Blaser

[TomJoad]

Con 5:

I forgot about weight. R8's are heavy.

The upside is they are short as F and you can get them tucked away really well.

Don’t buy an R8.

Buy an R93 @ 6lbs 12oz


Or a k95 @ 5lb 9oz?

 

[ndlawrence]

Don’t buy an R8.

Buy an R93 @ 6lbs 12oz
View attachment 663530

Or a k95 @ 5lb 9oz?
View attachment 663531

Care to share some more pics of the k95? Gorgeous

 

[TomJoad]

It’s my backpack elk gun. Absolutely love it. The r93 is newer to me, haven’t bloodied it yet. Planning to take it out for Antelope for the first time this year.

Nice thing about the blasers is the scope setup. So easy and versatile. I mostly hunt the k95 with a S&B fixed 4x but have a higher power setups for the range and alternate barrels. I could leverage the same scopes across the r93 with adjusting zero, I seldom do but it’s a nice option.




Lots of comments around wood, durability and fear. The thing I believe people don’t understand or appreciate about wood is the concept of “patina of use”. I find natural materials take on patina with more grace. Wood with use is loved and lived in, yes it can get damaged but it holds its beauty (so long as it’s not coated in poly to start life like browning). Plastic (and composite) comes out of a molding and finishing process as good as it will ever get, it’s downhill from there.

 

[Steve O]

^^^ Absolute Perfection!

 

[LightFoot]

Don’t buy an R8.

Buy an R93 @ 6lbs 12oz
View attachment 663530

Or a k95 @ 5lb 9oz?
View attachment 663531

He’s right. An R93 with the “off-road” stock would be a dream backpacking rifle. Only thing you give up to the R8 is that R93 doesn’t have the removable fire-control/magazine. The R93 is trim and light and shoots incredibly well… just pricey.


>>>——JAKE——>

 

[Southern Lights]

I'd buy a 223 barrel if it was a better twist for heavier 77gr bullets. The twist is pretty limited to varmint bullets.

Mate of mine uses the .223 Blaser barrel with 55gr bullets and more often bullets in the 60s and lays waste to heaps of deer. I don't know if he uses 77gr but will ask. I use 55 soft points on deer and they don't go far when hit properly.

 

[Southern Lights]

R93s are lighter, but sadly all support for them is ended. If you want to swap calibres it will be used market.

My R8 runs NFS NXS/SHV scopes and are about 9lbs. Probably 9.5 all loaded with sling.

This is about 1lb. heavier than I typically like, but for the shorter length, de-cocker, absolute return to zero mounts, it's worth it to me.

I'd like a K95 some day. Saw one again today in .308 and synthetic stock and it would be a great mountain rifle.

 

[Mojave]

Price.

People talk about this all the time. It is worth noting that they are basically the same price as a mid-range custom or a high end factory rifle around $4000.

While here in Germany I can own as many rifles as a hunter as I want, I don't see the need to own more than a few. Some countries like Spain limit the number of rifles to 5. I am limited to pistols, I can own 2 and if I have a trapping certification, I can own a 22LR pistol as well.

Another plus:

It breeds consistancy. You have one system, one trigger, and multiple barrels. So everytime you shoot the rifle weather it is a 222, or a 300 winchester it feels the same. Recoil will be a bit different .

Especially if you put the same scope on the both calibers.

 

[Grumman]

Time will tell. I’ll be waiting and watching for a couple years to see how BRX1 performs. Maybe Form will test one and compare to the Blaser.

I saw a BRX1 at the SCI convention. While the switch bolt engineering is clever and the price point beats a Blaser I was not impressed. The rifle was crude and felt very cheap overall. The rail cantilevers back over the bolt/receiver similar to a Mossberg 500. It did not take much thumb pressure to really flex the scope rail. The safety was a struggle to engage and disengage. The rep saw me fiddling with jt and said it takes some practice to get it down.

I looked at Strasser and Blaser afterwards. The Strasser action was really smooth but the action was not enclosed as well as the BRX1 or the Blaser. After looking at the three of them back to back, Blaser is definitely my pick and worth the steep difference in price. I was going to order a BRX but will now be putting that money toward an R8.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kevin in NH]

I had one that I got to pick out what stock I wanted from the show guns when I worked there. Beautiful wood and I had side plates installed. I was offered stupid money for it, but kept the shooter with synthetic stock. Both were in 30-06. I have a Schmidt and Bender 3-12x50 and a Leupold 2.5-8 for hunting in NH. I've taken a few deer with it. I have the picatinny rail for it, but the scopes swap back and forth with no loss of zero so I left them as is. I damaged a scope on a Caribou hunt in Canada but I brought a spare and it was right on with no adjustments.

