An infamous Blaser S-2.

Looks pretty nice to me, Bill. Is there some type of prejudice against Blaser's on this forum? It seems there might be from some of the comments I've read. If there is can you tell me why?
Dave

If it was me that did the engraving, I'd give myself an A.

If it was my rifle that I paid hard cold cash for, I'd give it an F. I generally don't like most animal engravings, but this one seem exceptionally cartoonish, and if I'm going to have cartoons on my rifle, they will be the infamous Creedmore Frogs, not some funky bovines.

Brent

A lot don't like them because they aren't "traditional".

I kind of like the Blaser S-2 but I find the quality of the engraving, when it comes to African animals, to be pretty primitive.

They do very nicely on European animals.

I have seen worse engraving. But I would rather have no engraving than something which is not classy. For me that gun would not be worth one dollar more than one with no engraving.

C- at best.

I like the R93; I have two and several barrels. But what Blaser calls "engraving"--even on the S-2--is unfortunately not engraving. It's mass produced and primitive.

The scroll work is okay, but the so-called "engraving" is merely embossing.

Brent put it right! I wish I'd thought of that.

-Steve

The guns I have seen over the years that were engraved in Europe usually have "stylized" animals like those on this gun rather than the more exact reproductions we are used to seeing on American guns. Take a look at the "non-animal" patterns on this gun and I think you would find it quite pleasing. The scrolling is very good to excellent IMHO.

I agree with Brent and Steve.

The scrollwork is excellent and IMO the whole rifle would look a helluva lot better with scroll on it than those animals. I give the animals a D+ or a very low gentleman's C. As stated above, I think at best they are no value to the rifle and detract a bit IN MY EYES. BUT.....and this is a very big but....beauty is in the eye of the beholder or owner and if someone else goes into micro orgasms over it, enjoy is all I can say.

I've seen some Kreighoff Doubles with beautiful animals on them. I don't think the problem is necessarily European or Germanic, but just the choice of engravers. They don't come more realistic and beautiful than some of the Italian work.

Seems like it is easy to screw the whole job up with poorly engraved animals. Engraving is like seasoning, a little goes a long way in my opinion.

Gatorgordo has it right.

The Italian Bulino engravers are the best in the world.

I have a lot of Blasers and some are engraved and some aren't. Until you get into the grades above Super Lux you are stuck with very plain very cartoony African game. Their European game is excellent, wildboar, roe bucks, chamois, red stags, and mouflon.

The boarder work is very beautiful but the animal characters are fairly ordinary.
It must be phenominally hard to produce an accurate representation of any animal I would think.

The lower grade (below Super Lux) Blaser rifles have side plates you can remove and change patterns on.

On D99, S-2 this isn't the case on Luxus rifles, but on all the rest you can remove them and upgrade or downgrade as you like.

Many Euro gunsmiths make side plates out of steel that fit into these recesses. It's just a matter of shelling out the Euro for a custom engraver to upgrade.

I've only seen the double in the DSC.

I do have a friend who bought the R93 with a 257 Wby and a 375 H&H barrel. It is a different rifle no doubt. It is well made and it is very accurate.

I will say this, you don't need to take the rifle down from your shoulder to work the bolt.
Just lift your hand from the trigger and pull back and push forward.

I was skeptical until I actually used the rifle. Now I'm just impresssed.
Just my opine.

The scroll work is reasonably good, the game scenes are fair at best, the inletting & metal-to-metal fit leave alot to be desired.

The engraver certainly could use anatomy lessons and lots of time drawing animals.

I messed around with a Blaser a couple of weeks ago at Briley here in Houston. It definately looks better when viewed as a whole in person, but it is a little extravagant for me.

I presume these aren't even engraved. They look like the same thing Beretta does. They cast in the engraving and then, sometimes, touch it up by hand. Given the price of the gun, that's about all they can afford to do.

I am a Beretta fan, and no way would I consider most of their new guns. The engraving on a 20 year old 686 is much better than what you will find on a new EELL. Some of it literally looks like chicken scratches. Trying to hid it with cheap, two dimensional gold wash overlays makes it worse. I would much rather buy a nice, case hardened action with really good, well finished wood than what passes for a high grade gun now. Beretta is not alone, just a good example.

It's OK. Like Brent and Steven indicated, it's a whole lot better than I could do myself.

