The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The North Corral > Curios and Relics

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old October 28, 2008, 01:56 AM   #1
Bigoledude
Member
 
Join Date: January 1, 2006
Location: Chalmette, Louisiana.
Posts: 52
How does the M24/47 compare to the K31

I am trying to decide which old rifle to buy. It has come down to the K31 or the M24/47. The K31 sure looks weird. Nice weird though.

I'm not really interested in the value added by being unusual in design. I would just like to buy the one that is the best all-around shooter. Both rifles are advertised with bores rated as NRA "very good" to "like new".

I am not gonna be able to go shooting or hunting much longer. I'd just like one good-ole gun to finish-up with.

Is the quality of M24/47 comparable to the German Mauser's?
Is the K31 worth the extra $100 dollars?
__________________
If God is on my side, nothing can come against me!
Bigoledude is offline  
Old October 28, 2008, 02:53 AM   #2
JohnKSa
Staff
 
Join Date: February 12, 2001
Location: DFW Area
Posts: 24,910
Given your requirements I'd say go with the K31. The only downside is ammunition expense/availability.

Probably the biggest advantage of the 8mm (Model 24/47) is that there's still some cheap corrosive surplus floating around.
__________________
Do you know about the TEXAS State Rifle Association?
JohnKSa is offline  
Old October 28, 2008, 05:11 AM   #3
Tamara
Moderator Emeritus
 
Join Date: March 11, 2000
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 16,002
If hunting is the purpose, finding 7.5 Swiss softpoint ammo could be an issue; they don't carry it at the local Gander Mountain, f'rinstance.

The K-31 is by far the more accurate of the two, however.
__________________
MOLON LABE!
2% Unobtainium, 98% Hypetanium.
The Arms Room: An Online Museum.
Tamara is offline  
Old October 28, 2008, 09:11 AM   #4
Snowmanx7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 14, 2007
Location: Southern Colorado
Posts: 143
You can't go wrong either way. I own both but prefer the Mauser action. Both guns accuracy is limited by my shooting ability. As was stated above, 8mm should be the easier round to find locally.
Snowmanx7 is offline  
Old October 28, 2008, 04:32 PM   #5
johnwilliamson062
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 16, 2008
Posts: 9,995
I own a k31. It was my first C&R. I love it. I have no problem saying it is the most accurate, easiest to operate, best finished rifle I own(except for the stock which has more character than any rifle I own). The recoil is supremely soft. The straight pull bolt is like briefs lined with rabbits fur.

The ammo is expensive. There are no more in Swiss warehouses. Parts are going to start drying up. I don't shoot mine very much at all. I mostly let people take a few shots with it.
Ammo is a little less than $.50, if the gun goes down and you may be looking at buying an entire new rifle for parts. I doubt this would be a problem, but I would hate to read a post about how your last great rifle doesn't work and you had to take up fishing.
I don't think the $100 compares to the difference in ammo cost. If it was just $100 I would definitely say the k31.
johnwilliamson062 is offline  
Old October 29, 2008, 12:10 AM   #6
DoctorXring
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 30, 2002
Location: The Republic of Texas
Posts: 392
K31

.

The K31 is the rifleman's rifle of the milsurp world.

The Swiss cannot help themselves and built a
target rifle disguised as a service rifle. The long
and deep Swiss culture of fine craftsmanship and
firearm technology come together in the K31.

Wonderful rifles. I have done much target work with
them and also hunting. I also invested in them
when they were even more ridiculously priced than
they are now. They are still at bargain prices.

K31 kudos profile --

1. Shoots standard 30 caliber bullets, brass readily available
2. Very easily, cheaply, and effectively scoped
3. Virtually all have excellent bores and crowns
4. Most are very accurate
5. All have excellent triggers
6. They have very good iron sights
7. Superb build quality
8. Handles well
9. Nice diopter sight sets available for the K31
10. The 7.5x55 is a superbly balanced and inherently accurate cartridge

I also have a couple of Yugo M24/47's. They are fine rifles
at a modest cost. But the K31 is in another class. Same class
as the M96 Swedish Mauser in respect to quality, accuracy, etc.
It is not by accident that more and more you see these two rifles pitted
against one another at military rifle matches.

dxr


P.S. JW062 is mistaken about the "shortage" of GP11. It is readily
available at this time and there is plenty in Swiss warehouses.
The last GP11 to be loaded was vintage 1995. The vintage showing
up here now is 1978. We are a long way from running out of GP11.
If anything, 8x57 surplus is the cartridge that is drying up.

If any military service ammunition can be described as "match grade" it
is GP11. Considering the quality it is not expensive.








