Swiss ZfK-55 Sniper Rifle

[@ericmowrey6872]

Back in the early '80's the Swiss military department decided to surplus their entire inventory of these sniper rifles. Consequently they sent a letter to every living Swiss soldier who had finished his military service, and to active duty officers. This of course long before email existed. The letter informed the recipient that these rifles would be sold on a first come, first served basis and strictly one per customer. The letter also contained a Swiss payment form which allowed you to make the payment at any post office. The fixed price was 300 Swiss francs, no more, no less. My brother, who served in the 1960's, acted immediately and received his sniper rifle in the mail. In Switzerland you can mail rifles to people as long as they're unloaded and in a box. The rifles were shipped directly from various national armouries with the scope detached and placed in the dedicated leather scope box, designed to fit the field belt. All very cool. Any of these rifles that made it to the states were likely ones sold off by private Swiss owners.

[@albegt98]

I was a soldier in Switzerland as a gunsmith and I confirm what Eric said ... I have seen few of the k55 ..... congratulations for your brother who had one ;-)

[@ericmowrey6872]

@@albegt98 Merci pour ta confirmation Alberto. I'm in Vaud, near Rolle. Tout de bon...à plus.

[@HenryHardinge-c3j]

now they cost 3000chf

[@heugabel990]

In Switzerland we learn shooting accurate with this moveable bitops. They are loose, because you can ajust the shooting Position much faster! That makes sense! Best Regards from a Swiss Shooter. Bthw:The adjustable bitops are maybe good for bench shooting, but not for shooting in the field!

[@Jaden48108]

The Swiss know what they are doing. Rock on! (I'm a K-31 owner and it's brought me nothing but pleasure.)

[@acdclexu6296]

i dont know a better carbine than k31.

[@Mrgunsngear]

love the swiss straight pull rifles!

[@Spidouz]

Who doesn't??? :)

[@dudeadventure3]

Phil Smith fools. That's who.

[@buck19x87]

Just bought my first one last weekend! Went to a small gun show and was scanning for wood objects and in the back corner on a lonely rack with some misfits it was there and the price was way low from what I'm seeing on GB so I snagged it! Now waiting on ammo.

[@-tr0n]

what a nice looking rifle.

[@RobWhittlestone]

Hi Ian - your criticism of the bipod being spring-loaded and you can't lean against it is also true for the Stgw. 90. It must be a Swiss thing to not expect forwards/backwards resistance from the bipod, only support of the rifle. Many thanks for this very nice review. Greetings from Switzerland. Rob

[@fps079]

The bipod is engineered so the shooter can shoot down a mountain. Ian coordinated a loan of this rifle to 9-hole reviews where they briefly demonstrate: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmTGfq2JecaFatU

[@Blueswailer]

You're like the Wise Wizard of weaponry or something. I've been going through your extensive backlog of videos, thoroughly enjoying them I might add, and your level of knowledge is some black belt next level stuff. Keep doing what you're doing Ian!

[@lpanades]

Nice rifle. Nice explanation, like ever.

[@dunxy]

There may be others who have a heap of firearms knowledge, none come close to Ians delivery, one of the best channells on youtube,period!

[@Ideo7Z]

Absolutely beautiful. Still kicking myself for not getting a pristine K31 awhile back when I had the chance.

[@Flarexxxx]

gorgeous rifle

[@danielstoner7807]

I get the stripper clip thing but for cripessake, the K31 has a detachable mag! It seems like an enormous amount of work to re-design the whole receiver with the 15 degree cant, rather than just issuing additional mags.

[@pieprincess5778]

Mags were expensive to make back then , that's why they made stripper clips for WW2 lot cheaper for everyone to have one mag and just feed the gun a clip instead of all these soldiers having extra mags

[@Andre_Thomasson]

I live in Switzerland and i feel ashamed now because I wasn't aware that this rifle existed, If i ever buy a rifle it will probably be this one

[@holleyhooks1394]

Ian- the man,the myth, the legend. I love the content. keep doing what you are doing.

