Owen Sparks commented:
"The K-31 cocking ring will hit you just below the eye if you operate it while maintaining a proper cheek weld. The bone under your eye is nearly as thin as an egg shell and will break easily. These rifles were designed when the average man was much shorter than modern Americans are now. I am about 5' 10" and I have to move my head back a little every time I cycle the action. This is not a tall mans rifle."
I grew up when bolt-action rifles were not just the norm, but pretty much the only option for a civilian target shooter. With any centerfire bolt action (M1903, M1917, Winchester M70, Lee-Enfield, etc. ) operated from the shoulder, there is no such thing as 'maintaining a proper cheek weld' while working the action. You pull back the bolt, and your head comes up off the stock to clear the back end of the bolt. You push the bolt forward, and your head drops back to sighting position. Takes a bit of practice, but it's the way to shoot bolt-actions rapidly and well. The straight-pull actions such as the Swiss 1889 and K31, the M95 Mannlicher, and the Ross 1910, all of which I have owned and shot, are no different in this regard. You just need to have learned the reflex of getting your delicate cheekbone out of the way of the machinery.
Sorry if this sounds snarky, but I am getting SO sick of seeing posts where the secret of all rifle marksmanship is achieving the holy 'proper cheek weld'. Short of a fully adjustable Olympic-style stock, or a custom stock built to your dimensions for one particular shooting position, the perfect stock fit that puts your face in the ideal alignment with the sights just ain't going to happen. IMHO, marksmanship is learning to shoot well with whatever hardware you have, rather than insisting that 'you can't hit anything unless you have a proper cheek weld on your hand-built famous maker rifle with the trigger than breaks like a glass rod and has a scope that costs at least as much as the gun'.