Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Blaser rifles...?

So, why are these so expensive? Is it just all the engraving and fancy wood stocks...or are they really a great shooting rifle too?

This sounds like a "loaded" question.

The unadorned ones with synthetic stocks are expensive too...........



They do shoot extremely well and have some superb features......................................DJ

I just got one - the Proffessional and I absolutely love the way it handles & shoots.

I have bought 3 barrels with mine - 308, 270 Wby and 9.3x62. So far I have only had the time to shoot the 308.

Early days though and I have not had it out in the field yet but will do so in the next couple of weeks. The safety has got to be the best & safest out there as it completely decocks the firing pin spring - and it takes some effort to recock it so it cannot be accidentally rearmed. I would have no hesitation in walking with one up the spout.

It points very well for me and I love the way the bolt recycles faster than anything.

No regrets so far - but they are expensive.

they are made by people paid in Euro's for one thing

they are made FOR people who have a lot of disposable income, pay a fortune to hunt but can only buy a limited number of guns, so they are inclined to buy good ones.

Poole

Hey what do you think we can't buy as many weapons as we want ?

I know a guy who hunts sometimes with me and owns 265 guns in any calibers fom .22 to .50.

Owning hunting guns is still not a LEGAL problem for the one with a hunting license ... The only limitation is the price of the guns, which is very high here just like the price of the hunts and the cost of life.

I recently asked a price for a steyr scout, without optics, answer was 2200 euros (3466 USD). As a comparaison price for a tikka T3 would be around 850 euros (1339 USD). When I read US prices on the Internet, I understand why you use to own more guns than us over there.

Blaser R93 is a very good gun but very expansive too. There are 2 kinds of opinions about them here: some love them and the other ones hate them because of the reputation of the gun following a well-known accident, that costed many reputation to blaser, despite the fact it apparently occured with a badly hand-reloaded cartridge. Opponents still think it is not safe to use a bolt rifle that has nothing to prevent the bolt from reaching the face of the shooter in case of surpression accident unlocking the bolt.

Anyway I think they are very nice (but not pieces of art like more traditional productions) and versatile. And they are very safe thanks to the armament system.

Among bolt action rifles, R93 is very frequent. I can't go to a big game hunt without seeing at least one of them, despite the fact bolt action guns are not the more liked around here.

All the owners I know are very happy with them, for any kind of hunting (driven game or stalking) and even for blood searching.

For about twelve years, we entertained a lot of guest hunters during the two New Mexico deer hunts. I required everyone who brought their own rifles to check the zero off the bench at my house before hunting. As a group, the four or five Blazers that were brought shot better than any other factory rifles.

I tried hard to buy a 6.5x55 from one of our hunters who decided that he wanted a flatter shooting cartridge (he was from New York City and had never thought about the possibility of needing to take a 300 yard shot). He wisely decided to buy another barrel in .270 Wby and keep the rifle.

I know a very good yukon's moose guide using a R93 in 338 win mag. seems happy with it but changing soon for more classic tool ...!!!

the only thing i can say is like the Beretta 92F, better when it became the 92FS ...

hope the R93 will become the R93S ... something need to stop the bolt in case and it happened before ...!!!

O.K., I was wrong about where this thread was heading.

I have owned several R-93's in both wood stocked and synthetic models, and I currently have 2 Professional models and 308 Tracker, 9.3x62 Tracker, and 9.3x62 Attache' barrels. All the barrels and calibers that I have owned have shot MOA or better with nearly any ammo put down the pipe. My current 308 and both the 9.3's shoot honest one hole groups at 100 yards with my handloads.

I still own quite a few rifles, but I have sold or traded MANY over the last few years. None have compared to the fit, finish, and accuracy of my Blasers.

On the other hand, hunting really doesn't require MOA accuracy, and there are MANY less expensive rifles that will do the job just as good. Are Blasers worth the extra $$$?

To ME they are.

There's a phrase we don't see that much on this site. Good for you for being willing to say it!!

And BTW, nice rifles!! (and critters!!)

I've looked at them recently very carefully and have backed away a bit, for now. It's not the safety issue, as I believe that to be totally overblown. It's the price - they are expensive. A barrel will cost $900 - $1800, and the price of the scope mounts/rings comes close to offending me at $400 or so. Still, if the $ ever bottoms out and the price drops, I think I'll have one.

One thing to consider is a difference from the way we normally do things in the US is that there's no real "receiver," as such, so it's the stock that's the firearm for US purposes. That's just a consideration, though, not a concern.

As far as needing a bolt lug to feel safe, I'll just have to point out that shooters of M-16's don't have one and don't seem to suffer inordinately from the lack.

I had a R93 with barrels in 30-06 and 6.5x55. Very accurate, well balanced,and I liked the trigger a lot. Being a hopeless "churner" I traded it away and often wish I hadn't.