[@AlexCell33]

K31 was my first gun ever. I love it.

[@dyingbreed7740]

Love the action on these. The Swiss knew how to build em.

[@RolandImfeld]

its important to know that along of a heavy duty barrel also the rifling is much more deeper than on standart k31 barrels..

[@AldanFerrox]

A really good looking weapon. And a fine piece of swiss engineering.

[@NeptuneBluez]

Ian, you made my day with such a rifle. Cheers from snowy Switzerland.

[@BinaryHe1ix]

That's an absolutely gorgeous rifle. The K31 is now officially on my list of rifles to pick up. I'd heard they were fantastic shooting pieces, but I don't think I ever fully realized their quality.

[@rlbadger1698]

Thanks for that lightly toss off comment about the k31. I went over and found a GREAT deal on a like new rifle/scope.

[@GAoftheBlackFlames]

probably my favorite gun designed. it looks so nice

[@buck19x87]

OMG I wish..... I finally bought my first K31 last weekend. Cannot wait to take it out!

[@benm5913]

Dude, its Thanksgiving. You're allowed a day off. That said, I really love the daily content lately. Thanks.

[@jeffmedina43]

I have a swiss that I had the receiver drilled and tapped for weaver scope mounts.It took a good deal of machining to make the screw for the back mount a bit shorter to allow the bolt to cycle.But the gun stays on zero,and always goes bang.European craftsmanship to the fullest.

[@nhrifle]

Gotta love the Swiss. Machining better than it has to be, and handsome to boot.

[@gringoloco5989]

I had the 3 Swiss sniper rifles in my collection, 31/42, 31/43 and 31/55. At the time, about 40 years ago, the ZFK 31/55 was sold directly by the Swiss army. At this time, 350.- SFr. if I remember well, and, by chance, I had a good friend working at the arsenal who was able chose one of the bests for me !!! The ZFK 55, or Zielfernrohrkarabiner 31/55 in German and MqLu 31/55, in French, Mousqueton à lunette 31/55 is a fantastic rifle. I remember a day when I decided with a group of friends collectors, we go to the shooting range with 6 ZFK 55. The police was training 3 rows further and we obtain better results with the 55 than these poor guys with HK and SIG with scopes. At a certain moment when I left my place for a friend having finished 3 magazines, I saw 4 policemen showing at us and even one ask me where he can buy one !!! This says all ..........

[@beargillium2369]

Really glad I happened upon this video, long time fw fan but this one is truly unique

[@DiggingForFacts]

Thanks for the video, Ian. I had been looking at this rifle recently and they are absolutely wonderful things. She's a long-term savings goal (provided that there's still a couple floating around Europe), but if I lived in the US this would be an easy buy. Heck it would be criminal if this sold for anything less than 5K.

[@ThePowernest80]

i like the Finnish SAKO sniper rifles and Lapua Bullets from Finland are exellent also

[@bambam144]

very nice rifle and great video thx

[@Jeremiahfull]

Absolutely great rifle...Got a 1942 K31 and have been shooting occasionally for a few years. I would love to get my hands on one of those one day. At about 3150 CHF they are pretty expensive . Great video! Like!!

you show some great guns...keep it up

[@titaniumdiveknife]

I love snipers. Nice quickscope get Ian!

[@tylergordon696]

I think I found my Christmas present to my self.

[@BattlebrotherPhil]

I love how at 1:53, Ian says 'but' and the camera cuts to the butt of the rifle! :D Intentional?

[@therugburnz]

Nice rifle I'm sure. Nice show from Ian. Thanx.

[@RGA1944]

In case someone is interested, the abbreviation ZfK stands for Zielfernkarabiner, literally carbine (Karabiner) for long-range (fern) targets (Ziel).

