Should I reload 7.5x55 Swiss using .308 Nosler 168gn Bullets?

[ddjchemist]

I am ready to reload some 7.5x55 Swiss cartridges to shoot in my K31 rifle. So far, I only shot GP11 ammo with it. I prepared boxer brass cases (PPU) and am planning to start with IMR-4350 powder and Nosler 168gn .308 HPBT bullets. Is it safe to shoot .308 bullets in 7.5x55 Swiss ammo? I read on various forums that it is safe, but I also read a couple of comments not to shoot .308 bullets in Swiss K31 rifle.

Cheers,

Dan from Seattle

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[TTSX]

I think it depends on the nominal size your Swiss cartridge is supposed to be. I certainly wouldn't think it's a good idea to shoot something considerably wider than designed. Also consider ogive designs....

 

[DirectDrive]

@tac knows a little about that cartridge.
Hopefully he will chime in and give a recommendation.

 

[ma96782]

If you don't have a reloading manual with cartridge drawings. And measurements.

Well, you could just pull a G11 cartridge and measure the bullet size. As for loads......I'll leave that up to your research.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Eveskcige28]

If indeed the barrel is a .308" barrel then that will be fine. Just make sure your sizing die has a 308 expander ball and not a .311 I encountered this loading for other milsurp guns. When you go to seat the bullet, it just drops straight through the neck... pretty irritating to say the least

 

[ddjchemist]

If you don't have a reloading manual with cartridge drawings. And measurements.

Well, you could just pull a G11 cartridge and measure the bullet size. As for loads......I'll leave that up to your research.

Aloha, Mar

Swissrifle.com shows the specs for GP11 ammo and the bullet diameter is listed 0.3086". The rounds of GP11 that I got have measured bullet diameter 0.306. On various forums people claim that 0.308 bullets are perfectly fine to shoot in K31 rifles. In fact, commercial boxer Hornady 7.5x55 ammo uses .308 bullets. However, I got across a couple of people on-line claiming that one should never shoot .308" bullets.
As for reloading manuals, I have multiple of them and neither of them has any reloading data for this cartridge. Thus, I have to look on-line. I got Lee dies and they came with some reloading data. Pretty much I will replicate GP11 cartridge when it comes to OGIVE and try 45gn-49gn of IMR-4350. Down the road I can play with OGIVE a little bit (not a lot since K31 rifles have short throat and bullets are generally closer to lends than in other rifles).

 

[ddjchemist]

If indeed the barrel is a .308" barrel then that will be fine. Just make sure your sizing die has a 308 expander ball and not a .311 I encountered this loading for other milsurp guns. When you go to seat the bullet, it just drops straight through the neck... pretty irritating to say the least

My Lee resizing die is perfectly .308 expender ball. I compared it to my 30-06 Foster resizing die, and the same Nosler 308 bullet sits (before seating it) in the exact same position on both 30-06 and 7.5x55 resized brass cases, respectively.

 

[homeuser6]

slug the barrel

 

[CLT65]

I need to get my old K31 out again one of these days and really work up a good load for it. I've only ever used .308" bullets in it. These guys who say not to, do they say what you should use instead?

I don't even have any proper brass for mine. I bought it back when reloadable 7.5x55 brass was hard to find. I have a bunch of converted .284 Win brass instead. It works fine.

I was impressed when I got my K31. I'd been collecting, I mean accumulating, old surplus rifles for some time, and Swiss rifles seem to be in a class of their own. Instead of a clunky old battle rifle, their quality is more like that of a fine commercial hunting rifle.

 

[ma96782]

So then......
I looked at my Hornady reloading manual (9th Ed). The 7.5 x 55mm Schmidt Rubin (7.5 Swiss) was listed. Pages 409-412. The 0.308" bullet was OK with them.

That info plus all of your research thus far.

ME......I'd do it with the 0.308" bullet.

Aloha, Mark

 

[gmerkt]

I've owned several K31 rifles. In my reloading for these, I used only .308 bullets with no issues as to diameter.

In my experience, the critical thing to get right is the ogive of the bullet. The K31's I've owned all had very short throats. Which requires an "ordinary" reloading bullet to be seated deeper than it might otherwise be. The GP11 ammo has a pretty steep ogive. I found the Sierra 168 gr. HPBT Match to work best for my purposes. Don't think of trying to crimp into a cannelure without taking this into account.

The Hornady commercial ammo, the Privi Partizan, the Portuguese commercial stuff, that all had .308 bullets.

