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I’ve had several.... An R93, an R8, and two K95s......

My thoughts? ( for whatever they may be worth anyway):

Tolerances are held very tight on all Blaser rilfes I have had opportunity to own or fondle.

The R93 was very ergonomic, relatively light weight and unbelievably accurate..... This one went in for a trade when it went click when it was supposed to go bang far too many times, i.e., almost once every magazine full this unacceptable cantankerous behaviour was evident....... The R93 design is considered by many to be extremely unsafe and there is record of several serious injuries when the bolt lets go and blows much of the user’s face away.

The R8 was built far more robust (and noticably heavier) than the R93.... same design principle but the fact that the manufacturer redesigned the bolt and it’s locking fingers in the manner in which they did would appear to be as close to a manufacturer’s admission that the R93 was truly a dangerous and unsafe design..... So some would say..... Anyhow, I find the forearm much blockier and nowhere near as nice and ergonomic as the R93..... The R8 was also cantankerous and would shoot factory ammo fine, but would not chamber any reloads no matter which of several die sets I used nor whether I used small base sizing dies or not......

I think that if Blaser had built the R8 as a pump action rifle, they would have achieved creating a rfile that is truly fast to cycle, although maybe they didn’t because pump action rifles are frowned upon in many countries and viewed to be nearly as evil as a self loading semi automatic. The R8 cycles very quickly due to the straight pull design but it makes one lift or tilt their head away from the stock to avoid having a cheek or nose getting smacked by the sharp metal edges at the rear of the bolt.... The bolt throw is overly long for most cartridges as there is only one receiver size available and associated bolt throw length. Maybe if a shooter is built with a nice short neck this may or may not be an issue but it sure was for me, being 6’ 3” with a long neck.

Now on to the K95s...... Super light weight, unbelievably accurate, ( so accurate, you wouldn’t be inclined to believe me if I related just how accurate they are!!!). ergonomic to a fault and perfect functioning, each time, every time.... can’t say enough good aboout them.

All the Blasers mentioned above made use of the wonderful and repeatable Blaser saddle mount..... Again, an engineering marvel and something I have total resepect for.

Now back to the question as to whether they offer value to the end user...... I’d have to say they absolutely would if they didn’t exhibit the R93 click vs bang (and in some cases boom vs bang!!!) or the R8 fail to chamber issues.

Edited by Postman (29/01/19 12:28 PM)

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