sporter swiss?

[wonderwolf]

Went to the gun show yesterday and saw a nice straight pull rifle up for grabs but I passed it on and ended up loaning money to a friend who wanted a SMLE for $125. I thought about it for a while and decided to look at it again today. Went back and it was still there I thought it was a K31 but a wise old man told me it was a 1911. It's been sporterized and the guy who was selling it had it marked as a "Austrian 7.5 rifle" I was dumbfounded for a bit. I looked it over and it had swiss marking all over it and I asked the guy about the tag (He is a coin collector and only has 3 guns on the table). Guy said he does not know anything about them (I'm thinking oh great the one time I do not do my research before I buy something the guy can't tell me ANYTHING about it). And that he was hoping somebody could tell him something about them. Needless to say I was not much help as I've only handled one once at the range and shot it a bit (K31).

He had $175 on the tag but closing time was near and he didnt want to go home with it. So I put $120 on the table and he took it.

We talked for a long time and he showed my friend and I 5 gold coins (German) that were found in a Mauser stock a guy was taking apart (he said he paid $200 each for them) they were very nice and I enjoyed the story as well. Anyways heres pics of what I got. I plan on getting some wolf ammo to start with but reload with .284 brass down the road. Barrel has some pitting in it but not much to worry about. Fill me in on what exactly I have as I do not really know myself The front sight does not have "guard ears" which is strange but very nice. The rifle feels like it was cut to length just for me and NPA is good with it as well. I can't stop messing around with it...its just so nifty :bash:

[XO3319]

It looks like a sporterizer Swiss K31 in 7.5mm

Nice wood and finish

[cimmaronkid]

Not a K-31. but the model before it. The action was improved and shortened on this model and then the K-31 was the final improvement with an even shorter action with improved lock up. I have one I bought years ago and gave #20 for it as it has no magazine. Damn magazine cost 4 times what the gun did, so I never bought a magazine for it. Have fun shooting it.

[wonderwolf]

yep its the K11 or 97/11 or something like that. The conversion was well done indeed. I like it without the front sight protector

[turbothis]

i just saw sarco had some swiss stock. nice price by the way.

[jonboy20]

I got one, it belonged to my grandpa that he got from his father inlaw in Holland. Only picture I can find it this one, but it is in the middle.


1318

[Jacobite]

I got one, it belonged to my grandpa that he got from his father inlaw in Holland. Only picture I can find it this one, but it is in the middle.


1318
The one you have is an 1889 and should not fire 7.5x55 ammo.
I believe it was 7.5x53 and you can make it from 7.5x55 brass loaded lighter.
http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/detail/

[wonderwolf]

So did a firm do the sporterizations? or what? jonboy20's looks like the same stock as mine.

So $120 was not a bad price for a 1911?

[jonboy20]

The one you have is an 1889 and should not fire 7.5x55 ammo.
I believe it was 7.5x53 and you can make it from 7.5x55 brass loaded lighter.
http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/detail/



And What happens if I do fire 7.5x55 in it? I have fired over 100 rounds of 55 with no problem. How do I know if I have on chambered in 53 or 55?

[jonboy20]

So did a firm do the sporterizations? or what? jonboy20's looks like the same stock as mine.

So $120 was not a bad price for a 1911?

Well I know nothing on the prices of these things, but to me mine is priceless do to the history in mine.

[cimmaronkid]

Check out this link and I think all of the confusion will be cleared up. The 1889 was the first and should not be shot with smokeless loads unless they are really weak. Notice the progression of refinement in the rifles from model to model.

http://swissriflewebsite.com/The%20Rifles.htm

[jonboy20]

Here we go:

A large lot of 7.5x55 cartridges was produced by the Independent organization in Portugal around 2001. These were lightly loaded with a 170-grain FMJBT bullet at a velocity around 2200 fps. They are Boxer-primed, non-corrosive and head stamped "FNM 7.5x55". Although some shooters have reported trouble-free use in the 1889 Schmidt-Rubin, it is not recommend.


Hum....to shoot or not to shoot is the question...........

[jfowl31]

Jonboy... It does look by the magazine that yours is an 1889, and the bolt is not strong enough on an 1889 to handle 7.5x55. If youve shot 100 rounds, youve been "cheating it" a little bit, and youre just lucky nothing happened. You can either try and find the oler swiss ammo made for the rifle, or reload your own to low pressure levels. Or justnot shoot it at all.

www.swissrifles.com

theres a wealth of info there to learn about all the swiss rifles.


Wonderwolf, You should be good to go... and you did get a good deal...

only thing Id double check is that it is actually chambered in 7.5swiss... There were a lot of variations on the 1911's, including 30-06, and 308, but I do believe that typically, the barrel didnt have the swiss markings on it... though there are reports of this stuff being done from the factory as well...

Yours just looks like a bubba-ed 1911, though it could be one of the Alpine conversions that was left in 7.5... just check it out... If its 308, a 7.5 case wont fit in the chamber as its bigger.

I bet it shoots like a dream if its an original swiss barrel.

