Ran across a very nice K31, wondering about fair prices

M

marine6680

New member
This thing had some finish wear in the high spots, but not much overall.

The stock was in fantastic shape. It had little to no marks or bumps. It was a light colored wood.

Makes me wonder if they made replacement stocks for them, it looks like it never seen any use in a training environment. Maybe a private sale rifle that was used for hunting...

The sights were a circle in circle setup, with no elevation ladder. It had a dial on the top of the rear assembly, turning it had no noticed affect, maybe it did windage, but wasn't mounted in a manner that suggested that.

OK quick search says they are grunel sights.


They wanted $750, which seemed high, even for such good condition.

Any thoughts?
 
Seems high to me. A quick check of gunbroker.com and most of them are in the $500 to $600.

As a side note, it is amazing what they are selling for these days.
 
I bought a brand new, unissued, 100% K31 dated 1944 for $650 last year from Samco Arms. My shooter K31 also came with an excellent blond stock for about $350. The light wood is ash, I believe, and usually indicates a postwar rifle, European Walnut was gone, and none was going to come out of the Caucasus after 1945.

I've never seen a poor condition K31, they have all been 90% plus.
 
Sounds like the stock is beech. They started out with walnut, but then switched over to beech around '43-'45.

Did the sights look something like the following?

d8d36c8462ddd6ecc599cb84cb444589334af476_r.jpg


If it has a diopter sight on it like those and they aren't the Chinese knockoffs, then the sights alone are worth $300-$400 dollars.

Gunbroker has a bunch of K31s for over $500 dollars, but no one is bidding on those rifles. There are plenty listed in the $350-$450 range (depending on the day you check). It appears that's the going price nowadays. If you combine the sight and the rifle, the $750 price isn't that bad, especially if you can talk the owner down some. And if you don't want the sight, you should be able to sell it easily for $300+ on ebay or on the Swiss Rifles message board:
http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/directory
 
The K31 is about the world's finest bolt action military rifle, from the standpoint of ballistic accuracy, fine workmanship, and consistent production. It also seems that the Swiss Army took pains to ensure the troops treated their issued rifles with care, some stock dings are about as bad as they come, it appears. I do think the Swiss culture is a bit different than ours, when it comes to taking care of what they have, they know their peace and security depends on themselves.
 
i think their banking system had a lot to do with a security. i own two swiss rifles and think they are indeed fine rifles,but not my choice for a combat rifle. maybe a little to fine like the german luger for tough combat service. eastbank.
 
That price sounds very high but to echo what seanc said, if the sights are like the ones in the above picture it might not be unreasonable. Those things are better than a scope.
 
Marine6680,
From the description of that K31, it sounds like it might have a refinished stock to go along with the replacement sight.
Don't know what that does to the value, though.
 
^+1

The description of the stock gave me the willies too. That just doesn't make sense for a K31. Next to their accuracy, they're known for the poor condition of their stocks (beaver chewed is the common description). It could be a private sale or arsenal reconditioned. Checking the serial number could help to explain the stock.
 
I got a 1931 K-31 with Birch stock for $90 +$12 tax in 2002 at BIG5.
I got a 1931 K-31 with Birch stock for $80 in 2002 off a gun show table.

They both have weird names under the butt plate.

3% is how much most firearms appreciate. Pythons better, 16 ga Mossberg bolt action shotguns not as good.

Based on 3% compounded annually, the first one should be worth $136 now.
Based on 3% compounded annually, the second one should be worth $114 now.

If the first one were worth $750 that would be 16% compounded.
Not even Colt Pythons have done that well.
 
i own two swiss rifles and think they are indeed fine rifles,but not my choice for a combat rifle. maybe a little to fine like the german luger for tough combat service.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not the best possible for "tough combat service", but I don't think the Swiss were concerned too much about terrain and conditions outside of Switzerland. The Swiss don't need rifles that can fight in the desert or the tropics, and they are VERY familiar with the alpine terrain where they live.

I checked out the Swiss rifles early on, when the cost of the rifle was actually $10 LESS than the cost of the scope mount for the rifle!!

Sorry if you are come late to the game, but if you are, you are going to pay more, and probably get less for it.

The ordinary (cheap) Swiss surplus ammo rivaled other nation's match ammo for quality and accuracy, but its now about all gone...

