Show us your Blaser

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@yhc the only improvement I can think of for those bear is to display them In my house.
A bear rug or. Lion rug, I’m not fussy I would hunt and home either given the chance.

@CBH
What about one if @Professor Malwa royal Bengal Tiger skin to go with your bear and lion.
Bob

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

I think mine is actually pretty ugly haha no grade 10 timber here but man it works!

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

hi all

so here are my blasers

wood stock is R8 as you see it with 416rem mag 22mm barrel and burris fast fire 3 reflex sight , i also have a 300wm fluted barrel for this setup with a zeiss 3-12X50 scope for that.
have 2 different side plates one with kudu other side buffalo, my initials under the grip

the other one is also R8 with synthetic stock, have 6.5X55 and 9.3X62 barrels for this one, one scope for both barrels , also a zeiss 3-12X50 scope. both barrels are 19mm

i like heavy guns and found adding a "kick stop" in the stocks balanced the guns better

enjoy!!!!!

 

[CBH Australia]

@CBH
What about one if @Professor Malwa royal Bengal Tiger skin to go with your bear and lion.
Bob

If he wants to give it up, I don’t think you can hunt them now. They certainly are impressive and would be a great trophy.
I’m not a trophy hunter by any means but the DG fascinates me and the rugs really appeal to me.
Still thinking I should have grabbed a Zebra skin at Johannesburg airport.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

If he wants to give it up, I don’t think you can hunt them now. They certainly are impressive and would be a great trophy.
I’m not a trophy hunter by any means but the DG fascinates me and the rugs really appeal to me.
Still thinking I should have grabbed a Zebra skin at Johannesburg airport.

@CBH
Well Chris you know how to cure that. Go back but this time to Namibia then visit Nankara tanery. Cheaper than the airports and better quality skins. Take an empty suitcase,fill it up and sell the excess when you get home.
Bob.

 

[One Day...]

Wait a minute! @One Day... has an R8?

Well it's 2020, biden has been "elected" - anybody take the temperature of Hades???

CZ 550 = 2 calibers to Africa (<50 lbs. <62")...

Blaser = 3 calibers to Africa (<50 lbs. <62")...

If both Vaal Rhebok & Mountain Reedbuck and Buffalo are on the package, which they always are for me in South Africa; and in two years, I hope, Grant, Thomson, Puku, Gerenuk and Elephant are on the package in Tanzania; plus anything in between; the classic 3 rifles battery really makes sense:
--- Light: .257 Wby for small & medium PG and mountain game;
--- Medium: .300 Wby for large PG or .375 H&H for carnivorous DG;
--- Heavy: .470 NE for herbivorous DG.

Sure, the .375 H&H could do it all (and for that matter so could the .300 Wby, where legal, with 165 TTSX and 200 gr AFrame), but the .257 Wby is such a sweet, easy to shoot, and devastatedly efficient caliber, and the .470 NE double is so much the "proper" rifle to hunt Buff and Ele, that what is a man to do

Just picked up another pelican 1700 to do just that nice arrangement of rifles did you cut it out yourself or have it done.

I did it myself.
I bought a set of military grade high density foam (https://www.ebay.com/itm/3pc-Benchm...616490?hash=item36556fae6a:g:jNEAAOSwuZBdmeAo) to cut several patterns depending on what I want to bring along. I traced the outlines with a marker and cut carefully with a sharp kitchen knife using a metal ruler as a guide in the long cuts. The main challenge is to hold the knife truly vertical so that the cuts are not slanted sideways.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

@One Day... I’m glad you got one. I knew you had been thinking about it for a while, but I never thought you would give in.
I would love to try an R8 but I’ll have to stick with my Winchester’s for a while at least.

 

[Tra3]

I’ll add a couple thoughts I’ve observed in this year of hunting with the new R8’s. I’m not sure my son and my R8’s are more accurate than our Kimber rifles, but the R8s are a much better tool for hunting. I definitely didn’t buy the R8 because of accuracy claims (although accuracy is to be expected). I bought it for the take down ability and especially for the safety system and how quickly the action works. The safety is simple, basic and very hard to mess up. I like the 3 position safety of Kimber and Winchester’s, but one can bump it off. You can’t easily do that with an R8.

I love that I can take the scope off and put it in my pack when waking in the dark. It makes the rifle easier to strap to my backpack and I worry less about falling on it (which happens in the mountains!)

There are now multiple guns in my cabinet that I shouldn’t have purchased as I realize now that I should have just saved and bought the R8. But, I’m glad I got to hunt with other rifles first so I can understand and appreciate the differences.

