Another group of Swiss

[Mustang51]

Last week I succumbed yet again to my passion for Swiss rifles and bought two 96/11's and a K31 at an on-line auction. Also got an 1891 Argentine Mauser.







Description stated:
Schmidt-Rubin Model 1896/11 Straight-Pull Rifle, #313237, 7.5x55mm Swiss, 30.7'' barrel, tangent leaf sight graduated to 2000 meters, blue finish, European walnut stocks, with sling. Import marked. Condition is very good retaining approx. 94% original factory blue. Stock with thinning to finish and light to just moderate dings, scuffs and scratches. Action is crisp, bore is very good and should clean to better.

 

[Mustang51]

The second one :







Description advised:
Schmidt-Rubin Model 1896/11 Straight-Pull Rifle, #229113, 7.5x55mm Swiss, 30.7'' barrel, tangent leaf sight graduated to 2000 meters, blue finish, European walnut stocks, with sling. Import marked. Condition is very good retaining approx. 95% original factory blue. Stock with thinning to finish and light to just moderate dings, scuffs and scratches. Action is crisp, bore is bright.

 

[Mustang51]

The K31:





Blueing on the receiver looks matte.


Description advised:
Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Karabiner Model 1931 (K31) Straight-Pull Rifle, #848135, 7.5x55mm Swiss, 25.7'' barrel, matte blue finish, European walnut stock, with sling. Import marked, with shooter's name and 1972 shooter stickers. Globe front sight included. Condition is fine to near excellent retaining approx. 95% matte blue on receiver. Stock shows minor dings, scratches, thinning to finish, and light oil staining. Action is crisp, bore is mirror bright.

I'll post a range report and additional pics when it arrives

 

[Jay the Plinker]

Walk me through how you operate those guns do you cycle the wooden handle then pull the circle back to fire. Sorry for this crude guess in lighten me!

 

[rondog]

Walk me through how you operate those guns do you cycle the wooden handle then pull the circle back to fire. Sorry for this crude guess in lighten me!

The bolts are a straight-pull action, just grab the knobs and yank straight back, then shove it straight forward. The bolt rotates and locks in very solidly via cam-type grooves. The ring is the safety, you pull it and turn it a little to engage the safety. The straight pull bolts are very fast to operate, but you can punch yourself in the face if you're not careful, I've come close a few times. The Swiss rifles are awesome works of art, and among the most accurate ever made.

 

[Jay the Plinker]

Can you mount optics?

 

[Jay the Plinker]

229113 has a ring to it for a cereal number

 

[madcratebuilder]

Swiss Products has a no drill clamp on scope mount for the K31's that works very nicely. The Swiss also made a sniper version of the K31, the last version, the ZFK55 had the scope mounts cast as part of the receiver. The rings are cast in the scope body.


The earlier K31/43 had the scope offset.


Standard K31 with SP mount.

 

[Bentley4700]

Absolutely beautiful.

Where is the Argy??

 

[Mustang51]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=8342610#post8342610

 

[Mustang51]

Can you mount optics?

They also make D&T mounts for both the 96/11's and the K31's. I mounted this Bushnell scope on a sported 1911 rifle




This rifle won't win any beauty contest, but 5 rounds of GP11 @ 100 yards



With a cheek rest, I think I could do a bit better

 

[mookiie]

I hope you are not using gp11 in the 96/11 - those rounds are too high pressure for the 96/11s action. Be careful!

 

[Mustang51]

GP11 is fine in the 1911, 96/11 and K31 rifles. It should not be used in the 1889.

 

[RPRNY]

The K31 is a real looker!

 

[Mustang51]

Thanks, RPRNY

 

[Jay the Plinker]

How much did these set you back

 

[Mustang51]

I was able to pick up my new Swiss rifles this morning and got a couple of close ups of the metal and wood. One of them appears to have had a barrel replacement at one time. That one also has an odd, shield-shaped stamping on the tang. Bores on all of them are superb...of course.

Here is a better shot of the serial number on the barrel:


Appears to be a handstamping.

Here is a stamping on the tang:


It appears to be an "H" or something similar

There is a large circle "B" on the butt of the stock


Bore is excellent!

 

[spence]

Very attractive K31 with the sp mount. Is that a flash hider or recoil reducer on it ? how well does it work and what brand is it? Thanks for all the great fotos!

 

[Mustang51]

I got a quick trip to the Lincoln range in yesterday and shot the newest Swiss and Swede rifles.

96/11 #229113 ...the one with the replacement barrel is a smoking hot shooter.

After verifying that the front sight was set correctly for windage @ 50 yards, I tried a few 5 shot groups @ 100 yards.

The first one with GP11...


It looked pretty good, so I tried a second GP11 group...


I really liked these groups, so I tried a group with my handload...43.9 grains of IMR4064 and a 168 gr AMAX...


I think this is my new favorite Swiss rifle.

 

[1KPerDay]

Dang! Loverly rifles, great pics, and great shooting.

 

[1KPerDay]

BTW are these good prices?
http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100000826&dir=700|701|1029

 

[Mustang51]

Thanks, IK

I don't consider those to be good prices. That is an average of nearly $350 apiece, with little to no information about each rifle.

Try Simpsons and buy individually.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

What is that hooded front sight? Looks very interesting to me, it would be nice to have one for my K-31.

 

[Mustang51]

What is that hooded front sight? Looks very interesting to me, it would be nice to have one for my K-31.

Funny you should mention that...It is a front tunnel sight for the diopter sight set up. It happens to have a post insert that actually worked well with the standard rear sight, except...it is so high that I have to set the rear sight at 800 meters to hit the bull @ 100 yards.

Here is a pic of the target.



I fired a couple rounds of GP11 at the above target (a 12" target) at 100 yards...nothing. I finally figured out that it must be low...because the front sight was so high...I set the rear sight at 300 meters and got the two at the bottom of the target backer. Cranked the sights up to 500 meters and got the one halfway up. Cranked the sights up to 800 and finally hit the bull, while aiming at the lower red target dot.

Obviously going to have to do something about this...probably end up getting the rear diopter.

 

[motorcycle_dan]

rifle identification

Been wanting one of these straight pull bolts to add to my old military bolt collection. When it rains it pours. Bought what I believe is a M1889 and a M1911. The 1889 is much longer with a 30.5" barrel and a much larger magazine. Is there a quick and easy way to identify which model I have? All the reload data I found says specifically not to be used on 1889 models.
Another question I had is bullet size. For those of you reloading, you use .308 bullets? I thought they were supposed to be .306? Thanks in advance. I'll try and add a picture of the pair for reference. The M1911 is currently at my guns smith getting the "OK to fire" treatment. He cast the chamber and gives it the once over. Makes me feel much better when pulling the trigger the first time.