Blaser R8 In Large Calibers

Yes Toby, that makes more sense. I misread. The base isn't mentioned, just the rings.

Paul Homsy said:

Yes Toby, that makes more sense. I misread. The base isn't mentioned, just the rings.

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But $123 is still high even if it was the rings and base combined! There's no way a ring and base set should be $400.00. Not sure why they charge so much, perhaps they figure if you're willing to pay big bucks for the rifle, what's another $400?
I paid $160 for a set of stainless Sako Optilock rings and bases. I thought that was bad enough!

I agree, it's high. One of the rifles I should have never sold was a Steyr Mannlicher in 375 H&H that I bought in the mid 1980s. I had a set of detachable rings for it. Once installed, the two piece base stayed on the rifle, the system worked very well and returned to zero with the help of a fouling shot or within 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in the field which at the time was excellent. It cost $250.00 then and the mounts were rare...I felt it was worth it for the versatility it brought and it was one of very few systems that allowed scope removal without tools, still very pricey for so long ago.
Sako is more reasonable but still expensive.

The Blaser mount is a newer, perhaps more sophisticated system but still quite expensive. It does return to zero and I guess you pay for that.

Paul Homsy said:

I agree, it's high. One of the rifles I should have never sold was a Steyr Mannlicher in 375 H&H that I bought in the mid 1980s. I had a set of detachable rings for it. Once installed, the two piece base stayed on the rifle, the system worked very well and returned to zero with the help of a fouling shot or within 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in the field which at the time was excellent. It cost $250.00 then and the mounts were rare...I felt it was worth it for the versatility it brought and it was one of very few systems that allowed scope removal without tools, still very pricey for so long ago.
Sako is more reasonable but still expensive.

The Blaser mount is a newer, perhaps more sophisticated system but still quite expensive. It does return to zero and I guess you pay for that.

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Yes I'm sure it returns to zero. But then again, so does Talley, Warne, Leupold QRW, Sako Optilock and probably others that cost much less. To me, steel rings and bases are steel rings and bases. As long as they are precision built of course. I just don't know what they could do to them to make them $400. And I also don't know what they could do to a rifle barrel to make it worth over $2K. I guess to me, the versatility of these guns is their selling point, but due to the overpriced barrel and scope mounts, it would be less expensive to just buy a new rifle for each caliber, and stick with more affordable rifles at that. But that doesn't keep me from wanting one!

I agree with everything you said. When I had my Steyr Mannlicher, I wasn't aware of the existence of the other systems that allowed removing the scope.

The barrels are very expensive, they are cold hammer forged which is very costly in equipment but not costly to make once the right equipment is in place. They use excellent steel, of the thirty or so rifles and additional dozen barrels I've owned, no barrel bore had the mirror polish of the Blasers. I don't think it's strictly my cleaning technique that has improved. They also cater to the European market first and foremost, (once things take off in North America it may be different). We like to have several rifles. The same is difficult in Europe and in England quite difficult.

The quality is high, they are pricey, the R93 was cheaper. I don't have the exact answer but I can attest to the quality, the trigger, the precision, the ease of changing calibers while retaining the exact same length of pull, trigger pull, stock feel, etc...Tobey, you don't have to pay a fortune to buy one particularly if you're after a practical stock, not an expensive piece of wood.

I meant to add that hunting in Europe isn't for everyone, it is expensive and land access restrictive. We have a different set up where owning several rifles makes sense.

Looks like the going price for ring/mount combinations at Eurooptics is $452.00.

I prefer the rail mounted scopes on Blasers for these reasons:
1- They have a very clean look.
2- They eliminate scope cant by design.

My experience with Blasers and their QD scope mounts is that they do return to zero.
Scopes with QD mounts fit all R8, R93, K95, B95/B97 & BD14 barrels, sometimes needing tensioning from one barrel to another and sometimes not.

You also don't need to buy barrels with expensive contours. The standard barrels are much more affordable. Provided you stick to Blaser's standard lengths. There is a very substantial difference in price between a 23 inch barrel for example and a stock 25.75 (standard). The 23 inch barrel may cost twice as much. It may have to do with how they are set up for production. In the U.S. a barrel length is immaterial...

