K31 vs M96

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I've been interested in a neutral-country, accurate milsurp. I was thinking of choosing a Swiss K31 or a Swedish Mauser M96. Do you know

1) Which is more accurate
2) Which is cheaper and more avaliable
3) Which fires cheaper and more avaliable ammo
4) Which is most pleasant to fire
5) Which is easier to clean

From what I can tell so far, the K31 is easier to find and cheaper. But it is a PITA to disassemble and clean the bolt. 7.5mm may recoil more than 6.5mm. Both types of ammo are probably expensive.
 
6.5 Swede ammo isn't hard to find and the price seems to be on par (or even a bit cheaper) than other mil-surp ammos (8mm Mauser, 303 Brit, etc). Being a Mauser, they're quite easy to disassemble for cleaning. On the other hand, I can't really compare them to the K31 as I don't know much about them.
 
Unregistered said:
I've been interested in a neutral-country, accurate milsurp. I was thinking of choosing a Swiss K31 or a Swedish Mauser M96. Do you know

1) Which is more accurate
2) Which is cheaper and more avaliable
3) Which fires cheaper and more avaliable ammo
4) Which is most pleasant to fire
5) Which is easier to clean

From what I can tell so far, the K31 is easier to find and cheaper. But it is a PITA to disassemble and clean the bolt. 7.5mm may recoil more than 6.5mm. Both types of ammo are probably expensive.
Click to expand...

1) Both are very accurate. I'd give the nod to the K31 as it has a much better trigger and marginally better sights.
2) Both are easy enough to find. Swede M96 and M38 can be found for $200-$400. K31 are $250 for beech stocked and $325 for walnut from P&S.
3)6.5x55 is about a $1 a pop for commercial ammo, although districorp has igman for $10.50/20 but it is very low grade and not very accurate ammo.
TSE sells GP11 (7.5x55 surplus ammo) which is match grade and around $280 for 400 round crate. Reloading is easy for both.
4) 6.5 is pretty mild recoil. The K31 design seems to soak up recoil pretty good though and is pleasant to fire as well.
5) K31 is just as easy to disassemble and clean as any mauser. Bolt is just as easy or easier to dissasemble as a mauser.

K31 can easily be scoped or upgraded to diopter sights without any modifications to the gun. Here is one of mine with St. Marie diopter sights and a target I shot at 100m with them.
diop6.jpg

diop12.jpg

100mtarget.jpg
 
I can completely strip down and reassemble a K31 bolt in under 10 seconds.

I do have 1903 CG M96 with an Elite diopter, along with 5 k31s with either W&F diopters or St.Marie diopters.
 
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Does TSE Edmonton have a website? I'm in MB so I'm not familiar with where or what TSE is :confused: . Also looking for a K31 if anyone knows of one.
Thanks
 
Buy Both. Both are deadly accurate. Have 5 Swedes and two K31's.

A caveat, target sights for either one are NOT CHEAP. though it may be possible to find a Swede with the peep sight already installed. I say may, because I am not familiar with the supply in Canada. Go for the M96 Long rifle rather than the 96/38 or the 38 just because a long tom is ###ier.
 
Btw: Cheap ammo is cheap ammo.
It might be ok for rapid fire at close range with a semi. but is useless, or at least not very gratifying, at any interesting distance with good rifle and sights. Ten good tight shots at any distance over 100yds is much more satisfying than shooting 100 shots with maybe 50% of them in a foot and a half pattern at closer range.
 
John,

Yeah, about 10yrs ago I got M96 long barrel with a mint bore, and a short carbine too. I got to reading on the Swiss K31 and now I want that also. Life would be so simple if they ony made a few guns to choose from - most of us want one of everything, don't we? :redface:
 
Jean Plamondon has K31s for $250 and I've seen one for $200 on this board. So that's looking good. Also M96s for $200 and $300 here. And even an LB No 4. for $275! Hard to choose. Plamondon's K31 is the safest bet as he picks out his rifles.

Still, the M96 fires that cool 6.5X55 round. I bet it really does recoil less.

Which has better factory sights?
 
You know, I just read that the M96 has a "rudimentary" gas redirection system (in case of case rupture) and lacks the third locking lug that the K98-type action has for preventing the bolt from flying backwards if the chamber splits. Is this the case? If so, is this cause for concern? I would only be shooting commercial and military surplus ammo out of it, or light loads if I reloaded.

What about the K31. How are its locking lugs in the event of the chamber coming apart? (Or the Enfield for that matter...)
 
Well - You might be confusing the M96 action with the M95 action, which doesnt have the gas relief vent in the bolt. Otherwise, the M96 is plenty safe for the round it was designed for. Bear in mind that these rifles were mil-spec approved (as-issued!!), and the design factors of safety are greater than modern commercial actions. These comments apply to most mil-surps, with the exception of some bad actors. Neither the K31 or the Enfield fall on that list...
Having the chamber split? As both the barrel and the receiver surround the cartridge, there are two rings of protection. This design philosopy, called "defence in depth", makes catastrophic failure, as you describe, a very low probability. BTW - the third safety lug on mausers is there to provide some protection against simultaneous failure of the two primary bolt lugs. Given that the rifle was designed to function with only one lug engaged, failure of both is also a very low probability event. Now, Krags are a different story...
 
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You might have a problem if you loaded the case with Bullseye, otherwise it's a non issue. Remember the rifle was in use since the 1890's to WW2 and beyond and nobody has ever complained. (excspt those on the recieving end)
 
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