K31 and M39
I have both. I've shot the K31 and it is SWEET. There is simply nothing like the straight pull action (heck, most people don't even know what that is), and the trigger is the best I've ever felt on a general issue military rifle. These are very finely engineered rifles, many of which were made well before the rush of war (i.e. better quality control). Also, many were made after the war (up to 1958, in fact, though only those 1954 and before are currently C&R qualified), when there was not only not a rush to produce them, but there had been a long learning curve in the manufacturing process. They are CHEAP - $80 gets you one through AIM if you've got a C&R, and not much more than about $125 in most other places. They are also extremely accurate, especially with good ammo. Better sights, like the aperture sights made by Mojo Sighting Systems (for a mere $65 or so) aid accuracy quite a bit without detracting from the authentic WW2 look like a scope would do. I'm going to buy another soon. I also have the Mojos, and they are excellent (and I bought another set for my M39).
I'll go out on a limb and state that the K-31 is not only the best buy in milsurps (accuracy and durability per dollar), but was the finest bolt-action military rifle ever mass-manufactured (YMMV). To buy a new K-31 now (if they were made, which ain't the case
) would probably cost in the neighborhood of $1,500 without glass. Compare/contrast to a Remington 700 at $500-$700, and you'll get an idea of the quality involved.
I've only shot my M39 very little, and while in a rush, and without the Mojo sights (which I installed last night). It is also a very well engineered rifle (the Finns took the Russkie receivers and junked everything else, installing excellent, free-floating barrels, pretty good sights, excellent triggers and their own, better, stocks - it is really a different rifle than the M91 series). If you're into it, many were made in 1941 and 1942, so they almost certainly saw combat against the Soviets. The M39s are, as mentioned, extremely accurate and shoot cheap ammo, all for about $200-$250.
As a rule, anything made by the Finns, Swedes or Swiss will be finely engineered, finely made, accurate and durable (though I have no personal experience with the Swedish Mausers). These nations were incredibly anal about accuracy and maintaining their independence while being on the same block as some very large and very nasty neighbors. The Finns were the only ones to actually see combat on a large scale, so their rifles are "battle-proven," FWIW. Personally, given what I've read about the Swiss and my own personal experience with the K-31, I think that they'd have done better against the same enemy (of course, they'd have faced the battle-hardened and well-led Wehrmacht instead of the inexperienced and nearly leaderless (until mid-war) Red Army, but that's reality intruding). In any case, the Swiss K-31 and its progenitor the M-1911 rifle in the hands of some 850,000 Swiss militia would've done some very serious damage to even the Wehrmacht. I suspect that an attack on Switzerland would've caused the war to end in 1944 - it would've been a drain on Germany like Spain was on Napoleon.
