Blaser K95 in .270 win, review

[Stinky Coyote]

This sucker was on the want list for awhile, finally made it happen over the winter. Thought i'd have to order one but found a straight stocked .270 win as one of maybe two or three for sale my side of border and as soon as i saw the pic they emailed me i couldn't reply fast enough that it was meant to be mine.



Its taken a long time to appreciate wood/blued rifles again and i think this is still the only one around that gets me excited, otherwise i like stainless synthetics. So my excitement was off the chart when the truck showed up with it, to see if it really was the one in that picture as they assured me, it was even the best deal around, easy 500 off list so it was win win and meant to be!

What is a Blaser K95? My take...lightweight take down carbine of high quality that is accurate and back up iron sights with very repeatable scope quick release system, the most repeatable going from research i could do. Here is data on mine.

.270 win
40 3/4" overall length
23 5/8" barrel length
5 lb 7 oz
16.0 oz trigger pull

Feels awesome, shoulder, balance, that quality in your hand feel you know it when you feel it. I was pumped. Europtic had good price on the scope base so ordered that up for 6.5 oz and then my machinest shaved some off the bottom of the standard height rings for me so i could get the leupold vx3 as low on that mount as possible.

Scope is 11.5 oz, i had our Leupold customizer Korth Industries put the lr duplex reticle in it for me and parallax correct it for 300 yards. I did two scopes the same as i put one on my other sheep banger the sako a7 .270 wsm, more on that later.

So rifle, with scope mount (1" rings) goes 5 lb 13.5oz and add the scope put it at one ounce heavier than 6.5 lbs....6 lb 9 oz scoped.

Beartooth neoprene shell holder is 1 oz...and i weighed 6 rounds of the ammo at 5.5 oz so almost as it goes up mountain, if i use a butler creek flip on objective end which i often do that would be another 1/2 oz or if i use the leupold scope coat instead that would be 1 oz....but may have a custom softcase made up minimalist style for jamming in the pack taken down so i may end up adding more weight than 1/2 or 1 oz that will have to see, still looking for local stitcher that can build me what is in my head. Back to shooting it.

I don't reload. All factory ammo, barrel cleaning after few rounds and repeat for first box of 150gr cheap soft points, i only use wipeout and sometimes sweets if stubborn copper requires it but haven't needed sweets on this rifle, no brushes touch my bores, then did 5 rounds and cleans for another box roughly, and then started to see what i could group with it. Enough of break in stuff, i'm good to my guns, never get em hot, always cool before next group etc. so has plenty of cleanings in the first few boxes of ammo but no brushes. Its not a benchrest gun but i like to do what i can.

Even with cheap ammo just getting paper while breaking in it was pulling off moa to moa and half type groups. Gun has 110 rounds on barrel now and i have not seen one single flier or really huge group. All ammos with same bullet weight seem to all have the same poi, little different verticles with the different velocities of the different weights but otherwise it feels like you could stuff just about anything in it and kill to 300 all day without changing zero.

I tried at least 6-8 different ammo's for groups and really seemed to like 130gr ballistic tip loads and 140gr accubond loads from nosler and federal over the fusions which it held to moa or a touch over and then the cheap power points and the 130 partitions from federal looked good too but end of day i'm an accubond man and when i went out cold one morning and first five shots down the tube did this...



I quit looking for my load, i am realizing the gun can outshoot me and likely with all ammos i'm trying, i'm just not that good a shot with a light short gun that hits me, yes i'm recoil sensitive, this gun actually really handles recoil well, its less than the tikka t3 i had in .270 shooting 130 fusions and was 7 lbs all up....so i am impressed with its ability to handle recoil as research had also told me. But anyrate there is a them, my first shooting of the day is the best, i get flinchy and blinky as the shots roll past 6-9 etc. And thats ok with me, i'm very conscious of the first shots of anything bow or gun as i set one up as i'm 100% hunter and thats all i really care about. So i ordered up a few cases of this ammo as i'm told its being discontinued so i have around 680 rounds which should take me a lifetime or two to use up lol, my kids can appreciate my bulk buying after i'm gone.

