Blaser R8 for Dangerous Game

[dchamp]

There are a whole lot of people, many of them PH's, who have downed a whole lot of elephant with the .375H&H and 300gr bullets. There are also a whole lot who have down the same with .416's and 400gr bullets. I think you have both, start practicing with both you'll sort it out. I understand there is a Plains Game and Dangerous shooting course in Texas put on be FTW.

 

[Adrian]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the threads on the Blaser R8. I own a Sauer 404 with barrels 300 Win Mag and 404 Jeffrey. Both guns are manufactured by the same Company and very similar to each other.
Now is my question...Please give your most honest opinion both Pro & Con on both guns and barrels from the Sauer and Blaser Group.

You could also add Mauser to those two as well because they all come from the same factory.
I have two Mausers so you can tell where my preference lies.
Blaser just don't do anything for me. Nothing against them at all, fine rifles, just not for me in terms of looks and I prefer the old school turn bolt.
Sauer are very pretty rifles, especially with a decent piece of wood but they are very thin for my taste, the fore end is too skinny. All of my shooting friends seem to have one which also puts me off, I like to be different. Do they work? Yes of course.
Mauser, I have two because they feel right to me and I appreciate their aesthetics more than the others. I prefer the fit and feel and the safety catches.
In terms of barrels, they all work. No matter which of the three makers you talk about, the barrels will all fit into their respective actions and will do what you want them to.
It's all down to personal preference. some prefer Blaser, some Sauer, some Mauser.
All from under the same roof, all are high quality firearms, all will do exactly as you want.

 

[Inline6]

That is exciting! In that amount of time you’ll have ample time to practice with both. Then when you wake up in the morning you can select the barrel that you feel most comfortable with.

The real question will be, does he still possess the same rifle in 16 months. Lol

 

[Lobo]

With the bolt closed on an R8 tap the bolt knob from the barrel end. It can dislodge enuogh not to go off in a DG situation. So if you are stalking in thick brush or you fall and your bolt is tapped i.e it hits something like a branch, that could render the rifle unusable in a hairy situation. An R8 is not a dg rifle. Excellent for everything else. Dont believe me... try it with your blaser and an empty chamber.

 

[BeeMaa]

With the bolt closed on an R8 tap the bolt knob from the barrel end. It can dislodge enuogh not to go off in a DG situation. So if you are stalking in thick brush or you fall and your bolt is tapped i.e it hits something like a branch, that could render the rifle unusable in a hairy situation. An R8 is not a dg rifle. Excellent for everything else. Dont believe me... try it with your blaser and an empty chamber.

That's funny because @Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS uses a Blaser R8 as a PH backing up clients on DG on a regular basis. In fact, I believe he's even posted on this thread that he uses an R8 in 416RM almost exclusively for this purpose. You better tell him that his life is in imminent danger and that he shouldn't go in the bush for fear of his bolt being pushed back.

Oh wait, that's right, the bolt can't be pushed back with the cocking device de-cocked. Whew...that was close. Tragedy narrowly averted. Had me worried there for a second.

The bolt (on any rifle) can only be moved if the safety (or in the case of the R8 a cocking device) is in the fire position. If the safety is on, the bolt is locked. So this scenario you have presented is true of any rifle, not just the R8. If the safety is off, the bolt can be moved taking the rifle out of battery and preventing a shot.

So how is this specific to the Blaser R8?

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I have read stories of people being injured by game after their Winchester model 70 didn’t fire. It was later found out that they had the safety in the position that does not lock the bolt, and the bolt handle lifted slightly.
If you use it as it was designed to be used, no trouble.
Apparently, as @BeeMaa pointed out. The Blaser is the same.

 

[Opposite Pole]

So bolt action rifles don’t fire with their bolt open or safety on? Who would have thought!

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I should be more clear. He was carrying the rifle with the safety in the middle position. (Still on safe, but the bolt is not locked) When the Buffalo charged, he pushed the safety to fire and pulled the trigger, the rifle did fire because the bolt handle was up.
All I remember from the article was that it was a Winchester model 70 458 win mag.
I tried my New Haven. CRF model 70 and the safety would not go to “fire” with the bolt handle up. However my pre 64 model 70 would.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

With the bolt closed on an R8 tap the bolt knob from the barrel end. It can dislodge enuogh not to go off in a DG situation. So if you are stalking in thick brush or you fall and your bolt is tapped i.e it hits something like a branch, that could render the rifle unusable in a hairy situation. An R8 is not a dg rifle. Excellent for everything else. Dont believe me... try it with your blaser and an empty chamber.

any rifle this could happen too
on any normal bolt action rifle if you knock the bolt ( with your hand or a branch as you say slightly upward it wont fire, thus rendering it "unusable" as you said
so all rifles are designed with same set of safety parameters which all must be fully in place for the rifle to fire
this does not make any rifle any less "usable" then another for any situation, be it dangerous game or not.

