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Brown truck brings new toy

Larry Legend

Larry Legend

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So I stroll home from work yesterday to a pleasant sight.........a long brown box sitting on the couch with my name on it. It was my K31!


I was able to take advantage of a holiday sale and pick up a real sweet deal on a K31 for $100 off! First thoughts upon tearing into the package:

1. This rifle feels a lot lighter than my 91/30. Also seems a lot shorter.

1a. All the serial numbers match!

2. The butt of the rifle is a little chewed up. Looks like it was drug through the mud quite frequently.

3. The straight pull bolt is REALLY cool.

4. The finish on the metal is perfect.

5. The trigger on this thing is FANTASTIC!. Real light and crisp.

6. Now I need to find some ammo.


The pics:

P1090061.jpg



P1090062.jpg



P1090063.jpg



Beautiful engraving
P1090066.jpg



I can't get over how innovative the design of this bolt is. The engineering involved in designing this bolt must have been extensive.
P1090067.jpg




The name tag was plastered to the back of the buttplate. It's pretty beat up. I gotta find some way to clean it up without removing the writing so I can try to locate and contact the previous owner in Switzerland.
P1090071.jpg




Anyone know of any locale shop with GP11 in stock?
 
you in a free state? online....4seasons in wobourn had some swiss ammo a while back? funny I did see a few boxes of swiss ammo @ walmart one day.
 
From what I remember reading... propped up in 3s by the stacking swivels during training with the butt stock sitting in inches of snow helped the damage we often find in the butt of the stock by softening up the wood. That and the fact that the mountain pack letf it exposed to bang against rocks and whatever and they used the butt end of the rifles to beat down barbed wire fences.
Another story I heard is that being ever so resourceful, the Swiss soldiers would often fire many rounds through their rifles, then prop them up in 3s with the stacking swivels and stand around and warm their hands with the heat from the barrels.
All sounds good to me.

FWIW. I use Remington Dri-lube on the bolt parts of my Swiss straight pulls. It really seems to help an already smooth bolt function much smoother.

And GP11 ammo can be found from many sources online to a free stater including Sportsman's Guide. http://shop.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/60-rds-swiss-mil-75-x-55-ammo.aspx?a=119309
 
I have always liked those rifles. I wish I had the cash around Christmas time to jump on the $100 off deal that they were running. Sweet deal.
 
larry,

have you considered reloading? boxer-primed brass is available or .284 win can be used after running thru a 7.5x55 sizer die.
 
Yup. Have considered it. The only downside is the brass that I have found available online is more expensive than the surplus rounds I just bought. Soon as I can find some reasonably priced ammo with reloadable brass, I will look into it.
 
Larry Legend said:
I've got about 60 casings so far. Maybe we can work something out. LBR's?
Click to expand...

LRB's are simply the .217" large rifle berdan primers packaged in PMC containers from Murom Apparatus Producing Plant in Russia. These are what's needed to reload the GP-11 cases.

My brother is in Orange, but I could handle the $4.95 shipping in a USPS small Priority Mail box, if need be. Let me know, it's almost not worth the trouble to package and ship, but I'd hate to see them go to waste.
 
55_grain said:
You can't compare a K31 to your 91/30! Your K31 will shoot fantastic groups. Your 91/30 probably makes a good spear...
Click to expand...

Nice rifles! Sweet crisp 2 stage triggers. It's amazing how affordable these fine rifles are. I bought mine years ago when they were practically giving them away. The 7.5x55 appears to have quite a trajectory. @100 yards I'm like +24 inches from the center of the target to the point I've got to aim in the dirt almost. I realize it's a 1000 yard rifle but it seems to take off like artillery. Do you guys find this? Do you remove your bolt & rotate to decompress it when storing? Also I've always wanted the bayonet for K31. Any Ideas? PM Me maby? Without a doubt these are the finest mil surplus rifles you can buy for the money.
 
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saltydude said:
Nice rifles! Sweet crisp 2 stage triggers. It's amazing how affordable these fine rifles are. I bought mine years ago when they were practically giving them away. The 7.5x55 appears to have quite a trajectory. @100 yards I'm like +24 inches from the center of the target to the point I've got to aim in the dirt almost. I realize it's a 1000 yard rifle but it seems to take off like artillery. Do you guys find this? Do you remove your bolt & rotate to decompress it when storing? Also I've always wanted the bayonet for K31. Any Ideas? PM Me maby? Without a doubt these are the finest mil surplus rifles you can buy for the money.
Click to expand...

Bayonets are showing up on auction sites and E Bay left and right now as more and more Swiss rifles have been imported lately than ever, especially older models like k11, 96/11, etc. These days you can buy Swiss rifles with matching numbered bayonets. I guess importers have finally realized that the massive stockpiles of Swiss rifles available for importation weren't doing any good sitting there rotting away in storage.
Prices on anything Swiss have gone through roof. Unfortunately its the import companies that are now setting the market value because just 6 months ago you could buy just about any Swiss rifle for $100 - $200 less on auction sites or WTS boards compared to what the mail order places are getting now.

Its hard to believe that when K31s were $79.99 so few people realized what a good deal they were and bought them.[thinking]
 
7.5 Swiss Ammo

Larry Legend said:
So I stroll home from work yesterday to a pleasant sight.........a long brown box sitting on the couch with my name on it. It was my K31!
.....6. Now I need to find some ammo.

Anyone know of any locale shop with GP11 in stock?
Click to expand...

XXXX has ammo.


I have both some of the GP11 and the Prvi. They both shoot fine. The Prvi has the added bonus of being Boxer primed so it can be reloaded. I bought a hundred rounds when I started so I would have some brass. It reloads a lot like 30.06, plenty of good data available in the books.

You've got a fine old rifle, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine.
 
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The latest Hornady loading manual (I think it was the Hornady book?) brought back many of the mil-surp cartridges. I know it had a couple 7.5 Swiss loads. (Hornady Third Edition lists five different loads.) Although you have to work up your own loads and COLs with various bullets, the 7.5 Swiss can basically use any .308" fodder. I've used the M1 Carbine 110g JRN, 125g SinterFire and M160 frangibles, 130g LRN and everything on up to the 200g Match King for sub-sonic loads. There were even some bevel-based 165g cast FP bullets, more for the 30-30, that I loaded light and they shot fine...just took a little extra finesse chambering them. This isn't a recommendation for you, but it can be done. Like a .308 Win bolt gun, the K-31 can digest a variety of loads.
 
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