 

[stug]

Here is mine, K95 in 7x65R.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Here is mine, K95 in 7x65R.

View attachment 375058

@stug
Now out of all the blazers That is the puck of them all. Pure simple hunting elegance.
Bob

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

Here is mine, K95 in 7x65R.

View attachment 375058

Single shots have always caught my fancy. Never owned one though

 

[Philip Glass]

I resisted long and hard, but in the end the R8 (or similar) is the only way to bring 3 calibers to Africa without incurring overweight and oversize airline surcharges... and getting a hernia schlepping them through the airports...

With the Krieghoff Big Five double rifle .470 and the Blaser R8 rifle with four barrels (.223 Rem, .257 Wby, .300 Wby, .375 H&H) my options are:

• .257 Wby for mountain game and small & medium plain game OR .223 Rem for Tiny Ten (although admittedly I bought the .223 Rem mostly for inexpensive regular practice after hesitating a lot with the .22 LR kit, but I now want to practice to 200 and 300 yards since the 6" steel plate at 150 yards, standing, off the sticks, has become a lot easier after tens of thousands of .22 LR rounds...)
• .300 Wby for large plain game OR .375 H&H for Lion/Leopard/Eland & large plain game
• .470 NE for Buffalo/Elephant/Hippo

Grand total 41 lbs. (well below the maximum 50 lbs. allowed) and 60.25" linear cumulated dimension L+W+D (well below the maximum 62" allowed).

With the Krieghoff and the Blaser with two barrels I do not have the room to put the two scopes in the Pelican 1700, but this is really not an issue, I have plenty of room and weight allowance to put them in my other Pelican, a 1615 Air suitcase.

As to taking high grade walnut to very wet or very dry places, I have paid my dues... One warped stock and one cracked stock are enough for me... Actually, if the option existed, I would have a kevlar stock on the double...

Did you cut the foam yourself? it looks great and I only use Pelican. How do you like the 1615 Air Suitcase? What then do you put your ammo in? I have the big Pelican suitcase but it’s really too heavy for air travel.
Philip

 

[Philip Glass]

I’ll add a couple thoughts I’ve observed in this year of hunting with the new R8’s. I’m not sure my son and my R8’s are more accurate than our Kimber rifles, but the R8s are a much better tool for hunting. I definitely didn’t buy the R8 because of accuracy claims (although accuracy is to be expected). I bought it for the take down ability and especially for the safety system and how quickly the action works. The safety is simple, basic and very hard to mess up. I like the 3 position safety of Kimber and Winchester’s, but one can bump it off. You can’t easily do that with an R8.

I love that I can take the scope off and put it in my pack when waking in the dark. It makes the rifle easier to strap to my backpack and I worry less about falling on it (which happens in the mountains!)

There are now multiple guns in my cabinet that I shouldn’t have purchased as I realize now that I should have just saved and bought the R8. But, I’m glad I got to hunt with other rifles first so I can understand and appreciate the differences.

Very good point. Thanks.
Philip

 

[BeeMaa]

Did you cut the foam yourself? it looks great and I only use Pelican. How do you like the 1615 Air Suitcase? What then do you put your ammo in? I have the big Pelican suitcase but it’s really too heavy for air travel.
Philip

We use Pelican Protector cases exclusively for air travel hunting.
2 - 1700's one for each of our rifles.
2 - 1200's for each of our ammo if necessary.
1 - 1560 for checked luggage.
1 - 1510 for checked or carry on luggage.
Add on one carry on day pack for each of us.

We used to have the 1650's but sold them.
They didn't meet the 62" limit, but we were never charged.
They were very close to the limit and passed the eye test.

In the end we trimmed back our packing to accommodate.
Even when not hunting, the 1560 & 1510 are usually enough.

 

[BigSteve57]

OK - y'all showed me yours now I guess I'll show you mine.
BTW - I have been told recently that I have gorgeous wood.

Rig I took to Africa - .375 H&H Safari barrel, Zeiss Victory HT 1.5-6x42 rail mount, Reticle 69, Blaser Kilombero.

The whole set:
.375 H&H Safari barrel
Zeiss Victory HT 1.5-6x42 rail mount, Reticle 69
.300 WM Safari barrel
Zeiss Victory Diavari 4-16x50 T* Rapid Z8 reticle
Blaser Kilombero

 

[One Day...]

Did you cut the foam yourself? it looks great and I only use Pelican.

