K-31 Swiss Bullets?

[CB Hunter]

OK, I will start by committing the blasphemy of asking about jacketed bullets.

With the throat of the K-31 being so much shorter than the 1911 and '89/11 SR variants, what bullet have you found which can be loaded anywhere near the standard OAL for this cartridge? All the standard spitzer bullets I have found have too large a diameter too far forward of the cannellure and they have to be seated quite a lot short to function.

[dominicfortune00]

IIRC, Berger Bullets has a bullet that is pretty close profile wise and close in weight to the ball used in GP11.

They are pricey though.

[webfoot10]

Hi CB Hunter: If you are wanting to use cast bullets in your K31, Try the old Ideal 311414
bullet for the 300 Savage. I use this bullet sized .309 and Gas Checked over 13 grs of sr4759
powder in my K31. The problem is finding the mold, as it is not made anymore. The only one
similar is the Lee 150 gr bullet for the SKS. This load in my k31 with scope will keepem in a
two inch group at two hundred yds. Velocity with load is only about 13 to 1400 fps. But I am
only putting holes in paper. Cheap practice loads.
webfoot

[spqrzilla]

The GP 11 bullet is pretty unique and I've not seen a real copy of it. The Bergers come closest but are pricey.

However, I've not found any problem with the various .308 bullets I've used in the K31. The shorter OAL does not seem to have any functional problem.

[CB Hunter]

Thanks to all of you. The Berger is pretty much all I have been able to find to duplicate the profile of the GP-11 bullet, I was hoping someone knew about something else.

Webfoot, Thanks anyway, but I have several cast options already. I am looking for a jacketed bullet to duplicate the military ballistics of the cartridge.

[462]

CB Hunter,

I've used Hornady's 168 grain A-Max in two K-31's, but don't recall their overall lengths.

[NickSS]

I just seat them deeper until the bolt will close on the loaded round. My most accurate load is with some old 190 gr matchkings over AA 3100. The result is 2" groups at 200 yards.

[mike in co]

the k31 is a DUAL dia bullet....there are no duplicates....

someone has done a dual dia cast boolit but no review yet.

mike in co

[madsenshooter]

Then there's this cast bullet, the Ideal 308329. But I have to admit I had to bump down the front band in order to get it at this OAL. The PRVI 168 match bullets are tapered like the GP11 bullets. Wideners sells them as their Milspec bullets. The Speer 168 can also be seated out near max OAL.

[mike in co]

The PRVI 168 match bullets are tapered like the GP11 bullets. Wideners sells them as their Milspec bullets.


its not the taper.....forward of the groove in the gp11 bullet is one dia(small) and aft of the groove is full dia.............
the bullet is built with 2 unique diameters.


mike in co

[CB Hunter]

madsenshooter,

Thank you. I did buy one box of PRVI loaded 7.5x55 and did find it is compatible with the K-31 throat. I didn't realize they were sold as a component, I will have to look for them. I assume Graf's?

While we are on the cartridge I do have a question about loading for it. I have had a near museum quality 96/11 since 1967 that I have fired several hundred rounds from over the years. The load was by trial and error long before any company listed loads or chronographs were common. I have always shot the Sierra 180 SPBTSP over 51.0/4350 with no indication it was excessive and never a head separation. It shoots in 7/8" for 10 shot groups at 100 yds, or did when my eyes were a lot better! Now, all published data is about 10% under this. I just wonder how much concerned I should be with the load I have used. I haven't shot it for years, or the K-31 yet, and have never gotten around to chronographing it.

Just for the record I have been a practicing gunsmith and competitive shooter on and off for 46 years and both a military and policy armorer. I have been a reloader for 50+ years and currently load for some ca. 50 different cartridges, so am hardly a novice at this. So this is not a NEWB question.

[madsenshooter]

Wideners milspec 168s are a little cheaper than Grafs, same bullet, can't say how they shoot, got some but haven't loaded them other than 1 I used the camming action of the bolt to final seat. They are magazine length when pushed only a little into the rifling as they are tapered like GP11. I've used up to 57gr of DP85, an Accurate surplus powder that's a bit slower than 4350, like Ramshot Hunter, with a 168. I think a lot of published data for the 7.5x55 is kept low because someone might shoot it in the older rifles. The pmax for the K31 is 3800BAR which equals 55,114PSI. A lot of published loads I've tried don't even seal at the shoulder and I get a dirty chamber. With most cases, that only takes around 35000PSI. I don't think your 51gr of 4350 is going to hurt anything, though it is over the max shown in my 3rd ed Hornady manual (47.5).

[WineMan]

I found the Privi's to fit fine but there is a +/- three grain difference between the lightest and heaviest in the bag. A little time with a digital scale is required to reduce the variance if you want to match the standard of Sierra, Speer or Hornaday.

Wineman

[35 Whelen]

OK, I will start by committing the blasphemy of asking about jacketed bullets.

With the throat of the K-31 being so much shorter than the 1911 and '89/11 SR variants, what bullet have you found which can be loaded anywhere near the standard OAL for this cartridge? All the standard spitzer bullets I have found have too large a diameter too far forward of the cannellure and they have to be seated quite a lot short to function.

Try the humble Hornady bulk 150 gr. FMJBT. I don't know what the o.a.l. is as I never measured it, for my match K31, cannelure is right at the case mouth when the bullet engages the rifling. Accuracy is unbelievable over and over.
35W

[MtGun44]

I use the 174 gr Sierra Matchking, works fine but has to be seated deeper.

As Mike said, the factory bullet is two diameter, had me baffled until I pulled one and
measured it. The Swiss 'do their own thing'.

Bill

[dominicfortune00]

Try Reloder 17 in your K31.

The guys at SwissRiflesDotCom figure that this is the powder used to load GP11 at the factory.

[NuJudge]

The bulk Remington 165 CoreLokt is a bit more blunt than the GP11 bullet, but shoots well for people on the SwissRifles website and for me.

I like slower powders in the 4831 range, and 4064. Varget does not do well for me.

[jonk]

I use mainly M2 surplus ball bullets over 36 gr of WC846 surplus.

1 shot holes at 50, 1.1" at 100.

For surplus components I'm more than happy.