First Impressions: Swiss K31 (7.5x55mm)

tl;dr BEST RIFLE EVER

Best Rifle Ever

Long Version:

Price: I picked this one up locally for $220 out the door. They usually run around $250-300. This was sort of an impulse buy for me, even though I’ve had my eyes set on one for a while.

Description: The K31 is the standard issue Swiss military rifle from 1933 to 1958. What separates the K31 from the other rifles of the time is the unique straight pull bolt design. The bolt action most people are familiar with is the classic turn bolt design, where you must unlock the breech by turning the bolt before you can open the action.

The bolt

The K31 skips a step and goes straight (pun intended) for the pull. Thanks to clever Swiss engineering unlocking the breech and opening the action is the same motion. This gives the K31 a huge advantage in speed over traditional bolt actions.

The gun is chambered in the 7.5x55mm Swiss round. Hornady makes hunting loads for it, which are expensive because it’s Hornady, but there are also a fair amount of surplus available. Buying in bulk comes down to about $0.60 a shot. Not as cheap as the 7.62x54r but compared to .30-06 it’s more than fair. Especially since the Swiss surplus ammo is very high quality. The Swiss takes their guns seriously, the surplus ammo is non-corrosive!

Due to the non-corrosive ammo, the bore is PERFECT. Most of the rifles you see will have a lot of marks and dings on the stock. That’s because on long marches the soldiers would put their rifle between their back and backpack, and the backpacks would scratch at the stock. But the receiver and bore should be near spotless.

Another cool feature of the K31 is the ability to detach the magazine. Unlike other bolt actions, which just allowed you to open the built in magazine, the K31 actually has a self containing detachable magazine, pretty neat. Also, it holds 6 rounds, quite an old number.

Action open and magazine out

Last Words: I love it. I think it’s a really interesting gun and I’m glad I bought one. The Swiss really know their stuff, and their craftsmanship never ceases to impress me.

I’ll put up a range review when I get the chance to go to the range!

Dat swiss cross

Next to a Super Scope for scale lolololol