K31 - Bipolar Day...

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Glock4ever

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Edmonton, AB
Well another K31 has come into the collection and while I am happy about having it, it is also a bit of a disappointment. I was at Wholesale Sports and was able to pick through 4 K31s and I managed to snag an all matching 1940 Walnut K31. It is a nice addition to my 1954 Walnut K31. I brought it home and started cleaning it and going over it carefully. The stock while chipped by the muzzle end was in better condition overall than the 1954 model with less of the dents in the buttstock area. The metalwork in general was in better condition than the 1954 model with the barrel freefloating nicely under the wood with only a slight mar under the front band. Overall a great specimen of a K31. I then went to remove the buttplate to see if there was a troop tag and... NOTHING! **Sad Faced Panda** I absolutely am loving these rifles but I haven't been able to find a troop tag yet - while 2 isn't a large sample I was hoping against hope to see one. I guess I will just have to buy another one - these things are like kinder surprises! The top one is the 1954 and the bottom the 1940. I can't get over how good the bores in these rifles are considering the 1940 is 75 years old.

 
Very nice rifles. I personally love the quality of them, it just sucks that for some reason I can't stand having two of the same thing in my safe (don't know why, its just the way it is).

The bores on these can be attributed to a couple things in my opinion.
1. GP 11 is excellent quality, non corrosive ammo
2. The excellent cleaning practices of the Swiss troops
3. Not having used them in a war helps with condition
4. The rifle was issued to one soldier only which really helps with condition, as with other nations it was grab a rifle from the rack, or at the end of your service someone else would take over the same rifle, as such the same rifle would be used my many people and you don't get the same sense of ownership.
 
There both walnut... unless the 1940 is beech with some sort of different finish. There was only one beech at the store and I couldn't bring myself to buy it although it probably had a troop tag in stock...
 
Does the serial have a "P" prefix? I picked one up a couple years back, I too was bummed to find it didn't have a troop tag. Turns out it was a Private series so it was never issued to a soldier, it was a private purchase.
 
Neither of my K31s have the P prefix on the serial numbers. I think I have enough street cred with the local WSS to see if they will let me remove a buttplate before the next buy but I am not holding my breath on it. A troop tag would have made my day... I think the ones I have were issue because the stocks are both pretty beat up for a non-issued rifle but maybe the soldiers that had them removed the info when they turned it in? Of the other 3 I looked at before the 1940 purchase, 1x was a 1954 or 53 issue one (the serial number was in the 200k series) with a walnut stock, the beech stocked one was from 1944 and it was tempting as it was in good condition but I really don't like the look of the beech finish, and the last one was a 1941 issue with a walnut stock. The last one was really beat up with rust on the barrel and it was also missing the muzzle cover. The nice thing with smartphones, I was checking dates while also looking at condition.

I may have to try again - third time must be the charm right?
 
Glock4ever said:
Neither of my K31s have the P prefix on the serial numbers. I think I have enough street cred with the local WSS to see if they will let me remove a buttplate before the next buy but I am not holding my breath on it. A troop tag would have made my day... I think the ones I have were issue because the stocks are both pretty beat up for a non-issued rifle but maybe the soldiers that had them removed the info when they turned it in? Of the other 3 I looked at before the 1940 purchase, 1x was a 1954 or 53 issue one (the serial number was in the 200k series) with a walnut stock, the beech stocked one was from 1944 and it was tempting as it was in good condition but I really don't like the look of the beech finish, and the last one was a 1941 issue with a walnut stock. The last one was really beat up with rust on the barrel and it was also missing the muzzle cover. The nice thing with smartphones, I was checking dates while also looking at condition.

I may have to try again - third time must be the charm right?
Click to expand...
I told the guy at the counter I was only going to buy the rifle of it had the tag, and the first one I checked did! I also got a pretty nice 1941. Some of their rifles are pretty rough (cracked stocks, rust, etc). There was an almost mint 1934 on the rack in Regina I was going to buy, but the counter guy was trying to BS me so I let it go... Go giver another try while you still can!

 
If you haven't, follow some of Diopter's links to his Photobucket. Have a look at the safe/gun cabinet shots in particular. I think somebody's got a problem...No seriously, they're awesome and I'm totally envious!
 
I don't know about selling these rifles... they are pretty nice for 300 bucks. If you were to start collecting K31s what would drive collectibility? Besides the obvious (i.e. matching serial numbers) would you folks say that there is a marked preference for Walnut vs Beech? How about year of production - as Switzerland never fought in WW2 does it matter if you get a WW2 year? Are there more desirable K31s?
 
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