Custom Springer Kar 98k

[schmitty]

Here is the Latest piece of Schmitt It's a German built Mauser Kar98k that was later stamped with Yugoslavian markings (which I ground off). It is a late war K98 with a laminated stock and stamped front band (both cost saving measures). I bought it at a gun show for $125 which was really all I spent on this project, everything else I either already had or made myself, But even if you had to buy all the other parts and materials it would be under $250.



It's basically the top part of a Ver III AEG gearbox without any gears and a home made trigger sear. Because of the height of the cylinder the only place tall enough in the K98 to contain it was under the top wood cover which is pretty far forward meaning the barrel is only about 14" long. The huge advantage is that from the Top or sides the gun looks completely original. In fact the only thing to indicate it is an airsoft gun is underneath where there is a long slot where the BB's are stored.












To load the gun you open the bolt and pour the BB's into the hole next to the dummy shell. Then you pull back the spring follower on the bottom and the BB's will load into the magazine. It can hold up to 32 but you can load as few at a time as you like (for a more realistic load). You can also store more BB's in the upper tube so that when the first 32 run out all you have to do is pull the spring follower back again and the next 16 will load without actually putting more BB's in.



The hop up unit is a metal (G&G) aug type. To access it you need to remove the top wood cover but I modified the wood so that this can easily be done without any tools and with no visible mods to the outside of the gun.





It currently has an M120 spring in it which is a good compromise between power and ease of use (isn't too hard to pull back). It chronos at 365 with .20 BB's.

The safety still functions in the "bolt locked" position and the Firing pin still pops forward when fired just like the real thing.

Backyard testing shows that it is quite accurate. When I have time I will do a review comparison with the Tanaka and Marushin versions.

Schmitty

[binarypunisher]

That is very, very nice looking!

That first photo is...amazing!

Another piece of fine Schmitty engineering!

[click]

I agree....what a beauty!

Click

[CharleyNovember]

A very very original design idea schmitty I expect nothing less than that from you now I personally would still go the converting a VSR or APS way myself for simplicity sake. It shaves off some of the accuracy of the model which you have kept with your gun, but I feel it is a good compromise. It looks great and glad to hear it functions well too.

[Cpl. Hicks]

Thats a wonderful piece of work, nice job!

[Russianboy]

schmitty,
Thats just, oh so so cool. You have made some thing real nice man. One issue you may have (I had the same one) is that the AEG hop-up unit is not going to give you the kind of range you would get with say Dans gun. Lets say they are both fireing at 500 FPS Dans gun should get better range. At one time I owned a AtoZ Cargo SVD wich used a AEG style hop-up unit. the range at 500 FPS was around 160-180 feet. Its ok but still not alot for a sniper rifle.

But, I think if it was used as a infantry rifle and not a sniper rifle it will work out VERY well for you.

[CharleyNovember]

Schmitty has "a few" other period weapons to choose from though don't ya schmitty

[2nd Bat]

Schmitty. All I can say is I knew to expect great things from your enterprise and of course I am not dissapointed. It is gorgeous, authentic and extremely clever. You are the master! Wow!

Great photos by the way. I love the concept of loading through the top.

[Jager.Drü]

I want one!

[2nd Bat]

So do I and I just built two of my own! very impressive indeed.

[Guinness]

Schmitty,

I'm speechless.

Once again you have outdone yourself my friend. I only wish I lived closer so I could be around what is becoming the 'mecca' of Custom Airsoft work, and that takes nothing away from biged's work or airsoftny's- you are the hands-down master.

My offer of webspace to showcase your work still stands- anytime you want to take me up on that, you know where to find me ;D




-G

[schmitty]

Many thanks everyone. This was a very fun and different project for me. The challenge was to make it look as original as possible. Adding the loading through the open bolt feature was probably the hardest part. Would have been much easier to have it load on the bottom. Surprisingly the shorter barrel doesn't seem to detract from its accuracy at all. I've noticed that when it comes to airsoft guns, long barrels aren't always better. My cheap TM M1911 .45 springer is so accurate it's unbelievable.

