Blaser R8 - Too Many Parts or Just A Stupid Operator?

[UpNorthMI]

After 2 years I'm still getting used to the R8. I have a lot of barrels, mag inserts and scopes for the R8 setup. Over the last couple of months I've been getting in some practice for an upcoming Africa trip in May with my son to South Africa for Buffalo & plains game. We have been doing a lot of swapping between 375 H&H mag barrels to 300 win mag barrels while getting in some practice shooting these calibers. With little other shooting going on I decided that our .308 barrels (deer use) could go for threading for future sound moderator use.

I just picked up the .308 barrels and decided that I needed some trigger time as I had another scope to fit on my .308 barrel that needed to be zeroed. I had some loads to test and a couple of other rifles to shoot, so it was time to hit my practice range, 2 hours away in Northern Michigan.

After the first shot on the range, the first sign of a problem was that the trusty straight pull bolt does not extract the .308 case. My first thought was immediately, should I be taking this gun to Africa as my first shot is likely to be on a Cape Buffalo, apparently I heard that they don’t always fall over with just one shot and I feel that at 60 years old I’m probably passed my prime when it comes to Buffalo wrestling!

I start to look for the cause of the problem. After getting the case out of the gun with a short section metal rod, I examine the fired case, no marks on the rim or base, I’m thinking that maybe I put the rifle together wrong and there is an issue between alignment or fit of the barrel and bolt. Then I pull the bolt to examine if there is a problem with the extractor. As I fit the case base back on the bolt face, I immediately see why the extractor is not working, my gun still has its magnum bolt head fitted, the owner operator, ME had failed to swap it to the standard bolt head that is required for use with the .308 barrel.

Hopefully this little issue will be the bit I’m laughing about as I ensure that I have the right parts for my Blaser as I’m hunting in the far off corners of the world over the next 10 years, maybe I need to print up a laminated reminder and tape it to my gun stock.

The flexibility of the R8 is a great feature but can be prone to operator error on occasions. I hope to pay more attention in the future! I sure got lucky that this was not an important trip.

 

[analog_peninsula]

Test fire immediately before you pack, then pack immediately. Problem solved.

 

[spike.t]

Just get 2 decent rifles in 416 rigby and 300 win mag or 30-06...sorted

 

[AimSmall]

Did you change to a standard bolt head?

 

[Red Leg]

Did you change to a standard bolt head?

He said he hadn't.

After 2 years I'm still getting used to the R8. I have a lot of barrels, mag inserts and scopes for the R8 setup. Over the last couple of months I've been getting in some practice for an upcoming Africa trip in May with my son to South Africa for Buffalo & plains game. We have been doing a lot of swapping between 375 H&H mag barrels to 300 win mag barrels while getting in some practice shooting these calibers. With little other shooting going on I decided that our .308 barrels (deer use) could go for threading for future sound moderator use.

I just picked up the .308 barrels and decided that I needed some trigger time as I had another scope to fit on my .308 barrel that needed to be zeroed. I had some loads to test and a couple of other rifles to shoot, so it was time to hit my practice range, 2 hours away in Northern Michigan.

After the first shot on the range, the first sign of a problem was that the trusty straight pull bolt does not extract the .308 case. My first thought was immediately, should I be taking this gun to Africa as my first shot is likely to be on a Cape Buffalo, apparently I heard that they don’t always fall over with just one shot and I feel that at 60 years old I’m probably passed my prime when it comes to Buffalo wrestling!

I start to look for the cause of the problem. After getting the case out of the gun with a short section metal rod, I examine the fired case, no marks on the rim or base, I’m thinking that maybe I put the rifle together wrong and there is an issue between alignment or fit of the barrel and bolt. Then I pull the bolt to examine if there is a problem with the extractor. As I fit the case base back on the bolt face, I immediately see why the extractor is not working, my gun still has its magnum bolt head fitted, the owner operator, ME had failed to swap it to the standard bolt head that is required for use with the .308 barrel.

Hopefully this little issue will be the bit I’m laughing about as I ensure that I have the right parts for my Blaser as I’m hunting in the far off corners of the world over the next 10 years, maybe I need to print up a laminated reminder and tape it to my gun stock.