[@HazardousMoose]

RGA1944 Close but no cigar:) ZfK stands for Zielfernrohrkarabiner. Which comes from Zielfernrohr("telescopic sight") and well Karabiner("carbine"). Generally lower-case letters in Swiss military abbreviations are used for compound nouns, that are very common in German. Zielfernrohr is such a compound noun with Ziel("target") and Fernrohr("telescope"), therefore denoted as Zf instead of Z or ZF. Greetings from Switzerland

[@beefcakes27]

Those bipods work wonderfully in snow....

[@chancetrombley3114]

The swiss were good, but I believe that Sweden had the best version of the mauser and I consider them to have the best sniper rifle. Backed up by Ian's video previous videos.

[@rddn2425]

that was great presentation thx beautiful rifle

[@danielstoner7807]

Years ago at the Wannamacher show in Tulsa, I saw for sale two *pristine* K-31 trainers chambered in .22lr, with consecutive serial numbers for $2,000 (IIRC). I could have shuffled some money around, and gotten them..... Sure wish I had.

[@Spidouz]

The Zfk-55 is a nice piece of engineering. I love my K31. I never understood why we don't see any modern rifle in a 7.5x55 Swiss caliber... After all we can find modern 8x57, 6.5x55 SE, 7.62x54R, and of course modern .308 or .30-06... but virtually no modern 7.5x55 Swiss when the caliber is actually quite good and we can still find some surplus GP11 ammo. I wouldn't mind a modern Remington 700, or Savage 10 in 7.5x55 Swiss... just for fun :)

[@Gysenstein1291]

And they stopped the production of this ammo now... so sad. i shoot now with ammo from 93 with my 7.5 sportrifle. but i love the k31, best thing theyve ever made

[@Spidouz]

Roman Schüpbach Well, we can still find plenty of surplus ammo (that's good), and if we would have some kind of modern 7.5x55 Swiss sportrifle, I have no doubt some brand would start to produce this caliber, just like we can find some new ones for 7.62x54R.

[@foobar201]

There are modern target rifles in GP11, look for 'standardgewehr'.

[@pierrickilann4450]

You dont known the excellent SIG STG57

[@Guy_GuyGuy]

Ian, have you ever gotten your hands on a Vetterli M78 rifle? They're not uncommon in the US, but definitely under-appreciated. I would love to see you go over one.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

+GuyKappe I own one, actually. Haven't had a chance to do video on it yet.

[@686caleb]

+Forgotten Weapons I would love to see a video on that gun as well.

[@d33b33]

+Forgotten Weapons Do you have a highlight video of your personal collection? I'd love to hear what someone with your level of knowledge and access would choose to hang on to.

[@bambam144]

+Forgotten Weapons oh that would be great, if you could make a video plz.

[@cougar10ag]

i have an 1870 italian vetterli thats had the italian conversions done and sleeved to 6.5mm. doesn't look too shootable. but the action is smooth and looks great on the wall

[@JeSsSe66]

The bipod might suck, however if the Swiss designed it there's probably a good reason behind why it is the way it is

[@FBIAGENT725]

simple answer: mountains

[@Andy47357]

Could you look at the side mounted Starlight Scopes on the M16s in Vietnam?

[@vguyver2]

Looking at the tripod, I can sort of figure what they were aiming for. Sniping was more of a challenge than what most snipers were expecting when trying to go prone during the Winter War between Finland and the USSR. This tripod seems to be one that would allow for more much difficult sniping positions than a fixed forward sniping position, especially in forests and mountains. Those impractical sniping positions over some jagged rocks suddenly became ideal spots I think. It would probably be more of a hinderance in urban combat though, considering the weight and the tripod if you wanted to shoot on a body angle.. This is purely conjecture on my observations. I'm in no way an expert.

[@sausagebobgrett3401]

So proud to be swiss made!

[@Alome9]

That's an awesome rifle, however my bank account would disagree with me.