Hello Philip;
Yes I did it myself, I bought a set of military grade high density foam (https://www.ebay.com/itm/3pc-Benchm...616490?hash=item36556fae6a:g:jNEAAOSwuZBdmeAo) to cut several patterns depending on what I want to bring along. I traced the outlines with a marker and cut carefully with a sharp kitchen knife using a metal ruler as a guide in the long cuts. The main challenge is to hold the knife truly vertical so that the cuts are not slanted sideways.

How do you like the 1615 Air Suitcase? I have the big Pelican suitcase but it’s really too heavy for air travel.
Philip

Your concern with the regular Pelican Protector cases used as suitcases is exactly the reason why I did NOT choose the Protector 1650. As discussed at the time when BeeMaa was using two of them, to me it fails both critical criteria of size and weight:
--- With exterior Dimensions: 31.59 x 20.47 x 12.45 its total linear dimension is 64.51". This exceeds the 62" maximum allowed by airlines.
--- Its weight empty is 24 lbs. This is half of the maximum 50 lbs. allowed.

I know that a number of folks are willing to take both the oversize and overweight gamble, but in my personal view it is just a matter of time before airlines realize the loss revenue opportunity when they do not enforce 62" and 50 lbs. I am not taking this bet... With 3 flights out and 3 flights back, the potential ~$100 fee for each flight would cost me $600. I can think of better ways to spend these...

I use an Air 1605 when going for a short hunt in a single climate, but it is a little too small for a 3 week Eastern Cape hunt where I need to bring both a hot plains outfit and a cold mountains outfit. Additionally, when loaded to 50 lbs. capacity the absence of wheels on the 1605 is really inconvenient to schlep its through airports...

I love the Air 1615 for five reasons:

1. With exterior dimensions 32.58 x 18.40 x 11.02 its total linear dimension is 62". This meets the maximum size requirement.
2. It is large enough to accept bulky items (e.g. midweight boots and insulated parka for Vaal Rhebok hunting in Eastern Cape mountains in winter (July to September) where you can expect white frost in the morning and evening, and 40F to 50F during the day.
3. It has wheels.
4. It is light. Actually, it is tall enough that you can roll it using the side handle, so I unscrewed the extendable handle and I also removed the side handle on the wheels side to minimize weight. It comes down to 12 lbs. 12 oz. empty. This allows me to take 37 lbs. With the ~11 lbs. of ammo, I can still take 26 lbs. of gear, which is plenty.
5. Some say the Air series is not as strong as the Protector series. This may be true in the absolute, but it is certainly strong enough, in my opinion, for suitcase purposes.

One advice if I may: do not buy a black 1615. Chances are it will be confused by airline and TSA attendants for a rifle case. It happened to me with the black 1605 and caused endless gyrations around the theme: Her: "I am sorry Sir, I cannot check a rifle case, it has to go through TSA;" Me: "This is not a rifle case, this is my suitcase;" Her: "I cannot check a rifle case, it has to go through TSA"......... You can get an orange, silver or yellow 1615, or even indigo blue or oxblood dark red if you take the Packing Cube Organizers option, but it costs $100 more. I took silver...

What then do you put your ammo in

I use a Pelican 1150 for ammo. I looked hard at the 1200 many people use, but I do not need mine to be this big because I see no point in taking the bulk and weight of ammo factory boxes, and the 1150 is 1 lbs. lighter than the 1200. In a game where every pound counts, this is very significant to me.

Besides, using ammo dividers from older Weatherby factory boxes, I can put up to 150 combined rounds of .257 Wby .300 Wby .375 H&H in the Pelican 1150. More than enough...

And anyway, in about any combination I can think of, I reach the 11 lbs. maximum weight before I reach the maximum space in the 1150. For example:

--- 40 x .257 100 gr + 40 x .300 165 gr + 35 x .375 300 gr weigh 10 lbs. 13 oz. including box and TSA locks.

--- 50 x .257 100 gr + 40 x .300 165 gr + 20 x .470 500 gr weigh 10lbs. 14 oz. including box and TSA locks.

I put the 1150 ammo box inside the 1615 suitcase for international flights, and I take it out for South African Airline internal flights where ammo has to travel separately.

 

[Ridgewalker]

WOW! One Day... you put way too much thought into all this! You’re making it too easy for the rest of us just to duplicate what you have done all the work on!
Thanks for all the explanations!

 

[Philip Glass]

Hello Philip;
Yes I did it myself, I bought a set of military grade high density foam (https://www.ebay.com/itm/3pc-Benchm...616490?hash=item36556fae6a:g:jNEAAOSwuZBdmeAo) to cut several patterns depending on what I want to bring along. I traced the outlines with a marker and cut carefully with a sharp kitchen knife using a metal ruler as a guide in the long cuts. The main challenge is to hold the knife truly vertical so that the cuts are not slanted sideways.



