Straight-Pull Strasser RS14 Hunting Rifles — Austrian Excellence
We like to see innovation in rifle design. One of the more interesting designs on the market is the Strasser RS14, an Austrian-engineered rifle featuring a slick, straight-pull bolt. With a quick rearward pull, the bolt cycles back. You may be familiar with the Blaser rifle — that requires the bolt handle to be moved in an arc. By contrast, with the Strasser, you literally pull straight back on the short-stroke bolt handle. After the handle moves about 60 degrees rearward, the bolt unlocks and then you can move the entire bolt assembly rearwards through its full motion, cycling the cartridge. The action is very smooth and very fast. Check it out in this video, at the 40-second time-mark:
The action is ambidextrous. The manufacturer can supply either a right-hand bolt or a left-hand bolt. That’s correct — you can switch from righty to lefty simply by swapping the bolt. Very clever.
Again, you can see the smooth, straight-pull bolt in the video below. The Strasser also offers a simple system to change barrels with just an allen key and another simple tool that nests in the fore-arm. The barrel-swap process is shown in this video starting at 1-minute mark:
One of most impressive features of the Strasser is the ease with which you can change chamberings — from small cartridges all the way to to full-size magnums. The owner can swap barrels in a few minutes. What’s more, the Stasser’s quick-change bolt face allows users to quickly and easily switch between small, standard, and magnum bolt face. That way you can shoot anything from .222 Rem up to .375 Ruger with the same RS-14 rifle. Here are the chambering options offered by Stasser (with Walther-made barrels):
Small Caliber (MIN): .222 Rem., .223 Rem., .300 AAC Blackout
Standard Caliber (STA): .22-250 Rem, .243 Win, 6XC, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5-284 Norma, 6.5×55 SWE, 6.5×65 RWS, .270 Win, 7×64, 7mm-08 Rem., .308 Win, .30-06, 8×57 IS, 8.5×63, 9.3×62
Magnum Caliber (MAG): 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win Mag, .338 Win Mag, .375 Ruger
The latest RS14 Evolution features a Picatinny rail on the receiver. USA buyers can choose between an RS14 with high-grade Walnut stock or the Tahr model with a grey, laminate stock. Both types have a detachable trigger module, that allows easy adjustment of pull weight.
This rifle is a premium product, priced accordingly. For orders and inquiries, contact the U.S. importer, International Firearm Corporation. You can also email info@internationalfirearmcorporation.com , or call 1 (844) IFC-GUNS (432-4867).
Click Here for review of less expensive Strasser Solo Model. This has a good video showing how the straight-pull action works: “Locking is by four quadrants around the bolt head, which are forced out into a ring in the chamber extension similar to the Blaser’s multi-collet system. When cocked and locked the bolt handle sits forward at an angle and pulling it back allows the lugs to contract so the action can be opened. The head is fully supported and shows a plunger-type ejector.”
