RFI Blaser ultimate 850/88 bolt action rifle

[Poconnor]

Hopefully somebody has some experience with this rifle. I have a Blaser 850/88 on layaway at my LGS. It has two barrels; 30-06 and 375 H&H calibers. It is marked west Germany so I suspect it was manufactured in the 80’s. I have searched the internet and I have not found any worthwhile information. They want $2800 for it. It includes two sets of scope rings and a west German zeiss 3-9x36 scope. Any information would be appreciated

[okie john]

Jeff Cooper thought highly of the Blaser, mostly because he felt that the trigger was the best of any rifle he had tried and that it was easy to cycle the bolt quickly. He mentioned them in Cooper's Commentaries in 1994 when he took an R93 in 30-06 to Africa and every year after that. There's little evidence that he used it much after that, but he was busy promoting the Scout concept and later the Steyr Scout.

My experience consists of firing 2-3 shots from an R8 (?) in 6.5 Swede at a local range. The trigger and bolt lived up to Cooper's claims. The owner said that he liked traveling with it because it broke down into a small case that didn't look like a rifle case. He used it for backpack hunts in areas where there were a lot of non-hunters, so he could smuggle it past them on the trail, assemble and load it after he got into game country, and hunt without interference. He had another barrel in 300 WM and did most of his hunting with that. He said that both barrels were very accurate, and that their zeros didn't move after reassembly.

They tend to be expensive, so the places that sell expensive guns might know something about them. Phone calls to https://griffinhowe.com/, http://www.hallowellco.com/, and https://www.westleyrichards.com/usedguns/ might provide information.

https://stevebarnettfineguns.com/, https://thesportingshoppe.com/, and http://www.champlinarms.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30 each have a few in stock. They're a different model than yours but you could probably get information from them.

Finally, a Google search for "Blaser 850" brings back more useful results than "Blaser 850/88."


Okie John

[Poconnor]

Thanks Okie John. I believe this model was made the original Blaser company. I think they reorganized and came out with improved models.

[Welder]

Great topic! I've always wondered about Blasers but my social circle doesn't include owners of those rifles. I'm here to up the post count.

[GJM]

PF member SteveB just took a .375 Blaser to Africa and shot a bunch of stuff including a buff.