Great pictures. What a thrill to be able to share this experience with the entire family!

Off all the lovely trophies, if I really had to pick one that speaks to my heart, it has to be this one - what a great, gnarly old bull...



Weidmannsheil to all the fortunate and skillful hunters!

- mike

Vielen Dank, Mike.

Brandon is at college, but I will pass your message on.

We had seen this bull three times over as many days and our PH Kobus told us the old boy is asking for it. Sure enough the next morning we saw him again and that was his undoing. Kobus said that the bull was as old as he has ever seen. Bang...flop with the Blaser R-93 in 30.06 with 180 grain Swift A-frame. It was a righteous ending for the old boy.

TJB

Tim, I just re-read your your report, and it sure is a pleasure to see all those happy faces! What a joy to be able to share this with your family.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Tim Burkhart:
Just curious how many out there have taken a Blaser R-93 to Africa?

I was amazed how well mine functioned even with a bunch of Kalahari desert sand in the rails and part of the action. Those things happen when you belly crawl 300-400m stalking up on a trophy springbok.

My impression is that a lot of you on this site don't consider the R-93 an "African rifle". But, after 3 trips I must say I have been pleased with the R-93's performance.

What say ye?

TJB

I hunted the Kalahari in 2007 with my R93s. Man is there a lot of sand in the Kalahari, and, boy, does it get EVERYWHERE when you belly crawl!!! The sand even got into the ring for changing magnification on my beloved Zeiss 3-9x36 - a scope that has been with me pretty much all over the World. It still worked, but sand inside a scope's adjustment mechanism causes me to cringe...

The sand also got inside my Blaser straight pull actions. That does not NOT exactly help in terms of smooth operation!! But the R93 kept ticking - albeit accompaned by some unpleasant scratchy sounds.

A friend of mine positively *hates* R93s. He never tires of telling me stories where Blaser problems feature prominently. I have personally hunted with little else apart from my R93 since about 1994-1995, or so. In that time I have travelled from Southern Africa to Greenland and hunted in temperatures stretching from -40 - +40 (Celcius), and I have yet to have a problem with any of my Blasers. But maybe I have just been lucky??

- mike

Thanks Mike for your kind remarks.

Luck has nothing to do with it. It is called "German engineering".

Yes, indeed, I too have had similar experiences with my R-93. I have been caught in -5F snow storms at 10,000ft. in the Wind River Mountians of Wyoming to the blazing heat of the Zimbabwe bush and the R-93 never failed me once.

I started hunting with the R-93 in 1999 and have never looked back. I have never understood the criticism that people will heap upon the R-93. After visiting the factory in Germany in 2004, I became even more convinced that it was the right choice for me.

I recently purchased a Krieghoff Classic rifle in 500 Nitro Express. It too is a wonderful rifle. But, I am sure some one will think it is not the right gun for my elephant hunt in Zim. I don't really worry about what others "think". I just go hunting!

Between my R-93s and my 500NE, I think I have it all covered. Can't wait to get to the Save Conservncey again, or some where to hunt the jumbos!

TJB

Hello Tim

Congratulations on a great family trip. You are an excellent photographer; those are some of the best photos I have seen in a long time.

Aziz