Blaser 500 Jeffery

[Aussie_Hunter]

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

Posted a couple of pics with my Kimber Caprivi in 458 Lott for comparison. Huge difference in barrel profile, Kimber on the left and Blaser on the right. Also the difference in overall length, the Kimber has a 24" barrel, the Blaser has a 23.5" barrel but is considerably shorter as the trigger is directly under the magazine, I would say it makes it close to 2 inches shorter. Overall weight with the Blaser red dot mounted is 10.44lbs. It has quite a fine front bead sight which I like, I may even take the red dot off at some point and do some hunting with just open sights, mag capacity is 2+1.

 

[colorado]

My first thought on this thread was "Supermodel in a Gremlin", but after reading it and seeing you images, I'm pretty impressed. I have no intention of parting with my CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery, but have changed my mind about Blasers.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

My first thought on this thread was "Supermodel in a Gremlin", but after reading it and seeing you images, I'm pretty impressed. I have no intention of parting with my CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery, but have changed my mind about Blasers.

You might have to explain "supermodel in a gremlin" to me haha I haven't heard that one before. Yeah look so far it has exceeded my expectations, especially the stock, for a synthetic stock it seems very sturdy, I also get a very good cheek weld even with the red dot mounted, the only thing I would say so far I don't like is how "plasticy" the magazine is, it still sees very sturdy and well made but I will be very surprised if it doesn't end up with excessive wear over time. Also something I am surprised with is how well balanced it is even with that massive barrel profile it is not heavy in the front, the recoil reducer in the stock balances the rifle almost perfectly. Anyway the proof is in the pudding as they say, we will soon see how well it shoots and functions.

 

[BeeMaa]

We also found the balance of the rifle to be very good with the kickstop installed.
The PH and Intuition we have both are excellent with the safari weight barrels.
Let us know how load development goes.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

We also found the balance of the rifle to be very good with the kickstop installed.
The PH and Intuition we have both are excellent with the safari weight barrels.
Let us know how load development goes.

What chamberings in the safari weight barrels do you have? And is yours a steel or alloy receiver? I think the PH is a steel receiver in all calibres?

 

[BeeMaa]

I have the the 375H&H, 416RM and 300WM (but the 300 is 19mm as stated in their paperwork).
The PH receiver on my rifle is steel, my wife's Intuition is aluminum.
We both have kickstops installed.

 

[Rolf_T]

A great gun and caliber! I also have the R8 with 500 Jeffery, and reload with Hornady FMJ with 500grains and Woodleigh softs with 535grains at 2150 ft/s. Major impact in both ends of the barrel

 

[dchamp]

@Aussie_Hunter What are your first impressions with the Blaser RD-17 Red Dot and please do a follow up in a few months to let us know your thoughts on the scope and rifle at that time.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

@Aussie_Hunter What are your first impressions with the Blaser RD-17 Red Dot and please do a follow up in a few months to let us know your thoughts on the scope and rifle at that time.

It's actually built like a tank, very solid, it weighs in at 240 grams. Mind you a lot of this weight is the integrated mounting system, which I am also pretty impressed with, quick and easy to use. The dot is clear, plenty of different levels of dot intensity to choose from for different hunting situations (night or day). I will follow up with some more details after I have zeroed the rifle and actually used it out hunting. I'll be hunting with it next weekend.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

The 500 on her maiden voyage. Another good grey brumby stallion.

 

[Tra3]

@Aussie_Hunter did you get to test the speed of the reload with the R8? How was the rifle?

Is it common to hunt stallion there? I’ve only ever had experience with domesticated horses in the US and zebra in Africa. Are they hard to hunt?

 

[Bert the Turtle]

Wow! Nice rifle! Wouldn’t have thought Blaser made the R8 in such a large caliber?

Only certain models. The professional hunter goes up to the big boys. The regular professional only goes to 375 HH. Wish I'd known that 3 years ago!

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

@Aussie_Hunter did you get to test the speed of the reload with the R8? How was the rifle?

Is it common to hunt stallion there? I’ve only ever had experience with domesticated horses in the US and zebra in Africa. Are they hard to hunt?

