My first K11 Karbine-where did the wood come from?

[dryheat]

I would bet money that this rifle, that is all matching including the wood came from an older model that was cut down to fit the new barrel ect. but I can't prove it. Or did they actually make stocks for the K11 and stamp the numbers in the channel to match the receiver?

Information

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[Pierre]

K11 stocks are, indeed, rifle specific and were manufactured as such.
P

[Eaglelord17]

The Swiss never cut down rifles to make carbines, they purpose built carbines. The only thing which is close to a exemption is when they made the K11's they converted most the 1900 Short Rifles and 1905 Carbines to be the K11 standard, much like how they converted most the G1889/96 rifles into the G11 pattern.

[Pierre]

My apologies. I thought he was talking about the stock and not the rifles.
The G11` and K11 rifles with the customized stocks were those imported in the 60s and 70s by two main companies, those being Golden State arms and Santa Fe arms. The majority of them were converted to .308, but some were left in the original caliber. The 1889's are generally converted to 30-30.
The 1889's were not converted to the G11 profile. The stocks were not the same.
P

[dryheat]

I'm glad I asked. What made me wonder was the aluminum ring at the end of the stock. I figured they put that there to take up the space when they used the older wood. A spacer. They didn't put one on the K31.

[Pierre]

That's because the K31 lower stock was preloaded with 7.5 pounds of up pressure. That was not so with the G 11 series. The entire explanation is right here.

FAQ | Swissproductsusa

P

[dryheat]

That's interesting. I saw that shim on my K31. I don't know if it shoots consistently with all the other K31's but Oh My, is it ever accurate. I will never disassemble this rifle. I was going to post a picture (I'm really proud of this rifle) but I'll have to read up on the instructions.




I haven't fired the K11 yet.

[Eaglelord17]

I'm glad I asked. What made me wonder was the aluminum ring at the end of the stock. I figured they put that there to take up the space when they used the older wood. A spacer. They didn't put one on the K31.

Thats not the case, all the earlier Schmidt Rubin designs used that aluminum ring to basically 'free float' the barrel. It isn't a spacer, it was a design intention. Here is a thread with some of my Swiss rifles, as you can see all the older designs have that ring on the barrel, be it K11, G11, G1889, etc.

Again your stock is most likely original to your carbine, they didn't really do much recycling unless it was bubba.

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=55185

[Pierre]

I think you are confusing him, sir. I was referring specifically to the shim in the lugwell on all K31s, not the G11 series rifles. The K31s are not Schmidt Rubins.

Detailed comparison of the Schmidt-Rubin Series

I'm the cofounder of Swissrifles.com some 22 years ago.
I know a little bit about them.

[Pierre]

Dryheat, I'd like to make this a less complicated explanation.
The K31 gets its barrel stability (POI control) with the stock by a combination of a lugwell shim and the factory preloading of the fore-stock. It's locked in that position with the barrel bands being down in a dead tight position.

The aluminum sleeve on the G11 series of rifles is not to free float the barrel. Is there to prevent the inside diameter ends of the upper and lower stock wood from being damaged by both barrel harmonics & recoil. In other words, it prevents the wood from splintering on the fore-end. The barrels are in fact, free-floated, but that is because the stock profile itself is manufactured so as not to put undue pressure on the raceway or the fore-end. That aluminum band is important on that series of rifles.

The free-floating of a k31 barrel is an entire subject of its own and involves the very important "barrel harmonics".
That's a beautiful rifle that you have there, and it's certainly worth gleaning as much information as you can about the care and maintenance of your rifle.
Pierre St. Marie