Now to shoot long. I want to zero at 250 yards, setting my sako up exactly the same. Now, keep in mind, i have a muzzle brake for my sako and usually use it, plus i used to have a mark 4 4.5-14x40 on the sako also, so at 7 lb 3.5 oz with a brake the .270 wsm was a total pussycat to shoot and i held it to 3/4 moa for 3-5 shots always, any day, any range, 500m no sweat, i did a lot of long range practice with it, up to 920 yards, i know that gun inside out and in that config. i can shoot it always at 3/4 moa real world. Its different now with this little vx3 2.5-8x (less weight and magnification) and no muzzle brake...it gets me flinchy/blinky several rounds quicker than the blaser does...but i have a perfect test medium with that sako...it too btw loves the federal 140 accubond load and i've got a couple cases of it stacked away also. So i'm set for my big game hunters.

250 yards, zero it two days ago but forgot my front/rear bags and didn't even have a pack, had the crappiest make shift rest, i lay in field on private land with my carttharts on, like hunting, field conditions. But one 3 shot group i felt good about in the few shots i took went 2.15" ctc....sub-moa. I was ok with thats. So this morning i went out this time with the bags. I never touched the scopes to see if i did get zero's dialed in on both rifles.

I really wanted to give the blaser a real world condition test. I took scope off, put it back on and shot 1st shot, then took the scope off and put back on for second shot, and then did it again for 3rd shot. Here is what it did at 250 yards.



A hair over moa, i'll take that, so i grabbed the sako in its new config and shot the target right beside it (i had two up). And shot a 3 shot group 1/16" larger than the blaser. Right on! Here is the sako




So now, i'm happy, zero is perfect on the blaser, the sako i may tweak a click to the right but made no changes and moved the target out to 350 yards. Next 3 shots i did from the blaser, same target, i just masked the holes. Now we get a 3 shot group just under moa. I'm tickled. I didn't take the scope off/on for each shot this time, figured that was proven with the group at 250 yards fyi. So here is the 350 yard group from the blaser.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

And then i repeat again with the sako and now the shot count is climbing past 9 and i know i duffed the last shot, hard to be consistant over 12 rounds for me, anyhow, the group was looking to mirror the 250 yard group until i pulled that beauty to the left opening it up to 5" and change, my bad and i called it right away, i know what that gun is capable of and it was all me. So here is sako at 350 yards with my pulled shot.



And that is it. Guns put away, 6 shots each, done. Field conditions, laying prone on caldwell tackdriver simulating over the pack etc. Here are some perspective pictures. Ok, turns out i forgot to shrink images so this will be last full size one, taking forever to download, lets try this. Here is the view from 250 yards, look for the white dot down there, thats the target. I even wore both gloves to take all 12 shots.



Here is the sako on the field set up.



And here is the view from 350 yards, look for the white spec left side of power pole this time up in the opening in trees.



Here is the entire target board at 250 yards, blaser group on right, sako on left.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

And the entire target board from 350 yards, again, blaser on right, sako on left.



Here is the group i shot two days previous off a crap rest at 2.15" ctc, 250 yards, setting the 250 yard zero.



Here is another of the gun taken down but without the scope shown, longest piece being the barrel at a hair under 24".



Here is the scope mount before ring shaving.



And the scope mount after shaving.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

And the scope in rings after.



So my summary, after 110 rounds i'm confident this gun outshoots my ability. I learn every rifle project. This time i learned that i can shoot tighter more consistently with less recoil, more weight and more scope magnification. I had some minimum expectations for this rifle and what i could do with it and i'm there. Its too soft and ran out of time to shoot and see what the 2nd hash mark on the reticle will be for range and the top of the post but i suspect very close to 450 and 550 repsectively but i will bear that out when i get a chance. What i do know is that i shoot this gun to moa give or take all the time for 3 shot groups out to 350 yards so far, that won't change at 450 etc. and really was hoping for an 'up to 500' type set up for this little rifle and scope combo. Confident that is what i have and i'm basically done now. I have to zero the iron sights next so that will be fun. And now i have a back up shooting solution should i kill the scope somehow on a hunt, or even to hike out with iron sights only as protection and only carry 5 1/2 lbs instead of 6 1/2.

Can this rifle out ramble the rambling rifle? No probably not but, its half the price, a bit heavier...which i will take and does offer the repeatable quick detach scope set up with back up irons that the rambler doesn't. I kind of put them in the same class. Being lightweight takedowns although that ramber is light, i'm pretty sure too light for me, i'd love to see how well i shoot something like that beside the k95?

