Blaser K95 Ultimate Carbon

As a shooter, I do appreciate modern technology and manufacturing methods and all the benefits they offer the serious hunter and shooter. Normally I would not get too excited by more traditional designs, however, I do have a predilection for a few more classic rifle builds and materials, one of these is the Kipplauf, a single-shot, break barrel rifle, favoured in Europe.

K95

The make and model in question is Blaser’s K95, it’s totally manual and does not even boast automatic ejection, however it floats my boat big time. If I had the money, I would buy the Stutzen Edition Black in 6.5x55 SE, complete with iron sights. I’d be the first to say that a single-shot design of this nature is not first choice for UK hunters; price aside, as any K95 is not cheap, the biggest hurdles are its lack of capacity and a fingertip load/unload.

This is very much a mental thing, as and although we all hunt with repeaters, the times are few a good shot will need to put a second round into their quarry. I believe that this is what puts people off and initially it does feel odd, knowing that you can’t get another one in as fast as a repeater. But by the same token, it really focuses your mind, which is as enjoyable as it is challenging. To date, I’ve tested and hunted with two K95s and, apart from the caveats above, the biggest question is the calibre, as they are light in the extreme and can be kicky if you make the wrong choice.

Shotgun-like

Essentially, the K95 shows a shotgun-type build with a top lever that opens the action, however, there’s no manual safety catch; instead, a variant of their Handspannen de-cocker/cocker seen on the R8 straightpull repeater. The nature of the build makes it a switch-barrel by design, so one chassis can support a number of calibres, and it also comes apart like a double gun. The forend unclips via an Anson Deeley type latch and the barrel hooks into the receiver over a pivot pin.

A slight difference is the separate locking block that sits at the rear of the frame. This engages in a pocket in the roof of the chamber extension and also mounts the firing pin. One anomaly is that it’s removable, which has been done for cleaning and also, when out, the rifle is rendered inoperable. A good safety feature I suppose, but it’s a bit like action locking keys or removing the bolt and carrying it seperately; all well and good but a problem waiting to happen; we’ve all been there!

Something old

Operation is simple; push the locking lever to the right and at the same time hinge the barrel open to expose the chamber. If the action is cocked, it will automatically de-cock and slide to the rear. Push a round in onto the extractor and close it up and you’re ready to go, apart from sliding the Handspannen forward to cock, here you will see a red dot appear indicating gun state.

The effort required is much less than the R8 and is easily done in the shoulder/firing position. If you don’t want to fire, simply pull it rearwards. Once fired, open up again and with your finger flick out the empty. Rimmed cases are a little easier to remove, but a rimless usually requires your fingernail to get it moving. Gloves don’t help the job and consideration should be given to carrying a few spare rounds on the rifle, for easy access for a reload.

As can be seen, this is a bit of a difference that we Brits are perhaps not really in tune with. However, the K95 rewards with its superior accuracy, excellent trigger and a handy and light design that is quick to point and get into the shoulder. In competent hands, it would make a great mountain rifle and a super light stalker too. Scope mounting is handled by the identical system to the R8 with a QD base that offers the option of rings for round bodied optics for the various European rail systems.

Something new

Apart from accuracy testing and hopefully some hunting luck, this review would end here; however, that’s not the end of the story by a long shot. In 2019, Blaser re-thought the furniture on the R8 Professional Success, with what they called their Ultimate range. Made of a heavy and rigid polymer, as before, the butt has been re-designed with less material and a reconfigured thumbhole aperture. Adding to this, are two builds and two plug-in modules that give the original fixed length of pull (LOP) design a deal of flexibility.

Options included the standard elastomer/rubber inserts on the cheekpiece/comb, pistol grip and forend or cocoa leather, which does look nice, although I’m not sure how that material would stand up to hard use? The stock is available with a fixed comb or a height-adjustable alternative and the standard butt pad can be removed to be replaced with either LOP/ height/angle adjustable butt plate or recoil reducing modules.

