New Swiss Finds: 1940 K-31, GP-11 and M18 Stahlhelm

[Hcompton79]

Oh no! The Swiss bug appears to be hitting hard. I picked up a number of items over the weekend.

Number one is this K-31, I got a taste of Swiss rifle performance with my IG1911 but wanted a K-31 to compare and this one showed up locally. I went to take a look at it and it ended up coming home with me.

The serial number range would make it a 1940 produced rifle. It has a few dings on the stock and the bluing is about 90% but the stock doesn't show the usual sings of beaver chewing. All parts are matching including the wood and magazine. The barrel is in the usual excellent condition, chromed look throughout with sharp lands and grooves. It is import marked, but fortunately this was done on the bottom of the barrel where it is fairly inconspicuous unlike some of those ghastly import marks under the Swiss crest sometimes seen on other K-31s.

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Number two is 120 rounds of the good stuff, bricks of 1983 production GP-11 ammunition, wax around the neck and all.

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I now understand why these rifles get such acclaim even in comparison to the other great Swiss rifles. I do not know if the trigger on this example has been worked on, it does not appear to have been when I had it out of the wood but it is excellent. It is even lighter than that on my IG11 and breaks at slightly under two pounds. Also, I have heard that some find the action of the K-31 to not be as smooth as some of its predecessors. I would argue the opposite, both are leaps and bounds better than a Steyr M95 action, but the K-31 seems to glide into battery more easily.

I shot some of the GP-11 at 135 yards offhand and put 19/20 rounds in a 4" bull which for me is pretty good shooting. I may consider putting some diopters on this rifle in the future.

Number three was not something I went looking for but ended up negotiating into the purchase of the above rifle and ammunition. It appears to be a Swiss M18 helmet. The textured finish to the outside is in good shape as is the liner and webbing. It's surprisingly comfortable and doesn't interfere as much with getting a cheek weld on the stock as I would have thought.

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The grand total for this weekends expenditures works out to just shy of $500 which based on the going rate and upward trend for all things Swiss surplus seems like a good deal.

Also exciting is that I found a troop tag under the butt plate, unfortunately I can't quite make it out. It may be in French but the handwriting is a bit difficult to decipher so it could also be German and I just can't read it.

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The top line looks to me like "Pt. Jean M." and I can make out "I/226" in the second line but I am at a loss for the bottom line and uncertain about the name. If anyone can make this out or offer any suggestions let me know.

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