Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Very few seem to favor the Blaser rifles.

An expensive gun, but looks like it would be more popular here if it was really worth the money. From my point of view it looks like a marketing gimmick aimed at folks with more money than common sense. Maybe in Europe the concept works?

Could be the ultimate $3500 "bling" rifle! Something you put an expensive scope on and casually switch barrels at hunting camp in front of your friends, in this way it has some merit!


To me it looks like the blue steel switch barrel blaser Wunder rifle would be ruined by the elements long before someones cheap SS Ruger.

IMHO too much $$. As I get older I am favoring relative inexpensive rifles as hunting is a rough and tumble sport and looking back there have been no instances I couldn't have easily handles with my Stevens 200 or vanguard. I really can't see myself climbing up in my tree stand and pulling a $3K-$4K rig up swinging around on the end of a rope getting the inevitable dings and bumps. After all your rifle is just a tool, and that's coming from a guy that loves beautiful blued steel and walnut.

i believe they lack popularity in america for 3 reasons.

first, their price is far above what most will pay (or are able to pay).

second, their appearance is unusual when compared to the typical bolt, pump, or semi-auto almost every hunting american uses (and has seen used by family/friends). most people want to "fit in" or "be accepted", and toting a blaser doesn't fit that catagory.

third, few people (even those with 3-4k to burn on a rifle) want something others might consider "gaudy". i realize blasers function as designed, and are as accurate as the next design, but i have heard them described as the only rifle trying to make a "fashion statement". certainly that is untrue, but the perception is out there.

i watched one fellow shoot one at a range a few years back. his rifles was quite accurate, and pretty too. however, i just can't warm up to the design. ymmv.

I think they're kinda cool, but owning one is just a pipe dream for me.

I haven't handled or shot the new model, but previous models had excellent triggers. They are also mechanically complex creatures. One model had a kaboom problem that was a Big Deal for a while in the German gun press, but seems to have quieted down now.

They are not designed for North American hunting nor American hunters.

jim

Money aside, the Blaser has the following going for it:
1-Modular, parts can be swabbed in and out.
2-Safety (probably the most important)Not really a safety but a decocker. Gun can not fire until rifle is recocked (See Am Rifleman 11/2010.

Since the unit is modular, parts can be mfg. anywhere. Should be able to get them cheaper so that the cost of a unit should become affordable to us "little people."

Jim I remember this, it destroyed a fellows face I believe.

this is pretty good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4AqMl1A4aQ

then:

http://www.deportiro.com.ar/english_articles/al10_english_version.shtml

I�ve taken notice that the following investigations are taking place:

1 Accident near M�nster with a Blaser rifle model R93 caliber 6,5x68
1 Accident near Koblenz recently with a Blaser rifle R93 caliber .300 Weatherby
1 Accident in Africa with a Blaser rifle model R93 caliber .416 Rem Mag, that then was stolen
2 Accidents near Nantes, one with a Blaser R93 caliber .375 H&H and another with a .300 Winchester Magnum
1 Accident near Paris with a Blaser R93 caliber .375 H&H
1 Accident in Austria

After the last accident, the CEO of Blaser company, Mr. Kn�bel, said to the press that in all the models of his brands sometimes wrong ammunition, in bad state or bad reloaded could cause the gun rupture and the shooter could be injured.

This is certainly valid: that a blown of a gun could be produced ocasionally for various reasons, but what is not normal or common is that the shooter results injured in his head or face. For this matter I�m distributing this information to every important media of the world so, by them, to communicate with me every users that have suffered problems or hurts with Blaser rifles Model R93 of any caliber.

A gun engineer of Germany, Mr. Arndt G. Kriegeskorte, after making a technical analysis of the R93 action and saying that they are risky and insecure for the shooters, was menaced formally by Blaser that if he continue telling about his findings will be demanded by Euros 200.000 (about us$ 250.000.-)

Just my perception but Europeans seem willing to pay more per gun but have very few guns. Here, it seems we want lots of guns so we can't afford as much per gun.

A couple of years ago I decided that in retirement I would be able to afford traveling interstate and even some international to hunt. I decided I needed an easy to pack takedown rifle in multiple calibers. I looked at them all and the Blaser came out on top. My retirement battery is a matched pair of R93 Professionals with multiple barrels. Both stocks and 3 scoped barrels fit in a single travel freindly case.

If my future didn't include more than one or two traveling hunts though, I'd settle for a CZ550 in an appropriate caliber. For Texas only, it would be a .270.

It's hard to argue that few seem to favor Blaser rifles. Few seem to favor David Miller Classics either. If by favor you are talking about sales figures.

How does a person arrive at whether something is really worth the money? My AR-10 type .243 is definitely NOT worth the money unless you price by the pound. The AR types are definitely popular right now.

In Europe the concept is different. If we all had to go through a Class III type process every time we bought a rifle the notion of one receiver and six barrels may well appeal a whole lot more. If that were the case, my receiver of choice would be much more attractive than a T/C Encore. I don't know that it IS the case, only that firearms ownership is not nearly as easy in Europe as it is here.

How long can we argue that one lightly modified Mauser bolt action is really better than another lightly modified Mauser bolt action? A little innovation at least brings some interest to the discussion.

I'd generally agree with that; same with the optics also.

I seem to recall that the R93 was the best selling rifle in Europe for several years..

I like the gun and concept but at the cost, I could build one heck of a custom rifle or go on a nice hunt.

I own ten or so Blasers with an extra fifteen or so barrels. The only thing I don't like about them is they shoot so well you don't get to tinker with them. What's fun about a gun you don't have to glass bed, have a trigger job done yada, yada, yada.

I would venture to guess that Americans annually purchase more rifles costing three grand and up than the rest of the world combined. While the price tag obviously eliminates some people from the prospective market, it is the fact that they are just plain weird looking to most shooters that has limited their sales in this country. That plus most people don't find much utility in all this modular parts stuff....

I've got more than a few firearms that cost more than a Blazer....but never had the slightest interest in owning one.

If they cost $300 I wouldn't want one.

Too Buck Rogers for me

JMO.

I like the looks of the K95.

as someone above mentioned,the saftey/decocker,really turned me off on the 2 rifles i shot, they shoot real well but i hated the saftey,so i passed on 2 guuns that were used but pretty cheap.rio7

Only about 1/2 of 1% of Germans hunt, and they are generally among the wealthiest people in a wealthy nation. The same applies to many other European countries. While many Americans are willing to buy $3000 hunting rifles, a far higher percentage of Germans are willing to do so. It's just the way things are in their culture.

I suspect, however, that many Germans would consider the many "custom" rifles sold in America that are essentially Remington 700's with an aftermarket barrel and synthetic stock to be very puzzling--especially when many cost well over $3000.

In general German rifles are a steal for the price. I have a Heym SR21 .300 Winchester that is as accurate as just the average $5000 Rem. 700 "custom," and far more sophisticated mechanically. It also has a very nice walnut stock, as well-made as many custom-made American stocks. The rifle retails for a little over $2000, but since it would draw blank stares in American hunting camps, SR21's aren't all that popular over here.

I'd like to have a couple. I'd sell em, buy a Kimber and have one of the Smiths here tune it up. Then I'd take the leftover cash and book a Safari.

Wayne

A fellow in the gunsite 270 class used one. He had no malfunctions in spite of a week of rather trying weather and dust (turning to mud). He had done Africa several times and liked the takedown portability. I saw no real problem with the blaser other than, to me, it was really ugly.