Krieghoff Hubertus .30 R Blaser

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

I have been interested in acquiring a Kipplauf, German single shot stalking rifle for some time. I have considered the Merkel K3, Blaser K95, and the Krieghoff Hubertus. Looking for a rifle chambered in a common and versatile medium power rimmed cartridge like the 7x65R or perhaps 7x57R. It would be used for hunting my local game in Canada, and perhaps some international hunting as well. I have found a good used Krieghoff chambered in .30R Blaser at what looks like a good price. The cartridge is only loaded by RWS as far as I know, and I could only find one Canadian store that sells the ammuntion. They only had one box. I assume I can order ammunition, but don't know much about the rifle or the cartridge. Even reloading dies seem scarce. What do you say? Risky or good choice? Compared to a K95 in 7x65R?

I have a Hubertus in caliber 7x57R beatufull rifle with extreme precicion, the 7x57R are suitable for game as red deer, caribuou, maybe also blackbear.

I also have a Merkel Doublerifledrilling in caliber 30R Blaser, this is a powerfull cartridge suitable for big game such as bear, Moose.
Its laying between 3006 and 300 win mag. Norma and RWS are making cartridges, Hornady are making dieset in this caliber.
In the light Hubertus I think the recoil will be heavy.
The caliber 7x65R are a very good cartridge, I also have this in a Krieghoff combinationgun/doublerifle, you can hunt everything with this.

 

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Perhaps I'm talking myself into this, but I'm curious enough about the Krieghoff Hubertus rifle to drive 3 hours to the store that has it for sale and inspect it in my hands. And I have confirmed that RWS EVO 11,9G factory ammunition is easily available, at a "reasonable" price. I like the idea that my limited research so far reveals that the .30 R Blaser compares well with more common traditional cartridges (firing bullets faster than the 30-06, slower than most .300 magnums) and performs in the field a lot like the .300 H&H. I don't "like" recoil, but am not afraid of rifles that hit a little harder at both ends.
I am leaning towards buying the rifle, using factory RWS .30 R BLASER EVO 11,9G / 184GR loads for big animals like moose and elk and bears and African game. Reloading dies are readily available, and I could easily use reduced handloads with lighter bullets for practise, and for shooting our local deer and smaller game.
I wish I had a Blaser K95 to compare it with, but alas, I live a place where that is simply not possible. The closest store that has ever had Blaser K95's in stock is in Calgary, seven hours drive away. They have none right now. I'd have to special order a Blaser and live with my decision made at a distance. I like the Blaser locking system. Strong and well proven. I like the Krieghoff system because it is traditional and gives better access to the cartridge for loading and unloading with gloves on. That's an important consideration where I live, I seldom hunt when I can do so without gloves. Any words of caution or more advice?

RWS EVO is a very good cartridge, also the Doppelkern from RWS is the same, The doppelkern are very much like Partition,

 

[Longwalker]

CH4D lists .30 R Blaser dies, which they may, or may not have in stock. If they do, you're in business, their dies are quite well made and reasonably priced. If they don't, you may have a long wait for them to be produced.

Thanks for the advice xausa. I placed a special order at my local gun shop for a set of RCBS dies way back in November. It's June now, and still no dies. I have more than 200 factory loaded cartridges on hand, so ammunition supply is not a problem, but it would be nice to be able to shoot lower powered (.308 equivalent ) ammunition for practise and for hunting smaller game. I find the recoil of factory RWS loads manageable, but not pleasant in my steel framed Krieghoff. So I'm a little impatient and wishing I could handload soon.

 

[K95]

Before you commit to a uncommon cartridge like the 30 R Blaser make sure you buy 300 cases. Dies are easy to source cases aren’t. I carn’t understand why everyone is talking about rimmed cartridges. I have hunted with a K95 for over 20 years all around the world, it’s the ultimate rifle for the purist. Very compact in its case for travel, light weight and extremely accurate. I have a barrel in 300 Weatherby and a 338 Rum. The factory Blaser recoil reducer was fitted up the stock along with a small limb saver pad. The 300 is very manageable then, the 338 Rum has a 2” KDF break screwed on the end. With this recoil is the same as a 270 win. Because there is no action length the 300 with a 650mm /26” barrel is the same rifle length as a standard 22” rifle and the break on the 338 Rum is like a normal 24” rifle. One other difference with my K 95 is that i had a custom stock made to fit me perfectly in a grade 10 walnut. I am left handed and having a stock that fits also helps with recoil. My advice is to buy the caliber you really want and make no compromises. You will never regret it. It has 6 barrels with railed Swarvoski’s. I also have a R8 but the K95 is the perfect rifle.
Ken

 

[Muskox]

To my mind the Hubertus is a heavier, less accurate rifle than the Blaser.

