I really enjoyed my old Krico Stutzen. It was short and light rifle. Very accurate and I liked double set trigger. However, I was feeling bad wiping and drying it after every single outing… 🙁 I tried taking it out only when it suppose to be a dry day, but it was getting wet anyway. I thought it would be better to sell it to someone else to enjoy. It went down South where weather must be at least a bit drier than around Glasgow 😆

When I started looking for another .243 I noticed Blaser R93 rifles dropped in price and are more accessible nowadays. I don’t know whether introduction of the new R8 model made more people selling their old R93s or something else, but I noticed more second hand Blaser rifles in classified sections of Internet forums and on Guntrader. When I spotted used R93 from one of the Scottish main dealers for £900 I thought maybe Blasers could be within my budget, something I never considered before.

I made some research and decided to get used R93 Professional, as many people commented it was much better than older Offroad stock. I noticed a couple rifles on Guntrader and Internet forums such as Stalking Directory, but to my surprise I got much better deal from MacLeod’s of Tain, main Scottish Blaser dealer. I exchange a few emails with Gregor MacLeod and it was a pleasure to deal with him. He offered me used R93 Professional stock and bolt with a brand new .243 barrel for less than I could find anywhere else for a used Offroad. I happily accepted his offer and got the rifle sent to my RFD to be picked up.

Rifle arrived quickly and was very tidy and as Gregor described.

First impression

I had handled Blaser R93 before and it was very nice rifle with nice high quality wooden stock. This Professional model looks and feels great as well. It is really well build. It is nicely balanced and palm swells feel good in hand.

When I unpacked the rifle it all looked a bit complicated to put it together, but I quickly realized it is not too bad. There are just two screws that have to be fastened with the Allen key provided to keep the barrel in place. Then magazine to be dropped in and the bolt just slides in. Mounts can be attached and removed in seconds. All fits and manual is not really needed for any basic operation. I noticed changing a bolt head might be more complicated, but I have not tried that yet and there are some helpful pictures in the manual in case I have to.

Cocking/decocking and reloading is smooth, but will require some practice. Some force has to be applied to slide the cocking lever forward before taking a shot. Also reloading seems to be a very noisy process… 🙄 but I knew about it before I bought it. I am sure there is a way to make less noise and slamming the bolt can be avoided.

The trigger is good, but I would prefer to lighten it a bit. It is lighter than on my Steyr Pro Hunter unset, but heavier than my Tikka. To be honest Tikka is really light at around 1lb, so not sure whether I could do something with this Blaser trigger. I don’t want to go for any replacement trigger just yet and I don’t think there is any adjustment screw…

The stock came with a bipod stud fitted. I only use bipod for zeroing, but it’s good to have that option.

Barrel is brand new standard profile .243Win threaded 15×1 spigot. I am not sure about what moderator to go for, but will need to have new one as my other rifles have different thread.

To summarize, I think it was a good buy and I am sure it shoots straight. The time will tell if we get along well…

Video

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