Shooting 308 in a Schmidt-Ruben 1911/K31

[TinMan99]

A friend of mine recently informed me that they fired nato 7.62 surplus ammo through an original condition Schmidt Ruben K31. They said that the ammo fed from the mag, chambered, fired, extracted, and ejected without issue and that they ran a full six rounds through the weapon without incident. This brings up of course, safety questions. Can the Schmidt Ruben safely fire Nato 7.62 ammo? The correct ammo, so I am told, is 7.5x53, and that reload information books indicate to use 308-caliber bullets and NATO 7.62 powder loads. Being that NATO 7.62 is 7.62x51, would the 2 millimeters difference constitute a hazard? Is a receiver failure likely? In so much as most NATO 7.62 is berdan primed and not reloadable, the distortion of the neck doesn't seem relevant and thus not an issue. The 2 millimeters of essential freebore doesn't so much concern me as the potential for an expansion chamber inside the receiver. Anyone's learned, experienced, and USEFUL feedback is appreciated.

TinMan99

[hagar]

I love these BS stories. The 7.5 Swiss caliber uses a .308 bullet, but the case is much bigger, and run on much lower pressure. Maybe you can physically make it fire, but make sure that push/pull bolt does not cause a severe case of headspace in your forehead!

[zouavexx]

USEFUL feedback is appreciated.


Here you go, never, ever fire ammo in a rifle that it is not chambered for.



I hope that helps.

[BigLEE]

The Swiss K31 fires the 7.5x55 round. The 7.5x55 is wider than the 7.62 NATO round, which leaves the case dangerously unsupported. Also, the rear of the K31 bolt is not sealed. As a result, in the event of a case failure, at best you'll end up with a facefull of hot gas.

K31s can and have been converted to 7.62N in the past. But, it requires turning the barrel back, or an insert, which is likely to fail. The better option might be to buy some surplus Swiss GP11 ammo from AIM (http://www.aimsurplus.com)

Regards,
L.E.E.
www.SwissRifles.com

[TinMan99]

Thank you for the info, guys. Much appreciated.

TinMan99

[GCcowboy]

Here you go, never, ever fire ammo in a rifle that it is not chambered for.

worth repeating