G98 VSR: Complete

After the last build post, the G98 is finished! Time to take a look at those last details.

The fore-end is pretty much unchanged externally.

At the back, the new back cap crowns the rear of the bolt. Although entirely decorative, it does make a difference to the look of the thing.

There is also a faux bolt release, used on the real thing for disassembly.

The Vizier rear sight.

Which is capable of full elevation adjustment.

 

The bayonet will be a useful addition, especially when this is used as a musket for American Civil War airsoft. This is a new design I’ve not tried before and will be trialling it on this and the SMLE.

Making longer bayonets that are stiff enough to look the part and work safely for airsoft is quite tricky: rubber is too floppy, wire stiffening isn’t strong enough and most fibreglass stiffeners are too hard for guaranteed safe use.

I feel this plastic blade has the balance of flexibility and stiffness just right. For this and the SMLE bayonets it’s about right, though for longer bayonets it may need a couple of layers of lamination to hold shape. That said, there are only so many bayonets that are longer than 17″ for the eras I cover!

 

 

If you like this project or have an idea of your own, drop us a line on enquiries.vintageairsoft@gmail.com to discuss. ‘Like’ our Facebook page or follow the blog to get regular updates on projects and interesting videos and articles.

If you would like to see the little intro I wrote for the first G98 build you can see it here.

To see the build for this rifle, see here.

Don’t forget you can buy our complete products via Etsy. If you would like a build like this, please drop us a line on the above email.

G98 VSR: Part 2

My first major improvement is the back-cap for the bolt. This one is in two parts, to allow friction to be between these two lubricated steel parts rather than on any soft aluminium bits.

At the front end, I am replacing the biscuit that joined the front and main parts of the stock with a steel tube. Apart form being very strong, this will also allow me to stow a full-length ramrod in the rifle. Although this is far from necessary for use as a G98, I’ll be using this as a musket for American Civil War airsoft until my dedicated musket is finished.

With enough material removed, I epoxied the steel tube in place.

In place on the rifle, I leave it overnight to set.

At the back end of the bolt, I’ve had a 3D printed cap made to replicate the rear of the Mauser bolt. This will go on the K98 builds as well.

The bayonet is going to be very useful when the rifle is used as a musket, so it’s important to get it right. The grips are 3D printed (dimensions scaled from a photograph) and screwed together. The blade is replaceable and flexible, but not so much as to be floppy.

When painted up it improves the look, at least from a slight distance. It would be ideal if I could get it to a mirror finish on it to get that threatening flash as it catches the light.

 

And that is pretty much that. Just the pictures of the finished item to go!

If you would like to see the little intro I wrote for the first G98 build you can see it here.

If you like this project or have an idea of your own, drop us a line on enquiries.vintageairsoft@gmail.com to discuss. ‘Like’ our Facebook page or follow the blog to get regular updates on projects and interesting videos and articles.

Don’t forget you can buy our complete products via Etsy.

G98 VSR: Part 1

The start point for this project is the G98 Dboys shell ejecting model. A VSR base for this rifle would make it much more practical and skirmish able.

The first step is expanding the recess for the magazine This necessitated the removal of the front securing lug for the original magwell and trimming down the metal lining of said magwell to fit the new VSR parts. Rather pleasingly the trigger sits quite naturally in the trigger guard with minimal modification.

The fore-end is unchanged. I’m using the same outer barrel and fittings.

The bolt handle will be another custom piece.

The bolt handle will screw in and be thread locked in place. If at a later date I decide to make a bent handle for use as a sniper rifle I can just swap it out.

The bolt handle part-made. At this point I had to take it off and make some other parts and the lathe broke down, so I’ll have to come back to this later!

The rear sight for this is 3D printed, the repro I used won’t fit over the larger receiver. Although it looks a little rough here, once painted up it’ll look the part. In the longer term I hope to cast these in aluminium.

In place on the rifle, it is secured by two screws. The small hole in the middle is for hop adjustment (I fit a TDC hop mod to all VSR builds).

Viewing down the rifle, that Vizier rear sight give a really distinctive sight picture!

Next to its nephew, the K98k VSR build in the workshop.

A bit of epoxy resin to smooth off the rougher surfaces. When sanded down and painted up it’ll really look the part.

With the lathe FINALLY fixed I could finish off the bolt handle after looking at it half finished for about two months (truly torturous). Now I just need to finish the back cap and the rifle itself is done.

Then there are a few optional extras which I’ll be fitting before finishing entirely. So far though, I am delighted with how this conversion is going.

 

If you would like to see the little intro I wrote for the first G98 build you can see it here.

If you like this project or have an idea of your own, drop us a line on enquiries.vintageairsoft@gmail.com to discuss. ‘Like’ our Facebook page or follow the blog to get regular updates on projects and interesting videos and articles.

Don’t forget you can buy our complete products via Etsy.