The Blaser R8 is a German straight-pull rifle known for its radially locking bolt system, modularity and its barrel mounted scope mount manufactured by

Blaser Blaser Jagdwaffen GmbH (pronounced: Blah-zer) is a German firearms manufacturer of high-end shotguns and rifles both for the hunting and tactical market. It was founded in 1957 by Horst Blaser, developing the drilling Blaser Diplomat. In Sep ...

. The rifle also features a manual cocking system and a direct trigger. In 2015 there had been produced more than complete Blaser R8 rifles. It is based on the

Blaser R93 The Blaser R93 is a straight-pull action precision rifle offered in a multitude of calibers and barrel lengths manufactured by the German firearms manufacturer Blaser. Designed by Blasers' designer Mr. Meinhard Zeh in 1993, it had a numbe ...

rifle series that was discontinued in 2016.

Design features

Modularity

The Blaser R8 is a truly modular system built around an aluminium alloy receiver frame, offering differing stocks and barrels of varying length and thickness. Optionally a steel receiver frame can be ordered that increases the weight by approximately . The R8 is available in calibers from

.204 Ruger The .204 Ruger is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Hornady and Ruger. At the time of its introduction in 2004, the .204 Ruger was the second-highest velocity commercially produced ammunition and the only centerfire cartridge produc ...

.500 Jeffery The .500 Jeffery is a big-game rifle cartridge that first appeared around 1920, and was originally introduced by the August Schuler Company, a German firm, under the European designation "12.7×70mm Schuler" or ".500 Schuler". When offered by th ...

. Different bolt heads for different groups of calibers are user changeable and the barrel has a quick-change design which lets the user switch barrels using two screws and a hex key, making the Blaser R8 a modular firearm. For affordable training a

.22 Long Rifle The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smo ...

conversion kit is also available. The .22 LR kit consists of a new barrel, bolt head and magazine insert. Aiming optics like telescopic sights mount on the barrel via a proprietary Blaser mounting mechanism instead of the receiver. A sight/barrel assembly can therefore be removed and replaced with no change in zero. There are also aftermarket adapters to other mounting standards available, such as picatinny. In 2019, Blaser and

Carl Zeiss AG Carl Zeiss AG (), branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid th ...

began offering a telescopic sight that switches on a red dot when a R93/R8 series rifle is cocked ("Zeiss Illumination Control/iC"). The iC system is based on the Zeiss rail.

Bolt design

The Blaser R8 straight-pull bolt action locks by a 14-lug radial collet in a 360 degrees groove in the barrel and is designed to withstand pressures significantly exceeding the

Mauser 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the K ...

–type bolt-action rifles. The bolt is symmetric and self-centering, providing a basis for increased accuracy. The Blaser R8 displays a locking surface of compared to for the Blaser R93 and for the Mauser M98 bolt action system. The stressed parts are made out of hammer forged steel and plasma nitrided to provide corrosion resistance and mechanical strength. In addition the primary lockup by the bolt head into the barrel, the R8 also features two secondary lockups for added safety, which is one more than the R93. Compared to the preceding R93 rifle series for additional safety the barrel has been thickened at the critical part, the groove has been enlarged and the locking angle of the collets has been steepened from about 50 to almost 90 degrees. Further the radial collet opens differently. The thus improved lockup of the R8 series comes at the price of a less smooth operating bolt when compared to the R93 series and some weight increase. The R8 lock up was successfully tested at the

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institute laboratory at piëzo pressure. Contrary to some other straight pull designs, the Blaser R93 and R8 have been reported to have no issues with primary extraction. The bolt head moves in a purely linear motion, and except for the bolt handle cam when opening or closing the action, operation by the shooter is also purely linear. The bolt knob uses M6 threads, enabling the use of aftermarket bolt knobs.

Magazine

The Blaser R8 has an uncommon detachable box magazine/trigger unit. When detached it renders the rifle inoperable and safe. To avoid accidents with set triggers, Blaser offers the R8 only with a direct trigger. The compact detachable box magazine/trigger unit contributes to balancing the rifle, as the Blaser straight pull action is about 50 to 60 mm shorter than conventional bolt actions. The Blaser R8 Professional S 'budget' variant lacked the detachable box magazine/trigger unit of the more expensive R8 variants. Since the Blaser R8 Professional S model most R8 variants became available without the detachable box magazine/trigger unit.

Compatibility

Parts for the preceding Blaser R93 series in general do not fit the Blaser R8 series rifles, except for scope mounts.