 

[Stocky]

So which ends up lighter weights the ultimate reciever or the professional receiver assuming a carbon stock?

I see back in the day Christensen arms (europe) sold a carbon stocked carbon barreled r8 that was 5.75 pounds and a r93 that was 5.25 pounds roughly. So obviously there are ways to address weight. Anyone know what Christensen used to do. I'm assuming they lightened the receiver as part of the process.

I also seem to notice there 2 different types of professional r8 reciever one that has a separate "button" and one that doesn't. @hpmr appears to have both types. Wondered what the difference is.

Cheers guys

 

[Theringworm]

Don’t quote me, but I am fairly certain that both the Ultimate and the Pro stocks can be had with an aluminum or steel receiver. Only time I have seen the steel receiver optioned was if going with a very large magnum caliber or very heavy weight barrel profiles to help counter the weight at the forend.

 

[Stocky]

Don’t quote me, but I am fairly certain that both the Ultimate and the Pro stocks can be had with an aluminum or steel receiver. Only time I have seen the steel receiver optioned was if going with a very large magnum caliber or very heavy weight barrel profiles to help counter the weight at the forend.

Yeh not trying to get heavier so uninterested in steel recievers. But the ultimate has a different receiver as its set up for 2 peice stocks. Or atleast assume its different (possibly slimmer?)

 

[Southern Lights]

I have a pro success synthetic stock and recently handled the carbon version. I'd say at best you save about 1/2 pound difference from what I was told and felt (about 300g). It was not Earth shattering.

The R8 is about a pound heavier than the R93. Unfortunately when Blaser did the R8 they sized it so it could fit the huge African BG calbers and this unfortunately ruined the weight for everyone else. Bare rifle my R8 weights almost exactly 7.5lbs. This is with trigger group and barrel installed, but no mount/scope on it. So not unreasonable, but it's not a lightweight.

I can't comment on the Ultimate stock as I've not handled one, but it will have more adjustments, etc. so I doubt it's any lighter than the plain synthetic pro success.

 

[Stocky]

I have a pro success synthetic stock and recently handled the carbon version. I'd say at best you save about 1/2 pound difference from what I was told and felt (about 300g). It was not Earth shattering.

The R8 is about a pound heavier than the R93. Unfortunately when Blaser did the R8 they sized it so it could fit the huge African BG calbers and this unfortunately ruined the weight for everyone else. Bare rifle my R8 weights almost exactly 7.5lbs. This is with trigger group and barrel installed, but no mount/scope on it. So not unreasonable, but it's not a lightweight.

I can't comment on the Ultimate stock as I've not handled one, but it will have more adjustments, etc. so I doubt it's any lighter than the plain synthetic pro success.

Not looking at a blaser option would be making a carbon stock myself (threads here show a 380gram so 3/4 of a pound saving is realistically possible there. I'm just choosing a base. The ultimate receiver is setup for a 2 peice stock system and the professional a standard one piece system.
I'm just interested in whether there would be any benefit to attempt to use the ultimate receiver as a base (I would pretty much throw away/store in cupboard the factory stock).
I just wonder if there's some weight savings because most of the lighter r8s in this thread and the Christensen extreme R8 (5.75 pounds) were both based on the ultimate receiver (jaegar i think) with 2 piece stocks.

The current situation on why I'm looking is I like shorter rifles ie a short action with a short barrel.

I carry the rifle alot in the alpine almost all hunts start with 2500-4500 feet of off trail elevation gain where a tall rifle on a pack is horrible and obviously so is extra weight. I've run kimbers for years my "big" gun is a 22 creed kimber and my second hunting/trainer is a custom howa mini in 223. Aftermarket on the kimber is average and i hate the factory stock geometry and function is ok but not great. The howa is much better with factory mags than the Jeffersons but i just dont like it much to be honest and cant see keeping my nicer one.

