K31

All in all the K31 for me has been the best value in the milsurp shooting.
Out standing trigger for a general issue rifle. well built smooth action and tough to beat for the price range.
I shot CMP Vintage Military Match at 200 yards today and did pretty well.
My only issue with the K31 is its small notch rear sight. If the K31 had a rear aperture sight I think it would be worth another 20 points...
I could not have been more pleased with it today. Although I shoot lefty and its not a very LH friendly platform I still managed a decent score and was able to get off all 20 rounds in rapids in time.

not the easiest to see but for the first 35 rounds I put all but 5 in the black.



score from today

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Yeah, the next time mac1911 complains about eyesight... [wink]

Really nice shooting. How are the sights on the K31?
 
Jeez those prone scores...Handloads, I assume? Last I heard 7.5 Swiss was hard to come by?

Surplus 7.5 GP11 ammo is basically match grade but I think mac was shooting reloads.

GP11 ammo was hard to come by up until a couple months ago, now it's everywhere online.
 
Jeez those prone scores...Handloads, I assume? Last I heard 7.5 Swiss was hard to come by?

GP 11 comes and goes and is still cheap under 60 cents so far. The GP11 shoots great also. I would bet I would have scored just as well with it. Even PPU is pretty good.

If you own a swiss in 7.5x55 swiss and do not or do not plan to reload buy as much gp11 as you can...
Im spent on fun money but the next 500$ or so I come into is going into some GP11. just so i dont have to reload for it...
 
I always thought straight pulls like the K31 and Mannlicher were really cool conceptually, although I've never tried one. Did you reach over with the left to operate it or slide the right hand down?
 
I always thought straight pulls like the K31 and Mannlicher were really cool conceptually, although I've never tried one. Did you reach over with the left to operate it or slide the right hand down?

I reach over....there is no real good way to operate a bolt action quickly shooting LH and using your right hand. Also you loose your support arm position each time throughing your NPOA off even more.

Only issue with the K31 is reaching over you tend to pull up and back which can cause ejection problems as the K31 is not very forgiving on a weak pull...tends to flop the case out and sometimes drops back into the reciever....which happened to me on prone rapids which I blame those 7s on because I rushed just to get the shots off in time.....and I really pressed the clock. Sitting rapids not as hard.
 
Yeah, the next time mac1911 complains about eyesight... [wink]

Really nice shooting. How are the sights on the K31?

they suck.... thats why I blasted my way through prone slow fire in 15 minutes because if I take to long my eyes wig out and I see a somewhat double rear sight....I get what I can best describe is a ghost view or 2nd plain of the top edge of the rear sight.
 
they suck.... thats why I blasted my way through prone slow fire in 15 minutes because if I take to long my eyes wig out and I see a somewhat double rear sight....I get what I can best describe is a ghost view or 2nd plain of the top edge of the rear sight.

Hey, at least they are not moving around. I think I'm going to store my '03 original rear sight and fit a replacement that I can tweak and not alter the all original rifle. I may go ahead and mount a USMC front post as well- original got a little fuzzy by the end.
 
Hey, at least they are not moving around. I think I'm going to store my '03 original rear sight and fit a replacement that I can tweak and not alter the all original rifle. I may go ahead and mount a USMC front post as well- original got a little fuzzy by the end.

I think bill makes a modified rear sight leaf also with a larger aperture The .100" front sight is awesome love mine. I need a larger rear aperture on my 1903a3 .....have the cobwebs right now...
 
Looks like Bill Bentz does make a wider 03 blade along with the proper rear aperture. I might get that.

The wide blade for my 03a3 increased my scores considerably.
 
Does one use an 1907 style sling on K31s? I was just thinking, hypothetically, if I were to use my Mosin on a vintage shoot or my SKS or AK on modern mil shoot how the sling would work since the attachments don't seem like they'd work quite right for a 1907. On the the SKS, it's really narrow and on the side vertically.

A different type? Go without? My SKS has the issued sling on it at present, but at best it could be used as a hasty sling which seems kind of pointless.

I was amazed at how big a difference it made with the M1. I don't think I'd want to go without one in prone now if I could help it. I can see why Jeff Cooper really liked them, although he preferred the Ching Sling (I'd have to reread the section of Art of the Rifle, but if I recall it was because he was speaking mainly of the field, where you might not have time to get looped up, and the Ching is quicker).
 
