{{infobox weapon|is ranged	yes| nameSwiss Karabiner Model 1931
Origin
Type	Straight-pull bolt-action carbine
Designer	Waffenfabrik Bern
Design date	May 1931
Service	1933 to 1958
Cartridge	7.5x55mm Swiss / Gewehrpatrone 11
Action	Manually operated magazine-fed breech loader
Range	400+ meters
Sights	U notch and post
Number	528,230
Velocity	780 m/s
Weight	4.00 kg empty
Length	1105 mm
Part length	605.2 mm
Feed	6 round detachable magazine A rifle grenade launcher was available from 1944 on. }}

The Karabiner Model 1931 (K31) is a magazine-fed, straight-pull bolt-action rifle. It was the standard issue rifle of the Swiss armed forces from 1933 until 1958, though examples remained in service into the 1970s. It has a 6-round removable magazine, and is chambered for the 7.5x55mm Swiss (also known as Gewehrpatrone 1911, GP11, or unofficially 7.5x55mm Schmidt Rubin), a cartridge with ballistic qualities similar to the .308 Winchester cartridge. Each rifle included a 6 round detachable box magazine with matching engraved serial number. A stripper clip loads the magazine from the top of the receiver.

The often quoted but incorrect name of "Schmidt-Rubin" comes from two designers: Rudolf Schmidt, who designed the action for Switzerland's 1889 and 1896 rifles, and Lt. Col. Eduard Rubin, who designed the ammunition.

Although the K31 is a straight-pull carbine like many other Swiss rifles, it was not designed by Rudolf Schmidt (1832–1898) as he was not alive to do so. The K31 was a totally new design by Eidgenossische Waffenfabrik in Bern, Switzerland under Colonel Furrer, and the gun does not have the Schmidt-designed 1889 or 1896 action. The first 200 K31s were made in May 1931 for troop trials (serials 500,001 - 500,200), thus the model number of 1931.

Distinctions

The K31 is noted for its straight-pull action, meaning that the bolt is pulled directly back, then pushed forward to cycle the action between shots, rather than being turned and pulled back and forth, as in the Mosin Nagant pattern rifles such as the M1891, or as in the more well known Mauser pattern rifles such as the K98k.

K31s are also noted for their excellent accuracy and quality. The Swiss considered individual marksmanship to be of utmost importance. Therefore, the K31 was made with tight tolerances and excellent overall craftsmanship. Many shooters are able to achieve one minute of arc with unmodified K31s. This means that a group of bullets shot at 100 yards will stay within a 1" diameter area, a group at 200 yards will stay within 2", etc. This is achievable with factory sights. Clamp-on sighting options for scopes and competition sights make it easier to mount a scope on the receiver.

K31s use a unique formed phenolic resin embedded paper charging clip with a tinned metal edge holding six rounds. Whereas most charger clips only hold the end of the round, the K31 charger nearly covers the entire cartridge. The clip has a guide slot wide enough for a gloved thumb to force rounds down and into the magazine in one smooth motion.

Many collectors of the K31 have removed the butt plate and recovered a small tag of plasticized paper from beneath it. This slip contains the name and address of the Swiss citizen to whom the rifle was issued. In some cases, collectors have used the information to contact the previous owners, and have recounted the details of those encounters on a variety of collector's web forums.

Poor stock condition

The poor condition of many stocks was caused mostly by the hobnail shoes and rifle drills that were common. Post war beech stocks are more affected than the older walnut ones. Walnut stocks were treated with linseed oil and beech stocks got a shellac protective layer that easily dissolves in alcohol for (arsenal) repairs. Some of the older stocks are reported with both linseed and shellac.

Sights

The standard sights on a K31 are open sights that can be adjusted for both windage and elevation. The rear sight is graduated from 100 up to 1500 meters in 100 meter increments. The sight line can be adjusted with a front sight adjustment tool. Moving the front post 1 mm horizontally results in a 12 cm shift at 300 m. To adjust the average height of the point of impact 5 front posts ranging from 5.9 to 7.1 mm height in 0.3 mm increments are available. The change in impact height from one front site to the next is 16 cm at 300 m. Starting at 300 meters the shooter should aim just below the bottom of the target, so that the front sight's post is out of the way. Mounting a scope conventionally is not easily done because of the design of the action, but there are specialized scope mounts available. As the Swiss still have a militia army where soldiers sometimes keep their rifles for a lifetime many aftermarket sights were available, Waffenfabrik Bern made the "S" and "K" (Klammer) diopter sights, Wyss makes the "W" diopter and Furter, Haemmerli and Gruenig and Elmiger made now rare special windage and elevation fine-correctors, Sahli and many other made elevation fine correctors and these days a company by the name of Swiss Products in the USA makes a clamp-on diopter which was recently approved for use at official Swiss shooting matches.