[@LeeEnfield7756]

Always thought it seemed very Swiss to make a new rifle with a canted action rather than just offsetting the scope to the side. Plus I really like that quick-detach mount. Anyone know if it keeps zero after being removed and reinstalled?

[@IIIDasBrotIII]

yesterday I had this beauty in my hands, I like it a lot. Only the bipod is a little bit weird :D

[@ThePerfectRed]

I heard these bipods were not meant to be used in a laying position (leaning into the bipod) but rather squatting or sitting. Is there somebody from Switzerland here who can explain how these long bipods were used?

[@Swarm509]

+Funny Farmer I was about to ask the same question. The layout of it makes me wonder if there were specific "positions" and ways of holding the rifle the Swiss military called for.

[@minutemanqvs]

+Swarm509 The purpose is the same as on a Dragunov, so you can follow moving targets.

[@RCP-1136]

That is possible- would make more sense if you look at how the bipod is mounted. I wondered too, it looks like the bipod has been mounted the wrong way. Btw i was in the swiss army and the current rifle (sig550/stgw90) uses a similar springloaded bipod - only that it is rotatet 180° and shorter. And they teach us to lay down on the ground to shoot further distances. So it is quite possible that the Zfk 55 rifle was ment to be shot in a kneeling position. Sorry for bad english;)

[@ZoSo1973]

swissdeath13 That's so cool and potentially useful

[@PapaSchultz74]

Long bipod monted in the rear allows for enourmous angle of shooting specially if you shoot from a mountain/fort wall downwards or from prone to a high position. Rifles made for Swiss terrain.

[@Nic_odd]

The best sniper of the 20th century.

[@douglasfulmer5483]

+The Old Nick Um. No. That is just ridiculous to define the ultimate sniper rifle, let alone in the age of firearms rebirth after arguably 300 years of stagnant development, ending in the 1840's. The 20th century had much more modern designs for this, and you can't really define a sniper rifle.

[@Nic_odd]

+Douglas Fulmer 20TH no 20s_ You understood...

[@douglasfulmer5483]

The Old Nick I don't know what you mean. I thought you meant 20th century.

[@deepbludreams]

+The Old Nick Not so sure about that, the 20th century ended in the year 2000, pretty sure if you compare this to a SR25 it would lose every time.

[@SIRslipperyasp91]

A sniper rifle spends 99.9% of its time not being fired as the Sniper drags it through the bush. I'd disqualify this based on weight alone.

[@michaelexman5474]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT A ZFK-55 MY DREAM GUN

[@dunxy]

Thats my kind of Swiss army knife!

[@therugburnz]

Yes, the kind if knife one takes to a gun fight that's more than 500 metres away from you.

[@douglasfulmer5483]

Can anyone explain to me how he's been doing this for about 6 years and only has 180,804 subscribers? He should have 3 times that for his absolute quality.

[@brisnbetsinher5065]

thank you

[@brbilheimer]

The bipod seems at an odd place to me. I image you would have a hard time going prone and having it be useful

[@AndromedaDestination]

I remember watching on your channel a video of a gun with rotated action.

[@deviation1000]

It'd be great if Ian could get his hands on an FR-F1/FR-F2 sniper rifle!!!

[@ForgottenWeapons]

+deviation1000 Yes it would!

[@retroicdescent]

Happy Thanksgiving, Ian!

[@Kman31ca]

Hold on to your K 31s. There aren't many more coming in.

[@thelaughinghyenas7962]

Cool! Thank you.

[@MikeM0331]

before you mentioned the FG42 style muzzle brake, I thought it looked a lot like an M14 with the nut in the center of the brake.

[@guillermocingolani3307]

Excelente como siempre.

[@basp-ef7jx]

I like the bipod. It just requires different training and technique.

[@elektro3000]

The guns in your videos are almost always interesting, but rarely do I watch one and then really want to own the gun. I WANT THIS GUN! $4250-$5500?? Ouch. Nevertheless, I just added it to my list of guns I will [sooner or later] own.