Before this k95 i tried a budget route and took a thompson pro hunter in 7-08, had my clever machinest build a knurled knob off the pistol grip which took took the buttstock off without tools, just spin the knob and the knob was anchored to the buttstock so you couldn't lose it, and cut the barrel to 20" and had a 7 lb scoped super short carbine and did two consecutive 3 shot moa groups at 520 yards with it and federal 140 ballistic tips but even though heavier that shortness made it twitchy off the bags for me and when i was done with it the itch for a k95 still had not been scratched, the quality and iron sights/scope set up was still missing and i knew i had to sell the little takedown carbine and other stuff and just go get the k95 finally. I'm pumped about this little sheeper. Its going to go full time now this season and the sako gets to take a well deserved break.

 

[rodney482]

Nice thread!!!

Love Blaser rifles

 

[Stinky Coyote]

decided i like butler creek flip on objective end, always have/will so put it on, weighed entire package 6 lb 10 oz, then put 6 shells in the beartooth shell holder and weighed again at 6 lb 15.5 oz hunt ready, i may use the 2 oz slings i have for local hunting but as long as the kifaru pack with the gun bearer with me the sling stays home. Took some more completed pictures today, together, taken down.




for the custom case i envision that will keep it protected but simple and very lightweight in pack i envision essentially a long slender pocket for the barrel/forend portion as the main bulk of the 'case so to speak' slightly padded and re-enforced on bottom where the barrel weight will focus, with a velcro or snap flap to close over the top and then a velcro strap to cinch the pistol grip of the butt stock to it as its got enough protection from pack contents with the shell holder on and then a lightweight simple verticle pocket(un-padded) attached to the other side opposite the buttstock that the scope just drops into leaving the objective housing still sticking out a bit so can grab quick and pull up and out, so i can reach in pack and just grab the barrel pocket and yank the works out and quickly access the pieces and put it together...can't see a lighter alternative as per a typical fully enclosed soft case...will obviously follow this thread up with whatever i come up with there...and when i shoot 450 and 550 yards when the ground hardens up again be it from drying out or frost and i get a chance to finalize that part so could be just before sheep season opens before i get that sorted but will try for sooner

 

[Stinky Coyote]

and since i'm new to the forum a bit more on my sako might give a fuller picture, i got that rifle when they came out, got one of the first ones in Canada, after similar break-in i tested a half dozen loads, win/fed ballistic tips and accubonds but this rifle definitely prefered federal, i did 5 shot groups consecutively on same target letting gun cool between, the federal 130 ballistic tips went .6" ctc and the 140 accubonds went .7 ctc, the winchester supreme ballistic tips and accubonds were both over 1", from recollection 1.3 and 1.8" ctc but can't tell you which one, it was clear i was choosing the federal loads and went 140 ab's and didn't look back, each year before sheep season i would go out and 'check' it, here is last years check, ran the gong out to 482 yards, slight breeze right to left, 6 degrees c and very typical sub-moa group doing exactly same thing laying in a field like i did with the blaser and sako above, difference being sako had muzzle brake on and the leupy mark 4 14x scope with side focus....the year before the gong was at 546 yards and i put 4 shots into 4"....i have pics somewhere but that is all i had to do with that gun after setting it up, one little long range check before season opener and always a nice sub-moa group like this 482 yard one, i did a dial up system on that with a speed dial knob marked in yards that matched my set up to the actual drop data i collected for it etc. and i have never shot groups with the sako as large as the ones i did comparing to the blaser, that is why i blame that on the changes i made, trying to go lighter, simpler and more streamlined on my rifles i got the notion in my head that 500-ish is far enough, don't need to dial to 800 yards and i could make do with a multi-aimpoint reticle like the lr duplex...so thats what i'm trying but i'm sure learning the limitations and the system seems to suit the ranges i intend to hunt within, removing the muzzle brake is a big one for me too, that sako in .270 wsm bites at 7.0 lbs all up! So dialed up to 500 and backed off a click and here is the 482 yard pre-season 'check'(so routine with this gun/config.) that its a once a year thing then hunt and do it again starting next summer
View attachment 7131

so hopefully that gives a bit better picture of why i'm so excited about the blaser, i know i'm a 3/4 moa shooter with the braked/14x sako setup, i also have a tikka varmint in .204 that i use for coyotes and rushing i shoot 3/4 moa out of it but taking my time its a half moa gun, heavy, 20x scope on it and loves federal 39gr sierra blitzking load into ragged holes at 100, on paper at 520 yards i would shoot 3 shot groups getting drop data and had two of four three shot groups go in the 2" and change range, a 3" and then maybe one was close to moa but i shoot 3 shot groups to get a feel for how many clicks i need to move up or down to be exact at the range...so doesn't really matter what distance for me, if i shoot it 3/4 moa at 100 i'll do so at 500 and so on, i haven't hunted with a simpler lower magnification scope setup in quite awhile so clearly i seem to be moa shooter for this configuration on both guns and i am more than ok with that, they are light, they kick, and they r set up for hunting, not 'long range' like i generally like to set things up for

