Reviews

RedFire Kar98k Gas Powered Rifle

Master Chief

The Karabiner 1898 Kurz was used by the Wehrmacht from 1935 to 1945 with the designation K98K translates to: Short Carbine Model 98 and the Mauser rifle family dating back to the 1890s. The weapon was introduced by order of the Kaiser in 1898 as the Gewehr 98 and became the standard infantry weapon of all German forces. A modified, shortened version of the rifle (K98K) was introduced into the Wehrmacht in 1935. The K98K was shorter than the Gewehr 98; had a different front sight; and had a curved rather than straight bolt action handle with a fixed internal magazine of five rounds.

The K98k was also used very effectively as a sniper rifle when a ZF41 2.5x scope or a ZF42 5x scope is mounted. Additionally, the K98k could fire both explosive and armor piercing grenades by the attachment of a shot cup to the end of the rifle. The Wehrmacht entered the Second World War with nearly 3 million K98k rifles at an estimated cost of each rifle at seventy Reich Marks. It is estimated that about 14 million rifles were produced over ten years.

A German infantryman could fire about 15 rounds per minute.

WWII airsoft enthusiasts are big fans of these wooden stock WWII replicas. Weapons from this era seem to have an extra appeal to firearm fans and never fail to attract attention from collectors and airsoft skirmishers alike.

(Kar98k in Saving Private Ryan Movie, Source: imfdb.org)

There is a recent surge in the manufacture and sale of WWII airsoft replicas and they have proven that old timers still sell. The Kar98 has a few versions from various airsoft manufacturers out in the market today. They come all the way from the low priced ACM (all China made) manufacturers up to the big boys of airsoft makers.

Now, there is a new Kar98 that will hit the airsoft market soon by a new airsoft manufacturer: Red Fire HK.

This is what they have to say about their company:

“Red Fire is a new brand name of airsoft initiated in 2012. Red Fire provides various high quality gun sets for the airsoft industry. We produce a wide range of reliable AEGs, GAS and CO2 airsoft guns as well as upgradable parts that could well fit your present airsoft gun. The products of Red Fire are high tech and built with durable materials resulting in longer life use.

The most significant Red Fire product launched in 2012 is the 'Mosin-Nagant Model 1891/30'. This product was designed and manufactured with higher technology and reliable quality. This item is now a popular item all over the world.

Globe Apex Limited will be authorized as a core wholesaler and sole agent to carry wholesale products under Red Fire."

With the great success of their Mosin Nagant model, Red Fire is now about to release their Gas powered version of the Kar98 and we are very thankful to RedFire for allowing Popular Airsoft a first look at this great WWII airsoft rifle made under their brand.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Red Fire Kar98 arrived in a very humble brown carton box with a cutout foam support inside. I am not aware at this time if this is the final packaging of this item. If this is the final packaging, it did do its job of protecting the rifle as it was delivered to me in A1 condition.

At first glance, the Red Fire Kar98 is simply stunning. “Wow!” was the only word I could say when I first laid my eyes on it. The rifle really looks amazing. The wooden stock has that old wood effect to it and the metal that they used blended really well with the wood furniture. Things just became better when I lifted it out of the box. I could not stop myself smiling as I started feeling the wood and the metal parts.

The wooden parts are very well made and the actual quality of the wood used is superb. The finish is very smooth but they made it in a way that you can feel the grain of the wood. The neck of the stock where the shooter holds the rifle feels like it has been smoothened for a much comfortable grip.

The bottom part of the stock is metal and like the real steel version protects the wood from damage when the rifle is placed down upright with the stock on the floor. Midway through the stock is the bolt disassembly disc which allows you to disassemble the bolt into several pieces once you have it removed from the rifle. You put the firing pin in the bolt disassembly disc and you push the bolt sleeve down and turn the cocking piece a quarter to the right or to the left so you can pull it off. This is useful for the real steel version, but for airsoft, nope.

After the disc you will find the sling hole and for you to get a proper sling, there are still reproduction Kar98 leather slings available in the internet.

The Red Fire Kar98 is magazine fed and the magazine can hold 8 BBs. To access the magazine simply pull the bolt back and release the magazine by pressing a release catch located on the front part of the trigger assembly. Be sure to have one hand under the magazine as it will fall on its own weight when the magazine release is pressed.