[@infin1ty850]

You know what makes me really sad? I'm watching this on a Saturday and unless Ian graces us with a shooting video on Sunday, I won't be able to watch any new Forgotten Weapons when I'm taking care of my morning business.

[@cheguevara3392]

😂 😂 😂 The Swiss Army at that time called it something like "The Newbie Rifle", the older guys gave it to the new and younger one to carry them in the Alps! It's a Militia, and when they get together for training, they put it in the shoulders of the younger one! 😁 The Bipod is meant for shooting down from a high position (that's why the younger guys should carry them on a Mountain position)

[@bennyribs]

Ian, Where did you go to school and what did you study? I am the research coordinator at a military museum near my college and I see myself doing something like this after graduation

[@douglasfulmer5483]

+bennyribs I believe he has an article or two about that on his website. Maybe he will give a link when he sees this XD.

[@TheBitwise]

+bennyribs He mentions it during his last Q&A -- take a look at the description for that video and there should be a shortcut to jump to the right time.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

+bennyribs I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue.

[@vguyver2]

+bennyribs also, check out the FW forums, there are several like minded folks over there. These people often help track down details that Ian may of missed and some are just as well qualified in making their own videos.

[@vguyver2]

+bennyribs hope you get around to doing such videos. Would be nice to see more people online do similar video's. Ian can't get a hand on every firearm out there, so aside from a different viewpoint on firearms, it would help to further educate people on these rare instruments that slip through the cracks of history otherwise.

[@act4306]

Gorgeous gun, awesome piece of history. When I'm rich. . .when I'm rich.

[@ConTheDon187]

ohhhh man. That's nice.

[@ikueguge7765]

that bi-pod is like a spider - I'm impressed with it Ian ;) --~o

[@Chasmodius]

The bipod legs are really quite elegant-looking. But how helpful are they for stable positioning if they're placed right under the rifle's center of gravity like that?

[@ZGryphon]

The remarks about Switzerland's good reputation instantly kicked off a mental replay of the old Kids in the Hall sketch. "It's time, it's time - oh! It's time to hate the Swiss." I'd link to it, but KZbin doesn't want to let me paste things today. Just search "sick of the Swiss" and you'll find it. :)

[@alanniederlitz6950]

Awesomely cool!

[@Fadedglory343]

6 years later, K-31 is not so cheap.

[@pcmacd]

I believe the sling is on inside/out? Maybe just the clip is backwards....

[@gregsutton2400]

Did they go with that form of bipod to assist in shooting up and down hill?

[@munkSWE88]

that rifle would go nice with my swiss M70 Alpenflage parka.

[@noahclark1924]

you have an awesome job :)

[@lagancider6153]

Love your videos, but i'm not actually a shooting buff, I was wondering what a "flyer" is, and what exactly is the issue with the muzzle, doe's the bullet hit it at an angle? Sounds like it could be dangerous...thanks.

[@ForgottenWeapons]

A flyer is a round that hits outside the general grouping made by the other rounds. It could be due to an imperfection in the bullet that causes it to fly slightly off target, or from the shooter making a poor shot, or other factors.

[@alexandermole3260]

I have a .308 converted standard model of that straight pull, would that be an American conversion?

[@richardsheil3503]

could u do a video on modern red dot sights such as the Eotech and the aimpoint series of sights

[@Christoff1996]

can someone tell me why bother with a stripper clip system on a rifle like this or a lee enfield if the mag is detachable? would be just easier and quicker to load the mag by inserting a pre-loaded mag rather than with the striper clips? great rifle though!

[@eaglewi]

not really that forgotten, now if you came across the sig stgw 57 i feel those are more rare in the usa.

