We at Forelock and load thought it would be interesting to give our demo Blaser F3 and F16 shotguns to one of our customers to give an honest view. We hope this is gives a bit of info on the gun and if you have any further questions please get in touch via phone or email. 01284 811032 or info@forelockandload.com and for a list of our gun please click HERE
Now is it said Blazer or is it said Blah-sir? Well in the end I found out it’s the not the one I thought it would be.
Just to give you the lowdown on my shooting before we start, I’ve been shooting for 5 years. I know this as I just come up for my 1st shotgun license renewal from the Suffolk firearms department. I don’t claim to be any sort of expert, but I have been lucky enough to fire off quite a few different makes of guns.
I’ve shot from the bottom (Baikal) to some of the top boys (Krieghoff and Perazzi). I met the guys over at Forelock & Load about 4 years ago and since then I get asked the occasional clay based shooting question due to that’s what I shoot the most.
So I get a text from Nick saying they are going to start stocking the new F3 and F16 from the German company Blaser, would I be interested in having a go with one? Well my answer was “yes please”, I never turn the opportunity to shoot any gun down. First one of the Blaser range I got to take out was the F16 30” sporting, so off I trotted to Eriswell (formerly Lakenheath Gun Club) with my dad (he’s very good at buttoning a clay trap).
So carefully I took this new gun out of the slip, the grade on the stock was awesome. The F16 (Available in 12B only) looked amazing but how would it shoot? The first stand was 2 quartering L/R going pretty quickly, a small move with the gun and one clay was powdered with a excellent miss behind on the second bird. I turned to my dad and said “my word the trigger pulls on this are amazing”. My dad returned his normal confused look when I waffle on about guns, we moved on to other stands to try different clays. I shot all the stands their featuring all the usual suspects you see at a clay ground, crosser’s, rabbits, battue’s, loopers and high driven.
After shooting all those clays the main points I came away thinking was the gun fitted me a treat, the handling and the weight were also great. But it was those trigger pulls, now it’s hard to describe but the word I will use is “precise” some guns can have a slightly sloppy pull but this gun was up there with the like of a Krieghoff (a much sort after German gun but with a much higher price tag). I even had a few people at the ground remark about the F16 as to what make was it and what was it like? I offered a few people who spoke to me, the opportunity to have a shot with with it, all seemed pretty impressed.
It was then I received another text from Nick saying he now had his hands on a F3 (this is available in a 12, 20, 28 and 410g) It is the big brother of the F16 and would I like a go with it? So within 30 minutes we met at the ground and gave the F3 a blast.
I found out straight away it shared the same traits as the F16, that handling, great build quality and yet again those trigger pulls.
We took it in turn to try the gun out on different stands, Nick was finding it easier than I was to get kills with this F3.
It was then we realised that it fitted his shape better than mine, now for those who don’t know us amazing specimens of male genetics let me explain!! I am around 5ft 10 with a long head (very horse like) while Nick is 6ft plus with a squarer frame.
So even though the F3 is the better gun it really does come down to gun fit and what suits you best. I currently shoot with a Beretta 692 and highly recommend you give the Blaser range a look, the F16 has gone into the middle bracket competing against the likes of Beretta (692) and Browning (725). While the F3 (DT11 equivalent price wise) is slightly more of a jump in price, however giving the same characteristics as say much higher priced by the like of certain German and high end Italian makes.
I think they are excellent guns but find out for yourselves and make your own mind up by asking for a demonstration at Forelock and Load
Ohh!! and it pronounced more like Blah-sir than Blazer