so with the bolt closed, tap it in an upward position from the trigger direction. it will dislodge enough not to go off. so if you are stalking in thick brush or you fall and your bolt is tapped ie it hits something like a branch that could render the rifle unusable in a hairy situation. a winchester/sauer/sako/cz/voere/etcetc is not a dg rifle. blah blah blah you get my point

regards

 

[Tanks]

any rifle this could happen too
...

so with the bolt closed, tap it in an upward position from the trigger direction. it will dislodge enough not to go off. so if you are stalking in thick brush or you fall and your bolt is tapped ie it hits something like a branch that could render the rifle unusable in a hairy situation. a winchester/sauer/sako/cz/voere/etcetc is not a dg rifle. blah blah blah you get my point

Not to mention, if one is stalking through the bush etc. I'd assume the safety would be on and therefore the bolt is locked in place.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

too true

and on a blaser, your thumb would be on the cocking mechanism ready to push it forward

 

[HWL]

The most dangerous situation for the R8 haters is, when they touch a R8 first time.

Most of them are turned around for the rest of their life....

Those who know this, avoid contact and rather cultivate their prejudice.




HWL

 

[Tanks]

I can see an R8 as a decent PG rifle. For me, I have better options for DG.

Edit: One thing that would be really neat for Blaser is if they had a shotgun barrel for the R8. Done with your hunt, change to your 20 gauge barrel and shoot some birds while in Africa. They could put a high rib on the shotgun barrel to compensate for the comb height.

 

[John458Lott]

I had it done by a company in Sydney. Can’t remember their name unfortunately, it’s been a few years.

Was it Samuelson cases in Artarmon. They did a great job for me too but I cant find them anymore.

 

[Probono]

The R8 is a little over half a pound heavier and quite a bit "meatier", but i think it is the price you pay for the much stronger design - and it is still only a 7lb rifle, so hardly a heavyweight. I think the R8 is the rifle the R93 should have been, and the extra weight is what it takes to build the Blaser mechanism properly, especially if you shoot magnum cartridges. Because of the recieverless design, it remains very short and keeps the very fast handling characteristics that are the greatest attribute of the R93.

I would hold onto a lightweight mountain rifle though to accompany the Blaser. Most of the time a 7-7.5lb rifle is about right for most hunting, but sometimes it is nice to have something down around the 6lb mark.

 

[Opposite Pole]

I would hold onto a lightweight mountain rifle though to accompany the Blaser. Most of the time a 7-7.5lb rifle is about right for most hunting, but sometimes it is nice to have something down around the 6lb mark.

Exactly why I got and ordered a K95.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Was it Samuelson cases in Artarmon. They did a great job for me too but I cant find them anymore.

I think it was, it was definitely in the Artarmon area.

 

[BeeMaa]

The R8 is a little over half a pound heavier and quite a bit "meatier", but i think it is the price you pay for the much stronger design - and it is still only a 7lb rifle, so hardly a heavyweight. I think the R8 is the rifle the R93 should have been, and the extra weight is what it takes to build the Blaser mechanism properly, especially if you shoot magnum cartridges. Because of the recieverless design, it remains very short and keeps the very fast handling characteristics that are the greatest attribute of the R93.

I would hold onto a lightweight mountain rifle though to accompany the Blaser. Most of the time a 7-7.5lb rifle is about right for most hunting, but sometimes it is nice to have something down around the 6lb mark.

Everything has been an evolution, and Blaser has been pushing the envelope for quite a while. The predecessor to the R93 was the R84 and had the same barrel interchangeability and cocking system as the R93 and R8. Although it was a 60 degree turn bolt instead of the straight pull we have now.

In the US the R84 was called the "Blaser Ultimate" until 1986 and changing the name to the R84. It was modified to have a conventional bolt cocking system and traditional safety to appeal the US market. The R93 raised the bar for the US with the introduction of the first straight pull and the cocking system that we know today on the R93 and R8.

The Blaser rifles have come a long way from being designed from the original Mauser, but they never stopped innovating and trying something new. I wouldn't be surprised if something new comes out to improve on the R8.

 

[Ed Lally]

Four years ago I took an R8 to Africa in .300 Wby and ,22-250 for PG. My PH handled the rifle and cocked-decocked the action before declaring "I would never hunt with this gun.". And then declared that he did not feel comfortable if I kept a round in the chamber.
Three years ago, same PH, PG hunt, same attitude.
Two years ago - ditto.
This year, a DG hunt and I convinced the same PG to shoot my new Safari R8 in .458 Lott. Two very quick shots, both in the black with iron sights and he commented that the recoil was surprisingly light and then asked to carry my R8 to back up my Krieghoff. He later tried to get me to swap the R8 for a long list of PG or another Buffalo.
Proves the point - actual hand's on use changes ones opinion rather quickly.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

On my last African Safari , my white hunter told me that Blaser R8 was getting increasingly popular amongst clients for African mixed bag Safaris ( where dangerous game is part of the package ) . They are most popular in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and .458 Lott .

A Swedish friend of mine recently used one in .375 to take his Namibian Cape buffalo . That rifle gives a new definition to the word “ accuracy “ .