Your concern with the regular Pelican Protector cases used as suitcases is exactly the reason why I did NOT choose the Protector 1650. As discussed at the time when BeeMaa was using two of them, to me it fails both critical criteria of size and weight:
--- With exterior Dimensions: 31.59 x 20.47 x 12.45 its total linear dimension is 64.51". This exceeds the 62" maximum allowed by airlines.
--- Its weight empty is 24 lbs. This is half of the maximum 50 lbs. allowed.

I know that a number of folks are willing to take both the oversize and overweight gamble, but in my personal view it is just a matter of time before airlines realize the loss revenue opportunity when they do not enforce 62" and 50 lbs. I am not taking this bet... With 3 flights out and 3 flights back, the potential ~$100 fee for each flight would cost me $600. I can think of better ways to spend these...

I use an Air 1605 when going for a short hunt in a single climate, but it is a little too small for a 3 week Eastern Cape hunt where I need to bring both a hot plains outfit and a cold mountains outfit. Additionally, when loaded to 50 lbs. capacity the absence of wheels on the 1605 is really inconvenient to schlep its through airports...

I love the Air 1615 for five reasons:

1. With exterior dimensions 32.58 x 18.40 x 11.02 its total linear dimension is 62". This meets the maximum size requirement.
2. It is large enough to accept bulky items (e.g. midweight boots and insulated parka for Vaal Rhebok hunting in Eastern Cape mountains in winter (July to September) where you can expect white frost in the morning and evening, and 40F to 50F during the day.
3. It has wheels.
4. It is light. Actually, it is tall enough that you can roll it using the side handle, so I unscrewed the extendable handle and I also removed the side handle on the wheels side to minimize weight. It comes down to 12 lbs. 12 oz. empty. This allows me to take 37 lbs. With the ~11 lbs. of ammo, I can still take 26 lbs. of gear, which is plenty.
5. Some say the Air series is not as strong as the Protector series. This may be true in the absolute, but it is certainly strong enough, in my opinion, for suitcase purposes.

One advice if I may: do not buy a black 1615. Chances are it will be confused by airline and TSA attendants for a rifle case. It happened to me with the black 1605 and caused endless gyrations around the theme: Her: "I am sorry Sir, I cannot check a rifle case, it has to go through TSA;" Me: "This is not a rifle case, this is my suitcase;" Her: "I cannot check a rifle case, it has to go through TSA"......... You can get an orange, silver or yellow 1615, or even indigo blue or oxblood dark red if you take the Packing Cube Organizers option, but it costs $100 more. I took silver...



I use a Pelican 1150 for ammo. I looked hard at the 1200 many people use, but I do not need mine to be this big because I see no point in taking the bulk and weight of ammo factory boxes, and the 1150 is 1 lbs. lighter than the 1200. In a game where every pound counts, this is very significant to me.

Besides, using ammo dividers from older Weatherby factory boxes, I can put up to 150 combined rounds of .257 Wby .300 Wby .375 H&H in the Pelican 1150. More than enough...

And anyway, in about any combination I can think of, I reach the 11 lbs. maximum weight before I reach the maximum space in the 1150. For example:

--- 40 x .257 100 gr + 40 x .300 165 gr + 35 x .375 300 gr weigh 10 lbs. 13 oz. including box and TSA locks.

--- 50 x .257 100 gr + 40 x .300 165 gr + 20 x .470 500 gr weigh 10lbs. 14 oz. including box and TSA locks.

View attachment 375187

View attachment 375188

I put the 1150 ammo box inside the 1615 suitcase for international flights, and I take it out for South African Airline internal flights where ammo has to travel separately.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I am always looking for a reason to buy another pelican case! Hence the reason for the question.
Philip

 

[BeeMaa]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I am always looking for a reason to buy another pelican case! Hence the reason for the question.
Philip

Call me before you buy anything.
I have more Pelican than should be allowed.

 

[Serbian Hunter]

Here are my Blasers:
R93 with 3 barrels: 6.5x57 (58cm), ported 8x68S (65cm) and 9.3x62 (52cm). Everything is standard aside of bolt handle of from buffalo horn
K95 Luxus with 2 brls: 7x65R and 9.3x74R trimmed to 52cm. Custom made stock with shaft magazine and 2 forend (1x standard and 1x stutz). Optics: Swarovski Z6i 2-12x and Kahles 2x10x50i
Beautiful, reliable, very accurate, handy,...what else do you need? Can not stress enough how satisfied I was with both 9.3mm and 286grs Nosler Partition in Namibia and SAR...