The Merkel is a clunkier version of a Blaser.

The Hubertus is the right weight for a 30 Blaser for sure.

 

[Longwalker]

The special order dies arrived after a wait of 8 months, and I have loaded some nice moderate 150 gr. loads with H4895 powder. Accuracy is acceptable, recoil mild. It will be a good option when full power factory loads are not needed. I'm going to like hunting with this rifle.

 

[Longwalker]

I think load development is done! 5 shots at 100 yards.

 

[Longwalker]

I took the rifle for its first hunt, a local bull moose. Everything went as I'd hoped, and this very big, but young bull was efficiently killed when I placed an RWS EVO bullet through the lungs. It was a good first result with this rifle!

 

[VertigoBE]

I took the rifle for its first hunt, a local bull moose. Everything went as I'd hoped, and this very big, but young bull was efficiently killed when I placed an RWS EVO bullet through the lungs. It was a good first result with this rifle!

View attachment 432371

Congratulations @Longwalker ! Plenty of meat for the winter

 

[Foxi]

I took the rifle for its first hunt, a local bull moose. Everything went as I'd hoped, and this very big, but young bull was efficiently killed when I placed an RWS EVO bullet through the lungs. It was a good first result with this rifle!

View attachment 432371

Great.It is simply a perfectly formed, elegant weapon, your K 95.
Putting 300 cases in reserve is pretty well meant,but when I think how far I can get with just 40 cases.
When you find a bargain of this kind, you have to take it, no matter what calibre.Solutions will be found later.
A single-shot weapon always distinguishes prudent shooters.
Waidmannsheil
Foxi

p.s.
3.434 joule your load
Vo 2140fps/150gn
show us the bullet please

 

[Longwalker]

Waidmannsdank Foxi! The load I used for the moose was the RWS EVO factory load 11.9G / 184gr. Range was 110 meters. The bullet fully penetrated centre of the chest, through both lungs and exited through the off side shoulder. The moose walked perhaps 5 Meters and dropped.

The load used to shoot the target shown above was actually at velocity 2740 FPS not 2140. I think my handwriting was misread because I write the number "7" in the style that we use here in Canada. I believe the number "1" hand written in the German style looks similar to our "7".

The bullet for that target load was Hornady 30 Cal .308 150 gr InterLock® SP Item #3031

 

[Novice Huntress]

Hi longwalker,
Mighty impressed with that bull moose! I would think the freezer will be topped up now.
Really good to read and see the RWS EVO worked well, walked 5 metres then over can't complain at all, please post another photo of the rifle, I expect it was fun loading the ATV.
Rgds

 

[Longwalker]

I don't have another photo of the rifle to share, even though I am quite proud of it at this moment! I was only one km from camp, but loading the ATV required four hours of hard work in the dark, moving many large beaver-cut logs to make a path for the machine and negotiating several "ditches" that beavers dig across the meadows. We removed the head and split the moose into front and back halves after field dressing to make it more manageable. Three relatively strong men could barely drag the 1/2 carcass the 50 Meters to the ATV. Then the three of us had to coax the loaded machine and trailer through the remaining rough stuff. The ATV never flipped, but came close a couple times. The trailer unhitched itself four or five times, dumping the load in the process. They say that when hunting moose "the fun's all over when you squeeze the trigger". I actually don't mind the work, and am glad I can still do this stuff at the age of 63. And I certainly enjoy eating moose! It rivals eland for eating quality. The front half is all deboned and ready for sausage making and the rear half is hanging a couple more days before we cut the steaks and roasts. My wife and I had tenderloin filet for supper tonight. That makes all the planning and work worthwhile!

 

[Longwalker]

Ok here's another photo, from this morning. Opening day of Whitetail deer season here, perfect stalking/tracking conditions -1°C, no wind and fresh snow, with the rut fully on. I passed up this medium size young buck at first, with the season only one hour old and only one tag, but then he stood broadside about 200 M away and I took a risky ( for me ) but well aimed offhand shot. The tenderloins were a delicious main course for supper. I'm beginning to like this rifle more and more!

 

[dc30R]

Every once in a while I get to searching for threads on the 30R, this one is still new enough to answer. Glad you got out with the Hubertus. Been playing with the 30R for a few yrs now off and on, there is enough info out there now on it to work with. Had mine since 2013, at that time, some kind soul sent a link to a 2005 Deva manual download, which is defunct now, but, I still have a PDF of the whole book, no idea how to knock it down to the exact pages to transmit or post it though. I'd love to see the last version of the Deva manual. No idea which manual is posted above, but saved a copy of the photo anyway, thanks for that!!

