Rebarrelling a K-31 ?

[Phantom Man]

If your K-31 barrel is shabby and you cannot find a NOS replacement, any good gun-plumber could run up a replacement in blued or stainless. I might cost more than a whole new K-31, but them's the breaks.

The only other caveat is rim size. the smaller diameter of the .308Win rim WILL cause a certain amount of annoyance because of ejection "failures". I had similar issues with my K-11, using .284Win brass, before all that Serbian stuff turned up.

A little "adjustment" of the travel of the extractor improved it, a little, and it was OK for "slow-fire" matches. Rapid? Not so much. Converting to .308Win without altering the bolt-face AND the extractor is fraught with adventure.

If your barrel is in good condition, just stick with the original cartridge. The biggest challenge, then, is to find a source of GP-11 bullets or a similarly profiled bullet. K-31 barrel have short throats and Sierra Match Kings are a problem because of their tangent ogive. You could get that friendly local gunsmith to CAREFULLY lengthen the throat do accept 168gn SMKs, or similar, or find a bullet with a secant ogive.

Cheers from Oz.

You could set the bullet further back in the case. Lecac on youtube is the best Swiss K31 loader I know of.

[Calif-Steve]

K31's are not rare around here. I would sell it of and buy another nice rifle. Good luck.

[Pierre]

FAQ | Swissproductsusa

[mr humble]

I ended up sending it off to JES and now it is a 35x55 "Swiss"
Rebored and rerifled, 3 grooves .357 with neck opend up.
Use 350 RemMag dies to reload.
Matches/exceeds 358 Winchester.



Barnes, Nosler, Speer

[Bruce_in_Oz]

It looks like you have re-invented the 9.3 x 55.

Anyone else?

7.5 Swiss and 6.5 x 55 share a common head diameter. (Give or take a couple of thou')

I recall reading somewhere, some-when, that there is a 9.3 x 55 SWEDISH round, used for Elk hunting. There is, of course, the 9.3 x 62, which is a functional equivalent of the 35 Wheal, and then some.

Anyone else considering this sort of adventure should check their local hunting laws to see if they have something against "military" calibres. Then, do some reading and then, if the barrel seems OK, do some tests with the rifle as is. and a selection of decent hunting bullets. You may be surprised.

Given a good barrel, the original cartridge is no slouch; pretty much in the .308 Win range, but given the faster rifling twist, and the larger-capacity case, capable of holding a bit more of the SLOWER powder of your choice to drive 180-190gn spitzer soft-points with gusto..

If it works, in the field, it's not a silly idea.

Have fun. Trophy pics by Christmas?