Swiss K31 Rifle 

Adds an interesting dimension to the old phrase "Built like a Swiss watch" I don't think I've ever seen a rifle built with more care and precision than a Swiss rifle.

I find it easy to remember, 314299 is the number of my favorite Lyman bullet mold.

Very well built for a military rifle, that's for sure.

I have one made in 1949,it shoots well with original 1970s production 7.5 rounds.Mines group about 3/4 to 1.5 inches at 100 yards.Great for a shooter grade about $75.00.It belonged to a guy from the French speaking province in Switzerland because I found his name tag and address inside the butt stock and the rifle was made at the Bern Arsenal.Great video!

You cannot go wrong with either rifle or caliber, they are both fine accurate rifles and calibers. I would suggest getting one of each!

Awesome video! It's like I'm taking a class in the rifle and the rounds... Thanks again

Absolutely my favorite military rifle. The one I own looks like it was unissued. The stock and metal are almost blemish free and the stacking rod doesn't have a mark on it. The paper under the buttplate had a barracks number and the date-1945, the year the gun was made. The bore is mirror new. It has no sign of ever been stacked in the snow. Someone suggested it was assigned to a barracks as an extra or backup. I have never seen another K-31 as nice as this one and it shoots as good as it looks.

I'm glad to hear that you get "practically free" ammo. About 20 years ago ammo was given free to people shooting with the to Dominion of Canada Rifle Association, but sadly that changed.

Thanks for watching and commenting.

Love the old battle rifles. Good review, thanks for another excellent vid !

Thanks, I agree it is a fine and accurate rifle.

Excellent video, clearly narrated and very informative.

Very nice rifle, this is one of the most (if not the most) accurate service rifles ever to be issued. You won't regret buying it :)

@MegaGevehr I was impressed that the old powder worked just as well as new made - quality stuff! I've heard that back in the 1950's you could buy 100 lbs of the surplus powder for $50.

Thanks, I do enjoy my K31, it's a great rifle.

Back in 2005, Big "5" Sporting Goods in California had alot of K-31 surplus for $89.00. Last June,(2012) I purchesd a K-31 at a local gun shop for $225.00 and they are great rifles. I wished I got mine back in 2005 when they were cheaper.

Have always had a soft spot for the K31.I still think the straight pull bolt mechanism is an engineering work of art and made incredibly well considering the technology about at the time.They're popular here in the UK for their accuracy plus the ammo isnt too badly priced either.Almost every K31 i see is always in perfect condition which does show the Swiss do look after their rifles.

Beautiful rifle, I just ordered mine with 440 rounds of GP11 and I can't wait for it to arrive. Should be tomorrow!

That is such an awesome rifle.

I have a K31 too and It's a very nice rifle. good video!

one of my favs at the moment, a while ago I got a couple in my hands in a gun store, almost got one :-) They sure feel great, nice bolt action, love the design and quality. May have to revisit some shops now ;-)

You got an awesome stock man!

Yes it is but I did not have any when I made the video but I have since bought and shot GP11 and I'm impressed with the accuracy of it. Very nice ammo.

This video was done with my old Sony DCR-SX40 handycam.

That was a VERY good video. I've always known the K31 was well made with good accuracy potential, but I've never fooled with one I know a lot more about the K31 now than I did an hour ago!

great video of a great rifle

Okay. That makes a little more sense. Well thank you for answering my questions.

Perfectly right you are. I do sometimes forget that I do my shooting with the local NCO Association and we get our ammo practically free.

another great rifle and a great video man xD

This is a beautiful gun, even more beautiful than the K98, I think I mainly found that round safety switch every artistic.

@vegas2004 Those are pretty decent ammo prices.One thing we suffer from in Canada is the poor selection of surplus ammo, there is practically nothing to buy compared to the USA or the UK.

@314299 Thank's many times over, that makes perfect sense and is something I hadn't thought about. Happy holidays my friend and good shooting.

Yep, that was their price and another place called "Down East Trading" had them for the same price.

That's the stacking rod, it allows three rifles to be stacked together into a tripod to keep them off the ground.

They are indeed a very nice rifle for the money.

I'm glad you picked up on my sarcasm. As for Canadian gun laws they are stupid and arbitrary, however in short we have to have a license to own/buy guns or ammo, and there are several classes of guns (non-restricted, restricted and prohibited). Most traditional type hunting rifles and shotguns are non restricted, handguns are restricted and most "scary looking" guns are prohibited.

