Blaser's R8 Modular Rifle Part II-Didn't he sing bass for Shan-Na-Na?

Part I of “Blaser’s R8 Modular Rifle” addressed some of the more unique aspects of the R8’s design, but ultimately aesthetic appeal and interesting engineering take a back seat to how accurately a rifle places shots and how reliable it is in operation. Fortunately, operating out of rural Maine means the procedure for traveling to an outdoor range only involves gathering up gear: firearms, ammunition, targets, ear protection, chronograph, etc and moving it all fifty feet from the shop to the firing line. And that is where I spent an entire day, shuttling back and forth between shop and range, collecting data, making adjustments to ammunition, then heading back to the range for proofing.

Specifics

Hornady Heavy Magnum 375 H&H 270 grain Soft Point InterLock ammunition was used to baseline .375 H&H performance. Hornady Superformance 150 grain GMX SPF and Fusion 150 grain SP ammunition were used to baseline the R8 with a .308 Winchester barrel in place.

Handloads were kept to a handful that have historically performed well. I elected to go with North Fork Bonded Bullets in particular for the .375 H&H loads because they have been consistently accurate and the solid shank/lead core construction has done well in penetration tests in test medium and on heavier game. At the last minute, a Speer 235 grain soft point was added. This bullet weight extends the usefulness of the 375 H&H cartridge to hunting something less than the largest mammals, without the rifle weight penalty normally associated with this cartridge. 

Four bullet types were loaded for the .308 Winchester that have performed well in just about everything from the .308 Winchester to the .300 Ultra Mag. The 130 grain is a good bullet for antelope and deer, that could also do well on coyotes or peccary. The Barnes MRX heavy core is an excellent longer range bullet. Both the Hornady and Sierra are tough general purpose bullets that typically exhibit excellent accuracy.

Chronograph and handload data

Ambient temperature was between 61ºF – 67ºF, relative humidity 32%. An Oehler chronograph with proof screen was used to record velocity, software corrected to 10′ from muzzle to first screen. Not sure what I will do when the Model 43 goes south or I can’t keep XP running on a notebook in support of a serial port.

Mentally shift the ruler over to begin at the center of the hole to the left and you’ll find the lower group measures 0.7″. It was shot with 250 grain North Fork Bonded bullets. The upper group, 300 grain bullets with less than a 1″ vertical shift in point of impact measured 0.6″. In fact, the only group that shot greater than MOA was one set with 235 grain Speer bullets when I momentarily lost concentration – a long day of shooting. The same loads on a reshoot went 0.8″.

The Z6 Swarovski scope, with nearly 3¾” of eye relief, was appropriate for the cartridge, as was the 1.7-10x magnification range. The Blaser R8’s rail mount didn’t budge off of zero the entire time.

Cold or warm barrel, there were no signs of vertical or horizontal stringing. The rifle was comfortable to shoot off the bench and standing.

The R8 shot two groups just like this, or at least very similar in pattern. The first, pictured right, was shot with 350 grain North Fork Bullets, the second set was shot with Hornady Heavy Magnum ammo which, I believe, has been replaced with Superformance ammunition for the .375 H&H.

A couple of features of the R8 contributed greatly to my ability to shoot the gun well. The first was the Blaser’s trigger. I don’t usually like very light triggers, but this one had such a clean and consistent feel and I could anticipate sear release so well. I could crank the scope up and pick my spot on the bullseye during the little side to side heart beat and breathing oscillation and determine exactly when I wanted the firing pin to fall.

The second feature contributing to small group size was the nontraditional bolt handle movement. With the straight pull to unlock and an absence of lifting or rotation around the bore axis, it was easy to keep the gun on target even when cranking rounds from the standing position. All of the groups pictured were shot off the bench, but I also shot from standing and sitting positions with the aid of a  sling and shot a personal best. I don’t mean to go on about the R8’s accuracy. It’s just that I had an excellent range session and for me that always raises my level of enthusiasm.

The R8’s .308 Winchester accuracy…

A short break between sessions to clean up the R8 a bit and check for loose fasteners or scope mount, to allow myself time to settle down. Everything on the rifle checked out fine, so I changed over the bench for the .308 Winchester phase and put out fresh targets.

The .308 Winchester configured R8 gave nothing away to the .375 H&H set up. The 0.5″ group, left, was shot with Silvex core 165 grain Barnes MRX bullets.

The worst group was a 0.8″, right, shot with Fusion 150 grain factory ammo. Everything else, including Hornady Superformance ammo shot under 0.8″.

The combined performance of both rounds speaks volumes for Blaser’s R8 concept. Here is a single gun, with two interchangeable barrels, that can effectively and accurately shoot bullet weights from 130 grains to 350 grains as a minimum, which covers just about every hunting situation. It would have been nice to have had the opportunity to shoot the R8 with a .500 Jeffery barrel to see how it performed at its upper limits. RealGuns has actually done quite a bit of work with the cartridge and I would like to see how the R8’s personality changes with 8,000 ft/lbs of 570 grain bullet energy. By the same token I really like shooting the .222 Remington. It is extremely accurate and just the thing for rural areas where civilization is beginning to edge its way in. 

Summary Impressions

Hmm… tough one to articulate. I can begin by saying my first impressions of the gun were not the lasting impressions. I believe the relatively high price and European origins, particularly with so many superfluous options, caused me to want to dismiss the R8 as a serious hunting rifle. Fortunately, handling the rifle, taking a closer look and spending time shooting the rifle helped me to find a serious hunting rifle under all of that fancy walnut. Besides, a little “fancy” is good and individual owners can draw their own lines between very nice and over the top on the high end options.

The R8 is incredibly versatile as a system. A hunter can go from varmint to elephant size quarry with the same gun, the same feel, the same confidence that comes with experience of use, just by changing barrels. Additionally, the R8 system gives up none of the things typically associated with switch barrel firearms; the Blaser product doesn’t surrender its repeater capability, it doesn’t force a magnum weight and size gun into every application and no special tools or complete firearm disassembly is required for the changeover. Blaser very much got it right.

Blaser R8 Overview Specifications 375 H&H 308 Winchester Model Blaser R8 Jaeger Cartridge .375 H&H .308 Winchester Capacity 3+1 4+1 Stock Walnut Hardware Blued Carbon Steel Barrel&Chamber Hammer forged Barrel Length 25¾” 22¾” Net Barrel Length 24½” 21¾” Twist 1:12″ 1:11″ Weight 7 lbs 2 oz 7 lbs 4 oz Overall length 43″ 40½” Stock Pull 14¾” Drop at comb ½” Drop at Heel ⅝” MSRP – Jaeger rifle $3,761 MSRP – Synthetic rifle $3,200 MSRP – Barrel/Mag insert $1053 Bolt Heads – Approximate $300

Price will remain an issue for some, not an issue for others, however, Blaser isn’t trying to be the rifle for the masses. I do believe this is one of those times when the consumer gets what they pay for as long as they hunt enough and shoot enough to understand the benefits of what they are buying.

Wild West Guns, a certified Blaser dealer, expressed a good deal of enthusiasm for the Blaser line. Not empty praise as they are serious firearms people who produce lots of their own custom firearms and operate near exceptional big and dangerous game areas. Wild West prices the Jaeger at $3,500 and standard contour barrels at $879. The new synthetic stocked model will carry a Blaser MSRP of $3,200 so if Wild West Guns follows suit, we are getting into budget priced guns… almost.