Swiss K31

[Greasemonkey]

This could be a little piece of the reason Hitler did not invade Switzerland. The Swiss Karabiner Model 1931. The Swiss and their long heritage of firearms, were very much like Finland and Sweden. Producers of very high quality weapons. Often toted as one of the top three most accurate military weapons of the era, the metal work, finish and fitting of these is impressive for the time they were made. The bores are typically, due to the Swiss military training, immaculate. Weaponry was the heart and soul of Switzerland, even retired troops were allowed to keep their issued weapons, if they chose to, the military added a "P" prefix to the serial number.

These are not like typical Mauser, Mosin or Enfield, these are a straight pull action, you grab the knob, pull open and slap it shut with the palm. Just a quick back and forth action. It's a very smooth and very quick action. Stocks depending on the year or if refurbed could be either walnut or beech. Rough stocks are typical, and finding a troop ID tag is as well. And reloading is easy, these use a standard .308 bullet.

This is a walnut stocked K31, second from the top rifle in the bottom photo. Oh how I love tiger stripes.






Now the top rifle in the photo is a Swiss Vetterli M1869/71 in 10.4×38Rmm or .41 Swiss rimfire. It was built  a Eidgenössische Montier-Werstätte, in Bern. Out of the total production of all Swiss arsenals of 114,000, that arsenal made a total of 8900 Vetterlis from 1870 to 1875. If I could find the ammo, I would shoot it. The top and bottom K31 are walnut stocks, the middle is beech.

[Dannyboy53]

Beautiful specimens GM. What unlocks the bolt so that it can be pulled back? Stupid question I know but I have never understood why the bolt doesn't slam back when fired!

[Greasemonkey]

The handle has a pin that fits in a groove on the bolt, kind of like a sleeve"bolt part with the serial", as the bolt is moved the pin engaging the sleeve rotates it. There are two lugs on the front of the bolt that rotate and lock and unlock between the bolt and receiver. If the bolt is not fully seated or engaged, it will not fire.

[Phosphorus32]

Another nice set of rifles! I really like that tiger-striped walnut K31 you pointed out. Did you have soldier tags under the buttplates of any of yours?

Thanks for the explanation of the bolt operation on the K31. I assume the ring is the safety...pull and rotate 90 degrees or something like that?

I have a walnut stocked K31 coming in the next couple of weeks so this is an active area of interest for me.

[running-man]

Hey Jon, you're exactly right about the ring being a safety. It is in line with the firing pin so 90 degrees not only safes the gun by making it impossible for the pin to drop, but also locks the bolt in place such that the rifle can't be cycled either. The whole bolt mechanism is a masterpiece in engineering. Lots of slots that parts travel in to cam the bolt in place. The front of the K31 bolt itself looks somewhat like the typical Mauser of the day, two lugs that rotate in place at the front of the bolt. The K11's were the weird looking ones with lugs farther back to the rear.

The Swiss knew what they were doing and it shows.

[Greasemonkey]

Two had the troop tags, some people have actually corresponded with the previous owners of them. On one of mine, I was able to track the fella to the general area, roughly the road he lives or lived on, I didn't go any further.

[Worm]

Soooo.. whenever you wanna sell one of these.. you just let this guy know sound good? 

Gorgeous guns!

[Greasemonkey]

SELL???

One little neat thing, if you ever find and read the Swiss manual, they used grease, to clean, lube and protect. Waffenfett was the original grease, a yellowish grease. The later grease is Automatenfett, also for use in later automatics, it's a black grease with 1-2% moly content. Using a very, very this coat of grease on the action results in a very smooth action, using oil, it feels gritty and kind of rough.

[routeus1]

 http://candrsenal.com/rifle-swiss-karabiner-1931/

Check this link, shows the straight pull working animation...

[John Galt]

G-Monkey,

That is a sweet flame grain walnut 31!  I love it.  I have one that isn't as nicely grained. 

Thanks for posting the pics!

John Galt

[scarymike23]

This could be a little piece of the reason Hitler did not invade Switzerland. The Swiss Karabiner Model 1931.

There's a story that might be just myth, but it's a great quote and fits right into that mindset:

"When the German Kaiser asked in 1912 what the quarter of a million Swiss militiamen would do if invaded by a half million German soldiers, a Swiss replied: shoot twice and go home."

Beautiful rifle GM! I've avoided the siren call of the Swiss masterpieces just because I can't afford to get into another caliber, and a less common one at that. But man.... Those really are some of the finest rifles in the milsurp world. Thanks for sharing!

[Dannyboy53]

Neat story scareymike! It's hard not to believe such a saying given the legendary status of Swiss rifles and marksmanship! Greasemonkey has quite an impressive collection of firearms and knowledge of them...he should open a museum.