The world’s gone mad

But there’s more, as Blaser literally stood the single-shot world on its head with the K95 Ultimate Carbon version. Essentially the same butt as the R8 Ultimate and options, but the two-piece stock is made of Carbon Fibre and gives this classic rifle the same superior thumbhole layout. On seeing it, the first thing I had to do after drooling was to eat my words, as up until that point the only K95 I wanted was the Stutzen Edition Black; now, I’m not so sure!

Although appreciating the abilities of Carbon Fibre as a material, not the least of which is its rigidity, strength and a considerable weight saving, I always thought it made any rifle wearing it look like a toy. However, it seems to work far better visually on the Ultimate; go figure! Most noticeable are the leather insert gripping panels; again, they do not look out of place, despite being a natural material amongst all that hi-tech.

The effort required is much less than the R8 and is easily done in the shoulder/firing position. If you don’t want to fire, simply pull it rearwards. Once fired, open up again and with your finger flick out the empty. Rimmed cases are a little easier to remove, but a rimless usually requires your fingernail to get it moving. Gloves don’t help the job and consideration should be given to carrying a few spare rounds on the rifle, for easy access for a reload.

As can be seen, this is a bit of a difference that we Brits are perhaps not really in tune with. However, the K95 rewards with its superior accuracy, excellent trigger and a handy and light design that is quick to point and get into the shoulder. In competent hands, it would make a great mountain rifle and a super light stalker too. Scope mounting is handled by the identical system to the R8 with a QD base that offers the option of rings for round bodied optics for the various European rail systems.

Something new

Apart from accuracy testing and hopefully some hunting luck, this review would end here; however, that’s not the end of the story by a long shot. In 2019, Blaser re-thought the furniture on the R8 Professional Success, with what they called their Ultimate range. Made of a heavy and rigid polymer, as before, the butt has been re-designed with less material and a reconfigured thumbhole aperture. Adding to this, are two builds and two plug-in modules that give the original fixed length of pull (LOP) design a deal of flexibility.

Options included the standard elastomer/rubber inserts on the cheekpiece/comb, pistol grip and forend or cocoa leather, which does look nice, although I’m not sure how that material would stand up to hard use? The stock is available with a fixed comb or a height-adjustable alternative and the standard butt pad can be removed to be replaced with either LOP/ height/angle adjustable butt plate or recoil reducing modules.

The world’s gone mad

But there’s more, as Blaser literally stood the single-shot world on its head with the K95 Ultimate Carbon version. Essentially the same butt as the R8 Ultimate and options, but the two-piece stock is made of Carbon Fibre and gives this classic rifle the same superior thumbhole layout. On seeing it, the first thing I had to do after drooling was to eat my words, as up until that point the only K95 I wanted was the Stutzen Edition Black; now, I’m not so sure!

Although appreciating the abilities of Carbon Fibre as a material, not the least of which is its rigidity, strength and a considerable weight saving, I always thought it made any rifle wearing it look like a toy. However, it seems to work far better visually on the Ultimate; go figure! Most noticeable are the leather insert gripping panels; again, they do not look out of place, despite being a natural material amongst all that hi-tech.

Ultimate handle?

LOP on the Carbon is a pleasing 14.5”, which feels longer than on a standard R8 Ultimate; equally, the K95 build places the barrel lower in the action, so that standard comb gives good head support. Having tested the R8 Ultimate stock I would fit the adjustable comb and LOP module for this rifle. But with the Carbon I would not bother as it fits me well as is, I’d maybe consider the recoil module given the calibre chosen. Plus, the improved thumbhole configuration gives a near perfect, first pad trigger finger position and the pistol grip offers a lot of finesse and control.

