Manufacture date of K31

[Aragorn243]

Serial number puts it as a 1942 production. Walnut stock with III 41 stamped under the buttplate. Inspector mark is Major Muhlemann who went from 1913-1941. Serial number is low in those listed for 1942. Would this make it a December 1941-January 1942 rifle? Was the inspection mark placed prior to final assembly or before?

Information

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[Latigo]

Go here. You'll find your answers.
*NEW members! Please READ THIS before posting!* in Straight-Pull Rifles Forum

[Aragorn243]

Actually, that's the site that created my questions. The serial number date does not match the stock date or the inspectors mark. Both of them indicate 1941. The serial number indicates 1942. Not an extremely important difference, just curious as to why the discrepancy.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Serial number is low in those listed for 1942.

Low? How low? If you revealed the actual serial number it might be easier to imagine (invent?) an explanation.
The site to which you were most usefully directed provides this information:

1941 qty 300 numbered 402301-402600
1942 qty 650 numbered 402501[sic]-403150[sic]

- From which you can see that there was some kind of overlap in numbering between 1941 and 1942. The anomaly is for 1942 stamped rifles with numbers between 402501 and 402600. A pity you did not tell us the number of your rifle!

Maybe a Swiss expert will enlighten us, but until then I will hazard a guess that the receivers were numbered sequentially as they were produced, before any final acceptance. For some reason (Christmas/New Year holiday break?) the usally meticulous Swiss machinery slipped a cog:

"I'm sure there was another crate of receivers around here the other day - oh well, they'll turn up sometime. Meanwhile, let's carry on with the next batch (from 402601)..."

... or something like that, and an unspecified number of rifles - which had already had the serial numbers applied in production - only had the date applied when it was already 1942.

Just a theory, facts would be welcome!


Patrick

[Aragorn243]

Patrick,

Sorry, the serial number is 692491 which might put it in late January early February. According to the charts, there is no overlap on this series of rifles from 1941 to 1942. All numbers do match on all parts including the stock and handguard and no indication they were changed. Yet it has a III 41 stock which I'm guessing is March of 1941 and Major Mühlemann's (1913-1941) inspectors mark.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Opps! I slipped there, and seem to have been looking at the number for private series rifles!

[diopter]

Stocks were dated before they were dried, then left to dry.
Stock should always be date earlier than serial number production date for the rifle.
Must have had a minimum dry time, say 6months-year so having the month and year make it easy to check dry-time, then if it passes dryness test off to production or else back to drying.

[Aragorn243]

That explains the stock. Any chance the inspectors didn't change jobs on the 1st of the year? That in itself seems a bit peculiar if they did.

[diopter]

Doubt anyone can tell exactly what parts the inspection marks were for.
A complete rifle would not be nessecary if they were just concerned with headspace, metalurgy, hardness, stock bedding, proof loads, etc.......

[Aragorn243]

I ordered the "For Collectors Only" book on these so hopefully it will shed some light on the inspectors marks. I'll post any new info I find when the book arrives.