The Blaser F16 shotgun
This heir to Blaser’s F3 is a gem of a shotgun.
At last year’s HuntEx at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Blaser (pronounced blahzer), introduced their new over- and-under shotgun, the F16, with the same strikingly compact, low-profiled, semi-round action as that of their F3. At 58mm high, 40mm wide and 90mm long, it is the lowest and slimmest-profiled 12ga o/u action ever. The consequent low centre of gravity makes the gun extremely pointable and instinctive shooting easy. The lock-up is achieved by a Browning-type full-width bolt and bite across the action floor. The stud pins or trunnions are easily removable, another innovation, though this beautifully-made action is not going to be shot loose with-
out it first consuming a prodigious number of cartridges.
The barrel selector being divorced from the safety-catch and positioned just in front of the trigger, is a marked deviation from ‘standard’ o/u configuration and prevents inadvertently switching barrels. The patented inertia block system (Blaser IBS) prevents involuntary second shots.
Inside the cock-on-opening action the hammers, which have replaced the strikers in the F3, are very close together and the firing pins slide in line, meaning no pin-to-primer drag on opening. They are at rightangles to the breech and have a very fast lock time. This avoided the use of very expensive EDM work (electric discharge machinery) which is somewhat akin the spark erosion, but accurate to 1 angstrom (1/1 000th of a millimetre). The ejector actuating rods coming out of the mid-line sides of the breech-face are identical to those of the F3; looking at the fore-end you see that there are no cocking or ejecting mechanisms therein, also unusual. Secondly and uniquely, the Blaser EBS ejector system only cocks on firing, so the ejector springs are only under tension for very short periods of time, thus give consistent ejection force and are not going to get tired for many, many years. The top opening lever is noticeably much shorter than ‘standard’, but the effort required to open the gun is minimal.
TWO MODELS
Unlike the F3 with its seven models, the F16 has but two – Game and Sporting. Both have plain black gunmetal grey actions with ‘F16’ engraved on either side, inlaid in silver for the Game and in red for the Sporting. A right-hand side palm swell to the pistol grip is standard and fortunately it is not too big. The length of pull (LOP) is advertised as 14¾” (375mm) for both models; however the Game gun I used was 14½” (369mm). The catalogue shows a Comfort, soft-rubber recoil-absorbing butt-pad with a hard heel insert to aid quick mounting and prevent snagging on clothing. Again the gun I used had a leather-covered buttpad, usually only found on topof-the- line guns and way preferable!
The LOP can be lengthened on the Sporter to as much as 15½” by the adjustable goldplated titanium mechanical trigger. This is advertised as having a four-stage pull, though to me only two were evident, breaking crisply with zero drag at a light 1.65kg (3lbs 10oz). My preferred LOP is 14³⁄₈” (365mm), so the alignment of the barrels and sights were practically perfect for me. The Game’s comb was eminently suitable for my physique with drops at the nose of the comb of 1½” (38mm) and 2.2” (56mm) at the heel. There is also a small amount of cast-off to the heel and toe. This can be had as 3mm, 6mm or 8mm (0.12”, 0.24”, 0.32”) and the pitch of the butt is set at 84 degrees. The Sporter’s comb is slightly higher with drops of 1½” (38mm) and just 2” (50mm) and I would really have to scrunch my cheekbone into the comb to get good alignment. This puzzling difference between game and sporting gun’s stocks is quite common in Europe. The forearm has an English rounded tip and uses a semi-concealed Anson push-rod catch which is efficient, neat and unobtrusive. Blaser used grade 2 walnut for the stocks though upgrades to grade 3 or 4 are an additional extra. Grade 4 walnut is Blaser’s top, superlative grade. Left-hand stocks (with cast-on) and adjustable combs are in the pipeline.
The mono-block, chromelined steel barrels have a superior black finish and are blackbored for less recoil, better velocities and patterns. The top and solid side ribs are silversoldered to the barrels, thus hot bluing will never be a problem. While the barrels on the Game are either 28” (710mm) or 30” (760mm), the Sporter is available with 30” (760mm) and 32” (813mm) barrels. The ventilated top rib is tapered from 9mm (0.35”) at the breech to 7.5mm (0.30”) at the muzzles. The Game has a 3mm nickel-silver bead front sight while the Sporter has a red fibre-optic version. There is no mid-rib bead. The flush-mounted multi-chokes are supplied in ¼, ½ and ¾ chokes only. I do believe that this is a mistake and both cylinder or »
The now industry-standard high-impact polymer case is supplied with cloth ‘socks’ for the stock and barrel/firearm.
» skeet and full choke which are extras, should be included – almost every other manufacturer has five chokes as standard. As another additional extra, Briley Spectrum extended chokes can be ordered ranging from skeet to super full. All guns are proofed to 3” magnum-plus steel shot proof. The Game guns weigh approximately 3.1kg (6.8lbs) depending upon barrel length and wood density, while the Sporters are between 3.4 and 3.8kg. Sling swivels are included in the package, but thankfully not fitted. These on a pedigree shotgun are akin to fitting a tow-bar to a sports car!
The Sporter is equipped with a threaded rod inside the butt-stock to take one to three weights and has the mounting blocks on the side ribs inside the forearm for other weights. This enables the user to select a neutral, barrel- or stock-heavy format, to personal taste, the extra weight – up to a total of 1½lbs will mitigate recoil a tad as well.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
The now industry-standard high-impact polymer case is supplied with cloth ‘socks’ for the stock and barrel/ firearm.
I handled and shot a 28”-barrelled Game gun. In the hands the gun balanced exactly on the hinge pin which is always desirable, came up to the face readily and the leather-covered buttpad did not snag on my clothing. My overall impression is one of compact minimalistic elegance, I particularly like the plain dark-grey gunmetal finish which is somewhere between glossy and matt, essentially not very reflective and said to be very durable. It will work well in the field – I have never been keen on fancy engraving and gold inlays on working guns. All metalwork showed precision manufacture and finishing, and the wood to metal fitting was uniformly excellent.
I am neither a fan of heavy shotguns nor long barrels, so for me the standard Game model was an acceptable weight. The 28” barrels are my preferred length and the gun fitted me like a glove. Some shooters do not like palm swells on pistol grips but I find that they help getting the trigger hand into a consistent position on the grip. So, to my mind a palm swell is a definite plus. The wood was with some decent figure and of an acceptable colour, neither too light nor too dark. The 24 lines per inch chequering are laser-cut and executed in diamond patterns with a double-lined border.
A round of compak went remarkably well for a new gun and I dropped only four birds. Better than my usual scores, but this was helped by the gun swinging effortlessly, smoothly and beautifully. Put me down as a definite fan.
The F16s recommended retail price is R49 000 for the Game and up to R56 000 for the Sporting models. I have seen retail prices of $3 795 (x14 = R53 130) for the former and $4 195 (R58 730) in the USA. But for a solid precision-built example of a German firearm, this is not excessive. Blaser’s objective was to make a more budget-priced model at about half the price of the F3 and in this I think they have definitely succeeded.