Availability

As a standard service rifle of the Swiss armed forces, the K31 was replaced by the SIG 510 in 1958. As of 2006, the K31 is readily available from most military surplus vendors. As noted above, the stocks are usually in average condition, but the barrel and bolt assembly are usually in very good condition because the Swiss used a special gun grease instead of gun cleaning oil. As of 2010 the Swiss arsenals are long sold out and the guns now available for sale in countries around the world are ex-Swiss-civilian owned guns.

Media

A video of the K31 straight pull bolt in action: Media:k31.ogg

In the film ''Shining Through'', a Swiss border guard, with his K31, shot a German sniper firing at Ed and Linda as they were crossing over the Swiss border.

See also

Schmidt-Rubin

Antique guns

Steyr-Mannlicher M1895 - An Austrian straight-pull bolt action rifle

Ross rifle - An ill-fated Canadian straight-pull bolt action rifle

M1895 Lee Navy - An American straight-pull bolt action rifle

References

External links

Swiss Rifles

(the forum on the subject)

Surplusrifle.com's articles on the K31

Modern Firearms entry on the K31

chuckhawks.com article on the K31

Manufacture Dates of Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Rifles

Webbased Tool to find the manufacture year based on the manufacturer serial number (German Website)

Category:Bolt-action rifles Category:Rifles of Switzerland Category:7.5x55mm Swiss firearms Category:Curio and relic firearms

de:Karabiner 31 fr:Mousqueton 1931 it:Schmidt Rubin K31 nl:K31

name	Karl Rappan
fullname	Karl Rappan
birth date	September 26, 1905
birth place	Vienna, Austria
death date	January 02, 1996
death place	Bern, Switzerland
height	?
position	Half, forward
youthyears1	1922–1924
youthclubs1	SV Donau Wien
years1	1924–1928
years2	1928–1929
years3	1929–1930
years4	1931–1935
clubs1	SC Wacker Vienna
clubs2	Austria Wien
clubs3	Rapid Wien
clubs4	Servette FC
caps3	6
goals3	2
nationalyears1	1927
nationalteam1	Austria
nationalcaps1	2
nationalgoals1	1
manageryears1	1931–1935
manageryears2	1935–1948
manageryears3	1948–1957
manageryears4	1958–1959
manageryears5	1964–1968
manageryears6	1970–1971
manageryears7	1937–1938
manageryears8	1942–1949
manageryears9	1953–1954
manageryears10	1960–1963
managerclubs1	Servette (player-coach)
managerclubs2	Grasshopper
managerclubs3	Servette
managerclubs4	FC Zürich
managerclubs5	Lausanne-Sports
managerclubs6	Rapid Wien (technical director)
managerclubs7	Switzerland
managerclubs8	Switzerland
managerclubs9	Switzerland
managerclubs10	Switzerland }}

Karl Rappan (September 26, 1905 – January 2, 1996) was an Austrian footballer and coach. He played and managed mostly in Switzerland, where he won multiple titles. He had four tenures as coach of the Swiss national team, which he managed in three World Cups, and is the all-time leader in matches won as coach of the Swiss team. He introduced a major football strategy known as the "bolt", which gave origin to the ''catenaccio'' system. He also helped create the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Playing career

Rappan, born in Vienna, played as a half and forward. As a teenager, he played for the club ''Donau Wien''. In 1924, he joined Wacker Vienna, where he played four years. He was selected to the Austria national team in while at Wacker. He then played one season at each of the clubs FK Austria Wien and Rapid Wien, winning the 1929/30 Austrian league with the latter. Rappan then moved to Switzerland, where he started playing for Servette FC in 1931, becoming a player-coach until his retirement as a player in 1935, and winning the Swiss league twice with the club, in 1933 and 1934.

In 1927, he was capped twice for the Austria national team, scoring one goal, against Hungary in a 6-0 win.

