K31 Oil or Grease

[DerZilla]

Hi all

I recently purchased a K31 from Springfield LTD. While doing some research. I came across a couple articles stating to use grease instead of gun oil for any Swiss rifles. While others state that its okay to use oil. Just wondering if it really makes a different. Also what brand of grease should i use. Can't find the Waffenfett the Swiss used.

[SMarquez]

If it slides, grease it. If it pivots, oil it. You are not going to hurt the gun. Use grease sparingly.

[Guisan]

The Swiss army never used oil on their small arms, that is why they are in such excellent condition.
Waffenfett and Automatenfett are both the Swiss tactical secrets..

[DerZilla]

What would be a good substitute for Waffenfett grease?

[hoystory]

No need for a substitute. Contact Guisan and he'll sell you some at a very reasonable price.

[Divernhunter]

You grease (or oil) them??
Maybe I should dig mine out.

[Capybara]

I am ashamed that I have used Frog Lube on my K31. No problems though, it seems smooth and functions well.

[Gutz]

I am ashamed that I have used Frog Lube on my K31. No problems though, it seems smooth and functions well.

Nothing wrong with FL. I use it on all my C&R rifles.

[Enfield47]

What would be a good substitute for Waffenfett grease?

Lubriplate is a modern substitute that Latigo recommends.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Lubriplate is a modern substitute that Latigo recommends.

A can of Lubriplate is less than $15 from Brownells and lasts a long time.

[OpenSightsOnly]

What would be a good substitute for Waffenfett grease?

If you look around, you can still get waffenfett.

Have used moly grease for the bolt - not a problem or issue. Just use enough to coat the surface.

Moly is what I also use to grease the US Rifle, Cal. 30, M1.

[Pricate]

You cant go wrong with either Mobile 1 synthetic or A synthetic type bearing grease. They are cheap and you can use them for a long time. They are also very high temp so they do not gum up. Just use them sparingly. If you have to store it for a long time. Put a liberal amount of Mobile 1 on all the metal. I do it and put it in a safe with a golden rod. I have not seen rust since.

[Tarasdad]

The gun store where I purchased my K11 (many, many years ago) had a barrel full of Swiss cleaning kits. One of the things in the kit was a grease container - full of grease! I have no idea how old it was but it still worked great!

[Latigo]

That stickie at the top is something I did for Kestryl and the members here. It's not like it only took me a few days. It was a lot of work. If you're a new Swiss rifle owner, please at least take the time to read it. "I use this...... I use that".... whatever. Read the second segment, and tell me if that sin't simple logic about your rifle.



CalGuns Swiss Rifle Central #6
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Written by Guisan:

The grease is used for three purposes being cleaning, lubricating and protecting and the last can be divided in normal use and storage.

To start with the cleaning first, before shooting the Swiss run a pad through the bore to clean out the grease there and from the bolt face, they do that with the help of a grease rod, that ones comes with a jag for a pad and a black grease brush.
Immediately after shooting they run that black brush with Automatenfett through the still hot bore, put some grease on the bolt face and leave it like that. After they get home they clean it all from the grease, get a bore rope or cleaning brush through the bore and after that they lube it all again with fresh grease that stays on till the next shooting match.
The grease dissolves the fouling and makes cleaning way more easy as using oil.

Lubricating during normal use is only done on few spots, the most important ones are the flat (or round with the older straight pulls) inside receiver sliding part of the operating rod and the tip of the operating rod where it enters the bolt sleeve groove, that area needs to be lubed well.
There should be no grease inside the bolt or at the outside but it won't hurt to use a tiny bit in the locking nut area.
Do not use too much grease, the manual reads for the K31 "battle lubricating"......NONE , so the above is only to make your rifle operate more smoothly with less wear, after all the shooting range is no battle field.

The protecting part is easy, Automatenfett can be used on bare metal to protect it against corrosion, use it limited especially on moving parts as we don't want sand to stick to these.

For storage, the -"Parkdienstschmierung" as they say there- it's easy also;
Barrel inside and outside, greased
Chamber, greased
Trigger assembly, inside bolt and hammer piece, NO grease (still the arsenals did not follow that rule that well as examples show)
Bare metal parts, greased
Blued parts, greased

The storage part is the reason why so many new owners of K31's in the USA think that they are in Cosmoline which is not the case, when they have been in storage in Swiss arsenals for a long time they are still well protected by the old yellow Waffenfett, the more recent ones are well protected by black Automatenfett.

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So your rifle came to you in the usual condition of the k31. Stock a bit beat up but with most of the metal finish intact and sharp, shiney lands and grooves, and you intend to keep it that way.
Stop and think about this. The rifle came to you in the condition in which the Swiss soldier and Armoury kept it for many years. Is it not then a reasonable assumption that you'd follow the same maintenance ritual that has kept it in that condition for so many years? Maybe, but the average American shooter believes strongly in all of the advertising hype and testimonials to a myriad of maintenance products deemed absolutely necessary to keep a rifle as pristine as possible, few of which are factually relevant to the k31 barrel.

This was written by my Dad quite a few years ago.

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The Armoury and the well instructed Swiss soldier used a product called Waffenfett, or weapon grease. A close and reasonable approximation in the US is Lubriplate 930. The barrel is swabbed with 930, running a patch back and forth followed by a dry patch. At the end of the shooting session while the barrel is still hot or warm, the lubriplate is worked back into the barrel and left that way until the next shooting session when a dry patch is run back through removing the excess lubriplate. That's it. If carbon in the throat and chamber become an issue from firing reloads, use a good carbon remover such as Montana Extreme, but leave the bore alone. It is a fact that excessive bore cleaning with brushes can and will shorten your barrel life.

If, by shooting reloaded cartridges utilizing copper jacketed projectiles, your bore shows copper fouling, use a product such as WipeOut to remove it. This kind of a product fulfills it's task without continual scrubbing of the bore.

This may sound like an overly simple approach, and the typical US shooter is usually a ready recipient of industry marketing efforts and barrel maintenance, but use this logic. My 50+ year old rifle came to me with a truly amazing bore. Why would I not then follow the maintenance practices of the Armoury and Soldier that delivered it to me in this condition?
__________________
Latigo

An'' ole' Brer' Rabbit...... he set in de bushes..... he watch an' he wait... lay low an' he don' say nuffin'.

[glennsche]