Blaser R8 - Why do African PH’s and Alaskan Bear Guides Choose Not To Use Blaser R8’s?

[Royal27]

You just can’t help yourself can you!

I really can't. The voices in my head just won't stop talking to me.

 

[K-man]

That's funny, mine is "don't mention the 'B'laser word.......

I heard around the campfire that a Blaser is so good that it would even kill buffalo with Hornady ammunition. one shot, every time.

It would appear that the B-word and the H-word both create a bit of controversy around here. I needed a good chuckle today...

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You just can’t help yourself can you!

@WAB
And don't forget @bruce moulds favorite projectiles the Nosler Partition.
Bob

 

[bruce moulds]

you nailed it bob, but favourite where it suits best, which is to make a big gun shoot little things better.
it is a varmint bullet that has a crumb left to keep going after blowup.
bruce.

 

[Newby]

you nailed it bob, but favourite where it suits best, which is to make a big gun shoot little things better.
it is a varmint bullet that has a crumb left to keep going after blowup.
bruce.

Rapid initial expansion doesn't make it a varmint bullet. Neither is that expansion blow up.

That "crumb" can pulverise the offside ball joint on a sambar spiker. 7mm 160g @ 2800mv. Definitely not a big gun on this forum.

Works for me.

 

[bruce moulds]

put a swift in it and live happily ever after.
one thing you will not get is the nose blowing off on a bone and deflecting the bullet 30 to 45 degrees inside the animal.
the nosler will be a better bullet on goats, than the swift, but not by much.
bruce.

 

[Nhoro]

I heard around the campfire that a Blaser is so good that it would even kill buffalo with Hornady ammunition. one shot, every time.

and in 458 win mag calibre. I even heard Chuck Norris had sold all his guns and now just uses a Blaser R8.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

and in 458 win mag calibre. I even heard Chuck Norris had sold all his guns and now just uses a Blaser R8.

@Nhoro
Chuck decided on that after he used the one Rambo had.
Bob

 

[Shootist43]

I've never seen an R8 much less owned one but I'd like to share something that I thought was funny. My oldest son (who has been looking at R8s for several years) recently went into a high end gun store in St. Louis which was by appointment only. The R8s were on public display but the "good" rifles were locked away in a vault. Being expensive, obviously then is a matter of perspective. Way too many respected AH members own and use them regularly for them to be unsuited for their intended purpose. My son keeps telling me that I could buy him an R8 with several sets of barrels and scopes for the cost of a good Double. There is probably some truth to that.

 

[C.W. Richter]

I love hunting rifles. I spend enough time at the gun club to have shot about every type of hunting rifle used today. My discussion is primarily directed at some of the newer hunters who are trying to get informed opinions and experiences. There are many DGR options available used and new. Remember the Colt Sauer , Omega, sexy guns but lacking in functionality. I have fired R93’s and R8’s. I don’t have to own a Blaser to like or dislike it. I find the design (straight pull back) awkward , the safety and magazine box of the R8’s a Albatross. Mainly I would be extremely concerned of the too tight of tolerance inside the action. I have witnessed problems with Blaser R8’s not feeding , safeties not being able to be engaged without extreme force, and another that turned out to be a firing pin problem. Three rifles with problems is not a sample, but I rarely see Blaser R8’s at the range. I believe Blaser has sold about 100,000 R8’s .
PH’s see it all. If a PH who has been hunting elephants , lion, buffalo and leopard for twenty + years tells me “glad you didn’t bring an R8 with you” they (actions) jam up when the wind blows the sand and grit around here! I will tend to take his experiences and advice over the person who has done a few trips and claims himself a self confessed internet expert.
PH’s are not using Blaser‘s for a DGR. The comments about the “PH does not use a Blaser but he has taken clients who use Blasers” is not really logical. That’s the PH’s job to take you hunting. The PH is not going to tell you , you can not use a certain brand of rifle as long as it is legal. The PH will not have a Blaser but probably a Jeffrey Magnum Mauser in 500 Jeffrey that he has 100% confidence in.
Anyone considering purchasing a new to them DGR would be well advised to talk to several PH’s and ask for their advice and experiences regarding DGR rifles rather than hearing it from the internet experts .
I also am not a fan of Remington Model 700’s or the .378 Weatherby cartridge. Everyone is entitled to their own . I don’t always drink the Kool-Aid.

That gun is ugly as sin. The gear shift knobs look better on my tractors than the one on that bolt handle.

 

[machinistbutler]

458 Lott 500 Grain Partition Varmint bullet. Should work for some good size varmints!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I've never seen an R8 much less owned one but I'd like to share something that I thought was funny. My oldest son (who has been looking at R8s for several years) recently went into a high end gun store in St. Louis which was by appointment only. The R8s were on public display but the "good" rifles were locked away in a vault. Being expensive, obviously then is a matter of perspective. Way too many respected AH members own and use them regularly for them to be unsuited for their intended purpose. My son keeps telling me that I could buy him an R8 with several sets of barrels and scopes for the cost of a good Double. There is probably some truth to that.