My tester came in 308 Win, with a light/medium 18.5” barrel threaded 15x1mm as standard, twist rate is 1-10”. It’s offered in a wide range of calibres, from 22 Hornet to 10.3x60 R, with many familiar numbers in between. Length fluctuates as to calibre group; for example, 308 Win is in ST and offers 600, 520 and 500mm. However, that all depends on where you measure it from. Blaser goes from the rear of the locking pocket face, I go from the chamber face, so a quoted 500mm tube at 19.5” actually comes out at 18.5”. There are also options on profile with round, octagonal and octagonal/fluted. All show a barrel-mounted QD sling stud with another under the butt. These do not accept Uncle Mikes type swivels, as the locating pin is too wide, but the slimmer European style.

Small but…

Importers Blaser Group included a Sauer, Titanium Pro reflex moderator and a Blaser 2.8-20X50 IC scope in a European rail mount. Everyone I let handle the Carbon was impressed by its light, compact and handy design. With its’ 18.5” tube it measures 36” (unmoderated) and weighs a mere 5lb 1.2oz (bare backed) and even with that moddy and big Blaser scope on tips the scales at just 7lb 12oz. I feel both these accessories are a bit OTT for such a light and handy rifle and would opt for a smaller muzzle-mounted can and a lower power scope, something like an 1-8 x 42 or similar would seem ideal with no penalties. I reckon you could lose 1lb off the all up weight easily enough.

Given it was in 308 Win, I was not initially too bothered about the shorter barrel, as this calibre is very forgiving. The R8 Ultimate Silence I tested a few months ago had a 16.5” tube and did well in both accuracy and performance figures, for not a lot of bore space, so it would be interesting to see what that extra 2” might offer. However, for something like 6.5x55 SE or 30-06, I’d opt for the 600mm at 22.6”.

Accurate as

Although I shot a number of loads through the Carbon, one that stood out from the R8 Silence test turned out once again to be top, K95 fodder too. This was Hornady’s Precision Hunter 178-grain ELD-X. The shorter tube and tighter 1-10 twist seems to suit this heavier weight. I also included a more standard load; RWS’s 165-grain DoppelKern (Twin Core) and a reload using Lapua Mega 150-grain bullet and 44-grains of Vit N140 powder.

Recoil was most acceptable for a short 308, certainly with the moderator on and, though sharper, surprisingly good with it off too. See Facts & Figures for ballistics info; I have also included the R8 Silence figure to illustrate the barrel length difference. One thing is certain, the higher ballistic coefficient of the ELD-X bullet really retains energy out to sensible hunting distances, even with these shorter barrels. By contrast, the lighter weights did not fare so well. Taking the RWS 165-grain DoppelKern shows that from a Merkel Helix with 22” barrel it was shooting 0.5” and returning 2557 fps/2414 ft/lbs.

I have been thinking about building a more compact conventional hunter in 308 Win, based on either a Remy 700 or Bergara B14 chassis. The figures gained from both the R8 Silence and this K95 now make me think that a 20” tube would be the better bet, with a reload similar to Hornady ELD-X 178 Precision Hunter; we shall see!

Single minded

The compact size and low weight of the Carbon, even fully loaded, make it an absolute pleasure to use and carry. There’s little doubt in my mind that its thumbhole layout is more practical than the traditional furniture style. Plus, they come in a combination locked hard case that’s airline safe, so an ideal rifle for the overseas hunter. Although I appreciate what the Carbon Fibre material offers, I’d be happy with the rigid polymer Blaser use in the R8 Ultimate and feel that would be a nice alternative on the K95 and probably bring the price down a bit.

Accuracy is also a given, which does promote confidence. However, and even though I’ve stated my views on a single shot like this, there’s an odd feeling when up the high seat or out on foot, that you have one useable shot. And if you don’t get it right, then by the time you’ve gone through the process: breaking the action physically pulling out the empty, getting hold of the next round and reversing the process you might have lost your deer. Repeaters are much faster, but the appeal of the K95 Carbon is still very high, sadly as is the price!