I dislike tikkas in that for the same length barrel a tikka is an inch longer than my kimbers and I dont need the extra mag length. I am considering them though but id have to fit out 2 tikkas with 2 probably custom stocks and try match them and that's getting close to R8 money and time I dont really want to invest on a system I just dislike.

I really like the compact nature of the blaser.
I really like the idea of having the exact same platform for both rifles for training familiarity. But weight is a big concern. The other minor one being low mag capacity but I can deal with this.

Non starters are a good reliable FFP scopes in the 20-26oz range and a suppressor in the 8-10oz range. I'll make a stock and have access to cnc machining equipment and will likely attempt to make a new receiver for the R8 to test reducing the weight also. I am also setup to use an akila stub to make a much lighter profile barrel (forward of the stub).

My current rifles weigh around 6.5pounds ready to hunt. I am willing to deal with something up to probably 8.5 pounds ready to hunt with the above components but im not going to carry or use a 10 pound rifle its just unlikely. I'd obviously much prefer it closer to 7-7.5 pounds.

Things im considering to save weight are

• DIY carbon stock (for weight and geometry)
• Custom barrel with lighter profile and unlikely to run anything over 18 inchs. I currently think my 18" creed is too long
• Machining a minimised receiver to take the factory barrel and trigger sear.
• If I could find a R8 S in NZ I would try that

Id try an R93 but they aren't cheap here and in the event something breaks im stuck with an expensive rifle with not parts. Even the current situation of trying to source reasonably priced remington 700 mag boxes and springs is ridiculous.

What I'm hoping blaser brings to the table.

• Reliable feeding
• A shorter more compact package
• The ability to pull and reuse on stock setup for cross training with same trigger etc without having to go check zero each time (obviously if this is easy to do I will but sometimes you dont have time.)
• There are times here its nice to not obviously be packing a rifle. Ie hitch-hiking back to the vehicle.
• A high level of precision
• The ability to keep target in scope whilst cycling bolt.
• A brilliant trigger that I dont have to go buy for each rifle.
• The potential to make a telescoping stock minimalist chassis for the same rifle for packraft trips to collapse on lap whilst paddling

 

[Stocky]

I will ofcourse hunt with it as it comes to start. But long term i find any truly heavy rifle in my safe gets culled.

 

[Steve O]

Not looking at a blaser option would be making a carbon stock myself (threads here show a 380gram so 3/4 of a pound saving is realistically possible there. I'm just choosing a base. The ultimate receiver is setup for a 2 peice stock system and the professional a standard one piece system.
I'm just interested in whether there would be any benefit to attempt to use the ultimate receiver as a base (I would pretty much throw away/store in cupboard the factory stock).
I just wonder if there's some weight savings because most of the lighter r8s in this thread and the Christensen extreme R8 (5.75 pounds) were both based on the ultimate receiver (jaegar i think) with 2 piece stocks.

The current situation on why I'm looking is I like shorter rifles ie a short action with a short barrel.

I carry the rifle alot in the alpine almost all hunts start with 2500-4500 feet of off trail elevation gain where a tall rifle on a pack is horrible and obviously so is extra weight. I've run kimbers for years my "big" gun is a 22 creed kimber and my second hunting/trainer is a custom howa mini in 223. Aftermarket on the kimber is average and i hate the factory stock geometry and function is ok but not great. The howa is much better with factory mags than the Jeffersons but i just dont like it much to be honest and cant see keeping my nicer one.

I dislike tikkas in that for the same length barrel a tikka is an inch longer than my kimbers and I dont need the extra mag length. I am considering them though but id have to fit out 2 tikkas with 2 probably custom stocks and try match them and that's getting close to R8 money and time I dont really want to invest on a system I just dislike.

I really like the compact nature of the blaser.
I really like the idea of having the exact same platform for both rifles for training familiarity. But weight is a big concern. The other minor one being low mag capacity but I can deal with this.

Non starters are a good reliable FFP scopes in the 20-26oz range and a suppressor in the 8-10oz range. I'll make a stock and have access to cnc machining equipment and will likely attempt to make a new receiver for the R8 to test reducing the weight also. I am also setup to use an akila stub to make a much lighter profile barrel (forward of the stub).

My current rifles weigh around 6.5pounds ready to hunt. I am willing to deal with something up to probably 8.5 pounds ready to hunt with the above components but im not going to carry or use a 10 pound rifle its just unlikely. I'd obviously much prefer it closer to 7-7.5 pounds.