Hi from Switzerland! Did you know your rifle was made in 1942? I have one from the same year which I shoot every week. Mine was made 19000 rifles before yours! Here GP11 is subsidized by our MOD and costs SFr. 0.35 a round at my club. I get through 20 rounds one evening a week (before my shoulder complains). Apparently our ammo is 20 years old. It's not manufactured in Switzerland any more, the equipment was sold abroad. Great vid! All the best, Rob

@weaponeer Those sights would really help bring out the potential accuracy of the rifle

@Gungeek The K31 action sure is a lot more compact than the earlier Swiss efforts.

This is a great look rifle. Considering getting one if any are left by the time I get my PAL.

I've found that with the RCBS dies it is necessary to do a complete full length size or the bolt will not close all the way and the rifle will not fire. I have been neck sizing some of my brass using a .32 pistol sizing die as a neck sizer, it seems to work well enough. I am glad to hear of your success with the Redding die set, I was considering replacing my RCBS set as I was not really happy with them. Thanks for the comment and information.

Actually the issue was with the reloads I was using, the bullets were seated out a bit far. No such problem when using GP11 ammo or the reloads I've made since.

I've heard that some K31's were mde in 7.62x51, however mine, and every other one I have seen in person, is in 7.5x55mm.

Interesting, sounds similar to a target sight adaptation I've seen for the Swedish Mauser.

Ouch. Best to think of one at a time!

@314299 They also appear to run at lower pressures than .308 as well, so that probably helps.

@JordanIrving1 Thanks for the positive comment.

@yevgenz Yes they made chargers/stripper clips, somewhat odd looking things made of metal and cardboard. I don't have any myself.

Nice video. I need to get my K31 out again. I came across some GP11 last year and bought two sleeves (120) rounds worth.

@twogun1969 I have exactly one box of brass from ammo that I bought from you years ago! Tradex has brass and I must order 50 or 100 sometime soon. Apparently Privi Partizan makes ammo and there will be some imported into Canada in the spring. Bullets are no problem as any pointed .308 bullet works just fine.

@MrLongbranch303 Those Swedish rifles sure do shoot well, and they have mild recoil.

@Gungeek When I have some RCBS 30-180-SP bullets cast I'll give them a try. At the moment my brass supply is very limited as well.

Handguns can be purchased but are registered and can only be brought to approved ranges. "Assault Rifles" are mostly "prohibited", some are restricted and some are not restricted, depends on which one. An original M1 carbine would be restricted as it's semi-auto and the barrel is less than 18-1/2" long, an M1 carbine with an longer barrel (19") would be non restricted.

A Fine Rifle indeed.

Thanks for the info.

If you decide to purches the Redding three die set, the first thing your going to notice is smooth and percised sized brass. I just finnished neck re-sizing 7th fire Prvi bass going onto eight. My necks (after all those loadings are still with in its very safe thickness). I saw your other video of the GP-11 bullets and I notice the bullets tips of those are nothing like anything on the market. Berger hybrid makes a 168 grn (although they are very expencive) that have a simular desighn of the gp.

Top work mate. *Commonwealth brofist*

Interesting list. Ever add up what all those might cost in NZ?

Yes .308" bullets are the proper size for the 7.5x55mm Swiss round.

@mark3smle That is a real tough one. They are both great, accurate arms of high quality. The Swede has less recoil, the Swiss rifle has a better trigger. Both have good sights. It's a lot easier to get 6.5x55 ammo around here than it is 7.5x55. Ideally get both rifles! But if you have to pick one the Swede is probably the more practical to shoot. Yo can't go wrong either way.

None of the ones I've seen came covered in cosmoline, which is a nice change from some surplus stuff.

@klesmer There were a bunch of like new K31's sold up here which were said to be police issue, they basically sat around almost unused until they were surplus.

Hi! (part 3) RCBS said the K-31 could not be neck-sized because of the bolt system. I have used RCBS neck dies on many other rifle catridges and never had a problem. I was able to return all my dies to Midway for a full credit (I lucked out) Then I re-orderd the Redding K-31 3- die set that was designed for the K-31. The Redding Neck die works very smooth. I would recomend using the full length first, fire-form, then Neck size. Trim to length is also important.

Well worth picking up, in my opinion.

I have one made in 1944, very good shooter

@UCSPanther20 Yep, the bigger case capacity over the .308 would lead to less pressures, other things being more or less similar.

