Modern Day Swiss Project (lots of pics)

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  • cundiff5535

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    Feb 19, 2012
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    Nwi
    Before I start this write up, I would like to say... There is no need to tell me that I should not have modified a war time rifle. The idea that a surplus rifles like these are rare, is somewhat ridiculous to me but, I know lots of folks think it.... With that said, I love old K31 rifles and have many... so in loo of having more than 10, I didn't think that a "project" rifle like the one I did was a big deal.

    I began by buying a bunch of K31 rifles from AIM over the winter (last time they were in stock! I went ahead and did some light sanding and wood working to them along with putting some cold blue on the worn spots. They all came out very cool and I couldn't be happier with those.

    Like with anything... I can help myself and thought I would make a one of a kind Modern Day Swiss Sniper Rifle. First I'll list what parts I used and what was done... Ill follow that up with pictures! I always like comments and feedback but, again, if you are going to tell me how you should not do this to a war time rifle, please just move on!
    Parts List:
    K31
    Rock Solid Mount
    Vortex Viper PST
    Seekins Low Rings
    Seekins SRS Rail
    Atlas Bi-pod
    SJC Titan Comp
    Midnight Black Cerakote

    I originally took this K31 and sent it to Chris Bizianes and had him and Mickey modify the actual stock. Since the barreled action was needed with the stock for proper bedding and fitting I had to wait to get the stuff back. While this was away, I made a quick call to my friend Chris Schiff from Sport Optics. Chris has always taken care of me on optics so, I was able to grab a Vortex Viper PST from him. I also found an Atlas Bi-pod and Seekins rings in the forum EE. I finally got the stock and action back from Chris B and sent it out to Rock Solid for there K31 scope mount! I was obviously extremely excited to get the thing back to start Cerakote on it...

    A few weeks later, the barreled action arrived. After thinking it through, I decided to heat up the barrel and knock the front and rear sights off her. Believe it or not, the came right off... no issue! I decided to call another friend John P from PPK firearms restoration to ask him about threading the barrel on it:) He said no issue and in a few hours he had it threaded and ready to go.

    From there I started reading about compensator and muzzle breaks. It ultimately came down to the Lantac and SJC Titian comp... for whatever reason, I went with the SJC break.

    Once the comp came in, I took it all over to my shop and blasted it all down. I custom mixed some cerakote (Bright Purple, Graphite Black, and Armor Black) and went to work. I also decided to coat the trigger in USMC Red to give it a little detail and blend in the side Swiss Cross along with the VV scope dials. It worked out perfectly:) Lastly, I threw it all in the ovens and baked it to full cure.

    The ring and bi-pod came in and I realized that I needed an SRS rail to mount the Atlas... I called the good folks at Seekins (they are great) and asked what would work for my situation. Rail showed up a few days later and it was time to get her all together:)

    I took and started to assembled the rifle... OH NO. Upon putting the Seekins rings on my rifle, it was clear that either the rings were cut wrong or... the rail was cut wrong. Easy to test this out... If the rings fit another rifle, the mount was cut wrong, if the rings didn't fit, the rings were cut wrong... Guess what the issues was? The freakin mount.

    Back to the shop... I called one of my friends (Rik M) to give me a hand with the rest of the work... He took a few measurements and into the mill the mount went. We had to mill the entire mount as each space was off... To add to that, whoever installed the mount used incorrect screws... SMDH. Now I was getting pissed. For a $275 mount, this freaking thing should have been PERFECT. It was not. And the installer used hardened screws which were not even the correct size for the mount. Rik fixed it all for me... so shout out to him on a hell of a job fixing Rock Solids mistakes.

    Once the mount was cut correct, we touched it up with some cold blue paste (its a steel mount) and reinstalled it on the receiver:) Rik also installed the SRS Rail and the bi-pod fit perfectly!

    I have to say, this was a hell of a fun project and its now a one of a kind K! It will most likely become my favorite rifle as I love my other K's. Below is a start to finish account of the project. She took me right around 3 months from start to finish on this.

    Again, big thanks to all the fellas who helped out on the project. All feedback and thoughts are welcome:)!!



















     
    Last edited:

    cundiff5535

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    I have been so slammed, I have not been out to shoot her on the range yet. Once I get out, I will post a range report etc:)!
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    Aug 18, 2011
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    Looks like you did a great job! Definitely not "bubba'd". Very professional looking and what a great gun to start with as a base for a sniper rifle. :yesway:
     

    cundiff5535

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    Thanks guys... I am very excited to get out and shoot this thing. I will probably head to Willow Slew or Jasper this weekend. Maybe I will see some of you all out there... I am sure no one else has a rifle that looks like this... If you see me, come over and say hello!
     

    SmileDocHill

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    Mar 26, 2009
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    Westfield
    so I have to ask why the black finish instead of a beautiful wood grain stain? otherwise the only response I have is holy crap that is one of the most impressive posts I've seen in years! seriously I've shown my wife this post as an example of true craftsmanship with woodworking in regards to her recently buying a 18th century desk she wants to refinish. you've helped me avert a disaster with the "yeah I'm not that good" factor. I owe you, not only for the awesome post, but some personal benefit.:)
     

    cundiff5535

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    Feb 19, 2012
    869
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    Nwi
    so I have to ask why the black finish instead of a beautiful wood grain stain? otherwise the only response I have is holy crap that is one of the most impressive posts I've seen in years! seriously I've shown my wife this post as an example of true craftsmanship with woodworking in regards to her recently buying a 18th century desk she wants to refinish. you've helped me avert a disaster with the "yeah I'm not that good" factor. I owe you, not only for the awesome post, but some personal benefit.:)

    To be honest, the finish is a two park finish that we wanted to resemble a modern day stock... Kind of like an AI stock . With that said Mickey and Chris get all the credit on this one:) although I did the Cerakote, assembly, planning... Those guys killed it with the wood working! When they said this is what the finish would be, I was not about to object:)!!
     
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