Swiss K31 project hunter

[Armistice]

First off, if you're a purist and hate sportered milsurps, stop reading and just click that Back button on your browser. I don't want to hear it and it won't contribute to the thread



Moving on!

Been wanting to do a hunting rifle project for a while. Finally getting around to doing it after taking it out the other weekend and being totally amazed by how well it performed. 6/6 at 100yds my first string of shots through it. Right then I made the decision to use it for my project

Have been searching for a barreled action, or something already bastardized, but they're not any less expensive, so I've abandoned that search (have been looking for over a yr) to use one one of my 2 Swiss'. Oh well, just how it goes

Bought a walnut stock from Boyds over a year ago. Now, I knew I'd prob have to do some action inletting, but the rear sling slot was horrible. It still had tooling marks. Actually sent Boyds an email saying I was not happy with that at all. They offered to take it back on my dime, so I said no. So last weekend I tried my hand at some wood carving to fix the issue and I think it came out pretty well for my first time carving

(I'd have to see if I took a pic of what it looked like before, but it's 273% better)



Tonight I made the decision of where I wanted to cut it. Cut it right at the rear barrel band



I'll work on a nice round off later

Tomorrow, I will work on the inletting. The rear of the magwell needs a corner, and the stock has a radius on it, so I'll have to carve out a straight corner to allow the action to drop in

Still thinking on a stain. I'd like something light, but brings out the grain. It has a nice grain to it. In hindsight, maybe I should've ordered like 3-5, then picked the best looking one and send the rest back regardless of restocking fee...

Still thinking about how to mount a scope. I'm not really diggin' the SP offset clamp on style nor the one that mounts into the rear sight. I'd rather D&T it (something I was trying to avoid, but knew it may be inevitable), but the rear portion of the receiver has such a thin web I don't think it'd work out well, so that leaves the side to D&T (if I go that route)

We do have a mill at work, so I could possibly custom make a mount...

[Flintlock Tom]

Interested to see how it comes along.
Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

Question: are you going to bang up the rear 5 inches of the stock with a claw hammer? You know, just to make it authentic?

[1bulletBarney]

Interested to see how it comes along.
Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

Question: are you going to bang up the rear 5 inches of the stock with a claw hammer? You know, just to make it authentic?

Armistice should get some krampons (whatever them toe spurs are called), strap them on his sneakers and use that buttstock and pretend he is knocking snow/ice off of his feet...

[Armistice]

Interested to see how it comes along.
Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

Question: are you going to bang up the rear 5 inches of the stock with a claw hammer? You know, just to make it authentic?

No, no hammer

I gots me a beaver!

Armistice should get some krampons (whatever them toe spurs are called), strap them on his sneakers and use that buttstock and pretend he is knocking snow/ice off of his feet...

I actually have 3 pairs of crampons, haha

A few pics incoming

[Armistice]

Bobby may want to take note. I remember he asked about this stock back when I bought it

Note. I HIGHLY advise an excellent wood carving kit due to stocks being hard wood. Dad luckily has a 4 piece kit he got for $50 that's been doing well. I'm totally just guessing my way through it, but I'm a metal fabricator by day, so it's pretty easy for me

Toward tang, the radius needed to be carved down to a corner to allow the rear of the action to set inside


The front action lug needed to be carved out 1/16". This hole also needs to be drilled out as it's about a 1/4 hole off and I can't screw it into the lug


Had to made a small clearance cut on the left side there. Also had to carve out a bit on the left for where the barrel screws in to the receiver. Lug recess finished out and lug fits


Showing the front lug hole. Will have to carve out the entire magazine locking mechanism by 1/8"


Mock up thus far

[1bulletBarney]

On second thought, dont bung up the buttstock...

[Enfield47]

Looking good Aaron. Instead of D&T for a scope mount what about using diopter sights?

[Varg Vikernes]

There are also non-destructive scope mounts.

[ducky_0811]

I've used my k31 as is with the swiss products mount and a vortex 2-7x32 as a hunting rifle with Barnes 165 tsx, it's a tad on the heavy side but a great hunting rifle. Especially when pig hunting and you need a quick follow up shot! Good luck on your project!

[fal_762x51]

Good luck with the Boyds stock. It took me a week to fit the Krag one.

[Cowboy T]

No, no hammer

I gots me a beaver!

Oh, the fun I could have with *that* one...that's almost sig-worthy!

Personally, I like what you're doing with this rifle. I would recommend just a straight oil-based satin polyurethane finish, maybe three thin coats. It'll bring out the natural (and formidable) beauty of that walnut.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

[Armistice]

Looking good Aaron. Instead of D&T for a scope mount what about using diopter sights?

Saw that and thought about it, but I don't think it's the style I want

I've used my k31 as is with the swiss products mount and a vortex 2-7x32 as a hunting rifle with Barnes 165 tsx, it's a tad on the heavy side but a great hunting rifle. Especially when pig hunting and you need a quick follow up shot! Good luck on your project!

Sweet. You got a pic?

Good luck with the Boyds stock. It took me a week to fit the Krag one.

I thought it'd be a little clearance sanding, but this has turned into a bigger whittlin' project than I thought

Oh, the fun I could have with *that* one...that's almost sig-worthy!

Personally, I like what you're doing with this rifle. I would recommend just a straight oil-based satin polyurethane finish, maybe three thin coats. It'll bring out the natural (and formidable) beauty of that walnut.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Haha, I saw that and just left it for the lols

I have a light stain that really brings out grain that I'll test out of the fore end I cut off. Enough grain to see how it'll look

Back to carving more out of the trigger guard and magwell

[Mustang]

I bought several sporterized K31's and 1911 series rifles a few years ago.

They were dirt cheap...and ugly as sin. But they all shoot like a house on fire...

[Armistice]

Nice, Mustang!

Well, I'm done for the night. I'm getting frustrated with the magwell. It's not allowing me to put the mag in. Something, somewhere, is tight and keeping the mag from sliding in. Might need to put them back into the actual stock and take some measurements, then put into the new stock and see what I get

Action still fits tight, but need to figure out the magwell problem first

[Armistice]

Barrel groove. Not sure why it's all losey goosey, but that's how it is


Now the original stock has a large radius here, but the new stock has an edge. So after some head scratching, I found the bolt release lever was hitting the edge, so made a nice, clean, clearance notch for it. Also, on the left side of the photo, the other part of the bolt release was hitting that cutout as well. My carving made it swoop out instead of a straight edge, but I kind of like it, so may leave it


So after fudging and doing more minor clearance carving, I finally got it all to fit together. Was able to get the magwell to seat properly. The tang slot on the top needed to be carved a good 1/32" toward the butt which allowed the bolts to also slide in nicely (they were a little tough as the holes weren't quite centered). Another mockup shot with everything this time


I actually have done the fore end angle after I took that shot. I was planning on making a nice radius to curve it, but after I finished the initial angle, I really liked the way it looked with a crisp line, so will leave it as is

Edit: I know y'all would whine about not seeing that angle, so here it is


Did some sanding of all the interior cutouts and barrel groove with a 300ish grit sandpaper, just to smooth things out

Ahh, what's next. Umm, buttplate. Use the stock metal buttplate and use a slip on when I shoot, or cut the butt straight and put on a recoil pad? It's a new stock, so maybe I'll do the straight cut and put on a Pachmayer pad

Need to drill the holes for the rear sling. Quick search and doesn't seem there're any. I could make one easy at work

Might try out the one stain on the fore end I cut off and see how it looks

Enjoy the pics for now