Thread: Aftermarket R93 and R8 Barrels – Major Safety Concerns

Stager Sport Press Release – 4th November 2013

Aftermarket R93 and R8 Barrels – Major Safety Concerns

We have recently inspected an aftermarket barrel that has been made here in New Zealand that showed massive chamber expansion after just one shot had been fired. The experienced purchaser immediately realised the potential dangers that may have occurred if he continued shooting.

Stager Sport is concerned about the danger aftermarket Blaser R93 and R8 barrels may present to shooters and would like to inform the public of the processes that Blaser complete to insure their products are safe for use.

The critical bolt lock up in most bolt action rifles is in the action; this means the strength of the gun to withstand the pressures generated by the cartridge is in the action.

Most European manufactured bolt action rifles are sent for Independent Government Proof Testing to insure that the actions are safe to withstand the enormous pressures that are generated when a gun is fired.

A barrel is normally screwed into the action and it is quite normal for aftermarket barrels to be fitted into this type of action as the strength of critical lock up is in the action, and not in the barrel.

However with Blaser R93 and R8 Rifles the critical bolt lock up is not in the action, it is in the barrel and because of this it is the barrel that has to be dimension and proof tested by an Independent Government Proof Testing agency to insure safety.

Blaser barrels are manufactured from special steel that is supplied only to Blaser; this steel goes through constant laboratory testing to insure its consistent quality.

The barrel and chamber tolerances are then machined extremely precisely to insure uniformity for modular compatibility. The critical lock up region of the barrel is then heat treated to achieve a hardness level that offers the exact requirements for both strength and resilience. The barrels are then Plasma nitrided to offer a high surface hardness to stop imprinting/wear. The barrels are then laboratory tested and measured again before going to DEVA the German Proof testing authority for chamber dimension, breach lock up and overload testing.

The specific quality of steel used in Blaser barrels is not available in New Zealand, the independent proof testing of the barrels is not available in New Zealand and it is these things that ensure the product complies with international safety standards. Therefore any NZ made product cannot meet the International Safety Standards.

How an aftermarket barrel made for a R93 or R8 may perform from a safety perspective is a complete gamble.


Stager Sport NZ Ltd

Sole Authorised Importers and Distributors of Blaser and Mauser

Stager Sport | 03 448 8844 | info@stagersport.co.nz

Factory Barrel sales must be down.
Seriously, how does a chamber massively expand without failure from the weaker moving parts?

A barrel threaded to the existing, treated, receiver/knox should be no weaker than any other barrel receiver assembly.

Originally Posted by R93

Attachment 16070 Factory Barrel sales must be down.
Seriously, how does a chamber massively expand without failure from the weaker moving parts?

A barrel threaded to the existing, treated, receiver/knox should be no weaker than any other barrel receiver assembly.

It's good to see your back , haven't seen you around for awhile .

Stager Sport .
While I've got you on the line , I'd just like to ask if you have a American Skeet Stock for a F3 Blaser .
I'm on the hunt for one , I don't care what grade or condition of timber , anything would be considered as long as its uncut and not an adjustable comb .


Ken

Hi Stager. What cal was the barrel and what were the signs of the barrel expansion on the case?
Also what was the load and projectile fired in it?

Originally Posted by R93

Attachment 16070 Factory Barrel sales must be down.
Seriously, how does a chamber massively expand without failure from the weaker moving parts?

A barrel threaded to the existing, treated, receiver/knox should be no weaker than any other barrel receiver assembly.

Question 1:

Seriously, how does a chamber massively expand without failure from the weaker moving parts?
When the breech block is locked in place there should be no moving parts.

The barrel Stager inspected was stainless as was the bolt lock up parallel extension which was not factory Blaser.

The person who had made this complete unit had produced a separate 95mm parallel lock up and then threaded it and then screwed the barrel into it.

The stainless steel locking extension he manufactured was made of a material far to soft for the task of withstanding the pressures that are developed in the chamber.

The fact that the lock up extension and barrel was threaded may also have played a part, if this threading had excessive tolerance the chamber sidewalls being relatively slim would be very much inclined to expand into the excess threading tolerance.


If a genuine Blaser barrel lock up extension is used then, other than correct headspace and ensuring the bolt lock up is complete there should be no problem.

Originally Posted by Ground Control

It's good to see your back , haven't seen you around for awhile .

