K 31 stock question-Beech or Walnut

[prairiedog555]

I have a K 31 with a Beech stock.  Is there any advantage to getting the Walnut stock?  Is it just a matter of looks or what?  I am happy with mine and it shoots very good and has great trigger.

[Almtnman]

Most of the older K31's had walnut stocks. The newer ones have the beech stocks. The walnut stock looks good and I would like to have a K31 with a walnut stock. Mine though is a newer version made in 1948 and has the beech stock. There's nothing wrong with the beech stock, it still works OK and the K31 is noted for accuracy. I just bought a set of Lee dies for mine so I can reload my own ammo for mine. I also picked up 4 boxes of boxer primed FNM softpoint ammo so I'll have the brass for reloading.

[prairiedog555]

I thought about restocking K 31 with a sporter stock but I read that they have the barrell shimmed with correct pressure ect.  and I wonder if that will mess up accuracy.  I really do not like that blond stock, maybe strip it and put a walnut stain on it.  I know you are not supposed to fool with a military gun but I have 2 of them.

[Almtnman]

If I had 2 of them, I would probably make a sporter out of one.

[jh45gun]

I thought about restocking K 31 with a sporter stock but I read that they have the barrell shimmed with correct pressure ect.  and I wonder if that will mess up accuracy.  I really do not like that blond stock, maybe strip it and put a walnut stain on it.  I know you are not supposed to fool with a military gun but I have 2 of them.

Your confusing the older swiss rifles  with the K31. The older rifles had the barrel shim in the front the K31's did not have that so a sporter stock would not be a problem. I would keep the origional stock so for later if you wanted to put it back to origional you could.

[Almtnman]

I copied this info off the Swiss Rifle site pertaining directly about the Schmidt-Rubin K31.
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The new carbine also had several other new features.  The barrel was intended to be free floating.  The action itself only connected to the stock by two screws, one attaching to the chamber, with the second attaching to the tang.  This allowed the Swiss to eliminate the aluminum barrel collar used in the Schmidt-Rubin series.  The trigger was redesigned, as were the magazine and rear sight.

The end result of these modifications produced a rifle that was more accurate, yet cheaper than the K11, it was replacing.  In 1932 it was estimated that the cost of a K11 would be 169 Swiss Francs.  Conversely, the new carbine had an estimated cost of 151 Swiss Francs.

On March 17, 1932, the Swiss Upper Parliament accepted the new carbine into service and designated it the Model 1931. 
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So according to this article, you should be able to restock your K31 with a sporter stock with no problem. 

[RaySendero]

I like the looks of walnut better than beech.

[prairiedog555]

I see from the picture that you have the forward mounted scope, do think that is better than the reciever mounted scope?  was it difficult to mount?  I saw the add for the mount somewhere.  I was just going to order a St. Marie reciever mount.
what kind of rings did you choose?

[RaySendero]

I see from the picture that you have the forward mounted scope, do think that is better than the reciever mounted scope?  was it difficult to mount?  I saw the add for the mount somewhere.  I was just going to order a St. Marie reciever mount.
what kind of rings did you choose?

prairiedog555,
Mine's a S&K model #3165 scout for a K-31. Was easy to install and rings were included.
http://www.scopemounts.com/ Go to Insta-mounts and then Prices

[jack19512]

I have a Beech stocked one and a Walnut stocked one.  I like them both.  One doesn't shoot any better than the other.  Although the Walnut stocked one generally sells for a little more.


I also had a scout setup on one of mine but much prefer the clamp on mount much better.  Just a personal thing.

[Almtnman]

That's a nice slick finish on both of your rifles. What did you use on them? I'd like to do mine the same way.

[jack19512]

I used Formby's high gloss tung oil finish I purchased from my local Walmart.  Both of my K31's stocks were in pretty rough shape.  They actually look better than the picture allows.  They are quite nice to look at now.

The butt plate on both of mine were in real bad shape also.  I didn't know if there was a lot of hope for them.  But with a little work they turned out pretty good also.  Again, they actually look better than in the picture.

[Almtnman]

The butt plate on mine has some clearance at each end of the stock. I'm hoping that I can bend the ends down enough so that it matches back up with the rifle stock when I do a refinish.