MIne is a Kreighoff Classic SxS, has the Big 5 stock put on it, using a Leupold Deltapoint 2.5 on it at present. It has a Recknagle swingoff on it, and a peep that mounts to the back insert as well as a Z6 1-6. Has taken me a while to figure out what the regulating load actually was, they didn't say what it was, supposed to be 180gr, they did it for 165gr, got sent back for fixing, they did it, but, used the 184gr, and I didn't find out about those til a few yrs ago. Ordered RCBS dies when I ordered the gun, and 8 boxes of brass and a couple of boxes of 180gr DK's. Since then I've acquired another 8-10 boxes of brass, some via some 165gr loads, some bare brass. And in my slow roundtoit fashion, sorted things out and have that gun working to 300 yds now with the reflex sight on it. Tried TUGS, H-Mantels and some Hornady and Sierra 180 RN's, 180 NP's. Had a load where the NP's were working, but crossing, didn't want to slow it down. Got to wondering if heavier bullet would work, tried a box of the 184gr, voila, checked at 200, just crossing, checked at 300, very useable composite group. It's dropped a few whitetails now, certainly works as intended. And I have an order in for 500 184gr Evo's for it, bullets are available, price is horrendous, but, that's life with a SxS.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Every once in a while I get to searching for threads on the 30R, this one is still new enough to answer. Glad you got out with the Hubertus. Been playing with the 30R for a few yrs now off and on, there is enough info out there now on it to work with. Had mine since 2013, at that time, some kind soul sent a link to a 2005 Deva manual download, which is defunct now, but, I still have a PDF of the whole book, no idea how to knock it down to the exact pages to transmit or post it though. I'd love to see the last version of the Deva manual. No idea which manual is posted above, but saved a copy of the photo anyway, thanks for that!!

MIne is a Kreighoff Classic SxS, has the Big 5 stock put on it, using a Leupold Deltapoint 2.5 on it at present. It has a Recknagle swingoff on it, and a peep that mounts to the back insert as well as a Z6 1-6. Has taken me a while to figure out what the regulating load actually was, they didn't say what it was, supposed to be 180gr, they did it for 165gr, got sent back for fixing, they did it, but, used the 184gr, and I didn't find out about those til a few yrs ago. Ordered RCBS dies when I ordered the gun, and 8 boxes of brass and a couple of boxes of 180gr DK's. Since then I've acquired another 8-10 boxes of brass, some via some 165gr loads, some bare brass. And in my slow roundtoit fashion, sorted things out and have that gun working to 300 yds now with the reflex sight on it. Tried TUGS, H-Mantels and some Hornady and Sierra 180 RN's, 180 NP's. Had a load where the NP's were working, but crossing, didn't want to slow it down. Got to wondering if heavier bullet would work, tried a box of the 184gr, voila, checked at 200, just crossing, checked at 300, very useable composite group. It's dropped a few whitetails now, certainly works as intended. And I have an order in for 500 184gr Evo's for it, bullets are available, price is horrendous, but, that's life with a SxS.

View attachment 441631

Are your barrels not user adjustable for regulation? My K-guns 9.3x74R are and I was under the impression all of the smaller calibres were the same.

 

[dc30R]

Are your barrels not user adjustable for regulation? My K-guns 9.3x74R are and I was under the impression all of the smaller calibres were the same.

They are, but I wasn't touching that until I had something consistent to adjust back to & from. I was getting some consistency out of minimum loads with the 180's, I think the length of the 184 bullet is likely what made the difference., it just closed up the groups from 4-5" @ 100 to 2", whereas the other stuff was a bit hit amd miss even on those 4-5" groups. Some of that was me learning about shooting it. It was good enough to kill stuff with on the RWS 180gr loads, kinda slow though. Haven't chrono'd the 184's yet. But, now that I have a baseline, I'll be able to play with the regulation if I want to. Seeing as I can get the 184's as a component, I'll get some and load them up.
Don't believe there is all that much adjustment on them,ie; for changing bullet weights. Doubt there is enough to make up the difference in length between a 184 Evo and the 180-181gr lead cores. But, now that I have a baseline to return to, I can play with that some, when I get a chance to.

 

[Longwalker]

"Seeing as I can get the 184's as a component, I'll get some and load them up."
Would you be willing to share your source of RWS bullets? I see you are in Alberta, we're practically neighbours.

 

[dc30R]

Calgary Shooting Ctr, they don't stock them, they are coming from RWS via whoever they deal with in Switzerland, and they are not cheap. They were keeping brass there, not sure if they still do, and they have ammo in stk. They sold a few 30R's over the last 8-9 yrs that I know of, couple ea of Chapuis and Zoli o/u's, one Krieghoff drilling, may be some others I didn't see.. Their gunsmith is sort of influential / responsible for getting that stuff into stock.

 

[Longwalker]

OK thanks! i've had some work done there by their German gunsmith, they are a good outfit and I'll contact them about the RWS components.