k31 mauser?

[cwdotson]

I had an earlier post debating an Enfield-good reviews but pretty much persuaded me to go with a K98 or similar Mauser, BUT in researching I have read a lot on the K31. It may be my first highpowered rifle purchase in almost 15 years, I guess I can always follow up with a Mauser and maybe an M1 later. I have few concerns that maybe someone with some firsthand knowledge can help with...

1. Ammo looks about as high, in surplus format, as the .303, but some folks seem to anticipate some more later on. I don't need a truckload, maybe 2000 rounds-a few hundred to break in (me, not gun) and to practice with-looks like regual commercial stuff is available for hunting.

2. The straight-pull seems like it would lend itself to rapid fire, with practice, BUT that leads to two subissues:
A. I have read that the action is well-crafted but how durable is it?
B. One big plus with K98 and similar is, apparently, they can be stripped and repaired relatively easily. When I read about the K31 and its mechanism, I wonder how difficult that would be. Are any critical repair parts even available, for tha matter?

Hope these aren't approaching "stupid question" category and thanks for your help.cwd

 

[Azrael256]

There are no stupid questions. There are just a lot of inquisitive idiots.

Anyway, I bought a K31 on the advice of my brother. It was good advice. I like it much better than the Mauser.

The rifle isn't all that likely to break. The only "weak" point in the system that I have found is the lug on the bolt handle. I'm sure it will last for many thousands of rounds of proper use, but I could see a very little bit of abuse shearing it off. Firing the gun without fully locking it will supposedly shear it off, although I tested it out with some primed cases and was unable to get a primer to detonate. I don't see it being a serious problem as damage to the gun requires mishandling.

It is, IMO, simpler to detail strip the bolt assembly on the K31 than any Mauser I've ever seen. Once you know the trick (it's pulling the cocking ring back and rotating it to fix the lug against the rear face of the bolt), disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly becomes a cinch. No endless unscrewing against a wacky spring-loaded detent or funky little parts that you can never get out. The whole thing literally shakes apart once the mainspring is taken care of.

The trigger assembly is a little bit more complex to take apart, but once you figure out how the system works, it's not so bad. Whatever you do, don't try to pry the thing apart. It comes apart a certain way, and it does so with relative ease. All the parts are pretty simple, and quite beefy. I don't think it's likely anything could break, but if something does, you will probably have to buy a parts gun, or find parts stripped off a parts gun. My preference would be to find machine shop, athough cost might limit that option. If you could a working example of any part (or a print that somebody made), you could probably have some pretty nifty stuff made. I've actually thought of doing that with my fully functional rifle just to see what kinds of doodads I could come up with. It's all 1920s technology, so the parts are all simple. The only aftermarket replacement parts I have found have been sling parts and replacement magazines from Numrich. BTW, they also sell American Walnut stocks if you're after that special look for a gun made with Beech furniture.

Ammo is another matter. GP11 surplus stuff is expensive, but it's worth the money. For the kind of quality you get, it's actually a very good price. There are some alternatives to GP11, but they're still developing. Wolf is making a brass-cased, boxer primed round that runs close to the same price as GP11 (depending on how you buy it), but it offers the possibility of reloading that you don't get with GP11. There are a couple of other ammo options available, including buying fresh brass from Norma, but most of them are so obscenely expensive that Wolf is probably eating them alive. Before Wolf started making it, the only soft-point I could find ran about $40/20rd, about four times the going rate these days. Looking now, Hornaday is making a SP, but it's still twice the price of Wolf's offering. Luckily, the bullet is an ordinary .308, so working up a load with your favorite Nosler or Hornaday (or whatever else) hunting bullet isn't that difficult.

Edited to add: One more thing on ammo. There is some talk about using (I think) .284 brass to roll your own 7.5. Supposedly a resizing trick will make it work. I think it's a neat idea, but I would meditate long and hard on headspace before trying it. I am very curious to know the results if anybody has tried it.

 

[mpmarty]

I've used .284 winchester brass for my SChmidt Rubin K31 for many years. It is actually so close to the 7.5x55 you need to only expand the neck to 306 or so and seat a 308 bullet (.002 interference fit to hold bullet tightly) load per the manual and shoot it. After that just neck size and the accuracy and longevity of the brass is quite good. For a light fun load I use 150 gr hornady and 38gr of 3031. I also cast some 180 gr. gas check bullets and use 5 gr. of 700X and that load by the way shoots through 1/2" mild steel plate, don't ask me how I know.

 

[mainmech48]

Graf Bros. has Hornady-made brass and their own brand of loaded ammo at prices comparable to more common US and Euro calibers. There is the Portugese-made FNM brand, as well as the aforementioned Wolf Gold, on the "budget" side of the equation. The Porty stuff isn't near as accurate in my rifle as the GP-11 surplus match or the hideously expensive Norma JSPs, but the brass is nice and it's easily reloadable using common components of standard sizes. I paid something like $7/20 in 200-rd. lots for it a couple of years back and am still working with the first 200 cases. Some have now been reloaded 8X, although I would add that my load development has been directed to finding a cheap, accurate plinking and practice combo so they've been pretty mild. I have yet to have had to scrap a single case.

The K-31 is a real gem as far as workmanship and quality are concerned.
They may never have been used in actual combat, but they were still engineered and designed for it. The Swiss citizen/soldiers train a lot, and practice a good deal to keep up with their qualification standards. IMO, they're at least the equal of any other BA battle rifle of their era as far as ruggedness and reliability go, and a couple of cuts above most in terms or average accuracy.

 

[Azrael256]

It is actually so close to the 7.5x55 you need to only expand the neck to 306 or so

No deformation in the shoulder after firing? I've heard of that happening, but nobody has ever presented a photo of a deformed case and I've never actually laid eyes on a homebrewed anything for this rifle.

 

[Manedwolf]

GP11 isn't really all that expensive, as I've found. It's usually $23 for a pack of 60, which is 38 cents a shot. Not bad at all for what is match-grade ammo.

Just always buy the battle packs of 60 or the 480-round satchel-case of eight packs, it's much cheaper than the box of 10, which costs more at around $5, 50 cents per shot.

 

[silverlance]

480 for 160

If you look around the net you can find 480 rounds of GP11 for about $160 shipped.

Cost per round is about .34

That isn't really expensive to me (although it seemed so at first) because for that .40 you are getting an extremely high quality shot through an extremely high quality gun. I have well over 6000 rounds of 8mm and x54r piled up.. but take it from me - 5 rounds that group well is a heck of a lot more fun than spraying 20 rounds of lead all over the general direction while beating your hand purple yanking on the mosin's bolt or doing kentucky windage each time you fire.

furthermore, gp11 is non corrosive. i don't even fully disassemble my k31 for cleaning. just otis pulls and a bit of swabbing about the interior.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

The original note mentioned "hunting".

If the K31 has a flaw, it's a lack of stealth. Mausers (and most bolt guns) can chamber a round almost silent. The K31 bolt has to be slammed forward so any deer within 100 yards will hear it.

Regards.