brass in the one gun.

[mike in co]

i have norma brass what aint cheap. i neck size with the redding dies with just of touch of the body. despite all the whinning that the straight pull will not cam the neck sized they will. i have had no problem closing the bolt.

i should get some 284 brass one of these days.

[jh45gun]

I would think if they were fired out of that gun it would not be a problem?????? Then I am not used to neck sizing I normally size the brass I use but I have put once fired empties to see if they fit back in my chamber and they drop right in so I would think it would not be a issue? I have a universal decapping die so running them through a sizing die to cap them is not a issue.