Coaching career

Rappan spent almost all of his managerial career – which extended from 1932 to 1963 – coaching Swiss teams and the Swiss national team. After his role as player-coach at Servette, Rappan became a full-time coach and joined Grasshopper-Club, managing the Zürich club from 1935 to 1948, and winning 5 domestic league titles and 7 cups. In 1948, he returned to Servette for a second period at the club, now as coach only. He remained there until 1957, adding one more league title and one cup to his palmares.

After Servette, Rappan had a one-season spell at FC Zürich. From 1960 to 1963, he coached the Swiss national team exclusively, and after this last period in charge of the national squad, he joined club Lausanne-Sports, being their coach from 1964 to 1968, and winning one league title in 1965. After almost four decades of service in Swiss football, he returned to Austria to be the technical director of Rapid Wien – his former club as a player – for the 1969/70 season.

The "bolt"

During the early 1930s, when the use of the "WM" system was spreading, Rappan developed a tactical system under which players switched positions and duties depending on the game's pattern. The system varied largely from the classic 2-3-5 formation and the WM, focusing in defense. The team would fold back into its own half and wait for the opponent's attack, conceding possession of the midfield. The system received the name of ''verrou'' or "bolt". It has also been called "Swiss bolt". Reportedly, Rappan looked for a system that was less rigid and less dependent on individual talent than the WM. It relied on collective work, and gave the amateurs of the time a chance to compensate to some extent for their lack of skill. The defensive strategy of the bolt relied on a mixture of zonal and man-marking. It was the first system to play four players in defense, using one of them as a "security bolt" supporting the other three. It is acknowledged that the bolt largely influenced the ''catenaccio'' (Italian for ''bolt'') and its use of the ''libero'' (sweeper) in defense.

Rappan's system was never fully understood by many people at the time, and the coach himself never discussed it, keeping a certain mystery around it. It received both praise and criticism. The system did demonstrate to be successful at the 1938 World Cup. Switzerland eliminated Nazi Germany in the first round, where the match that ended in a 1-1 draw was replayed, with the Swiss winning the second match 4-2. Two weeks prior to the World Cup, Switzerland had defeated England in a friendly match.

Switzerland national team

Rappan had four different tenures as head coach of the Switzerland national team: 1937 to 1938, 1942 to 1949, 1953 to 1954, and 1960 to 1963. He managed Switzerland in 77 international matches, the most ever by any Swiss team coach. He won 29 matches, also a record, and lost 36 times, second-most all-time.

With Rappan as its coach, Switzerland qualified to the World Cups of 1938, 1954 (where they beat Italy and lost 5-7 to Austria in quarterfinals), and 1962. Rappan recorded 3 wins, 1 draw, and 6 losses as a coach in World Cup finals tournaments.

His last match as Switzerland's coach was on November 11, 1963 against France in Paris, a 2-2 draw.

After retirement

Rappan, who had the idea of creating a European league, helped Ernst Thommen, the Managing Director for the Swiss Football Pool, conceive the UEFA Intertoto Cup, which started in 1961.

Rappan died on January 2, 1996 in Berne.

Honours

As a player

Rapid Wien

*1929/30 Austrian league champion

Servette FC

*1933 Swiss league champion

*1934 Swiss league champion

As coach

Grasshopper-Club

*1937 Swiss league champion

*1939 Swiss league champion

*1942 Swiss league champion

*1943 Swiss league champion

*1945 Swiss league champion

*7-time Swiss cup winner

Servette

*1950 Swiss league champion

*1949 Swiss cup winner

See also

''Catenaccio''

References

Further reading

The "Bolt" - never fully understood by many people - fifa.com - by Walter Lutz, FIFA, 2000.

Evolution of Systems of Play - nscaa.com - by John Bluem, NSCAA.

Background on the Intertoto Cup, By Søren Florin Elbech, www.mogiel.net

Player profile - Austria Archive

Category:1905 births Category:1996 deaths Category:People from Vienna Category:Austrian footballers Category:Austria international footballers Category:SK Rapid Wien players Category:FK Austria Wien players Category:Servette FC players Category:Austrian football managers Category:Football in Switzerland Category:Switzerland national football team managers Category:1938 FIFA World Cup managers Category:1954 FIFA World Cup managers Category:1962 FIFA World Cup managers Category:FC Zürich managers Category:Servette FC managers Category:Grasshopper-Club Zürich managers Category:SK Rapid Wien managers Category:Expatriate football managers in Switzerland

de:Karl Rappan el:Καρλ Ράπαν fr:Karl Rappan it:Karl Rappan pl:Karl Rappan pt:Karl Rappan ru:Раппан, Карл