Hi! I just got back from the range and the Sierra 175 grn Match king did great. I've been working with the K-31 for a little over 4 months. I picked up my K-31 off of a fellow who didn't reload and he needed some extra cash, so I was able to score at a deasent price. My K-31 was manufactured in 1947. It didn't have the the ID tag in the but-plate, but there was ID information and dates on the leather sling. I'd ask you in the past if you neck size and at that time you told me that you use RCBS.

@klesmer I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy one of those excellent condition K31's when I had the chance to. Your k31 sure sounds like a "keeper"!

If you get a chance to try some Swiss GP11 ball I recommend it, I fired some this week and got a five shot group of just over an inch at 100 yards.

I expect you will be able to find one in a couple months.

The cheapest I've seen them for sale here (Canada) was $269. $125 would be an amazing deal.

@314299 Approximately £45 which is around $70 per x100,but this is milsurp.New manufacture Privi ammo would be around £60 ($94) x100,but a lot of us reload which as you know brings costs down.

Great Video! Have you ever reloded using the 175 grn Sierra Matchking for your K-31?

@Gungeek No I have not. I think Tradex has the proper brass by Privi, I should just order some of that.

Great review. What is the use of that small rod behind the barrel at the front ? I have ordered one with a case of GP11 !

Probably easier for a left hand use than a turn bolt rifle. Also there are kits to convert these to left hand operation.

I picked it up at Big 5 some years back.

Not yet, but I expect they would be an excellent choice.

@UCSPanther20 There is a bit of factory ammo out there but you are right you really have to handload to be able to shoot these much.

wow...... great vid of a great rifle...I have to admit in all of my years around guns I have never had much chance (if any that I can remember) to handle one of these fine old guns...is the ammo/brass /bullets hard to find/reload??

If you want one it would certainly be wise to get one as soon as you can as they will only go up in price as the supply dries up.

There is an unusual charger/stripper clip for this rifle, it is made of a fiberboard with metal reinforcements. Regrettably I don't have one to show, but I'm sure a Google search would show you one.

@MrLongbranch303 I've seen it for sale out west but shipping a small quantity is expensive.

Nice!

My brother has one of these. A very nice an accurate rifle, but one where ammo is a handloading proposition.

I shoot reloads for the most part, but have a bit of GP11 Swiss ammo that I sometimes shoot.

Nice rifle. Good presentation. Are there any known instances of this rifle being fired in anger? Thanks

I also have a K31 from Tradeex that should be arriving in several days. Do these rifles come coated with cosmoline? Very nice and informative review by the way!

There are no particular difficulties in loading 7.5x55, just remember to full length size your brass.

It certainly is unique.

Thank you.

I've decided that this one has gone on my list for 'guns to get' along with a M1917, P-14, M4 Carbine, New Zealand Contract Carbine 303 (interesting rifle, check them out), Colt Woodsman, 1873 Colt SAA 4 3/4", Lithgow L1A1 SLR, P-38, Browning Hi-Power, Second Model Hand Ejector 455, Third Model Hand Ejector 32 S&W-L, Victory 38S&W 5". That about rounds up the list I think.

Hi! (part 2) That you use RCBS full length. I orded RCBS die set FL & NS dies with bullet seater from MidwayUSA. I used unfired Prvi brass through my FL as recomeded by RCBS with sierra 168 match with 43.5 grns of Varget. I'd seat my bullet like you recomeded and it went great! Now I have once fired brass ready to be neck-sized. After I cleaned my brass and lubed the neck inside & out, The neck die would not fit. I contacted RCBS to duscuss this and they told me the K-31 could not be neck sized

Just because you don't see the hearing protection does not mean I'm not using any. I do in fact have ear plugs in, not that it's really any of your business anyway....

@UCSPanther20 Mine seems to have a tight chambers so I don't doubt that case life ought to be good.

@vegas2004 What sort of price does the ammo go for in the UK?

I've never fired ay surplus ammo in this rifle as I've never had any to shoot. So far all I've fired is a box of Norma and my reloads.

@future10marine If I recall correctly it was $269.

nice looking k31 just picked one up my self. What distance where you shooting at?

I'm torn between this and a No. 4 Mk. 1 that is available in my area (unsure of the price right now). I take my CFSC exam tomorrow then there's the wait time for background checks and delivery of the license. Hope some will still be around by then.