Blaser R8 and R93

[SLG]

There were several reports circulating over the past 10 years of serious injuries to shooters with the older R93. Of course, anyone can blow up a gun if they do something stupid enough, but apparently the R93 did a poor job of protecting the shooter in those instances. No idea if the R8 is better in that regard.

Welcome to the discussion, which up until now, I could have had over the phone:-)

I had not heard that about the 93, any more info? Straight pulls have always creeped me out a little, kind of like striker fired guns:-)

[GJM]

Based on my experiences owning a few, Jim Brockman's comment they they have a lot of parts compared to a model 70, the Gunsite eposode with the Cooper Blaser going TU, and even the hint of detonation, these rifles strike me as perfect for the traveling hunter, but less ideal for the hard use shooter.

[irascible_joe]

My memory was a little fuzzy on the details; Googling for "blaser r93 bolt accident" brings up quite a few references. This forum post references 8 instances of accidents.

I've shot an R93 before, but I'm in no way an expert on their design. And as I said before, any sufficiently advanced idiot can blow up a gun. But it sounds like the Blaser action might not fail very gracefully in these circumstances, especially compared to something like the old Mauser 98, which has a lot of features designed to protect the shooter in the event of an extreme overpressure situation, pierced primer, case head failure, etc.

Or it could be Internet exaggeration, like the old Glock KaBoom! stories. I honestly don't know. If I were seriously looking at dropping the cubic dollars that Blasers command these days, I'd certainly do my homework on the subject.

[SLG]

I talked to an industry friend who is pretty up on professional use of the Blaser system. To the tune of 60,000 rds a year through them. They say the 93 had some issues with being able to fire when the bolt wasn't locked, and that the R8 doesn't have that problem. still creeps me out, but it is a cool gun, and I'm still interested.

[GJM]

I talked to an industry friend who is pretty up on professional use of the Blaser system. To the tune of 60,000 rds a year through them. They say the 93 had some issues with being able to fire when the bolt wasn't locked, and that the R8 doesn't have that problem. still creeps me out, but it is a cool gun, and I'm still interested.

Very interested in who is shooting 60,000 rounds a year thru a Blaser and why?

[SLG]

Very interested in who is shooting 60,000 rounds a year thru a Blaser and why?

Multiple calibers, not just one. I won't name him publicly, but aside from him, The Aussies use it as a sniper rifle. They seem pretty happy with it.