Blaser R8 Magnum Barrel Interchangeability

[HuntFishGunCar]

I plan to buy a Blaser R8 with a spare barrel in .300 Win Mag and eventually something lighter such as 6.5 Swede. Do I have to buy a African or "Safari"-type steel receiver gun and then the smaller bolt, or can I buy a standard aluminum receiver gun and buy the .375 barrel and magnum bolt?

I've tried researching this, but this doesn't seem clear to me. My plan is to buy one receiver and two or three barrels. I would prefer a steel receiver and to start with the .300 and .375. Are those the same "magnum" bolts as well?

Thanks.

 

[Opposite Pole]

All R8 receivers accept all barrels, however barrel profile needs to match the fore-stock. Thicker barrel won’t fit into a narrower barrel channel. There are three barrel profiles, 17mm, 19mm and 22mm. Up to 375 barrels are available in all three profiles. Starting with 416 they are only available in 22mm. In my opinion you do not need to go above 17mm with the 375, it doesn’t need the extra weight. Blaser doesn’t recommend alloy receivers for 416 and above due to low weight and high recoil. Also, you do not need to buy another bolt assembly, you only need the bolt head and 300Win Mag and 375 will share the magnum bolt head.

Below is the calibre and calibre group overview.

https://www.blaser.de/fileadmin/media/Services/Infomaterial/Kaliberuebersichten/BLA_Caliber_Overview_EN_R8.pdf

 

[Challer]

But you can use an alloy receiver with any caliber…

 

[nomspc]

My opinion is that the standard (17mm) barrel profile/alloy receiver combo works well for .375 and below. I have both 300WM and .375 H&H barrels, which share the magnum bolt head, but require caliber-specific magazine inserts. My sense is that the steel receiver guns come with the safari (22mm) barrel channel to both balance the heavy barrel as well as help mitigate felt recoil.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

The 17mm barrel and allow receiver are enough weight for a 375. Perfect, I’d say. Now if I could just find a scope that weighs nothing…..

At least I’ve got the barrel with iron sights. Eyes aren’t good enough to hunt with it that way but I can have fun at home.

 

[HuntFishGunCar]

Great replies!

I look forward to making the committment to a .375 H&H and magnum long-range combo. Thanks for the compatibility chart, steel/alloy receiver and barrel channel explanations. Changed my thoughts a little.

I'll probably consider 7mm Rem Mag between .300 WM since it really fills the lower rung requirements out better than .300 WM and still has the range requirement that .375 may not always cover. That's a perfect combo in my head. Regardless, I will have a .375 H&H. Maybe see if the wife likes the handling of the R8 and see if she would prefer a barrel combo like the 9.3x62 and a .308 or something to that effect.

Thanks all.