finely-finished Kokura long rifle had peep sights for both “battle ranges” and long range that gave good sight pictures. Some Koishikawa long rifles, in contrast, all had open rear sights. The light recoil generated by the 6.5x50 cartridge was easy to take and if the rifles could have been made to shoot would have invited longer range sessions. I quickly tired of errant shots and spread-out groups. So much for the Arisakas I tested.
I may be fairly accused of saving the best for last with reports on the K31 Schmidt -Rubin, the 03-A3 Smith Corona Springfield and the M96 Swedes. They all shot, some a little better than others, but every one was trouble-free fun.
K31
The K31 came with dinged-up wood, perfect metal work and a card under the butt plate with the name, address and telephone number of the Swiss trooper from Basel who was sent home with his rifle in 1958. He must not have shot it much because a borescope inspection showed no discernable throat wear and a mirror finish rivaling the product of some U.S.-based master barrel makers. Slugging it revealed an exceptionally round and uniform .3070 bore. Swiss issue 1911 type 174-grain full metal jacket boattail ball shot so well that I thought that my first 10 rounds at 200 yards were an anomaly. They weren’t, and they scored an easy possible with about half x’s on the 200 yard NRA “A” target.
The next 10 were as good or better. The chronograph gave a muzzle velocity right at 2550 fps. Thinking I could improve on the GI issue stuff, I broke the bullet seal by reseating the out-of-the-box ammo by about .015 inch. Wrong. It made no discernable difference. Next step was to load some 168-grain Sierra Matchkings to the service load velocity. No help there, either. The 168s weren’t quite as good as the Swiss issue, still cleaning the 200 yard “A” but with far fewer x’s and noticeably more dispersion. I gave up and ordered another case of 7.5 x 55 Swiss GI. “‘Arf a crown and no regrets!” to quote the Picadilly Lily!
Schmidt Rubin sights have a cleverly diagonaled slot in which the square top post front is mounted. Windage corrections are made by driving the front sight fore and aft, which also moves it right and left – simple. Swiss ordnance likewise gave the rifleman few choices in sight elevation. Only cardinal 100-meter changes selection from 200 to 1500 meters are possible with no “in between” detents.
To take advantage of the undoubtedly well-planned coincidence of bullet impact and elevation settings, I got out some old “D” -type military silhouette targets with “V’s” and 5’s as high scores. At 300 yards, the top of the front sight was “shoulder width” on the target, very visible and easy to hold for elevation on the horizontal lower edge of the black. Slow fire “V’s” were the order of the day. Seventy-second standing-to-prone rapid fire exercises starting with four rounds in the magazine and reloading with six from that funny tin and cardboard Swiss clip were really fun.
Once I got over trying to lift up on the straight-pull bolt T-handle, I found a smooth rhythm of operation that was as satisfying and fast as any fine turnbolt or semi-auto match rifle. After the first uninterrupted rapid fire string I shot I lay there and watched the timer count off an unused 12 seconds that I hadn’t needed.
The K-31 will shoot but had beautiful closely machined parts clearances that I suspect would suffer if the rifle were taken into the sand or the jungle. So what? The Swiss weren’t going either place. From a tall Swiss hill, the K31 would have been capable of “delivering a large volume of accurate fire” and is said to have figured in Germany’s decision to let the Swiss alone in WWII.
Bottom line: great rifle. Swiss GI 174-grain ball shoots better than my hand-loads and will give you x-ring groups at least out to 500 yards. I’m keeping mine to play with some more.
1903-A3
About fifty years ago in Dallas, there were five shooters who got caught up in the local competition scene and who participated in what was called “military rifle” matches in which any issue military rifle could be used. The course of fire was the national match course and it attracted a wondrous array of WWI and WWII rifles and cartridges. One of the five ordered a Springfield from the Director of Civilian Marksmanship. When it arrived it came into the form of a “U.S. Smith Corona 1903-A3” with a “C” stock, sheet metal hardware and a slick four groove SC-7-43 barrel.
All the five used “the rifle,” which turned out to be a shooter, in those military matches. It was variously owned, sometimes several times and for varying periods, by at least three of the five. Miraculously it avoided being sporterized by one or another of us. Only two of the five are still alive and only one of those still shoots. The old 03-A3, however, has not aged. Indeed, its users over the years have lovingly and meticulously cared for the old rifle inside and out. Its dark American walnut wood has the deep luster and sheen imparted by a few drops of linseed oil rubbed in by hand after each use. Admittedly its forend and butt plate have places where “firm grip” deposits betray the rifle’s past but their piney scent and roughened texture are part of its character.
If a shooter ever had the equivalent of a “Proustian Madeleine” surely this must be it, a sweet memory of things past. Damned old gun shoots! It’ll give you inside x-ring groups with “white box” match all the way to 600 yards right today if you do your part. It shoots 125s, 150s, 168s, 173s, 180s, and 190s. You get the feeling that it would shoot copper doorknobs as well if you had enough of ‘em to work up a load. The sights don’t have enough “in between” elevation graduations to accommodate all of the “non-GI” combinations at all ranges and it’s possible to run out of windage adjustment in challenging conditions, but the peep rear is the right size and distance from the eye and the skinny front post is made to order for the small-bull “A”, “B”, and “C” targets with “V” rings.
The bolt runs slick and there’s enough stock comb to let you maintain a consistent sight picture. More recoil than with an M-1 but just remember that you’re shooting a .30-06 with all the power you’ll ever need. Damned old gun shoots!
SWEDE M96
If the Swedes are to be known for something besides their goofy socialist politics and their beautiful women, I would suggest the combination of the M96 Mauser rifle and the 6.5x55 Swedish cartridge. It was everything the Arisakas I tested could have been and weren’t.
Three Model 96s, one Model 38 short rifle and a CG63 arsenal-built, Olympic-type 300-meter competition rifle, all with trigger pulls in the 4-pound range, were tested using 144-grain full metal jacket boattail Swede FFV bullets made in 1954 for use in Olympic competition. The best accuracy was found at very close to 2600 fps from a 29.1 inch barrel. The worst any of them shot was about 1-1/2 MOA; the best was right at half that. Both open and peep rear sights worked well with the aperture type of course being better by far.
One of the M96 long rifles was a literally unfired “Swedish National Match” with a sturdy M. Soderin receiver-mounted peep with highly repeatable windage and elevation settings. Only the bolt and receiver parts had matching numbers but the rifle obviously had been expertly rebuilt with a new select barrel at the Carl Gustaf Factory, probably in the ‘50s or ‘60s. That gun and the CG63, also with a used but good barrel and Soderin rear sight, will shoot 3/4 MOA. The M96 “National Match” has a flat top post front sight and the CG63 has a hooded front with Anschutz post and globe inserts. Happiness is being confident that no matter how bad your shot is it will come on call!
The Swede military stocks are long and skinny but reasonably good cheek support can be had with a careful “spot weld.” Light recoil and a long sight radius helps also. Care must be taken not to use too much sling tension. The long slender rifle can be bent 3 or 4 minutes left if you use more sling tension than is necessary for a good stable hold.
Light recoil helps in that department too. A National Match M-1 may be “horsed” pretty hard, and must be to keep a good stable position, without causing an impact