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Shot today quick at 421 and 546 yards quick checks for elevation to see how close those distances match up with the 2nd dot and the top of where the post widens on the crosshair below the 2nd dot. Shot both the sako and blaser, they both impacted abotu 6" high at 421 yards and then the blaser impacted perfect height at 546 yards where the sako was around 5-6" higher. So the lr duplex reticle is an ideal match for the blaser .270 with a 250 yard zero, first dot is good for 350, 2nd dot 450 and 550 for top of post where it widens, could not have worked out any better. The sako .270 wsm pretty much identical all the way out except top of post widening i'll call good for 575 yards. Here is pic of gong below

I only took 4 shots at 546 yards, all rung this gong. 1st shot with blaser hit dead in middle and i felt perfect on the shot break. I almost called it quits with the blaser right there but grabbed the sako and put two upper left (still haven't made the windage adjustment from before), and felt pretty good about both those shots. Then put the blaser back up for a second shot, i broke the shot low and called it before i could even get into the spotter to see and sure enough it was lower, the wind was varying up to 5 mph right to left at that point so not too worried about the left to right....i was mostly paying attention to the verticle. I have all the answers i need. So upper left shots sako .270 wsm, and lower shots are the blaser .270 win, 140 federal accubonds in each gun.

View attachment 7269

And i had it out zering the iron sights a couple days back also which was fun, feel pretty confident up to say 150 yards with the irons but wouldn't want to shoot at anything much further but nice to have an option to use them at any time. So about 135 rounds on the barrel now, giving it another clean and will simply confirm its 250 yard zero before the season opens and possibly try and call a coyote it and get some blood on it in the meantime. Hope you enjoyed. Its everything i trusted it would be from research and am tickled with it. Modular design with zero repeatable scope detach offers pretty unique versatility. If not for cleaning the gun(takes down to just a barrel), to transport, to scoped or irons sights, its mountain hunting lightweight enough and wouldn't want it lighter in that cartridge! Its pretty easy to hold moa real world consistantly for 3 shot groups in variety of conditions. You can order them with more barrels, i believe up to 3 different barrels per frame they can do so you can have a couple different cartidges on the same gun. And i have thought of this also but may wait until i get blaser repeater but you could have a backup scope zero'd in a mount and ready to go for base camp or traveling hunters rather than a back up gun? And or, a high magnification varmint scope to use for when developing a new blaser etc. Just so versatile. I think i may get a high mag scope in another base for when i get a blaser r93 or r8 for setting it up and then maybe get a varmint cartridge barrel with that gun to put that scope on and then with a big game barrel just go with similar scope to what i've done with this k95. The possibilities and versatility of these blaser rifles are endless and unique imo. I am very much enjoying this blaser experience.

edit, question for mods, why did the last two pics i tried to put up not show up the same as the previous ones? did i do something different by accident?

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Well a buddy says we r goin spring bear, cleared with my wife ahead of time to surprise me, so cleaned the blaser, set up 250 and confirmed zero, on the money but did a couple three shot groups just to tweak into perfect 250 yrd zero, the first one I felt great about and checked in spotter and 1.24" ctc hello half moa, made adjust to scope as was just under bull and let cool, not that it matters with this gun as I've seen zero poi change from cold to warm barrel but like to simulate hunt scenario as accurately as possible, next 3 went 2.23"ctc and I felt like it was normal shooting for me with it and when peeking in spotter saw what I've come to expect, slightly less than moa. This gun is solid sub moa with factory federal 140 ab's and shoots to my ability which seems to hover around moa or just under, something tells me with a big arse scope and some serious bench technique we'd be a lot close to the late Greg Rodriguez's blaser k95 in 270 which as he said was the most accurate sporter weight rifle he owned, scary considering his collection! I'm not a talented enough shooter to show it off, I'm confident of that. Every range trip, every shoot, 145 rounds on barrel to date and just getting better and better, my money well spent, very happy. I have pics of course but on iPad, can load em later if any interest.

 

[Joshua Barney]

Love the Blaser K95! I have fallen hard for them and been firearm monotonous since....I'm extremely envious! I've been saving my sheckles for this type of set up...soon very soon!