I have the Hornady 10th Edition reloading book. Starting on page 469, notes and data for 7.5x55mm Swiss. Which says, "regular 30 caliber (.308") bullets may be used to reload the cartridge."

 

[oremike]

All the data on the Hodgdon online site is for a .308 bullet for that cartridge so I'd say you are good to go.

 

[ddjchemist]

I finally loaded 30 cartridges (unfortunately, I do not have more brass) using Nosler 168gn HPBT bullets and IMR-4350 (3 x 5) and IMR-4064 (3 x 5) powders. I set the bullet with the exact OGIVE that GP11 cartridge have. Hopefully, will get some free time to head to a range this weekend.

 

[ddjchemist]

slug the barre

To be honest, my rifle looks well used and I am sure it had a lot of bullets go through the bore.

 

[ddjchemist]

I shot today my reloads and it was all good. The best grouping I got from 43gn IMR-4064 powder. Now I need to scope the rifle and am deciding between Swiss Product over-receiver mount or S&K scout scope mount. I am very happy with S&K scout scope mount that I placed on my Yugo M48 Mauser, but some reviews indicate that the S&K scope mount for K31 might have a problem of pointing downward, resulting in shooting too high. However, I contacted S&K and they told me that issue can be easily solved by slightly filing rear of the mount.

 

[ron]

I finally loaded 30 cartridges (unfortunately, I do not have more brass) using Nosler 168gn HPBT bullets and IMR-4350 (3 x 5) and IMR-4064 (3 x 5) powders. I set the bullet with the exact OGIVE that GP11 cartridge have. Hopefully, will get some free time to head to a range this weekend.

I have used 308 168 SMK/IMR 4064 in my K-31. Excellent accuracy comparable to GP 11. Also 284 Winchester
brass works great for 7.5X55 brass. Also I have sized and trimmed 30/06 brass to 7.5X55.
A bit of a PIA.

 

[tac]

I've been reloading for my Swiss rifles - a K11 and K31 - with .308cal bullets with the longest ogive I can find. I lucked into a few thousand 175gr Sierra match Kings and shoot them - they just about match the GP11 bullet although they are a few grains heavier. So sue me.

This is how they shoot at 100m - last 5 of the day with the K31 -


and ten with the K11 -

The K31 is a 1944 production and the K11 is converted '00 from 1914.

If you check out Swiss firearms on gunboards, where a lot of us write, or talk to my old friends Piérre and Latigo St Marie of Swiss Products - between them having shot literally tens of thousands of rounds of either GP11 or homeloads using .308 diameter bullets, you quickly see that there really is NO option. Same goes for our Swiss nationals who shoot homeloads, although, as expected, they are required to shoot GP11 in competitions.

The Swiss rifles FB pages are filled with people who reload, all using .308" bullets.

PS - I've been 'shooting Swiss' since 1962 - a school trip to Switzerland had me shooting on the 300m range of the village in which we stayed.

 

[Krabbe]

I am ready to reload some 7.5x55 Swiss cartridges to shoot in my K31 rifle. So far, I only shot GP11 ammo with it. I prepared boxer brass cases (PPU) and am planning to start with IMR-4350 powder and Nosler 168gn .308 HPBT bullets. Is it safe to shoot .308 bullets in 7.5x55 Swiss ammo? I read on various forums that it is safe, but I also read a couple of comments not to shoot .308 bullets in Swiss K31 rifle.

Cheers,

Dan from Seattle

Slug your bore and get the correct measurement, Buy bullets to fit!

 

[tac]

Slug your bore and get the correct measurement, Buy bullets to fit!

Be my guest. Please find some .306 or .307 174gr FMJ bullets anywhere on THIS particular planet. As I mentioned. most of us, including the Swiss, whose service cartridge it was from 1912 to 1990 with only one real change - of propellant, are content to use appropriate .308" diameter bullets.

I'd LIKE to use Berger's 175gr bullets, but at a $1.12 each, before I add powder and primer, that just ain't goin' to happen.

Can I just remind you that the K31 is an issue military firearm, and not a super-whizzbang target rifle?

Is this REALLY not good enough for you?



Show me one of YOUR milsurps that shoots like this, please.

Unless it's a Swedish Mauser, of course, and THAT shoots like THIS -

 

[tac]

Down the road I can play with OGIVE a little bit (not a lot since K31 rifles have short throat and bullets are generally closer to lends than in other rifles).

Lands?