@Shootist43
Art when I was in London we went to the Holland and Holland shop to have a look. A Royal Double in the caliber of your choice will set you back £ 250,000 or 332,255 us dollars. A simple 270 Winchester rifle was a bargain at £ 39,000 or 68,000 U.S. dollars. Sort of makes a Blaser R8 look cheap.
Bob

 

[IvW]

and in 458 win mag calibre. I even heard Chuck Norris had sold all his guns and now just uses a Blaser R8.

Thank God it is not available in 458 WM in the R8........

 

[BeeMaa]

I would think a stainless synthetic R8 in 9.3x62 or .375 H&H would be a great guide rifle for brown bear. Perhaps a little pricey for most, but technically a great solution.

Not exactly a 9.3x62, but it's close.
Stainless semi-weight fluted barrel in 375H&H.
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/884299282

 

[bruce moulds]

458 Lott 500 Grain Partition Varmint bullet. Should work for some good size varmints!View attachment 379057

compare that to a swift, in terms of both frontal area and retained weight.
bruce.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Do I need another rifle? No. Do I need an R8? No. Do I want an R8? Hell yes. Being right-handed but left-eye dominant I have two choices, wear a patch over my left eye or shoot left-handed. Having tried both over the years I prefer to shoot left-handed. I grew up hunting with lever guns, 742's and pump shotguns all of which worked just fine in my left hand. As I got older, I transitioned to single-shot rifles, Ruger #1's and the T/C Encore and for the last 25 years, they have been my primary hunting rifles. In truth, I don't even own a turn bolt rifle, the only one in my gun safe is my wife's left-handed 7mm-08 (my wife is a natural leftie and the rifle was a gift from my father). I have only used a turn bolt in the field 4 times, I used my wife's rifle on a hog hunt here in the states and the three other times all occurred in Africa when I had to borrow a rifle to hunt because Delta airlines misplaced mine. So, when I started to look into DG hunting the need for a fast second shot started to become an issue. Thanks to my father I have a perfectly fine DG rifle, a Ruger #1 in a classic Africa caliber the 416 Rigby, so I really don't need another DG rifle, but what if I need a quick second shot. This led me to start looking at double rifles but double rifles have two problems, the price and a second trigger. A quality double in 450/400 or larger will cost me somewhere between 8-12K if I'm lucky and there is still that second trigger to learn and master. The only other firearm I know of with double triggers is a SxS shotgun. I have never done any serious shotgun shooting and when I did use a shotgun, they where pumps or single trigger O/U, so if I did get a double rifle, I would also have to buy a quality SxS or get a double with matching shotgun barrels in order to learn the “manual of arms” for double triggers. So far, I had not found an answer to my quick second shot issue without spending more money on my rifle that I did for my safari. Then I started to read posts from members like Redleg and Phill Glass about the R8 and my problem was solved. A R8 with a LH action and a green synthetic stock in 375 H&H would solve my second shot issue and handle all of my DG hunting needs.

 

[machinistbutler]

I don't understand why you would wear a patch instead of just closing your left eye. I am left eye dominant as well, a left handed action rifle would be awkward as heck for me.

 

[Art Lambart II]

I don't understand why you would wear a patch instead of just closing your left eye. I am left eye dominant as well, a left handed action rifle would be awkward as heck for me.

I forgot to mention I'm not an abiwinker, I can't wink my left eye.

 

[machinistbutler]

Ah dang . That really complicated it. If you can shoot with the left handed rifle you will be ahead of the game by being able to keep both eyes open if you choose.

My son had a hard time closing his left eye, he is a left eye dominant as well. He is doing ok with it now.

Not being able to blink the left eye by itself sounds like a great reason to try an R8 !

 

[Red Leg]

I would think a stainless synthetic R8 in 9.3x62 or .375 H&H would be a great guide rifle for brown bear. Perhaps a little pricey for most, but technically a great solution.

The best I can tell the current factory finish is impervious to almost anything.

I've never seen an R8 much less owned one but I'd like to share something that I thought was funny. My oldest son (who has been looking at R8s for several years) recently went into a high end gun store in St. Louis which was by appointment only. The R8s were on public display but the "good" rifles were locked away in a vault. Being expensive, obviously then is a matter of perspective. Way too many respected AH members own and use them regularly for them to be unsuited for their intended purpose. My son keeps telling me that I could buy him an R8 with several sets of barrels and scopes for the cost of a good Double. There is probably some truth to that.

My "beater" rifle is a R8 with the synthetic stock. It has thus far proved to be bomb (along with rust, water, ice, sleet, dust, and dirt) proof. I will admit that I have yet to submerge it in the mysterious New Zealand streams - but is unlikely I will. But I will subject it gladly to conditions that many of my other rifles will never see.