Real Sword KBU-97 Sniper Rifle, and many more
 

So, it's 2012, it's been 3 years i think?, and the promised KBU-97 Sniper Rifle, the export variant of the QBU-88 Sniper Rifle, still hasn't been officially announced yet. However, during the IWA 2012 show, Real Sword's booth showed some interesting stuff. First up is the sportsline, the cheap line of airsoft from Real Sword. AK47, M4 Short Baby, Scorpion and AUG will be available in August 2012. Then, SVD GBB and M4 GBB. Somewhere in the pictures there is also a KBU-97 Sniper Rifle.

Honestly? I think they should just release the KBU-97 sniper rifle already. Concept wise, there is no better DMR than the QBU-88. It can hit coke bottles every single shot out to 600m in the hands of a trained soldier. In a video somewhere, two PLA sharpshooters were duking it out in a shooting contest, hitting coke bottles out in the 600m range. The winner only missed like once out of approx. 10 shots at that range if my memory doesn't fail me. Impressive.

Anyhow, I just need that one rifle to finish my PLA loadout. >_< It's exactly what I needed, an M16 sized DMR rifle in a bullpup compact package.

I don't care how much training they give me, I am not holding those coke bottles in my hands. :D

I'd gladly hold a bottle in my hand if the guy shooting is either an extremely good shot, or an extremely poor shot, and after shooting, I get my Real Sword QBU-88.

Wouldn't mind a skorpion if Realsword offers part support. On the other note probably alot of angry people because there is little mention of the "magnetic Blowback" AR rifles from RS.

If the Kingarm SVD turns out to be descent for the price I'll possibly get one.

I think they said the ARs are on hold because now it is not the best time to release them.

i wouldnt mind a RS skorpion, ive got the 56 and 2 svd's and i love them.

2 SVD's? Dual wield?

no, just got one cheap in the states new.....635$ shipped brand new.....im bringing it up in april. couldnt pass up a deal like that.

AATV @ IWA 2012: Real Sword Dragunov SVD GBB & Sportsline AEGs - YouTube

According to this video possibly June, but I'd be very surprised if they released it by then

Sounds like code for "after all this time, we never made a working magnetic blowback AEG past the conceptual stages". Fucking annoying when a company promises something earth shatteringly revolutionary and shows nothing.

Yeah, that's what it seems like. Good concept, but to actually have a magnetically driven bolt like that? I don't know much about manufacturing or the actual engineering behind such an endeavor, but it seems like it would either be expensive to produce, and likely out of the price range for most airsofters, or simply not possible to make and to keep it being reliable, especially as a huge improvement over GBBRs.

Oh shit, QBU-88 is going to be released mid-June! That probablly means it would be released by the end of this year/beginning of next year! Sweet! Can finally complete my PLA loadout!

They said the same thing last year. I wouldn't count on seeing that gun this year.. or perhaps any other year.

One of the major problems with the package is the scope itself. Pearl Optical stopped making the scope in 2006, and there are only a few extras floating around in China. Even if the gun was sold without the scope, the dovetail is an uncommon 14mm width (and it's relatively short), so you can't just go out and buy a picatinny mount for it from your local gun store.

I was asking on here a while back if anyone had the dimensions of the Real Sword Type 97 dovetail mount, as I'm wondering if it is the same width as the QBU-88's 14mm -- which would (possibly) let the type 97 picatinny mount slide onto the QBU-88 as well.

A SVD scope was being made by Real Sword, and I think they are still being made by them. Also, QBU-88 firing the 5.56mm is currently being imported into Canada, with the scope.

I own a KBU-97A (Type 97A 5.56mm Sniper Rifle, QBU-88 export version). The scope was what made the shipment into the country take a few extra months (as in five) as they had to track some down, on top of the PLA's priority over exports for QBU-88's. PLA & law enforcement in China are now adopting a new mount for the QBU-88, but at present, they have no interest in selling to foreigners. Due to the lack of scopes in service, China is now purchasing a few Khales and S&B's to go along with the new mount, but primarily for police use.

Regardless, airsoft is of the lowest concern for Norinco -- especially for a gun still being produced (QBU-88) -- so unless they start selling a special scope mount (which is actually my interest), then I don't think we'll see the airsoft version of the KBU-97A come into full-scale production.

The SVD PSO-1 4x scope made by Real Sword will not fit onto the QBU-88/KBU-97A, as they are completely different mounting devices. The other problem is they sell that scope for $250USD. Thus, the Type 88's FFP illuminated 3-9 x 40 would be (approx.) $500, and would jack the price of the unit up considerably.

I often wonder when Real Sword brings the KBU-97A to the trade shows if it is in fact an airsoft gun, or a real gun. After four years, no one has seen the internals yet.. not even the magazine out of the gun...