Last edited by DoctorXring; October 29, 2008 at 12:40 AM.
DoctorXring is offline  
Old December 23, 2008, 03:17 PM   #7
The Lovemaster
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 29, 2007
Location: Arizona
Posts: 416
Hi Doc,

Are you in need of an illegitimate stepson?
The Lovemaster is offline  
Old December 27, 2008, 01:16 AM   #8
foggy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 7, 2008
Location: Tacoma, WA
Posts: 106
Doctor, how do you remember which k31 you were shooting last? It must be a chore to work up handloads for all those
foggy is offline  
Old December 27, 2008, 12:09 PM   #9
51colt
Member
 
Join Date: December 3, 2008
Posts: 50
K-31s and 24/47 are both good rifles but i think a M39 would be a good compromise. Lots of parts, plenty of ammo (surplus, hunting) and very accurate.

Mike 56
51colt is offline  
Old March 2, 2013, 05:10 PM   #10
zbones6
Member
 
Join Date: December 29, 2011
Posts: 91
I would go with either, but the 24/47 has an intermediate action, so standard Mauser parts will not fit. Im not sure about the K31 parts on the market, I never looked.
zbones6 is offline  
Old March 2, 2013, 08:18 PM   #11
kilimanjaro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 23, 2009
Posts: 3,963
I have both of these rifles, and to me, the K31 is the better rifle, both from quality of tooling and construction, and for accuracy. The 7.5mm Swiss round is readily available from online dealers. Cabela's stocks the round in the Hornady loading. Prvi Partisan also makes the round, it's available online at a good price, and the brass is boxer-primed and reloadable.

8mm Mauser ammo, the cheap surplus is gone. Prvi Partisan makes 8mm Mauser in boxer-priming, also, about the same cost as the 7.5mm Swiss. The days of cheap ammo are over, it's not going to come back, unless it's 7.62x54R.

If cost of the ammo is a concern, both are about equal in commercial loadings. There is more surplus Swiss GP11 ammo available than there is surplus 8mm Mauser, even including the recent Iranian trash that's on the market.
kilimanjaro is offline  
Old March 3, 2013, 06:55 AM   #12
madcratebuilder
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 2, 2007
Location: Northern Orygun
Posts: 4,923
K31 by a mile.


I have multiples of both Swiss and Mausers, the K31is like a Swiss watch. Good supply of GP11 ammo around and it's match grade.
madcratebuilder is offline  
Old March 4, 2013, 06:16 PM   #13
tobnpr
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 1, 2010
Location: Tampa Bay
Posts: 4,556
I tried handloading for the K-31 with the venerable 175 SMK's...
Couldn't do any better than the GP-11 ammo...it's amazing stuff.

And at .50 round, I can't handload match ammo any cheaper (especially these days).
__________________
Remington 700/Savage Rebarreling /Action Blueprinting
07 FFL /Mosin-Nagant Custom Shop/Bent Bolts
Genuine Cerakote Applicator
www.biggorillagunworks.com
tobnpr is offline  
Old March 4, 2013, 09:28 PM   #14
johnwilliamson062
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 16, 2008
Posts: 9,995
Jeez, I guess I didn't subscribe to this and missed Docs replay. I just stopped my entire household to show everyone the picture of that safe. Filled with Envy.

The GP11 is CHEAP for match ammo, but if you just want some normal stuff there isn't anything available.
My comment that there are no more in Swiss warehouses related to the rifles and the following sentences about parts. Not a concern if you have a safe full of THIRTY rifles.
johnwilliamson062 is offline  
Old March 5, 2013, 06:36 AM   #15
bumnote
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 13, 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 407
I'm a huge fan of Mausers. But given the two choices, K-31. I have one and they're as good as people say they are. I dropped mine into a modern stock, easy to do and didn't require modifying the rifle so it can go back to it's original military config.
__________________
"And remember, Abraham Lincoln didn't die in vain, he died in Washington D.C." - Firesign Theatre
bumnote is offline  
Old March 5, 2013, 10:04 AM   #16
madcratebuilder
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 2, 2007
Location: Northern Orygun
Posts: 4,923
Graf & Sons has Swiss parts. About the only spare I would think you would need would be a striker and spring.

Spare parts bag for ZFK55, the 55 parts are different than the K31.






madcratebuilder is offline  
Old March 19, 2013, 12:50 AM   #17
Ignition Override
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 18, 2008
Location: About 20 nm from the Big Muddy
Posts: 2,884
Does anybody have info indicating (or suggesting) that being in western Europe, though it's officially neutral, Swiss GP-11 ammo is, or will be banned from export to the US?

I hope that the Swiss govt. doesn't cave in to pressure from any UN group or those Brit/Euro "arms control" groups, which use taxpayer funds to pay countries to destroy even surplus bolt-action rifles (i.e. Enfields etc) and their ammo.

Although Enfields are my favorite, I might consider a K-31 when the panic cools off a bit more.
I've read and heard that the 7.5 Swiss ammo can use most or all of our available .308 bullets.
Ignition Override is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:09 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.08541 seconds with 10 queries