The flexibility of the R8 is a great feature but can be prone to operator error on occasions. I hope to pay more attention in the future! I sure got lucky that this was not an important trip.

If I travel with my R8 and two barrels to Africa, it is one reason I opt for the .375 and .300.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Did you change to a standard bolt head?

I didn't have one with me, I still managed to zero my scope with the help of my metal rod to clear fired cases. Hopefully it will be a lesson for the future and I will never make the same mistake again if configuring the R8 for a travel hunt.

I'm sure I'm not the first or the last to do this, sharing my story to show we are all at risk of being stupid or forgetful. When you have a fixed or dedicated rifle you never have this issue.

 

[Inline6]

I'm with @Red Leg believe the kiss method works best.

 

[UpNorthMI]

He said he hadn't.


If I travel with my R8 and two barrels to Africa, it is one reason I opt for the .375 and .300.

Yep that will be me too with 2 magnum barrels, I've had the magnum bolt head in since November last year as I've only been shooting magnum calibers for Africa practice, a quick switch to .308 and just not remembering the bolt head change is a good lesson in what can go wrong! Luckily it was funny this time and I will never forget again.

 

[AimSmall]

Yeah, reading at the red light...

The 6.5 PRC works with the magnum bolt head, too!

 

[R eight]

I’ve seen people take the wrong bolt for a rifle several times over the years and they didn’t have a Blaser.

You just need to get a procedure in place and stick to it. Before heading off on a hunt with my R8 I always check that I do have the correct barrel, bolt and magazine insert….. ammunition, scope and red dot.

It’s not rocket science.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I’ve seen people take the wrong bolt for a rifle several times over the years and they didn’t have a Blaser.

You just need to get a procedure in place and stick to it. Before heading off on a hunt with my R8 I always check that I do have the correct barrel, bolt and magazine insert….. ammunition, scope and red dot.

It’s not rocket science.

I agree it is not rocket science, I was busy packing a range bag, sorting ammo and grabbing a couple of other rifles over the weekend. For my Blaser R8 hunts I will get a procedure / mental check list in place for sure.

 

[Datchew]

I put diesel in my motorcycle once in my early 20's when I wasn't paying attention.

Stuff happens.
Like said above... Just get a failsafe procedure into place.
Enjoy the blaser. They're really great.

At least you didn't suck diesel into your mouth to siphon it out at freezing temps around midnight in Eastern SoCal mountains trying to get to Tucson because at the time you were too stupid to remember to pull the line off the petcock.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I put diesel in my motorcycle once in my early 20's when I wasn't paying attention.

Stuff happens.
Like said above... Just get a failsafe procedure into place.
Enjoy the blaser. They're really great.

At least you didn't suck diesel into your mouth to siphon it out at freezing temps around midnight in Eastern SoCal mountains trying to get to Tucson because at the time you were too stupid to remember to pull the line off the petcock.

We all have those live and learn stories. Getting things wrong helps us learn to get things right!

 

[Bert the Turtle]

He said he hadn't.


If I travel with my R8 and two barrels to Africa, it is one reason I opt for the .375 and .300.

What do you use the 300 for? I ask because I was perfectly happy to hunt plains game with my 30-06 until I shot some with my 404 then my 375. Since then, I haven’t had any desire to use anything smaller than my 375.

I ask because you have proven to be very thoughtful so if anyone will have a good reason it will be you.

Seems very popular to bring a heavier and lighter cartridge but for the life of me I can’t see any reason for the lighter one. Perhaps because I rarely if ever shoot over 150 yards at game and am relatively recoil-insensitive, I just don’t have a reason.

 

[Tra3]

Mistakes happen. Procedures simplify mistakes. Possibly labeling the rifle case so things go back in the right place will help. The check, double check process helps.
I arrived at the first evening of an elk/deer hunt to find that I brought the .300wm scope and the 7mm mag barrel. I have iron sights, so I just didn’t mount the scope and hunted with irons. (it wouldn’t be exact… close, but not good enough to trust). Thankfully I didn’t see a great animal at 300 yards!

I’d like to see more color coordination on the Blaser bolt face and magazines. That would make it much quicker. But realistically, a 5 second double check is sufficient.

