Has anyone sporterized a K-31? I am getting one for my collection and thinking about getting another to 'smith into a hunting rifle.

Pictures?

Fast Ed

There was an artical with photos in the now defunt "Accurate Rifle" magazine a few years ago. A Mr Chandler, the same guy that wrote several books on snipers, had one built, and it was a beauty. Cost was over 7K as I remember. Ther is a Swiss Rifles website with loys of entrys on sporterized K-31's also. Those rifles are great shooters.

I don't believe they'd play well in what I think of as a sporter - something with a scope, that is. The K-31 ejects pretty much straight up, it appears from photos.
sff

Jaywalker

the top eject is the biggest problem, boyds does make sporter stocks, also the saftey isn't what I would pick for a hunting rifle. my suggestion get a saint marie clamp on scope mount, and shoot it as is, the trigger should already be great, I have 2 that will shoot sub MOA, with nothing done to them, in militay configuration with scope mount. Try that with any other 60+ yr old warhorse

quote:

Originally posted by cummins cowboy:
the top eject is the biggest problem, boyds does make sporter stocks, also the saftey isn't what I would pick for a hunting rifle. my suggestion get a saint marie clamp on scope mount, and shoot it as is, the trigger should already be great, I have 2 that will shoot sub MOA, with nothing done to them, in militay configuration with scope mount. Try that with any other 60+ yr old warhorse

No big deal, got a VZ-24 that is sub 1/2 moa

quote:

Originally posted by Jaywalker:
I don't believe they'd play well in what I think of as a sporter - something with a scope, that is. The K-31 ejects pretty much straight up, it appears from photos.
sff
Jaywalker

I can't help much in terms of photos etc, but we do see a ton of sporterized Swiss army rifles here in Switzerland (hardly surprising).

The scope mount is not a problem, and there do not seem to be any issues regarding ejection either. The typical mount we see here, is a side mount, positioned on the right side of the receiver (somewhat surprisingly), left side mounted scopes are also seen. These guns can be amazingly accurate. Our very own "Collani" shoots one of these rifles, and very effectively, I may add.

Maybe Collani will spot this post, in which case he will probably reply. These days, he does not have as much time for posting on the Internet, though. If he has not replied in a few days, I may try to nudge him...

- mike

P.S. I went looking for Collani's website, and lo and behold, he has a bunch of stuff on sporterized K31s... Check THIS out. All this not to steal Collani's thunder, I'm sure he will join us and contribute from his vast experience. But until such time, we can enjoy all the information he has already posted on the Web...

Swiss Rifles Website

There's tons of general info on the K-31 as well as many other Swiss rifles - as you'd expect. Check the links to other pages as well.

mho,
In the pics I've seen of the K31 sniper variant it looks like the action is in the stock at a couple of degree off vertical (rotated clockwise around the barrel).
Is this true or is it an optical illusion in the photos? click here for pics

Rusty, you are correct the receiver is rotated and the cases do not eject straight up. IIRC, even though they are quite similar, only two pieces are interchangeable between the 20 something pounds of the K-55/31 and the 9 pounds of the regular K-31. Best-o-Luck

20 LBs! What did they do, pack the stock with depleted Uranium? I'm glad I don't have to hump that thing around.

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:

quote:

Originally posted by cummins cowboy:
the top eject is the biggest problem, boyds does make sporter stocks, also the saftey isn't what I would pick for a hunting rifle. my suggestion get a saint marie clamp on scope mount, and shoot it as is, the trigger should already be great, I have 2 that will shoot sub MOA, with nothing done to them, in militay configuration with scope mount. Try that with any other 60+ yr old warhorse

No big deal, got a VZ-24 that is sub 1/2 moa

lets put a rack of milsurp rifles you pick one out of 50 one vz 24 and one k31, I would bet on average the k31 would be twice as accurate as a VZ 24. remember milsurp config only, I have never seen a vz 24 that didn't have a sewer pipe bore, I think the k31 will even shoot better than the touted swedish mauser.

quote:

lets put a rack of milsurp rifles you pick one out of 50 one vz 24 and one k31, I would bet on average the k31 would be twice as accurate as a VZ 24. remember milsurp config only,

I wouldn't be surprised. I shot one at the range last Fall, and it was great. Nice trigger, and even with the open sights, I shot way better than I expected to be able to.

There's a gunsmith who specializes in replacing the barrel (horrors!) with one in .308, but I've unfortunately misplaced the link.

Jaywalker

Anybody got an extra $500 or so? Try contacting larry racine @ lprgunsmith.com/ A 308 or a 6.5 might be as good a choice as the original 7.5 Best-o-Luck

Mine is pretty much stock, except for the refinished stock and installation of a scope using the rear sight mount. With a scope in this position, the EER pistol scopes work well and don't get in the way of ejected cases. I'm shooting 46.0 WW748 and a 168 Sierra MK in a Norma case and getting groups at or near an inch using a 2X Leupold EER optics.

If you want to talk K-31 rifles, here's the place to go:

http://p090.ezboard.com/fcollectorguns35625frm1