Will a Swiss K31 fire out of battery?

[Snowdog]

While looking over my K31 today, I noticed that the bolt seems to rotate and lock the lugs into place during the final 1/2" of effortless forward movement. However, I also noticed that if the bolt has not accomplished this final 1/2" of movement for whatever reason, the operator can still dry fire the rifle even though it appears the lugs may not be engaged at this point.

First off, when the bolt is in this position (out of battery), I'm not sure if the pin has sufficient reach to strike the primer. However, the round may be secured to the boltface at this point by the extractor... I haven't had the chance to fire the rifle yet, so I'm not sure.
Second, I'm not certain the lugs are not engaged, though it seems they are not.

Does anyone know for certain if a K31 can fire out of battery if the operator fails to push the bolt completely forward? I heard of other straight pulls having this problem, but I certainly hope the K31 isn't one of them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[natedog]

I think if you intentionally tried to fire it out of battery, it would. But, I don't think it would be likely that you wouldn't get the bolt completly closed after cycling a round.

 

[goosegunner]

I don't know how the K31 works, but I know some pump-action shotguns (who may or may not have a similar action as your) have fired without beeing completely loced. Anyway, you can test your gun by removing the bullet and powder from a cartridge (so it is only brass with a live primer) and then try to fire it with the bolt not closed completely. this will tell yuo if the firing pinn have sufficient reach to set off the primer, but it will not tell you if the lugs are (completely) engaged or not.


edited to add: Even if you only have a primer in the chamber, the gun still needs to be pointed in a safe direction to be on the safe side.

 

[BEJ]

K31

FWIW - There was an excellent post (old) on this very subject on another board. The post was complemented with photos showing the intricacies of the K31 bolt design. In short, according to the aforementioned poster, the answer is NO, the K31 is will not fire unless the bolt is fully positioned in the forward position.

 

[yankytrash]

Reminds me of a situation we had here in my area about 4 years ago...

Man goes to court for shootin another man with a 22 rifle. It's common knowledge the shot man screwed the first guy 1 year previously over some concrete finishing in his basement. I think we call that "feudin" round here. Anywho...

Judge asks for man's defense, and why he did it. Man says, "The gun just went off by itself!" DA stands up and asks to interject. Judge lets him. DA says, "Your honor, the victim was shot twice..... with a bolt action rifle!!"

I think he was let off with a warning about feudin'. Had to pick up trash on the side of the highway for awhile though...

 

[Jim K]

If the K31 firing pin is released without the bolt being fully locked, the firing pin cam drops onto the cocking cam and can't go all the way forward. It will then either force the bolt to lock, which will dissipate its energy, or stop short of protruding from the bolt face. This is essentially no different from the same basic setup on a Mauser bolt action, though it is a little less obvious in a K31.

Jim