Swiss K-31 7x55

[Beak50]

Just found out My wife ordered me My "Dream Gun".A Swiss straight pull.She bid on it on GunBroker's.She don't know I know though "found out through some snooping",It is absoultly awsome.She won the bid for a whopping $209.00.She is sending the check to him today,so it won't be long till christmas.I'll have her post pic's since I don't know how.I did notice most gun's in that shape were going for at least $350.00 or more.Can you reload for these?

 

[10-96]

Congratulations- those are great rifles and a ton of fun to shoot and research. Of course you can reload- go to MidwayUSA, Midsouth, Natchez, Graf and Sons and just type 7.5 Swiss into their search blocks and see what all pops up. 2nd edition of modern reloading by Richard Lee and the 7th edition Hornady reloading book both have a good list of recipes.

Oh, quit snoopin.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // Nice, the K31, the price and your wife.

The K31 always caught my eye too.
I happened to find a 1939 last month in a small town pawn shop, $249 was better than fair. I would love to have paid $209, well done.

Haven't shot mine yet ,will have to wait till hunting season ends, hope we both have accurate shooters.

Enjoy finding her something she will like just as much.

 

[Bojangles7]

Congrats on the gift, I'm sure you'll love it. I've shot mine a few times and it's by far one of my favorites.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Congrats on the K. They are fantastic rifles, well engineered and very accurate. Do some reading on the Swiss rifle board and gunboards. Some reloading dies are superior to others. Get some gp11 ammo, it's match grade surplus and hard to duplicate reloading.

 

[desidog]

Can you reload for these?

Yes; they use .308" bullets...but, unless you're really into reloading, i wouldn't bother. The GP11 surplus ammo is as accurate as most any hand-load, probably more accurate than most, since it is the result of a lot of Swiss engineers tailoring a round for that specific rifle. If you want to go hunting, Prvi makes some SP's for around $15/20 that will do the job well.

 

[inclinebench]

I own about fifteen long guns, and since getting my K31, I have shot it more than all the others combined. Accurite and just flat fun to shoot. I will also agree with the statement about the GP11 ammo. Great stuff. Also be ready for all your buddies to want to shoot it. A unique gun like that always draws a ton of questions and envy when I go out to shoot with friends.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I love these rifles. I paid $220 back in 2007. That was a little expensive then, but I'm not going to complain, because they sell for more than that now! The rifle is amazing. You'll love yours, too. I can't wait until I can start reloading for mine. I want to squeeze every last bit of accuracy out of that rifle.

 

[soloban]

You can reload for these. IMR4064 and 168 HPBT Sierras are a good as are 175 gr Berger VLDs. Some words of caution:

Buy Redding Dies. The Lee and RCBS are cut for the 1911 chamber. Also most reloading books give you OAL for the 1911. You'll need to seat the bullet much deeper than the book recommends. You'll have to keep adjusting OAL until you find the spot. K31's are VERY particular in regards to OAL.

 

[Canuck-IL]

Besides Redding, Hornady and RCBS both now offer K-31 chamber specific die sets.

With most any bullet, you'll need to end up at a max OAL of 2.90 ... the Berger VLDs allow the deepest seating - most bullets will need to be short of that or you'll be unloading them with a rod down the barrel when the bolt won't close and the bullet's jammed in the leade.

Lots of load data around the Jouster and a few Swiss rifle oriented boards ... great guns.
/Bryan

 

[morcey2]

How do you know she didn't buy it for her?

Every time I bring a new rifle home, my wife keeps asking "So where's mine?" Hers is always 'the next one'. A K31 is on my short list of rifles to buy, but it's a little ways down the list.

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

The K31 is my favorite. They shoot where you point them and group very nicely. I have been reloading for mine using Lee Dies for the last two years. As long as you adequately size the case (make sure that shell holder touches the bottom the die, no light shining through) you won't have any trouble. And yes the overall cartridge lengths noted in the manuals are too long.

My load is a 168 gr Hornady A-Max over 47.4 gr of AA4350 with an OAL of 2.903-2.913. It works just fine.

I've never understood the "these dies are meant from the 1911 instead of the K31 chamber" business. By that same logic one shouldn't fire GP11 in a K31 as the cartridge would be intended for a 1911 instead of a K31. Clearly this is not the case.

