quote:

Originally posted by luismat:
Hello guys,
this is my first post so please be gentle and participate

I live in Europe and have been hunting for a few years, especially deer and wild boar.
I've owned a few rifles in the past (Remington 700 BDL, Sako, mauser 03, etc.) with different results and now I'm left with a couple of CZ's 550
But now I need to buy ONE rifle, but I really need it to have one special characterists

1- It has to be an interchangeable barrel rifle/take down (for different reasons, you can only own a certain number of rifles here in Europe and a "system" like blaser or Merkel KR1 only count as one) and due to ease of transport

So,
I really need your help as I'm kind of lost:

1-I don't trust Blaser R93 that much, the bolt etc.... but on the other hand, thousands of owners can't be all wrong. But there were a few accidents in the past , but I guess those happen with all rifles

2-I really like the Merkel as it meats the requirement above and is a somewhat more traditional bolt rifle

3-I don't really like (but never used one) Sauer 202 take down.. and it is really expensive.uys, please help me out here... should I go with the Merkel ? feedback
thanks ! and I really love this Forum

quote:

Originally posted by luismat:
So, all you guys owning the blaser R93 , you don't , not even for a second think about the potential risk of having the bolt fly straight to ones face ?

quote:

one take-down system only counts as one rifle...

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
I guess the encore is too plebian for this group.

quote:

Originally posted by f224:
Yes the ammo was defective. Extensive investigation's a proved that the R93's radial bolt can handle excessive pressure, even with multiple locking leafs broken off.

I have shot over 4,000 rounds through my three R93's and have no worry at all. An acquaintance of mine was closing the bolt on a State Arm's 50bmg rifle and the firing pin had stuck in the fire position. The round discharged with the bolt out of battery, bolt flew backward into his arm and almost killed him. So much for the secondary locking theory of the bolt handle.

Like I said, pay your money and enjoy your choice.

quote:

Første mail
"Hi!

On the internet I have read about cases of Blaser R93 blow-ups in e.g. Norway and Austria. Most of the accidents caused damage to the faces of the unfortunale hunters/shooters.
A few friends of mine - some of them own R93's - have discussed wether Blaser have made changes om the R93 to improve the safety for the user or not. We can not find any positive information which is why I turn to you for answar.
If any changes indeed have been made, please specify in which way the changes inhances the personal safety for the R93 user - if or when a rifle blows due to for instance high pressure.
Have you made demolition tests of the R93?
What do the test show in regard to the personal safety of the shooter?

Best regards"

Vedhæftet dette svar var Blasers officielle pressemeddelelse om ulykkerne:
"Dear ,

Thank you for your email.
I too would have concern after reading some of the things written in the internet.
I am forwarding you a copy of a press release which should satisfy all your unanswered questions. If you have any further doubts, please let me know.



Best Regards

Darren Hull

International Service
Blaser Jagdwaffen GmbH
Ziegelstadel 1
88316 Isny im Allgäu
Germany"

Derefter skrev jeg:
"Dear Mr Darren Hull,

Thank you for your answer.
I understand the Blaser R93 is an extremely strong rifle that withstand very high pressures endeed. Futhermore I have personally seen exellent accuracy in R93.
Weapons must be handled with care and used only with the right kind of ammunition - but sometimes people do not follow these simlpe instructions.
However no matter how strong a construction is it has a breaking point.
That is why one from time to time can read about weapons made by SAKO, TIKKA, BLASER and others that blew.
My concern is not if a rifle blows, but what happens to the shooter WHEN a rifle blows. In the cases of Sako and Tikka
nobody - to the best of my knowledge - was seriously hurt. In some of the Blaser cases the shooters suffered severe injurys to the face.
Independent demolition tests in Denmark have proved the Carl Gustaf 96, Mauser 98, Tikka, Varberger, and Schultz & Larsen M97 to be very safe weapons to use even when they blow up due to barrel obstruction and extremely high pressures.
That makes me wonder if the R93 could be more liable to break in a way that would hurt the shooter compaired to other modern rifle constructions WHEN the accident happens.
This brings me back to my initial questions:
Have you made demolition tests of the R93?
What do the test show in regard to the personal safety of the shooter?

Best Regards"

Hertil svarede Blaser:

"Dear ,

Thank you very much for your answer and please allow me to respond as follows:

First we have to state that the R93 has a very safe and reliable design that withstands pressures over 8.000 bar, a level that different Competitor-products are not able to withstand. As you certainly know, over 8.000bar, we do not have certified means of measuring the pressure so we can only work with Computer-programmes or elongating stripes (DMS).
We have tested the Blaser R93 and several competing products with extreme overloads in different levels of pressure (according to what was calculated) and we clearly can state that every model shows different ways of destruction depending on the pressure-level.
In high-pressure levels even same loads can result in different results of destruction.
It therefore is an incorrect presumtion if one feels that with just one measurement in one pressure-level one could state about ones product to be superior to another. We at Blaser would certainly not do that, this applies also for products of our competitors.
What we clearly have found out is that we also were able to destroy products of competitors (also competitors that claim that this was impossible with their products) in a way that the user would have been seriously injured.
As a summary and under consideration of the Beforementioned I can only repeat my statement from the beginning:
The R93's safe design has to be placed in the top level of modern sporting-rifles when compared over all the different pressure-levels.

Best Regards
Darren Hull

quote:

1-I don't trust Blaser R93 that much, the bolt etc.... but on the other hand, thousands of owners can't be all wrong. But there were a few accidents in the past , but I guess those happen with all rifles

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
I don't know about the Merkel or the Sauer, but I do own two Blaser R93s and five different barrels for them (.25-06, 7mm Rem. Mag., .308 Win., .338 Win. Mag. and .375 H&H Mag.). I have owned them for about ten years or so and love them.

I am satisfied that the "safety" issues are the result of faulty, overpressure ammunition, which I do not use.

The rifles are accurate, reliable without fail, very fast to operate, can be broken down and reassembled (including removal and replacement of scopes) within a few minutes and will return to within a minute of angle of their previous zero time and time again.

I have hunted with them here at home, in Canada and in two African countries. I have killed deer, plains game and dangerous game with the R93, and I plan to do so again.

So, you have my vote.