But compared to the work of top professional engravers, the work earns a C-, and reminds me of the engraving Beretta has on some of its lower grade O&U shotguns. I'd rather it wasn't on that rifle..........

AD

blaghpuke but nice

The scroll looks OK, but the only animals I like on any firearm is BOLINO, that looks exactly like a photograph! I much prefere the English scroll, and rose, on double rifles, but do like the acorn & Oak leaf on some German drillings, and other combination guns, as long as the animals are Europian. It seems like there aren't many engravers who know what African animals look like. I also agree with the guys that say, Today, the best engraveing is done by the Italians, for the most part!

I am used to engraver quality that is a world better than what is on that rifle and my judgement is tempered by that. I find the scroll work poor and I consider the animals just above "animal cracker" quality. If you want to see very poor scroll work look at the closeups available on Mark DeHaan's shotgun site. They do not get very much money for the engraving but it would have better left plain.

My engraved guns are shotguns, and they look much better than this Blaser. The animals look like they came from a childrens' book.

For production guns the Merkels, Berettas and other Italian makes like Rizzini are excellent.

http://www.gsifirearms.com/gsif/engravers.asp

Scrollcutter, are you reading this thread?

jim

Is this hand work or is it done with a laser?

One trip to the annual meeting/show of the Firearms Engravers' Association (?), held in Reno at the same time as the SCI convention, and you will NEVER look at gun engraving the same way, ever again.

It is humbling in the extreme to see the pure artistry on display, which also goes for the guns from the Custom Gunmakers' Guild, on display at the same time and place. Ever since my first visit to their show, I am a deadly critic of poor engraving.....too bad I can't afford the very best. Maybe someday.

In many cases, and it's amply demonstrated at the engravers' show, very moderate coverage and complexity often are highly desireable and beautiful.

quote:

Originally posted by Customstox:
I am used to engraver quality that is a world better than what is on that rifle and my judgement is tempered by that. I find the scroll work poor and I consider the animals just above "animal cracker" quality. If you want to see very poor scroll work look at the closeups available on Mark DeHaan's shotgun site. They do not get very much money for the engraving but it would have better left plain.

Chic

You are right on about the quality. The scroll is first level, if that. The animals are a joke. I would bet the barrels were done by a diferent engraver than the action as they appear better executed, at least on my screen and IMHO.

At the risk of hurting some people's feelings a gun is better off with no engraving than poor engraving and that is what you normally get on bottom end guns.

Not impressed with the animals. Very cartoonish in poor taste in my opinon.

My 5 year old drew this for me last winter. It is a cape buffalo chasing a lion who is perched on an elephants butt. I think this would look better on that rifle than the poor attempt which was done by "professionals"

I'm with 500grains.

JW

The animals look retarded.

a readily available criterion for engraving is that the engraving in question should be as well done as the engraving on the bills with which you paid for it.this clears the field pretty quicklyand eliminates a lot of ill placed raving over amateur mediocrity.

I have spent too much time looking at some of the finest engraving at the Custom Gun Guild shows and in periodicals, talking to engravers, gunsmiths and collectors and this is not IMO good engraving in any part...In fact its bad IMO.

However, I don't like gaudy engraving, animals etc. In fact I like only fine scroll and very little of that on my guns..

I do appreciate good engraving and animals on other folks guns that look like they are real and could jump off the gun and walk out the door, and its usually the eyes and facial expression that tell the story on engraved animal figures.

I saw a shotgun at Buckhorn guns in Dallas with a quail hunting scene in fine small engraving, if you rocked the gun slowly a quail flew up, now that was awesome. I think Billy Hodge sold that gun to someone in the the Saudi Royal family.

The first time I see gay buffalo!

Surestrike,

I got a real kick out of your post. Thanks!

ROTFLMAO

The animals look flat and not much musclature...lions look like they are laughing...

Mike

Goofy Bill.

Better just wrap that baby in butcher paper and let me take it off your hands.

quote:

Originally posted by CaneCorso:
Seems like it is easy to screw the whole job up with poorly engraved animals.

The scroll work is *very* bad, too. Though there seem to be less readers able to spot this point, compared to the cartoon animals. A first-year apprentice should be expected to do better on the scrolls (at the end of the year).

I would probably ask the seller to give a 50 % discount on this rifle because of the engraving.

Carcano

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
The engraver certainly could use anatomy lessons and lots of time drawing animals.

Also have his eyes checked, might need some strong glasses

Cheers
/JOHAN