 

[mshootnit]

I use the factory 165 gr. load from Hornady and its got to be the most reliable deer rifle I have shot, once you are sighted in and know where to aim. The sights are easy for me to use precisely. I even hit a doe at the rear of the ribs quartering away and downed it with one shot. These things hit hard.

 

[Tortuga12]

The Lee dies work great in my K31, my understanding is that only the older Lee dies were cut for the K11 chamber.

 

[35 Whelen]

I've never understood the "these dies are meant from the 1911 instead of the K31 chamber" business. By that same logic one shouldn't fire GP11 in a K31 as the cartridge would be intended for a 1911 instead of a K31. Clearly this is not the case.

Exactly. I've loaded in excess of 2000 rounds using my Lee Collet neck sizing die.

When I first showed up at our local High Power match with my K-31, all the AR guys snickered at my rifle and none of them took me seriously. After a few matches and I gotten settled in, the laughing was over. It took me a little over a year to go from Marksman to Expert classification with my K-31. And this while firing nothing but cast bullet loads. All the ones I own are very, very accurate easily rivaling my best sporter weight hunting rifle.
After mounting peep sights, I fired a 10 shot group with GP-11 that was a hair under 1 1/2" @ 100. 8 of those 10 went a little under 1".

Enjoy!
35W

 

[Canuck-IL]

I've never understood the "these dies are meant from the 1911 instead of the K31 chamber" business. By that same logic one shouldn't fire GP11 in a K31 as the cartridge would be intended for a 1911 instead of a K31. Clearly this is not the case.

The right dies are only about the life of the case ... the K-31 dies work the brass less - not a concern with GP11 since you don't reload it - - also not a concern if money is no object and you can actually find reasonably priced virgin brass.
/B

 

[lonniemike]

What K-31 specific means is that if you ever reload for any of the earlier half dozen or so models (back to the first 7.5 adopted in 1889), you will have to buy the other die.

 

[Beak50]

Swiss K-31

All the number's match including the magazine.Should I buy spare Mag's and let the original one be?

 

[sixgunner455]

Beak, you don't need one. That is how it is supposed to be - the numbers matching shows that it still has the original mag (duh!) but what that really means is that you can expect that mag to work perfectly. Mine is the same. If you want to shoot in some matches, you will need a second mag or a couple of the waxed cardboard strippers. The spare mag may take some tweaking to get it to work right with your rifle.

If you're just having it and shooting it, I wouldn't bother.

 

[35 Whelen]

All the number's match including the magazine.Should I buy spare Mag's and let the original one be?

Better yet, buy another K-31 or two, then you'll have spare mags. Since I've always owned multiple K-31's, I used to grab a mag out of one of my other rifles to take with me to matches. But every once in awhile, one wouldn't catch and I found the strippers are WAY faster. Sad thing is, they've gotten really expensive for some reason. But I've yet to wear one out.
Magazines themselves ain't exactly cheap. If you find one for $50, that's cheap.

35W

 

[sixgunner455]

Now, that's an idea, 35W... I've thought about it, and I just don't have room in the safe, really.

Guess that means I need a bigger safe!

 

[Beak50]

Just thought having a few spare mag's on hand wouldn't hurt.Never thought about having to" tweak " in another mag thank's for all the infne question though is the straight pull a little more accurate that other bolt actions?

 

[madcratebuilder]

All the number's match including the magazine.Should I buy spare Mag's and let the original one be?

I would not get a second magazine. Like the Lee Enfields the mags are not intended to be removed for reloading. Use the stripper clips. They are a waxed card stock that are very durable.

You would need to possible tweak a second mag to feed correctly, plus they are spendy. Save the cash for GP11.

You can find some accuracy tweaks on the swissrifle forum. Add a scope using a no drill SP mount and you have a sub moa rifle.

 

[35 Whelen]

One question though is the straight pull a little more accurate that other bolt actions?

If you're talking about other military surplus rifles, they are inherently more accurate than other bolts. I owned one Swedish mauser and it wouldn't come close to any K-31 I've owned. Right now I own three Springfields; a 1903 and two 1903A3's. All three are very accurate, but the accuracy seems a little more difficult to obtain in that I have to play with loads a little more.
The fact that it is a straight pull doesn't make it more accurate. It DOES however make it infinitely faster to cycle. This is due not only to the straight pull but also to the incredible workmanship that went into these rifles. They are extremely smooth.

35W

 

[Beak50]

Do you need "stripper clip"waxed cardboard thin'g to load them?