Stager Sport .
While I've got you on the line , I'd just like to ask if you have a American Skeet Stock for a F3 Blaser .
I'm on the hunt for one , I don't care what grade or condition of timber , anything would be considered as long as its uncut and not an adjustable comb .


Ken

Hi Ken,
Our information is that the US Super Skeet gun uses the standard Super Sport adjustable Stock configuration. If you want a non adjustable we may be able to obtain one of the old model Monte Carlo format stocks that are without an adjustable cheekpiece.
If you can e-mail an idea of stock dimensions we may have something here in store suitable.

Thanks for the reply. The original post makes more sense to me now, cheers.

Originally Posted by L.R

Hi Stager. What cal was the barrel and what were the signs of the barrel expansion on the case?
Also what was the load and projectile fired in it?

I was informed by the purchaser of the barrel who is well known in firearms and reloading circles that it had been chambered to a wildcat version of the 300 Blaser Magnum by necking it down to 7mm.
The chamber expansion was so great that the owner showed this by inserting a cartridge into the chamber backwards for three quarters of its length.

The barrel will be sent to DEVA the German Proof House for examination and a full report on it will be available in due course.

Only the owner can answer the question of loads and projectiles.

Stager Sport/Blaser's concern is that other examples may be out in the shooting fraternity and the potential for incidents like this need to be eliminated before accidents and injury occur.

We request that anyone who has safety concerns about aftermarket Blaser barrels contact Stager Sport on info@stagersport.co.nz

Originally Posted by Stager Sport

If a genuine Blaser barrel lock up extension is used then, other than correct headspace and ensuring the bolt lock up is complete there should be no problem.

How do I buy one? I assume this is the section with the two studs and scope attachment points?

Before posting public safety concerns about a competitors product don't you think you should have some more information?

The first thing I would like to know is what was the load fired in it?
How many rounds has it fired and were all the cases in the same state.

Obviously it is a wild cat so there will be no factory load data for it so how do you know it was not massively over loaded? I could achieve the same expansion with a factory blaser barrel if I loaded it hot enough.

Next thing is what makes you think using a Blaser barrel lock up section would be any safer? You still have exactly the same problem of the thin chamber walls and expansion into the threads.
Do you know what material the after market barrel lock up is? Do you know it's tensile strength and hardness? I do and I also know what a factory Blaser barrel is to.

Just a few things to think about. It seems like you are assuming a lot of things at this stage.

Oh well, its achieved one thing. I have never known Stager Sport to respond to a question so fast. If at all.

If its a genuine safety issue, then its legit and awareness should be raised. I wonder why though Stager haven't raised the same concern over at the other pub?

who made the barrel and or fitting work?

Just saw the same message on Facebook.... hopefully no one is jumping the gun so to speak, with this very public announcement

Originally Posted by Tussock

Lets not answer that. Based on L.Rs response is should be possible to guess.

+1 There are plenty of questions that need to be asked. It is imo however, a good saftey plug for Blaser, in a way.
If a chamber can expand that much on a single firing, yet the primary locking of the action remains intact. Impressive.

I also think it is really poor form displayed by the owner of said barrel, to run somewhere else for answers before giving the fabricator of the barrel a chance to fault find and remedy. I would be highly pissed if I was the fabricator assuming he has not been given the chance.

Headspace is critical and has to be absolutely perfect for these actions to remain safe and function correctly. More so than a sloppy standard action
You will reach your max load well before you would in a standard camming action. So in order to have a functioning rifle you can never use overloaded ammo.
Primary extraction cannot be achieved unless it is well within safe limits. You normally have to increase barrel length if you chase the speed others get from the same cal in a standard action.

I would be putting the load used at the top of the fault list in this instance. If that is deemed to be safe......then look at the metals, tolerances and fabrication process.

Originally Posted by R93

+1 There are plenty of questions that need to be asked...

I would be putting the load used at the top of the fault list in this instance. If that is deemed to be safe......then look at the metals, tolerances and fabrication process.

End of the day, a wildcat load has no specs...
Metal, tolerance and fabrication process has no controls over either, and thus the issue we have in NZ with every backyarder thinking they are a gunsmith and no accountability and in most accounts no metallurgy experience and basic/limited machine skills and tools.
Primary extraction as a quote is understood by very few, and it seems that many also struggle with the basics of headspace

Who's barrel is it, who made the action and what's being done about it??