One aspect of the cost may be the result of the simplicity and strength of the system, its ease of removing and reinstalling a barrel. In short, its precision and convenience. Not sure if all this makes perfect sense but some of it should stick

DChamp, mine do require minor adjustments from one barrel to the next. The reason why I try to dedicate a scope and mount to a barrel within limits. Depending on what I shoot more at any given time.

You forget, I'm not very hard to convince to buy a rifle! It's quite the opposite!
Lol!

Nor am I, unfortunately...

Paul Homsy said:

DChamp, mine do require minor adjustments from one barrel to the next. The reason why I try to dedicate a scope and mount to a barrel within limits. Depending on what I shoot more at any given time.

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With the R8 the simplest drill is to use a dedicated scope with each barrel. Mine never require an adjustment when shifting from one barrel to the next.

do these blazers have the extraction camming power on a ma98 or win70?
bruce.

Paul Homsy said:

DChamp, mine do require minor adjustments from one barrel to the next. The reason why I try to dedicate a scope and mount to a barrel within limits. Depending on what I shoot more at any given time.

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Yes that is normally the case. My point was that, that is not always the case. I have four different stocks and 14 different barrels and fewer scopes and most require tensioning for each barrel scope combination. But some do not require a different tensioning, making zeroing a little easier.

TOBY 458, if you do decide to buy a Blaser R8, I think it is one heck of a system, one thing to keep in mind is there is no need to over tension anything on the R8. The blind nuts that secure the barrel/studs to the stock only need to be taken up and then lightly snugged. The scope mounts only need to be adjusted to be firm but comfortable when twisting the locking levers.

Blaser USA has a pretty good youtube channel showing these things.

Red Leg said:

With the R8 the simplest drill is to use a dedicated scope with each barrel. Mine never require an adjustment when shifting from one barrel to the next.

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True but I have more barrels than scopes but am working on correcting that problem.

Red Leg said:

With the R8 the simplest drill is to use a dedicated scope with each barrel. Mine never require an adjustment when shifting from one barrel to the next.

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I just saw that I misread the second sentence of you quote. Some of my mounts don't require different tensioning with certain barrels and some do. Still it's a great system.

bruce moulds said:

do these blazers have the extraction camming power on a ma98 or win70?
bruce.

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I don't know. The bolt head of the Blaser R8 is more of a collet grasping the case head completely around 360 degrees. It is pretty strong. It does not turn.

OK I did it. Got the Blaser Big Bore stock at Euro for $1599 and the rest for my .458 Lott from Top Dog (no tax). Total with Pelican Ultimate Safari Case ...$5,773. I picked up the stock from my FFL yesterday which was ironically the very same day my long awaited crate from the last trip was delivered to my taxidermist.

Thinking a standard barrel in .338 Win Mag for PG and Alaska. I'm selling my super accurate .338 RUM and I already have a Christensen .300 Win Mag for everything else. I'm very fond of the carbon rifle and couldn't imagine parting with it.

#Buffalo2020

@TheWhitetailNut did that blaser package come with 1 or two barrels? 1 or two stocks? Was the $5773 including the $1600 for the safari stock? Scope and bases included? I’m in the market for a .375 H&H and am contemplating if I should wait and save and buy a blaser rather than getting a Winchester M70.

What I got was the equivalent of this in green as my preference: https://www.eurooptic.com/blaser-r8-professional-savanna-big-bore-complete-rifle.aspx. $5,773 for everything

One lock, one stock, one barrel.

Unless you know you will eventually want a larger caliber I would not get the Big Bore. A .375 can be had for much less in other versions. With one in each hand, the stock alone is very comparable in weight to my Christensen .300 Win Mag.

TheWhitetailNut said:

What I got was the equivalent of this in green as my preference: https://www.eurooptic.com/blaser-r8-professional-savanna-big-bore-complete-rifle.aspx. $5,773 for everything

One lock, one stock, one barrel.

Unless you know you will eventually want a larger caliber I would not get the Big Bore. A .375 can be had for much less in other versions. With one in each hand, the stock alone is very comparable in weight to my Christensen .300 Win Mag.

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I would second that. I have a receiver and stock designed for "semi-weight" barrels which are fairly heavy. With the steel receiver, even the .300 makes it a fairly stout rifle. I hardly ever use it. My Sporter weight rifle with classic stock handles "sporter" profile barrels up through .375 creating a light quick rifle that is a joy to carry and shoot in any caliber.