Does one use an 1907 style sling on K31s? I was just thinking, hypothetically, if I were to use my Mosin on a vintage shoot or my SKS or AK on modern mil shoot how the sling would work since the attachments don't seem like they'd work quite right for a 1907. On the the SKS, it's really narrow and on the side vertically.

A different type? Go without? My SKS has the issued sling on it at present, but at best it could be used as a hasty sling which seems kind of pointless.

I was amazed at how big a difference it made with the M1. I don't think I'd want to go without one in prone now if I could help it. I can see why Jeff Cooper really liked them, although he preferred the Ching Sling (I'd have to reread the section of Art of the Rifle, but if I recall it was because he was speaking mainly of the field, where you might not have time to get looped up, and the Ching is quicker).

Yes you can adapt m1907 or GI web slig to be used on vintage rifles and other mondern military rifles.
The US military is the only one I know that teaches sling use if they even still do.


The Ching sling is a somewhat modified loop sling. the "idea" behind the ching sling is its adjusted for carry then the "loop" is adjusted for shooting. better than hasty sling for sure.

proper use of the loop sling is as good as a front rest or bag.
 
Just noticed a K-31 in the Trader if anyone was looking for one after all this conversation.

I have no rabbit in this fight; just passing it along...

T
 
If you don't have one yet, you need to find room in the safe. I think I've used IMR 3031, 4064, and wc844 with 168 Noslers. An under-appeciated and under-valued rifle!
 
If you don't have one yet, you need to find room in the safe. I think I've used IMR 3031, 4064, and wc844 with 168 Noslers. An under-appeciated and under-valued rifle!

Especially when you slap a scope on one like I did. Holy crap these old rifles are accurate.
 
This is the K31 I picked up from the MC guy when he had a small group of rifles with Schuetzenfest stickers. The name on the match stickers are the same as the troop tag under the butt plate, so this guy had this thing in the service and then later as a civvie. Should be a good shooter, right?

Lately I've been struggling a little to find a load that stays well within the 10-ring. No matter what I tried, I could just barely hold the 10-ring, if at all.

DWhGoGUl.jpg


Given the rainy 'indoor' weather, I set up a few loads to test with 155 SMK Palmas & Varget, 155 SMK Palmas & light load of 2520, and 168 SMK's and Varget. I loaded what I thought was going to be short enough, grabbed some GP11, and threw it all in the range bag.

Oops- all the SMK loads were too long. Projectiles were jamming into the lands, so aborted that mission and just played around with the GP11. As you can see below, it was shooting much better than in prior trips and/or matches. What was the difference this time?

6urbDHAl.jpg


The usual 5 shots at 100 yards, 50 out of 50 pts and 2X, maybe 3X. Gusty as hell today. I shot other targets pretty close to this with maybe a pulled shot or two that I called and was totally my bad, though barely outside the 10-ring.

How did I tighten the groups with this rifle? The only difference is that I re-torqued all the screws. Tang and receiver screws were not loose but were on their way to be loose. Tightened them up gradually, with a little more torque to the tang screw for the final twist. The upper and lower band screws needed some torquing down as well. That's it- and the above target probably could have been better if my eyes were better and the mirage wasn't as heavy as it was today.

I'll shorten up the other test rounds and report back once evaluated. Only bad thing about the GP11 is that it beats the crap out of my shoulder. I need to wear my shooting jacket or I fear I'll knock loose the screws holding my shoulder together. We had a nice crowd at the range today, and the first shot of GP11 prompted a couple, "What the hell is that? That thing is LOUD!"
 
Oops- all the SMK loads were too long. Projectiles were jamming into the lands, so aborted that mission and just played around with the GP11. As you can see below, it was shooting much better than in prior trips and/or matches. What was the difference this time?

