BERN K31 7.5x55 SWISS STRAIGHT PULL W/0 MAGAZINE (C&R Eligible) (1)
We've recently acquired a batch of great quality K31 Swiss straight pull rifles!
The rifles will all have:
Matching serial numbers on the receiver
Great condition stocks
Great condition rifling
No magazines are included with rifles
Rifles are sold as singles
Rifles may show signs of wear or handling marks
Stock coloring varys from light to dark. Not hand selected.
*Shipments to California MUST ship to an 01 FFL licensee!*
Check out our article below on the History of the rifles
SWISS K31 STRAIGHT-PULL BOLT ACTION RIFLE
The K31 was the first line weapon of the Swiss military from 1933 to 1958 when it was replaced by the Stgw 57 (SIG SG 510), a modern, detachable magazine fed, select-fire assault rifle. The K31's lingered on as reserve units as late as the 1970s. 528,230 K31's were produced by highly skilled hands, supervised by meticulous inspectors at the Swiss government arsenal, the Eidgenossische Waffenfabrik in Bern.
The K31’s appeal is its accuracy and the mechanical curiosity of its slick, light, straight-pull action. The shooter chambers and ejects rounds by pushing the bolt handle straight forward or pulling it straight back. The only modern production rifles that use a straight pull action today are very high-end European sporters like the Strasser R14 or the American Savage Impulse rifle.
For the military, the straight-pull action offered great speed and simplicity of manipulation. A soldier with a straight-pull action was expected to shoot more rapidly and accurately because the straight back and straight forward movement of the bolt was less disruptive to aim and took only two motions instead of the four (up and back, forward and down) needed for a turn-bolt action.
The two main weaknesses of a straight-pull action were: the complexity of its manufacture, and its very weak primary extraction of fired cases from the chamber when compared to the more leveraged camming force of a turn-bolt action.
The K31 was the apex of fifty years of Swiss straight-pull evolution. The action was designed by Colonel Adolph Furrer at Eidgenossische Waffenfabrik and introduced a drastically redesigned, shortened and strengthened bolt sleeve with the locking lugs on the very front to engage at the chamber for maximum locking strength and improved accuracy. The K31 was shorter, lighter, stronger, more accurate, and about 9% less expensive to make than the rifles and carbines it replaced. The reduction of overall action length was used to increase the barrel length and the sight radius was extended, both conducive to good accuracy.
The Swiss consider the K31 a carbine rather than a rifle. The K stands for “Karabiner” and “31” represents the “Model 1931” which was its designation when accepted as the new standard arm of the Swiss military in March of 1932. If you a think an 8.85 pound K31, with its 25.65” barrel and 43.6” overall length, is a bit big for a carbine, the Infantry Rifle Model 11 it replaced sported a 30” barrel, was 51.5” in overall length and weighed just over 10 pounds!
The K31 has an excellent trigger pull. To reduce the risk of nervous discharge, it was a two stage. After the take up, it brakes smoothly at four pounds. The geometry of the trigger, with its deep curve, is designed to consistently guide the trigger finger to the same spot. The muzzle crown is countersunk to protect in from accuracy robbing damage. The Swiss claim to be a nation of rifleman. This is the kind of weapon you would expect them to have.
K31’s safety is a large ring on the back of the bolt cocking piece that is easily manipulated by gloved hands. Vertical is the fire position. Pulling it out about an inch, turning it clockwise a quarter turn, and lowering it into the horizontal slot in the base of the bolt deactivates the trigger and locks the action. Protective ears shield the front sight. It feeds from a detachable six round magazine with a follower that holds the bolt open after the last shot. It has a thumb-cutout on the right side of the receiver for fast loading with a unique, economical, phenolic resin impregnated, paper charger or conventional metal stripper clips. The Swiss designed the stock to allow the barrel to free float by deeply inletting it so there was no wood-to-metal contact beyond the receiver ring except at the last inch where an adjustable front band held the ends of the upper handguard and stock fore-end together. The band could be loosened to liberate the barrel completely from deflection by the wood stock. The K31 had a stacking rod and bayonet lug on the front stock band.
The rear tangent sight can be set to ranges from 100 to 1,500 meters. Any windage or elevation adjustments needed for a particular rifle were made with the front sight blade. Windage is changed by moving the sight forward or back in its angled dovetail. (1mm of sight movement changes point of impact 4.7” at 100 yards.) To correct for elevation, they had front sight blades of varying height.
When the action was being put through trials, 150,000 rounds were fired through four guns with no significant issues noted. With the high quality of Swiss ammunition, and a clean action, I can believe that. However, I have to wonder if they ever threw those test guns in the mud during those trials.
There is only one other sovereign nation that elected to arm it forces with the K31. In 1955, one hundred K31s were purchased by the Vatican City for the Pontifical Swiss Guard.
- These rifles are C&R Eligible