There's no way on Earth I would pay $750 for a K31, but then I did my dance with them when they cost 1/10th as much (less, actually). Like EVERY other gun that is no longer made, if you want one, then you pay what the people who sell them want.

There is an old joke, about a German and a Swiss general talking either before, or during the blitzkrieg phase of WWII. The German, (fairly accurately) gives the number of Swiss troops, and then says he can put an army with twice that many on the Swiss border, and then sneeringly says "what will your soldiers do then??"

To which, the Swiss general replies,
"Shoot twice, and go home".

While I'm sure the Swiss banking system, and their neutrality, played a part in the political thinking that kept the Nazis from invading, people overlook the military side too often.

Part of the equation that needs to be calculated when deciding to invade and conquer a country is whether or not the benefits will outweigh the estimated cost. Quite simply, unless the Swiss surrendered with out a shot being fired (which simply isn't something the Swiss would do), the cost of TAKING Switzerland far, far, outweighs the possible gains.

The terrain strongly favors defense (I think the largest flat spot in the entire nation is Lake Geneva), the only "national resource" of strategic value is their banking system, something that would be essentially impossible to capture intact and functional unless the Swiss permitted it. Which, of course, they wouldn't.

And the Swiss, alone in Europe, have a centuries long tradition of the citizen soldier, virtually everyone of military service age gets military training, and arms. They keep their basic arms at HOME, with them. And they still do today, and today's basic arm is a select fire weapon (machine gun /assault rifle).

There are a number of small features about the Swiss rifles I don't particularly care for, but you cannot fault the quality of their construction.
 
I ordered one for $59 plus shipping several years ago when on sale.(I have a C&R). Even though I have owned 7 of these this one is the one I kept. It shot the best and had the smoothest action. Wonderful rifles for the money. I had thought they was going in the $300 to $400 range now. $750 seems to much unless in new condition.
 
I got a 1931 K-31 with Birch stock for $90 +$12 tax in 2002 at BIG5.
I got a 1931 K-31 with Birch stock for $80 in 2002 off a gun show table.

They both have weird names under the butt plate.
Click to expand...

Those tags under the buttplate are the names of the soldiers who "owned" those rifles. Some of those guys are still alive. I've heard stories about some collectors who have written letters and gotten back replies from the rifle's former "owner."
 
to me the weak part in the 31 is the extraction and closing of the the bolt, as their is no cammimg power in a straight pull rifle along with a bolt that does not lend its self to a quick take down. i never had a problem with its accurcy. after owning and shooting most of the rifles used in ww-1,ww-2, i have come to believe the british .303 enfields was the best bolt action rifle used in those wars. of course the semi-auto m1 garand became the king of the battle field and put an end to bolt action rifles used there in the future, except in third world countries. the swiss 31 did not keep germany from invading them, germany just had to many irons in the fire at that time. and i,m sure every one heard of the german gold in swiss banks. eastbank.
 
Part of the equation that needs to be calculated when deciding to invade and conquer a country is whether or not the benefits will outweigh the estimated cost. Quite simply, unless the Swiss surrendered with out a shot being fired (which simply isn't something the Swiss would do), the cost of TAKING Switzerland far, far, outweighs the possible gains.
Click to expand...
On multiple occasions foreign military units crossed Swiss borders in order to perform flanking maneuvers, to test Swiss defenses, or by accident. Wikipedia says over 1000 times. I believe the book about Guisan that goes into some details about the redoubt plan describes two occasions where it was significant force trying to flank the enemy lines that obviously ended at the Swiss border along with mentioning other instances of smaller incursions. It has been about ten years and I'm not sure which box my copy is in or even which closet the box is in. Also a large number of air crossings for much the same reason. Across the board the Swiss knocked out whatever crossed the border with a forceful and harsh reaction.

The k31 was all about the cheap match grade ammunition for me. With it mostly dried up I may sell mine(after I shoot the ammo I have).
 
Last edited:
A few years back, a generous fellow let me shoot some of his old military bolt actions.
For the K-31 he had both the issue ammo and new commercial PRVI, re-loadable ammo.
At the 100 yard clay birds we were using for targets, neither one of us could see any difference between the two.
Unfortunately the PRVI cost about 50% more, though.
Not horrible, considering the number of shots most folks usually put through these old beasts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top