Although most .308" diameter bullets will top the 7.5x55mm, you do need to check each bullet profile in your chamber before doing a large production run.
I end up shooting my "go to" 30 caliber bullet, the Lyman 311410, with powder-puff pistol powder loads. These don't bother the shoulder at all. Can't say I've done any serious benchrest work with these, but with optics, I can't blame things on my eyes anymore.
7xu1Ydn.jpg

With irons, I'm hardly much of a marksman...
adJ47Zh.jpg
 
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Although most .308" diameter bullets will top the 7.5x55mm, you do need to check each bullet profile in your chamber before doing a large production run.
I end up shooting my "go to" 30 caliber bullet, the Lyman 311410, with powder-puff pistol powder loads. These don't bother the shoulder at all. Can't say I've done any serious benchrest work with these, but with optics, I can't blame things on my eyes anymore.
7xu1Ydn.jpg

With irons, I'm hardly much of a marksman...
adJ47Zh.jpg

Yeah, glad I only loaded a few cases per load. Won't be much work to shorten them up. If I had a Hornady prepared case, that would make things easy to get the OAL right.

Once I get through the regional CMP match in Vermont, I want to start playing around with my Ranch Dog molds. I think I can run them as molded in my M39 and sized down a tad in the K31 and 1903. I doubt there's much cast load data for these. I though they'd be pretty close to a .308 but the 7.5 Swiss has ~20% more case capacity.
 
Yeah, glad I only loaded a few cases per load. Won't be much work to shorten them up. If I had a Hornady prepared case, that would make things easy to get the OAL right.

Once I get through the regional CMP match in Vermont, I want to start playing around with my Ranch Dog molds. I think I can run them as molded in my M39 and sized down a tad in the K31 and 1903. I doubt there's much cast load data for these. I though they'd be pretty close to a .308 but the 7.5 Swiss has ~20% more case capacity.
There is data, cast loads are fun. Im sure that ranch dog will do well in the K31. I have not gone down that road yet.
the ranch dog is a short bullet so i dont thing getting to the lands is a issue.
I need to get the fat front sight on my swiss i have 2 hieghts to choose from. Maybe its time to see where it shoots with cast then decide.
 
There is data, cast loads are fun. Im sure that ranch dog will do well in the K31. I have not gone down that road yet.
the ranch dog is a short bullet so i dont thing getting to the lands is a issue.
I need to get the fat front sight on my swiss i have 2 hieghts to choose from. Maybe its time to see where it shoots with cast then decide.

That fat front sight really helps. I'm tempted to order a couple just to have spares. Need to get off my ass and put the fat front sight on my 1903.
 
Squeezed these down for ~.010" jump. Was surprised how much, which confirms that K31's really have a short throat. Here's the quick results shot this evening in shitty light:

dRsLeUzh.jpg


I think the Varget + 155 SMK Palmas might be a little better than the GP11, but hard to say. That load was at least equal. The 'light' 2520 load allowed some soot to travel back a bit from the case mouth, so I bet the internal pressures were not as consistent as the semi-light Varget loads.

I'll probably just shoot the GP11 in the CMP Vermont match and keep a bottle of advil handy. Maybe a screwdriver in case the hardware in my shoulder comes loose. I bet a slightly hotter Varget load will tighten up those 155's a little more. Worth noting that the SMK Palma bullets are an improvement over the standard SMK's.

I was definitely surprised that the POI's were so close to each other, at least vertically. OK, the GP11 projectile is heavier but it's a pretty hot round.
 
How far out do you shoot at VT? I have had pretty good luck with ridiculously low charges of varget behind my 168 nosler CC's...like 35gr low. kinda doubt they'd be any good past 200 yards though.

I couldn't comment on Varget specifically, but some powders get weird in a bad way with light loads. Secondary explosive effect or something like that- not really a detonation but macht nichts- end result is the same shorts-changer, if you are lucky. The mid load for 2520 was given to me by a guy that for the last few years usually wins events at Perry. Also, I'll use a light load of 4198 based on recommendation that I verified via other sources. Those are the only two light loads I use that are not specifically listed by the powder manufacturer.

The above target shot with 2520 is very consistent with other targets I have shot with this load via this rifle as well as one I had before. In each case, there is evidence of gas coming back over the cartridge. Hotter loads don't do this- I assume the brass is expanding and sealing the pressure from blowing back. Total supposition on my part, but the physical evidence is there. I bet that if I were to fire form some brass then neck size only, the reduced 2520 groups would tighten up a lot. So long as the loaded cartridges cycle OK. I bet the guy killin' it at Perry and elsewhere has his brass very well prepped for his particular rifle.
 
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