Yeah its really quick to reload, cycles very smoothly, I actually fired 3 shots while hunting yesterday, I also shot a small colt and put a finisher into the grey stallion. Its common for me, property I have access to has a lot of brumbies, these are proper wild horses where I am hunting there is a very good chance most of them have never even seen a human before so a sudden change in wind or one twig snapping under your bought and all you will see is dust and all you will hear is a rumbling of hooves.

 

[BeeMaa]

Only certain models. The professional hunter goes up to the big boys. The regular professional only goes to 375 HH. Wish I'd known that 3 years ago!

This is what I originally thought, however I was not completely correct.
Yes, some of the stocks are set up from the factory for the safari or semi-weight.
However, any of the model stocks can be made to fit a safari weight (22mm) barrel.
Some dealers will channel out a stock for you to fit whatever you like.
Others will have you order it from Germany in the configuration you would like.

How do I know this?
My wife has the R8 Intuition (women's model) and we had it channeled out to take the big boys.
Originally it was designed to fit only the standard weight barrels.
The dealer even showed signs of concern, saying the wood at the forend may be too thin.
We had it done in Germany, and it looks great.

She's planning on using the 375H&H barrel, but is also capable of using the 416RM.
Downside to this is if she wants to shoot a standard barrel, there will be a gap between the barrel and stock.
Some people don't like the look of the gap.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

Not sure if the polymer stock can be opened up but this is good to know. Many thanks!

A 500 Jeffery on the lighter-weight aluminum receiver of the standard model should be "lively".

I know the standard advice on recoil is to work your way up, but I have to say that after shooting the 404 or 375 a while, a 30-06 feels like a cap gun.

 

[Newby]

Not sure if the polymer stock can be opened up but this is good to know. Many thanks!

No problem to open the barrel channel on the synthetic stocks. Common modification.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

Nice Aussie Hunter. Give us a report on how it goes.

18 rounds fired yesterday, a combination of bench rest for zeroing the dot and shooting off hand out in the field hunting. First impressions, feeds, extracts, ejects flawlessly, very smooth and quick cycling obviously what Blaser is known for.

Loading the magazine is proving more difficult than a conventional floor plate magazine in a bolt rifle. Is' not awkward or fiddly to load it just takes a lot more power/pressure to push the rounds down into the magazine, having said this at least you know there is no way a round is going to pop out the top of the magazine while cycling the bolt. Trigger is excellent, seems to be extremely accurate, shooting at 50 yards with a 2 MOA dot I managed a 3 shot group that would have been around an inch and I was still adjusting elevation at the time, see pic below if I wasn't still bringing the elevation up it would have been a 3 shot group well under an inch.

It's great to carry in the field because of how compact it is, the only negative I see at the moment apart from pushing the rounds into the magazine is the recoil pad. It's the length and width of the recoil pad that is the problem, the type of material and thickness is good but because of how narrow and short the pad is, you have a much smaller surface area to distribute the recoil compared to an XL pachmyer decelerator pad. Obviously the pad is contoured to the shape of the stock and in smaller calibres even say 375H&H I don't think it would be an issue but in the 500 I can definitely feel it puts all that recoil in a very small area. I am pushing 535 grain Woodleighs with a 120 grain powder charge of Alliant RL17 at an average of 2370fps so not a super hot round for the 500 Jeffery but I wouldn't say it's a overly mild load either.

 

[BeeMaa]

Not sure if the polymer stock can be opened up but this is good to know. Many thanks!

A 500 Jeffery on the lighter-weight aluminum receiver of the standard model should be "lively".

I know the standard advice on recoil is to work your way up, but I have to say that after shooting the 404 or 375 a while, a 30-06 feels like a cap gun.

My rifle is the PH stock, with the steel receiver and kickstop.
Her has the aluminum receiver, but I did install the kickstop as well.
I can't remember, but I believe it's about 1# difference between them in weight.
Not sure I'd step up to the 500J with the aluminum, although Blaser says it's rated for it.
I'm just not sure my shoulder is.

We have a 300WM barrel and it feels like a .22lr after shooting the 416 or 375 for a while.

 

[colorado]

Exactly, I was at a friend house shooting at his private range and he was complaining about the recoil of his lightweight BAR in 338 WM. I had him take a couple of shots offhand with my 500 Jeffery. His take, that 338 WM hardly kicks at all lol