Available chamberings

Below is a list of some of the available factory chamberings for the R8:Caliber Overview - Bolt Action Rifle R8 - Blaser Jagdwaffen GmbH – subject to change without notice, errors excepted (12/2016)
/ref> ;Mini (MI) caliber group: *

* .222 Rem * .223 Rem ;Standard (ST) caliber group: *

22-250 The .22-250 Remington is a very high-velocity, short action, .22 caliber rifle cartridge primarily used for varmint hunting and small game hunting. It is capable of reaching over 4000 feet per second. It does find occasional use by women and yo ...

* 243 Win * 6XC * 6mm BR *

6.5×47mm Lapua The 6.5×47mm Lapua (designated as the 6,5 × 47 Lapua by the C.I.P.) is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge that was developed specifically for competition shooting by ammunition maker Nammo Lapua and the Swiss rifle ma ...

6.5mm Creedmoor The 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5×48 mm), designated 6.5 Creedmoor by SAAMI, 6.5 Creedmoor by the C.I.P. or 6.5 CM or 6.5 CRDMR for short, is a centerfire rifle cartridge introduced by Hornady in 2007. It was developed by Hornady senior ballistic ...

* 6.5×55mm * 6.5×57 * 6.5×65 RWS * 6.5-284 * .270 Win * 7×57 *

7×64mm The 7×64mm (also unofficially known as the 7×64mm Brenneke, though its designer's name was never officially added as a part of the cartridge name) is a rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge developed for hunting. As is customary in Europ ...

.308 Win The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

* 8×57mm * 9.3×57 * 9.3×62mm ;Medium (ME) caliber group: *

6.5×68mm The 6.5×68mm rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge (also known as the 6.5×68mm RWS, 6.5×68mm Schüler, or the 6.5×68mm Von Hofe Express) and its sister cartridge the 8×68mm S were developed in the 1930s by August Schüler fr ...

* 7.5×55mm *

8×68mm S The 8×68mm S rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge was developed in the 1930s by August Schüler of the ''August Schüler Waffenfabrik, Suhl, Germany'' as a magnum hunting cartridge that would just fit and function in standard-si ...

;Magnum (MA) caliber group: * .257 Weatherby Magnum *

.270 Weatherby Magnum The .270 Weatherby Magnum was the first belted magnum based on the .300 H&H Magnum to be developed by Roy Weatherby in 1943. The cartridge is short enough to function in standard-length long actions with a brass length of 2.549" or 64.74mm and ...

.270 Winchester Short Magnum The 270 Winchester Short Magnum or 270 WSM is a short, unbelted, magnum cartridge created by necking down the .300 Winchester Short Magnum and fitting it with a .277 caliber bullet. The correct name for the cartridge, as listed by the Sporting A ...

* 7 mm Blaser Magnum * 7 mm Rem Mag * .300 Blaser Magnum * .300 Remington Ultra Mag *

.300 Win Mag The .300 Winchester Magnum (also known as .300 Win Mag or .300 WM) (7.62×67mmB, 7.62x66BR) is a belted, bottlenecked magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a m ...

.300 Weatherby Magnum The .300 Weatherby Magnum is a .30 caliber rifle cartridge created by Roy Weatherby in 1944 and produced by Weatherby. It has become the most popular of all the Weatherby cartridges. Background Roy Weatherby already had experience with oth ...

* .300 WSM * .338 Win Mag * .375 Blaser Magnum * .375 H&H Magnum * .416 Rem Mag * .458 Win Mag *

.458 Lott The .458 Lott is a .458 caliber rifle cartridge designed for the purpose of hunting large, thick-skinned dangerous game animals in Africa. It is based on the full length .375 H&H Magnum case blown out and shortened to . The .458 Lott was des ...

;Jeffery (JE) caliber group: *

;Swiss (CH) caliber group: * 10.3×60R Swiss (single shot) ;Lapua Mag/Norma Mag (LA) caliber group: *

.300 Norma Magnum The .300 Norma Magnum, also known as .300 NM or "300 Norma" for short, is a centerfire magnum rifle cartridge developed by Swedish ammunition manufacturer Norma Precision. The .300 Norma Magnum uses a .338 Norma Magnum case necked down to the ...

.338 Lapua Magnum The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70 mm or 8.58×70 mm) is a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. It was used in the War in Afghanistan and ...

References

Blaser Jagdwaffen GMBH
{{Blaser Firearms Rifles of Germany Straight-pull rifles Magnum rifle cartridges Modular firearms