,,,

Shell Shucker
The Swiss have a term "fettshuss". Literally translates as "greaseshot"
Used for when a Swiss shooter forgets to de-grease their bore before their first shot.
A cloud of smoke resembling a black powder shot eminates from the poor sod's rifle, signifing all the other shooters on the range will be getting a free beer paid by the forgetful shooter. Only harm and damage done is to the unfortunate one's wallet, who will never forget the ribbing and always clean out the grease henceforth.
I got two free beers since I start shooting with the Swiss Rifle Clubs back in 1991.

That's fortunate for both the shooters and their rifles. The greasing method you folks favour is common in
North America for black powder shooters. In fact, my own muzzle loaders are usually looked after in this fashion
using Crisco or Natural Lube bore butter. Of course the working pressures of these arms are far below those
of modern centerfires. I would not recommend the grease in bore method to the average shmoe with say,
a .22-250 or 7mm magnum. A lot of folks just do not care for their rifles the way that they should.
(Keeps the gunsmiths busy.)

Knowedgeable shooters like yourself have no problems with your preferred method of maintenance, but
many others are best served with advanced cleaning and preserving solutions. These are a study on
their own and thanks to internet reveiws, can be better examined before purchasing and trying them out.

My 1925 hex receiver Mosin Nagant took 3 weeks of daily Wipe Out treating to get the fouling down to the point
where I could could finish the job with J&B bore paste.

Thankfully my K31 has a real nice bore and chamber and I will treat it with Dyna Bore Coat before shooting it.
Once broken in (The coating that is.) with jacketed bullets, the beasty will be cleaned with Wipe Out and
then fed a diet of lead boolits exclusively after that.
:cheers:
 
Surprise, surprise, the grease is working :)

BTW:
That ""55 near the rear sight" is the last three digits of the rifle's serial#, 955 on the barrel shank, as it should be with K31s, put on the barrel shank when it was mated to a receiver.

When you remove the action from the stock you'll see a longer number which is the barrel manufacturer's serial number for that barrel.

hammerli.jpg
for Hämmerli

sig.jpg
for SIG

Suggest light coat greasing of rear sight, bolt, and trigger guard before rust spots there get any worse.
 
Last edited:
Grease stays where you put it, where as oil runs and evaporates.
Leave grease on the spots for a few days, then rub with patches, regrease and let stand for a few daysthen try an old rag of corse wool, or old soft burlap, rub gently to start if regular patches are not enough.
Next time, grease and a soft pencil eraser, if spots are stubborn, or very fine grade Scotchbrite type pads, go slow.
Time is your friend and impatience your enemy.

I avoid steel wool unless I want to remove bluing. Leaves too many small bits of iron to rust later on.
 
It seems to be a "privatized" rifle. The bore rust you noticed would make sense then, because while in the hands of a private citizen its owner could have been a little lazy & didn't bother to protect the bore with automatenfett. The service rifles are cleaned & greased after each use which is why we see such nice examples as a result today.
Shoot it a bunch & the little rust present will go away & you will have fun doing it!
 
It seems to be a "privatized" rifle. The bore rust you noticed would make sense then, because while in the hands of a private citizen its owner could have been a little lazy & didn't bother to protect the bore with automatenfett. The service rifles are cleaned & greased after each use which is why we see such nice examples as a result today.
Shoot it a bunch & the little rust present will go away & you will have fun doing it!

Automatenfett - the gooey black grease used for the semi/full-auto StG57 and all other Swiss semi-auto long arms, was not used on the straight-pull rifles. THAT stuff is called 'waffenfett' and is a light yellowy grease that goes hard after many years being untouched. After you have cleaned it all out, simply shoot the gun, and when it still still warm, re-do it with some similar grease on a patch. Push a cleaning patch through before you shoot it again, and go on. The rest of the action also gets the waffenfett treatment - the Swiss NEVER used any kind of oil on their long arms - this is why the bores are usually in such good condition after many years. My K11 is one hundred next year, and the bore is mirror-bright from end to end, as is my 1954 K31.

Get onto swissrifles.com to see the cleaning and maintenance programme that keeps these exquisite pieces of Swiss precision machinery working so well.

BTW, Carlos up above gives great advice that I'm only emphasizing - and don't use steel wool, use BRONZE wool instead - it's kinder and won't leave little black stains in the woodwork later.

tac
swissrifles.com
 
Actually, all the Swiss Rifle clubs I know and have shot with use the black Automattenfett.
I think there has been none of the older waffenfett through the military supply chain for many decades.
 
Back
Top Bottom