The m-16 has a buffer spring and a 6 inch plug where the bolt comes back into during recoil. The bolt goes back into the butt of the weapon if it does decide to come back so you might hurt your shoulder. That's alot different then a bolt comming back into your face like on a Blaser.

300 yds too far for a 6.5x55? My 6BR killed my longest deer at 400 yds. Unless it was a weak factory load, maybe the POI needed adjusting, or the driver!

I had a chance at a 243 Blaser, the old R84/83 or something like that, had a more traditional lug, 3 lugs in fact like a browning abolt.

Trigger was like an icicle at 2lbs or so, unbelieveable. Had NICE wood, engraved receiver, and scope base.....and a price that kept making me look again.....but it WAS a 243.

Oh, you want to know how much? $1,000.

IF only I knew THEN what I know today! A few years ago, but still.

One thing is certain, the longer I live, the more I appreciate the quality that gets here, from over there.......sad but true.

Now as above, the dollar/Euro.....that changes things and makes one have to think patience.

For me, I think I would not mind having a K-95, but the R93, well, from the first time I looked at the action, I did not get 'warm fuzzy's" and hearing about the problem before.....let's say I do not think I want to go that route, for a bolt. Just MY feeling, not that the bugs may be worked out, OR it was a handloading error that did it.....not sure I'd ever trust things.

K-95.....well, it is more in ling with my KISS, even if it IS a little 'extravagant' i.e. wood......and the price!

65BR:

He was shooting factory loads, was not a handloader and did not expect to be one anytime soon. He was a stock broker and had never hunted any farther west than upstate New York. He was a great fan of the 6.5x55 and we exchanged e-mails for a couple of years, mostly him urging me to build a 6.5x55 on a Husqvarna '96 action. I was holding out for one in a Mexican Mauser, but that one ended up being made as a .257 AI...

If I was younger and still roaming far and wide, I would definitely think seriously about a synthetic version with two or three barrels, instead of the stable of rifles that I now have overflowing my gun safe.

I have a Blaser R93 with three scoped barrels, two stocks, an extra bolt and both standard and magnum bolt faces. It is truly a modular weapon where you can exchange parts, barrels, stocks, etc.

I have a 375 Safari, '06 and 25-06 barrels and has been mentioned they are very accurate. I've shot several one-hole, three-shot groups with the 375! It went to Africa and performed superbly in Namibia a dry, dusty country in winter. With the close tolerances I heard that R93s would "bind up" in the dust but experienced nary a hiccoup.

Several years ago when the "blow-up" of a Blaser R93 occured in Europe I became very concerned, researched it and even got a letter from Blaser. An independant agency determined the cartridge in question - handloaded - exceeded 110,000 lbs of pressure. R93s are proof tested to at least 2x SAAMI standards.

It is true that R93s evoke different emotions in rifle aficionados, some hating it, many loving it. It is certainly non-traditional in looks and design but function it does and I really like mine.

For an equal length barrel it is several inches shorter than standard bolt actions due to its unique reciever and lighter because that reciever is not steel but an alloy. Unlike traditional bolts the reciever does not have to stand the pressure of the cartridge as the bolt face locks up in the barrel.

So you have a take-down, light, accurate, racy looking firearm that is admittedly not inexpensive but that you can get in many chamberings and many different models.

Gdv

Good news and info.....goodnews, thanks.

The predecessor to the R93 was the R84 and it did have the more traditional, protruding bolt lugs. However, the R93 does have bolt lugs also but they are like the petals on a flower that open up in a circular recess at the rear of the chamber in the barrel. This "floating bolt head with its lugs opening up through 360 degrees" supposedly aids in centering the cartridge in the chamber so well contributing to the very good accuracy of these rifles. Purportedly, they lugs have more surface area than the traditional two-lug bolt rifle. And we know many of those rifles (bolt lugs) as they come from the factory bear unequally which is why gunsmiths "true" and blueprint the actions seeking symmetry of the bearing surfaces. So, I've pretty much put the safety factor to rest in my mind. Just a reminder, every action made has been rendered to small parts by a careless handloader so it's not just a R93 issue. In the last year as I recall someone took a Weatherby apart without tools in the same way.

The price is an obstacle but diminishes with a couple of more barrels, as you have more "rifles". If you have a lefty in your family, you can also buy a lefty bolt and of course it fits in the reciever just as a right-handed one would. The QR-type one piece ring/bases combination are expensive but can be taken on and off without losing zero and changed from barrel to barrel, another versatile concept.

I agree about the trigger. It is the best I've every experienced in a rifle, stock or custom. The safety/cocking piece is another unique feature as the rifle is not even cocked with the safety off. Pushing the ergonomic safety off also cocks it and you are ready to go. I will say this cocking motion, for me anyway, was something to get used to. It is silent but takes some force and some tactile learning.

Someone here once called the R93 "an over-engineered piece of junk"; my response is, "yea, about like an Audi A-4 Sport."

Gdv