The BBs are loaded on the front end of the magazine with the charging port for the gas located on top of the magazine. According to the RedFire website, a 10-second charge will give the user 30 stable shots using green gas. The magazine is full metal and is heavy. It fits very well on the underside of the rifle and has no noticeable wobble or any unnecessary movement when it is in place. The rifle is bolt action so it needs to be “cocked” after every shot.

Pulling the bolt back is easy if not too easy. Pull the bolt handle upwards until it won't go further anymore and then pull the bolt back. The bolt on this model will actually creep back on its own if the rifle is held upward and I have caught my finger a few times with it so a little care is needed. The bolt will lock back even without the magazine in place. Locking the bolt back takes as little effort as pulling it but it needs a bit more force to lock the bolt handle down in place.

The trigger assembly is well made. There is a mild wobble on the trigger but the trigger pull is good. The shooter will be able to feel the squeeze of the trigger which is great for players who will use this as a sniper rifle.

On the left side of the bolt assembly is the bolt release catch that is fully functioning. Pulling it back it will release the bolt completely from the rifle. The advantage of this is the it is easy to get access to the bolt if any work is needed on it without the need for a laborious disassembly of the rifle.

The safety lever is located at the rear end of the bolt assembly. The rifle needs to be charged or “cocked” before the safety lever can by pulled from fire to safe mode. To do this simply flip the safety lever from right to left. If the lever is on the right the rifle is on fire or live mode and on safe mode if it is on the left. I am not sure about other models or about the real steel but on this one the trigger can still be pulled fully even if the rifle is on safe, the hammer or firing pin will not engage though.

The hop-up adjustment is located on underneath of the rifle just in front of the magazine well. The adjustment is a screw clearly marked as the hop-up.

The rear sight is adjustable and is very similar to the standard AK47 sliding rear sight.  To adjust the sight, slide the adjustment mechanism by pressing a lock the its left side. The rear sight is very sturdy and adjusts very well.

The outer barrel is one piece metal and again it is very sturdy and has no wobble whatsoever. The inner barrel extends all the way and end just slightly shorter than the outer barrel.

Other specifications are as follows:

  1. Full Metal One Piece Outer Barrel
  2. Charging Gas for 10-seconds can give you 30 shots on Green Gas
  3. Uses VSR-10 Hop-up Bucking System
  4. New design of the nozzle with power adjustment system
  5. Full Metal with the adjustable rear sight
  6. Newly designed full metal hop-up chamber for high accuracy
  7. Red Fire 6.03mm VSR-10 High Precision Barrel installed
  8. One piece steel barrel with realistic markings on chamber
  9. Real wood stock with one piece wood
  10. Perfectly finished cocking handle for the real gun feeling
  11. Compatible with Tanaka Kar98k gas magazine and parts
  12. Compatible with Red Fire Co2 gas magazine purchase of this will be allowed dependent on your country laws

PERFORMANCE

Amazingly, the RedFire Kar98 is not as heavy as it looks. It is a long rifle and if used as a primary weapon will cause a fair bit of challenge for the user to try and maneuver with it in a woodland skirmish field. There is not a shortfall in power with this rifle and particular review sample currently fires at 499fps with 0.2g bbs using green gas. Accuracy and consistency is very good hitting a torso-sized target consistently at the shortest allowable engagement distance for sniper rifles here in the UK at 30 yards.

If there is something I could gripe about this rifle, it would be its magazine capacity. As with most gas-powered rifles, magazine capacity is very limited and this is the same as the RedFire Kar98. The gas magazine carries a very minimal 8 BBs making it very difficult to use as a lone weapon. What I am thinking of using this Kar98 is to use it as a sniper rifle and using an SMG or an SBR as a backup weapon. Then again that is my view of it. For those who have the capacity to purchase extra magazines there is no reason not to use this rifle as your primary or lone weapon of choice.

To make it simple, in my opinion, this rifle, as pretty as it may seem and tempting as it is to just keep it indoors as a wall hanger, it is very much usable as an airsoft skirmish weapon. And I think that having this rifle as your weapon in a skirmish will add so much to the cool factor as it takes the look of airsoft back in time and away from all the plastic and what we call “GUCCI-CAMS” of airsoft.

We would like to thank Red Fire HK for making this rifle and letting us have a first look at it.

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