Blaser

[plebe]

@Mojave and @Southern Lights thanks for your responses and sharing your experience. I’m having a bit of trouble getting access to blaserbuds, so I’m very gracious to have folks with expertise over here.

The r93 component I am most worried about is the bolt carrier w/ firing pin. It seems the most complicated mechanism. I don’t know that my concerns are justified or not, or if I am correct to presume it should be the highest priority spare. The ones on the used market are priced even above the new R8 component and what I’m seeing looks pretty worn. Not that they aren’t functional or scavangable. I couldn’t say.

But when I add up the cost of aftermarket pieces, between a bolt head, mag, bolt carrier, and second barrel, it’s dang near the cost of an entire second used rifle or more.

Not sure the juice is worth the squeeze. I’m kind of torn between adding components or just using what I have until it causes an issue and then looking for a good deal on a second 93 or moving on altogether.

I think if I see a bolt carrier that looks really well kept it could be enough for me to hoard components a bit for this rifle. I do like it. Or maybe I’m a just bit over critical of wear on a used bolt carrier and should simply add the backup?

 

[TomJoad]

@Mojave and @Southern Lights thanks for your responses and sharing your experience. I’m having a bit of trouble getting access to blaserbuds, so I’m very gracious to have folks with expertise over here.

The r93 component I am most worried about is the bolt carrier w/ firing pin. It seems the most complicated mechanism. I don’t know that my concerns are justified or not, or if I am correct to presume it should be the highest priority spare. The ones on the used market are priced even above the new R8 component and what I’m seeing looks pretty worn. Not that they aren’t functional or scavangable. I couldn’t say.

But when I add up the cost of aftermarket pieces, between a bolt head, mag, bolt carrier, and second barrel, it’s dang near the cost of an entire second used rifle or more.

Not sure the juice is worth the squeeze. I’m kind of torn between adding components or just using what I have until it causes an issue and then looking for a good deal on a second 93 or moving on altogether.

I think if I see a bolt carrier that looks really well kept it could be enough for me to hoard components a bit for this rifle. I do like it. Or maybe I’m a just bit over critical of wear on a used bolt carrier and should simply add the backup?

Late getting back to this thread. I'll add that I'm also locked out of BlaserBuds... not sure what's happening on that site. I also have an R93 along with the K95. I really don't stress about failures with that gun and haven't been concerned about spares, it's so GD reliable. In your shoes I would just consider having a second bolt carrier. Compared to the R93 the k95 has a really small and inexpensive firing pin assembly that takes no time to replace. I always keep it in the truck during a hunt on the odd chance that it broke in the field. So back to the R93, is the juice worth the squeeze? only you can decide that but I really prefer the size and format to the R8, it's worth it to me. It's a fantastic gun that shoots like a dream. I wouldn't choose it over the k95 if I was forced to but If I had to whittle down my centerfires to two rifles it would be those two.

 

[Southern Lights]

When I bought my R8 I had the chance to look around at R93s and parts were still available from Blaser. I just bought the R8 because the writing was on the wall that they would stop support. The R8 was made bulkier to accommodate African cartridges like .500 Jeffery, etc. This is unfortunate because for the very small percentage of users of those types of cartridges, everyone else has to deal with the larger frame forever. This is a minor annoyance, but not fatal. The bare rifle is still 7.5lbs with common calibers so it's not onerous compared to other brands. Although the R93 is supposedly 1lb lighter which is significant.

I don't have enough experience with the R93 to comment much on it. Maybe if I saw one in a really common caliber that lasted forever (e.g. 308 or 30-06), I'd consider buying one if the price was right. But the price on the used market is so close to the R8 in reality that I've not seen any need to pick one up.

As for durability. When I bought the R8 I had similar concerns about the bolt assembly being complicated, etc. But what needs to be understood is that they basically took the normally complicated trigger components and moved them into the bolt housing. So yes it is more complicated, but also appears so because you can simply see all the parts where in other designs the trigger is largely hidden from view. I knew the NZ importer quite well and aside from spare bolt head, he never recommended any spare parts as they just didn't have problems with them.

As stated, myself and hunting friends with Blasers have shot them thousands and thousands of times. I have lost count how many rounds I have fired in my calibers, but it's in the thousands just in 223 alone. I've never had any trouble at all. They always feed correctly. Triggers work. Bolts work. I can take off a scope slap on a thermal, then put the original scope back on and it is zeroed. Can swap calibers, etc. and they always hold zero.

So they are expensive and have an appeal to the well heeled shooter if you go crazy with the wood, etc. But for a heavy use rifle by those not as wealthy for the synthetic stocks, they are reliable and accurate. Compared to buying a custom, which would be the same price as the basic R8, there is no comparison that the R8 is a much better purchase decision.

 

[plebe]

Thanks! This is helpful feedback. These rifles aren’t used in my circle, so it’s been hard for me to have a well informed opinion on what’s the smart play going forward without your responses.

 

[Belinb]

I've had a couple of 93's and liked them alot. Very accurate and versatile. I really liked the fact that by design they are at least a couple of inches shorted than a standard rifle because of they way the barrel and receiver are paired. The only thing I didnt like was the safety (not a deal breaker). I sold my because I had a couple of customs built and was trying to consolidate to some degree. If I could have a do over I would still have the Blasers.