Ye Olden Swiss Rifles?

Well, 7.5x55mm Swiss is quite adequate for hunting big game, provided you have the right bullet construction... and according to Wikipedia, you can use standard 0.308" projectiles to handload (don't actually do that until you confirm with a more reliable source than Wikipedia, though!), so you could always work up your own load with premium hunting bullets if you wanted.

As for the rifles, I have zero experience with them, unfortunately... And I really wish I did have some. I'd love to have a K31, but that just isn't in the cards for me right now, given the state of my finances.

If you do wind up purchasing one, I hope you enjoy it!

They're great collectors' rifles, and the price of ammo isn't really that bad for a centerfire cartridge. Sorry, they're not really historically significant as far as their use in combat goes, but nobody has ever been stupid enough to invade Switzerland. During World War II every man in the country had a rifle and ammo, and they knew the mountain passes better than any invading soldier could have.

Swiss neutrality is part of the reason for the condition of the rifles, but they were also well made and well maintained. The Swiss Schmidt-Rubin rifle is far better than the Mosin-Nagant. I personally prefer the Mauser because the ammo is a lot easier to find. A friend of mine used to hunt deer with a K31. It served in that role just fine.

The rifles are well made and have a good reputation for accuracy and dependability. The cartridge, 7.5 x 55 is plenty energy for hunting most N. American game,just ensure you can find proper cartridges for hunting or handload for it-there are some cartridges where loading makes sense.

Personally I wouldn't consider it as a hunting rifle because I need to have good optics and mounting a scope on some rifles like these is problematic. Yeah, you can use almost any former military rifle (like the 303 Brit Lee-Enfield so popular in Canada), but a modern rifle like the Ruger American might be more cost effective,especially with a common hunting cartridge.

With $320 for cost the K would be a great low-cost addition to any collection,and ammo cost is affordable for that level of performance but still you have to look at your local ability to get that ammo.

The reason you cannot find any war stories on the Swiss K-31 rifles is that they were never used in combat. If you open the butt plate of the rifle you will find a card often times with the name of the person who previously owned the rifle. The Swiss are known for making and using quality firearms such as the SIG 550. I think the best rifle in 5.56 is the SIG 550 in terms of accuracy ,quality, and reliability.

The Swiss K31 has been known to be an excellent rifle not only because of the straight pull back system it has on it but also its a very accurate rifle. I own a mosin nagant which is like a swiss k31and I did shoot a deer on the run with it. I have always wanted a swiss k31 because of not only the interesting pull back and accuracy but also because of how good these rifles are in condition since alot of them were never really used in combat. All of these Rifle were actually ex-civilian owned by the swiss so if you get one remove the butt plate and you will find a card in there that should give you the information on who owned the rifle before. I would use this for hunting defiantly there is actually a video on youtube of a guy in i believe texas that wacked a deer with his swiss k31. If i was you i would buy the damn thing :)

Far better mil surplus than the ever popular Mosin Nagant. For collectors, if you remove the butt plate, the name and rank of the soldier that the gun was first issued to may still be there. Mosins are about half the price (For good reason).

Personally....antique, bolt action guns don't really interest me all that much. I can understand the fascination with guns...but not the really old ones...( pre WWII )