[@leeholloway4007]

magazines are not interchangeable mate .from the top of the mag release to the top lip on a k31mag is 8mm and 10mm on a zfk55

[@NormanMatchem]

Damn, I bet that chunky muzzle break adds a lot of weight, and that bayonet lug? The Swiss take a page from the book of the Japanese? If I were designing it, I'd have done away with the muzzle break and bayonet lug, introduce a smaller/lighter flash hider at most. Those spikes on the bipod probably makes it easier to use in dirt, but on a flat table or on a rock, yeah, I imagine it'd be quite annoying. HOWEVER, it looks like you might be able to hold onto the left leg with your left hand while holding the pistol grip of the stock with your right hand. This might help keep things more manageable. Able to use either optics or irons without removing the scope by the looks of it, that's always nice. Able to use clips on a scoped rifle, that's a rare feature, typically only able to do that if the scope is off to the side like on a Type 96/99 sniper, and I imagine the M1D (Garand sniper), since you don't want the clip bashing up against the bottom of the scope, and single loading it with cartridges can be rather finicky in my experience. All in all, I think I'd prefer just a No.4 Mk.I(T). I figure it's likely lighter, if it doesn't have a bipod that wouldn't bother me, advantage of a faster action as well as 10-rnd mag, floating barrel, no bulky muzzle device. That said though, I'm not sure if the irons are available with the optic in place, and I'm also not sure if you can use clips while the optic is in place, so there's some give and take.

[@NormanMatchem]

Caleb Davis Heavier barrel and the optic would add a bit of weight on their own, which would lessen felt recoil.

[@MongolordD]

How much does one of these cost? And is the Ammo expensive?

[@grafblutwurst4775]

+MongolordD I'd assume it takes 7.5x55 swiss. goes pretty cheap here, then again I'm sitting at the source. Considering there were not many build of those rifle the price might be rather steep. But you can find K31 (basically the "base model" of this rifle) for a couple hundreds. Edit: Auction page says 4250$-5500$ www.rockislandauction.com/viewitem/aid/66/lid/1536

[@disappointedbyhumanity2259]

+chakracatx Generally they're a fair bit more expensive than that. I average about $1.20 a round.

[@grafblutwurst4775]

It's around a buck a round here. in comparison 308. is a ~1.50

[@disappointedbyhumanity2259]

chakracatx I normally get PPU because it's the most available stuff.

[@throttlemccrackin1877]

+chakracatx Surplus 7.5x55 is very good quality ammo. I have a few cases laying around for when my K31's get hungry.

[@154Kilroy]

Only sold for $3k?!? Compared to some things (most) I see sold at auction this is quite reasonably priced! Probably cost that much to make... 😂

[@Theporkchopsandwhich]

muzzle brake looks similar to a griffin armaments flashcomp

[@danklvac4746]

I would've gotten a K31 if the ammo wasn't so expensive.

[@Kman31ca]

Seen one of these go on sale in Canada and it sold in hours. For.......5000$

[@Halfpape]

Für meinen Geschmack könnten die Videos länger sein, mit mehr Details! Ansonsten sehr gut, ich schaue jedes Video!

[@skunkz0r]

swiss quality

[@therugburnz]

Swiss quality rifle plus Swiss rifle training equals a safe and protected country.

[@joejoelesh1197]

Are cartridges commercially available?

[@ForgottenWeapons]

Yes.

[@nicholassrfliess]

I still have a K 11 Carbine, and a long rifle 11...

[@primedknight5906]

Are there any swedish guns at the auction? just asking since im from sweden

[@exploatores]

+Alexander Tauriainen No, Not any military rifles anyway.

[@tomt810]

Anybody else here 2021 because of the classic firearms giveaway?

[@Weapon_exe]

Yup lol man I want to win this

[@MasterBlobby]

I really don't understand the logic behind the positioning of that bipod. Otherwise awesome rifle and video Ian!.

[@stevehuntley3089]

"Let me show you it's features!"

[@sidneyhuckabee6974]

probably a dumb question but whats the difference between a charger and a stripper clip?