Blaser 8x57

[Deutsch - Drahthaar]

Getting an 8x57 for driven hunts soon in Blaser and wondered what the best barrel length performance wise would be for that round. I don't mind either a factory std profile 20" or 23" but I'm not really into ballistics so appreciate your advice. I will be using a muzzle brake with it so that wont effect overall length that much.

Thanks

 

[WildBoarHunter]

The 8×57 would work fine from a 20 barrel ballistics wise. The 8 mm packs plenty of punch even from a short barrel. The rifle would also be very compact. The standard R8 is only 103 cm long and the short barreled R8 is 97 cm. I would however strongly advise you to think about blast and noise, as the R8 is very short overall even with the standard barrel. With the short barrel and a muzzle brake, now that could become very unpleasant to shoot indeed. I have two barrels for my R8. First one was a 20 inch 308 win. The second time I rather choose the standard 23 inch 6.5×55 as the blast and noise from the short barreled 308 were unbearable to me. I now also have a mod for the 6.5×55 barrel and it's a pussycat to shoot. Like shooting a 22 LR.

 

[gaza916]

But surely you don’t use 6.5x55 for driven?????

 

[WildBoarHunter]

But surely you don’t use 6.5x55 for driven?????

Yes I do. It's plenty if you hit the boar well. Also there's not much boar larger than 100 kg here as they do not live long enough to become really heavy. It's all about shot placement. Don't forget, they use it to hunt driven moose... I had lost boar that I hit with 308 and 30-06. A bad shot is a bad shot. 1 mm wider bullet won't make much of a difference. The art of driven boar hunting is to pick your shot and hit well. Otherwise refrain from shooting.
Most boar here were shot using old 7×57R combination guns during the years. Some hunters think they must shoot no matter the circumstances. This results in bad shots. They try to compensate bad shots with larger calibers. Which are difficult to master and result in even more bad shots.
Know your tool. Trust it. And hit well with it. They all kill if you do your part.

 

[Lateral]

Getting an 8x57 for driven hunts soon in Blaser and wondered what the best barrel length performance wise would be for that round. I don't mind either a factory std profile 20" or 23" but I'm not really into ballistics so appreciate your advice. I will be using a muzzle brake with it so that wont effect overall length that much.

Thanks

I really wouldn't worry too much about the ballistics, for driven hunting, where you're generally shooting under 100m, a few MPS won't make any difference. I prefer the standard 17mm 520mm barrels, nice and light, and easy to swing. A good muzzle brake will massively reduce recoil, but wear hearing protection.

Also, if you home load, you can tune the load, and if you buy factory, some companies now offer "short barrel" ammunition, for just such cases.

 

[Lateral]

A bad shot is a bad shot. 1 mm wider bullet won't make much of a difference. The art of driven boar hunting is to pick your shot and hit well. Otherwise refrain from shooting.

It's not so much the diameter of the bullet, but it's weight, and speed, and how much energy it carries.

But since you only have baby boar, I'm sure even a 223 would be enough, so long as the bullet goes in the right place

 

[Heym SR20]

Go a bit longer and don’t bother with muzzle break. If you are worried about recoil shoot lighter bullets and make sure stock fit is good. Shot a friends, new to him, old Mauser sporter in 8x57 at end of last week. Recoil is just a shove rather than a kick. And it has an old fashioned lots of drop in stock, so not exactly a recoil friendly shape. The Blaser R93 and R8 handle recoil well. I have used an R93 in 300 Win Mag quite a bit in Germany. It’s called Thunder, but it’s less than a typical 12 bore.

Shooting wild boar, you won’t notice the recoil. And muzzle breaks are just nasty as they blast lots of dust back at you.

In Germany you need 2,000 Joules of energy at 100m to legal for big game. 6.5x55 easily achieves this, so does the 7x57 etc.

 

[6pt-sika]

I have a WWI 98 Mauser that was customized in the 50’s . Barrel shortened to 20” , stocked as a stutzen with Virginia black walnut and fitted with a Lyman reciever sight . My father used that in his early 20’s . Think he killed one deer with it as deer were rare around here then . Anyway I think I might try to waylay one with it this coming season .