Are there holes drilled anywhere for a scope mount? If so, I believe St. Marie Graphics is selling repro scope mounts for the different bubba-ed swiss rifles.

[wonderwolf]

No holes for a scope is that something that was on the alpine version? I'll look into that some more.

The barrel is an original swiss but has a very very small hint of pitting near the muzzle. I'm going to get some wolf ammo to try out and Locate a set of dies.

I'm looking at the magazine and I might try and make some reproductions (stainless?) at $70 a pop it might be worth it to make the jigs and give it a try.

[Norton]

So did a firm do the sporterizations? or what? jonboy20's looks like the same stock as mine.

?

Yes they did, I have an add for them from a 1949 Popular mechanics magazine. It says Accurate Swiss Hunting rifles $19.95. If I can find it I will post it.
I know this sounds like BS but after WW2 deer rifles were in short suppy. You had tens of thousands of Ex GIs who wanted to go hunting in the late 40s and 50s. They bought these type of rifles as well as German semi autos of all makes , Mosins, Johnsons, Enfields, Mausers, really anything including Jap rifles coverted to 30 06. Now I am not saying they were all good, just that you could sell almost anything if you cut off the forearm and called it a sporter.

[jfowl31]

I think all of the "Alpine Sporters" like the ad you are referring to are 30-06 or 308 win.

If its still 7.5x55, its probably a bubba job... the "firms" you speak of would have converted them to an American cartridge since you probably couldnt find too much 7.5x55 back then.

[texlurch]

It is a Alpine Sporter 1911. You can go on the Swiss rifle site and check your s/n for year of manufacture.

I have one my dad gave me, he hunted with it for years and it is pretty darn accurate. Mine is rechambered in 308 WIN, so check it over real carefully for any markings.

You don't need extra mags, these are designed to load from the top from stripper clips.

Speaking of Alpine Sporters, here is an add from the 50's...

[wonderwolf]

:icon_mrgreen:


Thanks thats what I was looking for. Its great when you can find that one piece of info to solve the mystery . Mine does not have any markings that would make me think it has been rechambered. Looks all original for a "sporter".

The fact that the wood work was well done and the sling swivels looked "factory" had me thinking it was not just another "bubba gun" Thank you very much for the info. I try to keep a little log with each firearm so those who get it next know its past history/origins. I'll be sure to get more info on this. Though the serial # is consistent with the rifle and not the carbine and I can't tell that they reset the sight. It looks like it was built this way from the factory.

[jfowl31]

I've never seen an ACTUAL Alpine sporter model that was 7.5x55

And the 308 is usuall well marked, and there wont be any Swiss markings on the barrel.

I could be completely wrong, but Ill copy your picture and description over to swissrifles.com and see what those guys think... I guarantee youll get the truth over there.

It could be a real one that Ive never heard of, but my guess is that its just Bubba with a really skillful hand. There's waaaaaaay more good Bubba jobs on the schmidt rubins than there are Alpine Sporters.

Its pretty damn cool either way if you ask me!

[wonderwolf]

The ad does not say anything about the rifle being re chambered or re barreled does it? I read as much as I can but the copy isnt all that great. I tried to fit .308 in there but it shakes around alot and I know 7.5 has a much bigger base diam. I got wolf ammo coming in this week sometime then we'll know for sure. :catcorn:

[texlurch]

If it was rechambered, it should be stamped. 7.5x55 is close to 30-06, so if you have one of those see how close it fits. More than likely it is the 7.5 Swiss.

The rear sights weren't reset, so far as I know. Mine has a Swiss barrel that has been rechambered; you can see where it moved back just a bit looking down from the top, where the stock cut out is. Most were just shortened and recrowned, and the front site reinstalled.

Mine also used to have the cheap stamped sheet metal scope mount and 4X scope. Like a dummy I wanted something "bigger, better" and sold that and replaced with a Ste. Marie drill and tap.

I wish my stock was as nice as yours; my dad used mine every year for hunting and it has been banged around a good bit.

[texlurch]

Here's mine, the silly Ruger MB is gone now.

My dad hunted with this from the early's 60's thru about the mid 80's; no telling how many deer and elk this thing brought home...

[texlurch]

By the way, these guys show Promag repo's for the K31...

http://www.tngunparts.com/k312.htm

[wonderwolf]

30/06 & 7.5 swiss (http://ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/aicompare.cgi?sn=VLbkPImsGa&in=1&xl=1)

Thats a good website...yet another one I'm a freeloader on....they keep sending me emails to subscribe but $15 a year is a little much for me right now. If I subscribed/contributed to every website I was on I would be in debt I think

Thats not a bad deal on reproduction mags with 4 chargers. I'm going to try and fab another mag just to see if it can be done.

[TaosBob101]

Better go here before you fire it....http://www.swissrifles.com > Forums > K31,M1911 Rifle/Carbine, etc, it could be a .308 Winchester re-chamber.

[wonderwolf]

Already covered that, Seems like I need to register on that forum as well now. Lot of good info over there