"Overview of the K31 Series of Rifles- Part 1"

This section covers a brief history of the straight pull rifle, the design of the K31, and a few facts about the series and service life.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• K31
• K-31
• 7.5x55mm
• Swiss
• Switzerland
• Schmidt
• Rubin
• Model
• 1911
• 1899
• surplus
• rifle

[semiautoriflelover]

So does this mean all modern made custom made heavy free floated barrels with night force scopes and modern handloads are no match for this rifle?

[Iraqveteran8888]

@semiautoriflelover I never said it was the best rifle in the world hands down, but from a standpoint of having 300 bucks burning a hole in your pocket you won't find a better shooting rifle for the money. At least one that is as much fun to shoot as these are. Asthetics and cool factor count for something still, don't they?

[semiautoriflelover]

@Iraqveteran8888 I'm going to buy one in 2 weeks at a gun show but I'm getting a little sick of hearing guys talking shit about my remington model 700 hbar barrel free floated in .22-250, my rifle with me firing it will go against any classic rifle, it usually is under half inch groups. You hear the guys saying " you can't buy accuracy" etc. Of course you can, buy a free floated $500 barrel for a remington 700 and there you go. A .338 Lapua magnum round in Barrett will kill easier at 1000.

[Iraqveteran8888]

@semiautoriflelover You are taking what I am saying the wrong way. Of course a modern rifle is going to be more accurate, especially if you dump big bucks on a good rifle. That's not what the argument in question is about. Surplus rifles are full of history, often very capable in terms of accuracy, and just fun to shoot. With that being said, I'd trust my life with a quality surplus gun.

[GunGod777]

Iraqveteran I was planning on getting a good hunting rifle, and I was wondering if the Schmidt Rubin would be a good choice to get for using its iron sights at ranges of up to 300 yards?

[Iraqveteran8888]

@GunGod777 Absolutely...300 yards is childs play for these rifles.

[No1118117]

I remember reading a little anecdote (almost certainly apocryphal) from WW1.

It was that at the opening of the war, the Triple Alliance had threatened to invade Switzerland with an army of 1 000 000 men, to Switzerlands 200 000. A Prussian General asked a Swiss diplomat what Switzerlands course of action would be as they were so badly outnumbered. His reply was that the army would march to the border, and each Swiss soldier would take 5 shots then go home. The rest is history.

Great rifle.

[Iraqveteran8888]

@gonner212 Well I wasn't really get at that all together so to speak. Of course the RIFLE didn't keep Switzerland out of WW2...I meant more or less that the Germans knew the training and capabilities that the Swiss had afforded to them by their neutrality. The Germans knew that every man was a rifleman and that every avenue was pre-registered for Mortars, Artillery, and not to mention land mines. But to say the Germans didn't want Switzerland is crazy...Of course they wanted it...

[KernalOfTruth]

reason the Swiss did not fight in ww2 was not because of the K31. you could say it was because everyone had a gun (not the type of gun), the terrain, snow, preparation for war, not mention banking. just stick to guessing about how guns work and not history.

[ryanwhitman000]

@No1118117 Good stuff!

[slapmeknutts]

This rifle is the reason that Switzerland wasn't invaded by the Nazi's.

These straight pull Swiss rifles are some of the finest C&R milsurps out there.

[GerryReno1]

Have you considered rotating your scope a tad clockwise to center the scope over the barrel when the reticle is horizontal? Thats how the Russians set up the Mosin snipers. Love your vids by the way , keep up the good work!!

[MrGummibaerli]

Well this riffle was used well beyond the seventies. In 1958, the army just started to replace it through the Stgw 57 in combat units, but some support units, composed of older men (Landwehr and Landsturm, men aged between 32 and 50) never got an assault riffle.

My father was trained in 1958 and still got this riffle, because he was a machine gunner. He got the Stgw 57 a few years later.

[nikkthequick84]

AWESOME DUDE!! that video makes me so proud to be swiss :-)

i shot these karabiner 31 a lot when i was younger, befor i got my sig550 from military! i think they are extremly accurate for these days they were build in. in switzerland you can buy these in every gunstore for arround 150.-swiss francs. and you dont need a "weaponlicence" for it.

thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!

greetings from switzerland....

[NickCampbellSoup]

What Iraqveteran means when he says that every man was a rifleman and were feared as such is that every swiss male did 1 year manditory service in the military and remained as reservists for a number of years. The swiss even during the WWI and WWII had well trianed and highly profesional conscript army with large reserves that could be mobilized very quickly.

[ihaterobbie123]

"There's a reason that (the Swiss) didn't have to fight in WW2, and the K31 is it."

I'm sorry, that's not how it works. No matter how much people will it otherwise, war is political these days.

[TheRusty58]

@Iraqveteran8888

WW 2, somewhere at the Swiss - German border: A German general asked the Swiss commander in chief general Henry Guisan: " So, you have 500.000 soldiers. What do you do if I am attacking with 1.000.000 soldiers"? General Guisan: " Well, all my soldiers have to shoot twice"!

This is a small anecdote, which the Swiss soldiers during the siege by the Axis Powers told to each other.

With the K11 and K31 in their hands!

[TheRusty58]

@Iraqveteran8888 Hello from Switzerland! I have my fathers K31. Dad provided military service with this rifle from 1948 to 1978, shot thousands of GP11 and also many rifle grenades, carried his rifle through dirt and snow and it still has the first barrel. The rifle is still very accurate, I shoot from time to time with it. To hit a 20 cm target with this gun at a distance of 300 meters is not a masterpiece. I told my father of your video. He is very pleased! Regards