Russianboy: I know noting about AtoZ cargo SVD's but TM type Hop ups are the best!! APS-2's are known for having less consistent hop ups (that can be repaired with aftermarket parts)
Anyway the one in the K98 works great, but I have no intention of up-grading it further anyway.

AADan: I think you are correct in saying that making one from a VSR-10, APS-2 or clone is a much more realistic project for most people to tackle, And as 2nd bat has shown. Can be made to look very realistic.

Schmitty

[Gordak]

totally ammazing! WOW
-Gordak

[mikkel]

I am speachless!!

That must be one of the most amazing airsoft projects i have seen so far!

[2nd Bat]

Though certainly not the caliber of Schmitty's work (nothing is, he is even more amazing then you know!) Here is a couple better (daytime) pictures of my M1903. It is a much more simplistic enterprise and a fairly straightforward conversion (relative to his)

[flyingpenguin]

wow, that is some major work- You've got great talent, made me drool
I'd like to start something like this, but I know that it takes a long time- all I can say is, WOW.

[2nd Bat]

I'm guessing maybe 8 to 12 hours total although the time of course is stretched over several days. Not really all that bad compared to many projects. Alot of that time was spent tracking down stuff and running to the store for items. These were very doable projects. My two Springfields. Schmittys defys normal human endeavor.

[click]

I am speachless....wait a minute how can i bee talking if I am speachles? Never the less, well done 2nd Bat! Your work is amazing!

Click

[2nd Bat]

I get to see Schmittys in person along with all his other amazing custom guns this weekend. It's going to be great fun!

[rbx6jm7man]

schmitty, you start building those suckers for sale, and i'll guarantee you'll get more than one buyer on this forum. i would die to have one like yours especially for winter seasons!

[heinz]

Thats a superb bit of kit - really thinking "outside the box" by using a modded AEG box there schmitty. Congrats on a fine bit of work!

[Guinness]

Schmitty, 2ndBat-

I'd like to put these up on a new little news site I'm doing with your permission.

HK Airsoft.com

[CharleyNovember]

Looking good there Guiness. I look forward to how that develops.

[imaheretic]

"We're not worthy, we're not worthy"

[2nd Bat]

Guinness I for one would be delighted to see my efforts posted and used where ever. Great looking M1 Garand there Heretic!!!!!! I love that picture.

[Sturmmann13]

When can I buy one? good work!

[2nd Bat]

Though not hard to make they are labor intensive and time consuming. I'm afraid what one would have to sell them for to justify the effort would no doubt exceed the market range of acceptability. This is particularly true of the Springfield where the base actual parts are so expensive. I for one couldn't justify the 1200 price tag for the FWC Springfield but having now made a couple of them I am far more appreciative of it.

[2nd Bat]

I am now building my 5th Springfield. This one is going to be a custom Sniper variant set up for use with a scope. The customer managed to get the proper WW2 weaver scope.



I've come up with a new way to do the bolt which is a nice enhancement from my earlier ones.



Cut guide for the actual magazine well


It will be straight stock with spring internals. It will be third one I have sold although it isn't something I'm anxious to do a lot of. Finding the parts for the Springfield conversions is frustrating but I managed to find everything I need for two more. I did a finger grooved C stock M1903A4 that I finished last week.

[CharleyNovember]

Looks good John. Are you using the USR-11 as the base or an actual VSR-10? USR-11's are sometimes hard for me to source at a reasonable price from a trusted dealer, not sure why.

[2nd Bat]

I use a VSR knock off that I have been quite happy with and can usually get pretty reliably. I bought six at a time on my last purchase and just placed another order. They are without the recoil feature hence shoot quite hard right out of the box. 400 FPS with 20 gram. I had one with a bad trigger assembly otherwise they've been fine.