Newb looking for advice Swiss K31 vs Other (M39, M91/30etc.)

Patriote said:
So it all comes down to what you want whether it's accuracy or just plain fun.
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This ultimately is the real question. Do you want to sit at a bench and measure groupings trying to do your best impression of a WWII sniper?

Or do you want to go out and have fun and blast all sorts of targets with friends and family without worrying about MOA and reload data?

Kinda like buying your first guitar, you can sit and woodshed by playing scales with a metronome...or rock out, learn as you go, in the basement/garage with friends?
 
I just like to hit the tin cans, but I can't do that if I don't have an accurate rifle with accurate ammunition and if I don 't know how to use the thing.

That's where the careful ammo preparation, tuning of the rifle, learning how to use the thing right, all comes in.

If you best performance is a 10-inch group at 50 yards, hitting a pop can at 100 is gonna be very much an occasional thing.

With a good rifle and good ammunition, if you know how far something is..... and you can see it.... you can hit it.

I have found that, if you do your part, you can get most military bolt rifles to shoot 2 MOA or better. Remember, even in the blackest days of WW2, if a Lee-Enfield could not shoot better than 3 MOA, it didn't leave the factory. That was with whatever ammunition they had lying around: we did not make Match-grade ammo! The Swiss and the Swedes, by staying out of wars, were able to craft and tune their rifles and ammunition until quite a number were almost the equal of a new Ross. THAT is saying a LOT for them.
 
I've owned all three guns as well as variants, so here are my 2C.

First off, congrats on getting into bolt actions and not just buying an sks right off the bat. While the SKS is the modern every man's gun in Canada, I personally think it isn't an ideal starter gun. It's one I'd probably keep as a beater that would keep on performing the same as it always did, but it's not one that I think is perfect for a new shooter.

Of the Mosin 91/30, M39, and K31, I would choose the K31 for a good all round gun. They are very high quality, great design, and I believe severely undervalued as a milsurp. Yes surplus is more expensive, but it's non-corrosive swiss made match grade ammo.... of course it's going to be. Either buy GP11, or save the money you'd spend on a 480 rd case (good deal at tradex) and buy reloading components so you can reload for most guns. End of the day you'll spend the same amount of money, but with reloading components your investment won't disappear with the last round shot.


I am also a firm fan of the mosin, for a slightly different reason. Only recently they were available for $109 plus shipping... they're very affordable guns that're simple and ultra effective. You don't really hear of them breaking or self destructing ever, which is a big reason they served so long... they simply didn't wear out! They're capable of great accuracy as the guns themselves and the cartridge are well designed. Like anything, inspecting the gun will tell you a lot about what you're getting.

Outside of these, you can also get a K98 converted by the israelis to 308 (phenomenal guns and command lower prices than 8mm k98's), any number of south american mausers chambered for 3006 similar to the K98 (sometimes pretty rough condition, it pays to look), as well as the much overlooked swedish M96 family of mausers in the amazing 6.5x55 cartridge (again, lower prices just because they never saw consistent and publicized front line action). The 6.5x55 cartridge alone is enough to sell me on any manner of gun chambered in it.

So there you go! Hopefully that'll help.
 
Something to keep in mind for the guns you chose is definitely ammo availability. I love my sniper mosin and my sister but the svt 40 i had was a monster to clean. But the boys arev right any of these will be a blast. Good to see another hat boy on here.
 
Hey Alberta bound, what part of the "Hat" you from? I'm in Redcliff. And yes the SVT 40 is no worse to clean than the FN C1's that we had to clean back in the day. My first small Arms instructor was an Armorer. I swear he could find firing residue on anything including your shaving mirror if he wanted to.

Ken
 
Hey ken
Im from crescent hieghts but had a lot of friends in redcliff! My svt 40 sucked to clean all the tolerances were extremely tight and did loosen over time. But i hear ya in terms of thr residue our c7a1's suck to clean. Yup west coast is still rocking original a1's. Haha
Ben
 
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