I recently had the opportunity to closely examine a R8 Safari in .375 H&H. One thing I noticed was that the locking fingers were extended by default, i.e. that you had to force them close to the bolt in order to allow them to enter or exit the barrel/locking recess, where they would expand under their own spring tension.

That's unlike the R93, on which they are retracted by default, i.e. they naturally sit along the bolt and are extended into the locking recess by sliding over the conical slope at the rear of the bolt head.

Strangely, I have been unable to locate a picture of a R8 bolt with this feature on the Net: all the pictures I found show the bolt assembled, with fingers retracted.

Question to R8 owners or handlers: when you remove the bolt head from the bolt carrier, are the locking fingers extended outwards (in "locked" position), or retracted (tight along the bolt body)?

Do you have a picture of the bolt head with locking fingers clearly visible?

Thanks!

Philip

You may need to go to:
www.blaserpro.com
or
www.blaserbuds.com
Those guys would be able address that question.

The bolt on the R8 functions exactly like the R93. When the bolt head is removed, the fingers lay relaxed along the bolt head. I'm not sure what's going on with the one you were looking at.

When I cycle my R8 bolt open without a barrel on the stock, the bolt "fingers" are flat against the bolt head. When I cycle the bolt to the closed position, the bolt head extending out will bring the "fingers" to the extended position, locking them in the barrel.