A few years ago we left the ATV for a long climb in the dark. My buddy remarked, after 25-30 minutes of climbing, that he was feeling great, more energy, lighter. Then he noticed that he was, in fact, about 9 lbs lighter because he had left his rifle leaning against the ATV. Since I run marathons for fun, it took all of 4 seconds to realize I was going back down to get his rifle.
Note: the payback for my extra hiking was homemade French fries that night: Worth every extra step!

 

[UpNorthMI]

What do you use the 300 for? I ask because I was perfectly happy to hunt plains game with my 30-06 until I shot some with my 404 then my 375. Since then, I haven’t had any desire to use anything smaller than my 375.

I ask because you have proven to be very thoughtful so if anyone will have a good reason it will be you.

Seems very popular to bring a heavier and lighter cartridge but for the life of me I can’t see any reason for the lighter one. Perhaps because I rarely if ever shoot over 150 yards at game and am relatively recoil-insensitive, I just don’t have a reason.

Not sure I have a good reason but my thoughts are 375 for the buffalo and then swap to the 300 WM, I like the extra reach out ability even if not required. I’ve been practicing with the .375 back to 300 yards and will be happy to shoot anything that presents a suitable shot if the Buffalo are not keeping us focused. With 2 of us traveling and both having 375 and .300 rifles and ammo, we should be covered if someone’s ammo did not show or had some sort of gun issue. Shooting fast 180gn loads in the 300 WM, have a lot of confidence shooting that at distances I’ll never probably shoot at in Africa, if it was a plains game only trip I’d probably just pack the 300 WM.

I also want to see how the Swift A frames are as good as everyone raves, the 300 WM is using 180gn .30 cal A frames.

 

[John the Electrician]

I had planned on bringing my R8 with a .375 HH and 30-06 to Africa. I have a .300 win mag barrel.

BeeMaa has been helpful and insightful with my Blaser journey. He has politely and tactfully pointed out the value of NOT having a magnum and standard bolt head when in Africa. The situation you have described helps me appreciate why one mag bolt head and two magnum cartridges makes a simple mistake impossible to commit.

In all seriousness, thank you for sharing this experience. I have decided my two barrel set will only be magnum barrels.

Thanks, John

 

[One Day...]

I am not sure what the problem is, or more specifically I am not sure that there is a R8 problem here...

To be specific, let us resume the situation: standard cases were fired from a magnum bolt. Consequence, the standard cases were not extracted.

From a technical perspective, does this damage the gun? Answer: no. The locking of the bolt in the barrel is independent from the internal diameter of the bolt head.

From an analytical / philosophical perspective, this is strictly operator error. Answer: do not make the error. There is not much more to be said...

To me, discussing bringing the wrong bolt head is like discussing bringing the wrong ammo... The same could be said about using the wrong magazine insert..., or forgetting to bring the Blaser T wrench to bolt the barrels to the stock..., or forgetting to bring binoculars..., or forgetting to bring a spare battery for the laser rangefinder... etc. etc. This is what written checklists are made for.

I do not mean to be disrespectful, but there is a point where there is not much to discuss in a situation. As everyone essentially said so far, live and learn, but this has fundamentally nothing to do with the R8.



PS: I will add nonetheless that selecting chamberings for my own R8 African battery that require as few different parts as possible was part of my thinking: .257 Wby, .300 Wby, .375 H&H, .458 Lott all use the same bolt head, and the rifle is somewhat usable (but not perfect) with cross-walking the magazine inserts. But yes, I am very, very, very peculiar when I pack, physically crossing line after line on a printed checklist, down to the smallest details, as I pack. Everything, I mean everything, that goes in the gun case or suitcase is listed on the checklist. It does make it over a hundred lines long, but so what...

PS2: if it can make you feel better, my own most memorable one, a long time ago, was shooting 7 mm Rem Mag ammo in a .300 Win Mag rifle.................................................... No damage done, but I just could not understand why I kept missing, until I accidentally saw an empty shell with almost zero neck. At that moment the bulb finally turned on.................................

 

[BeeMaa]

There is a reason I only have MA bolt head cartridges, this is one of them.

@UpNorthMI - Please be careful in the future.

 

[375Ruger416]

Yeah, reading at the red light...

The 6.5 PRC works with the magnum bolt head, too!

Yep, I went with the 375 H&H and the 6.5 PRC for my 2 barrel African Arsenal.