Thinking about picking up a few "new" old girls

[DesertEagle]

I'm thinking about hitting the sotre tomorrow and having him order me in a schmit-rubin (spelled wrong) and a Mosin-Nagant 91/31. Got to see a few at the range the other day and got me in a buying mood. Got to get these old beauties and save them from neglect ;f

I'm not 100% on both yet, I will almost certainly get one. If I have to pick, I'll probably go w/ the S/R over the mosin, since it seems like mosins are just everywhere.

D.E.

[22/45]

Good idea to stay away from the Mosins. They're terribly addictive ;P

I got my 03 in June, and have since bought four Mosins - three M44's and one 91/30. Now I'm looking to buy two more M44's for some unknown reason.

[DesertEagle]

Dammit, I've been very very naughty. I went in to see about getting them ordered, and he had a clean, good condition (80-90%) k31 just sitting there waiting for me ;f

Well, it ended costing about half again as much, but I got to buy it sight-seen. So $173 later, I have a nice k31 and two boxes of the 7.5x55 sitting in my trunk :) I'll post pics when I get home tonight.

He ordered the 91/31 for me also ;f

D.E.

[DesertEagle]

Honestly, my Enfield must have mated or something, cause I KNOW I can't afford new guns, but this followed me home today.... I must be it's daddy ;f

D.E.

[DesertEagle]

Another, of the crest

[DesertEagle]

I've been giving it its first, "welcome home" cleaning, and it appears my particular speciman is marked "46" (I'm guessing production year) and in a nice surprise which I hadn't really even bothered checking at the store, all matching serials, including the magazine ;f

Also has the swiss shield/heart very clearly on the top of the reciever, as you can see in the second picture. All in all, I'm happy about the whole situation.

D.E.

[22/45]

That K31 looks great!! I've been tempted by those in the past. Can you show some more detail on the straight-pull bolt, or explain how it works? Never seen one in person.

[DesertEagle]

Thanks :) Ask and ye shall recieve (especially after complimenting my new toy ;f)

Here is a picture of the action in the at rest/post firing/not cocked position. The ring is the hammer/cocked indicator, as with even modern bolt actions, as well as old rifles like my enfield.

(1/3)

[DesertEagle]

here in #2, we see HOW the straight pull works... Much like the ar-15 or ak47, it has a rotating bolt (forgive me for non-techincal terms, a mechanic I ain't :f)

The side knob is part of a rail, which is held at a constant position within the reciever. This rail has a nub that sticks into the curved guide channel on the bolt, which is free to rotate in the sleeve/lug area, but has an internal core which does not (including the piece on the end. During the working of the action, the bolt rotates out of lock, back, then forward, and rotates the lugs back into lock.

2/3

[DesertEagle]

finally, in number three, we see it back in firing position, the bolt locked forward, and the hammer cocked back and under tension from the spring waiting to pull it forward into the firing pin, which would then strike the cartridge and make the boomstick speak and breathe fire ;f

D.E.

[DesertEagle]

As far as what is happening within the reciever...

Go Here (Big PDF file w/ more info than you could have wanted) (http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/english_k11_k31_manual.pdf)

[DesertEagle]

Pending anymore questions (other than how it shoots ;f Range trip will be sat at earliest)

You almost certainly WILL want to get into reloading if you get one and plan on shooting it with any regularity. I've already ordered dies and some brass for it. The dies are surprisingly cheap (I guess enough people buy these and reload where it's enough demand they're not a custom run) and in fact are cheaper by a few bucks than 303 brit dies (which I also have on the way finally, for my 1mk3), at least in the lee brand.

Brass is the opposite though, and it's a bit of a doozy. The only brass (on midway at least) is norma, no one else, period. full stop. end of story. Their brass is 16.78/20 for the 7.5x55 swiss. 303 you have your pick of the more standard generic winny/remmy in addition to the european price-tag-gang like Lapua and Norma. I got the 303 in remmy for $10 and change/50.

The good news is the 7.5 shoots your standard .308 dia bullets, so if you already load 308 or '06 (depending on weights) you will already have bullets available, and if not they're pretty reasonable. Even the 303 174 grain matchkings weren't ludicrous.

My recommendation, get yourself a k-31. They are cool as heck, probably one of if not the first gun to use a rotating bolt action, so they're historic in that sense. And to boot they're still cheap, but from what I hear, stores of them may be lower than stores of rifles like the Mosin's and Enfields. But maybe those are just wives tales. The cartridge is about equal to a .308, less 100 fps (avg load) in each bullet weight, while 7.62x54R in mosins tends to be 308 + 100 fps (according to the hogden's data)

D.E.

[OcabJ]

Brass is the opposite though, and it's a bit of a doozy. The only brass (on midway at least) is norma, no one else, period. full stop. end of story. Their brass is 16.78/20 for the 7.5x55 swiss.

I've got a 'select grade' K-31 in transit from AIM and I should have it in my hands on Monday. I already ordered Hornady Series III dies and .284 brass. You can neck up .284 brass to 7.5x55 Swiss. The only quirk you may have is that the rim of a .284 case is a little different than a 7.5x55. There could be a small extraction problem, but according to swissrifles.com, most people don't experience this. Winchester makes .284 brass and 50 packs are less than $16.39 from Graf's (with dealer discount). Graf's sells their own 7.5x55 brass for $23.9 per 100 (dealer discounted), but I believe they import the stuff and don't actually make it themselves.

[DesertEagle]

Originally posted by OcabJ
Graf's sells their own 7.5x55 brass for $23.9 per 100 (dealer discounted), but I believe they import the stuff and don't actually make it themselves.

I'll have to check out what my price is on that. I'd rather stick with true 7.5x55 brass instead of shoehorning, but that's just me. Midway's Norma would end up $85/100, or so. If I can get another for even $50/100 that would be a good bit of savings. Thanks for the h/u

D.E.

[OcabJ]

I'll have to check out what my price is on that. I'd rather stick with true 7.5x55 brass instead of shoehorning, but that's just me. Midway's Norma would end up $85/100, or so. If I can get another for even $50/100 that would be a good bit of savings. Thanks for the h/u

Be sure to fax a cover sheet and a copy of your C&R to them to get the dealer discount. They should send you email confirming dealer access fairly quickly after they receive your C&R. You can always snail mail it, too, but fax is faster (1-800 number, too).

[DesertEagle]

Well, I would if I had a C&R> I know they cheap as dirt practically, but I just haven't done it yet. Normal is about $28/100 so it's only a few bucks more.

D.E.