For sale is a Waffenfabrik Bern produced K31 carbine chambered in 7.5×55 Swiss sporting a very rare Rüegg Company laminate stock. It is believed that Rüegg only produced 50 of these stocks. The rifle pictured is the rifle for sale.

Emil Ruegg from Schwanden, a town in Glarus Switzerland, produced a series of plywood / laminate stocks for the K31. Of his first series only 50 units were ever produced. It is said the stocks would not be serialized but would have replaced stocks of privatized military issued K31 carbines. These stocks were considered expensive at the time as the Swiss had never produced laminate stocks for their firearms. The Swiss Army would go on to later experiment with the laminate stocks as the wood can be reduced to a minus and the stock pressure would not see any negative effects on accuracy. During WW2 walnut wood became very expensive to produce and much of the old European Walnut trees had been cut down due to WW1 & WW2. It is said boards of walnut were confiscated from wood working companies and carpenters to make stocks for K31s.  The army would ultimately decide to use Czech beechwood due to heat control and pricing. This also explains why no original Privaten P series K31 was ever made with an original beechwood stock or laminate stock. The stock itself is very reminiscent of what we would see produced from the Soviet Union and Warsaw pact nations like USSR, Romania, and Poland with their iconic laminate stocks. Ultimately it seemed it was more cost efficient for Switzerland to switch from Walnut to pure Beechwood rather than going with the plywood style stock.

This is truly a special and rare K31 variant. Some rifles exist in Switzerland while others were exported to other nations with civilian gun markets. For this reason these rifles are incredibly rare and a piece of history.

Used – Excellent Condition: This K31 is in very nice shape for its age. Waffenfabrik Bern produced the rifle in 1935 in Bern Switzerland. The stock itself was a special production done by Emil Rüegg. These Rüegg stocks are made from laminate wood, not like the typical Walnut or Beechwood stocks seen on the majority of K31 rifles. In fact according to SwissWaffen only 50 units were made by Rüegg for the laminate stock. This stock does have the correct plate that identifies Rüegg along with the location and telephone number. The receiver, barrel, bolt and magazine are matching serial numbers. A majority of the stocks original finish is intact with minimal wear. The bluing condition is also great we note a majority of the original blue finish intact with minimal wear present from use and or transport. The rifling also looks excellent. We noted a nice clean bore with sharp rifling throughout the barrel. No damage to report on the crown or chamber. The bolt and bolt face also look great and the action feels nice and smooth.

Swiss Army Crest (Cross over Shield)

+M – Major Muhlemann

Pressure proof test pass

+ Shooting test pass

P – Privatized – No date listed

Stock Plate:

E. Rüegg Sohn

Waffen + Optik

8762 Schwanden

TEL. 058 / 81 11 73

Imported by M+M Inc. small professional import mark on bottom of barrel near bayonet lug.