Things im considering to save weight are

• DIY carbon stock (for weight and geometry)
• Custom barrel with lighter profile and unlikely to run anything over 18 inchs. I currently think my 18" creed is too long
• Machining a minimised receiver to take the factory barrel and trigger sear.
• If I could find a R8 S in NZ I would try that

Id try an R93 but they aren't cheap here and in the event something breaks im stuck with an expensive rifle with not parts. Even the current situation of trying to source reasonably priced remington 700 mag boxes and springs is ridiculous.

What I'm hoping blaser brings to the table.

• Reliable feeding
• A shorter more compact package
• The ability to pull and reuse on stock setup for cross training with same trigger etc without having to go check zero each time (obviously if this is easy to do I will but sometimes you dont have time.)
• There are times here its nice to not obviously be packing a rifle. Ie hitch-hiking back to the vehicle.
• A high level of precision
• The ability to keep target in scope whilst cycling bolt.
• A brilliant trigger that I dont have to go buy for each rifle.
• The potential to make a telescoping stock minimalist chassis for the same rifle for packraft trips to collapse on lap whilst paddling

You should buy a K95. You are never going to get an R8 down to the weight you want.

 

[hpmr]

So which ends up lighter weights the ultimate reciever or the professional receiver assuming a carbon stock?

I see back in the day Christensen arms (europe) sold a carbon stocked carbon barreled r8 that was 5.75 pounds and a r93 that was 5.25 pounds roughly. So obviously there are ways to address weight. Anyone know what Christensen used to do. I'm assuming they lightened the receiver as part of the process.

I also seem to notice there 2 different types of professional r8 reciever one that has a separate "button" and one that doesn't. @hpmr appears to have both types. Wondered what the difference is.

Cheers guys

I recon you're talking about the front action screw? My first R8 action had the floating disc that pin down the front of the action, similar to the R93 system. I guess Blaser revised their design as my second has the "ear". Functional they're identical. The difference is shown here in this post: Carbon fiber stocks - DIY tinkering

Regarding which action to build on, I would recommend the ultimate / two-piece system. Not because of the weight difference (don't know, didn't dismantle and weigh the ultimate action - but it can't be much that separates them). What really favours the two-piece system is the lesser width of the action. And that really matters if you're carrying a lot in your hands. I slimmed the stocks I built for a professional action, but its still noticeably wider.

The same goes for a R93 pro vs standard, but the R93 is slimmer overall, so its not such a big deal in that case. A R93 pro stock can be made slimmer than a std. Tikka T3 stock. And a R93 would easier get you to your goal weight wise.

A few explaining shots:

R8 professional


R8 Ultimate:

 

[Stocky]

You should buy a K95. You are never going to get an R8 down to the weight you want.

It's literally been done if christensen can make a sub 6 pound version I can hit 8.5 pounds scoped. I have no doubt i can hit 8.5 pounds.

The ability to make quick follow ups is important to me. I've hunted with a single shot Bergara i dont like having to break setup and loose sight picture to follow up.

 

[Stocky]

I recon you're talking about the front action screw? My first R8 action had the floating disc that pin down the front of the action, similar to the R93 system. I guess Blaser revised their design as my second has the "ear". Functional they're identical.

Regarding which action to build on, I would recommend the ultimate / two-piece system. Not because of the weight difference (don't know, didn't dismantle and weigh the ultimate action - but it can't be much that separates them). What really favours the two-piece system is the lesser width of the action. And that really matters if you're carrying a lot in your hands. I slimmed the stocks I built for a professional action, but its still noticeably wider.

The same goes for a R93 pro vs standard, but the R93 is slimmer overall, so its not such a big deal in that case. A R93 pro stock can be made slimmer than a std. Tikka T3 stock. And a R93 would easier get you to your goal weight wise.

A few explaining shots:

R8 professional
View attachment 903710

R8 Ultimate:
View attachment 903711

Yes that's what I meant about the button. That is awesome info.

The R93 scares me as it only marginally cheaper in NZ and there's not a good supply of parts both to purchase or repair. 223 bolts etc sell fast and if I couldn't get one it would defeat half the purpose. Same with mag inserts of if say I broke a firing pin. Id take the half pound/pound weight gain for that security of support.

So the r93 is noticeably slimmer that the ultimate even?