Tabla de contenidos para July 2019 en Sporting Rifle

Michael Gove has moved to assure shooters that the UK government has no plans to ban imports from trophy hunting. Speaking in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, the environment secretary described the decision as a “delicate political balancing act”. Following discussions with wildlife charities, Mr Gove called for a cautious approach to outlawing trophy imports. Trophy hunting is often subject to campaigns from anti-shooters who want to ban it, but hunts are responsible for injecting funds into local communities and conservation projects. Trophy importation is subject to permits and government controls, as is the hunting itself. However, since 2015 a number of countries – including Australia, France and the Netherlands – have implemented bans on the import of lion trophies, leading some MPs to pile pressure on the…

In the faint morning twilight I climb the high seat. At the top, I silently slide a cartridge into the chamber, close the bolt, switch the safety on, and put the rifle in a corner. Then I open the backpack, and take out the binoculars, the pillow and the thermos bottle. When everything is in a safe place, I take the binoculars and scout a circle. Fragments of morning mist make it all a bit blurry, and for the time being there is nothing exciting to see. In the distance, at the edge of the forest there are some eye-catching bushes, but nowhere anything moves. In the second round I finish at the bushes again. Suddenly one of them does move! Then the fog disappears a bit, and in the…

Fox numbers in my area seem to have been high. There are various reasons for that, one of which is the fact the local free range poultry farm has become a real ‘fox magnet’ over the last 12 months. As I have mentioned before there are a considerable number of foxes living on cliff land near me which is owned by the RSPB, so no shooting is allowed. These foxes, with the rabbits all but gone, are clearly looking for alternative food sources and a free-range chicken farm must seem a good place to start. As the farm is only a few hundred yards from my home this suits me fine! I can park the truck behind a low hedge from where I can see across most of the farm;…

ELEY SUBSONIC The hunting round from British .22 ammo manufacturer Eley Ltd, the Subsonic Hollow benefits from the same technology that allows Eley to supply Olympic and international champions – so you know you’re on to a winner. Its innovative hollow nosed profile means the projectile delivers unequalled expansion characteristics, resulting in short penetration with outstanding stopping power. For professional pest controllers, this is a natural choice. Eley 0121 313 4568 eley.co.uk WINCHESTER POWER MAX Winchester produces a huge range of ammunition, ranging from varmint hunting, all sizes of game, lead-free and training. The Power Max is one of their more popular cartridges the UK. It works on a combination of three technologies. The bonding process prevents fragmentation, the hollow point guarantees expansion and the jacket thickness controls expansion. Browning…

It is sometimes easy to forget the appeal of small cartridges, when I am so often in the company of big game. But a recent letter to the editor prompted me to revisit one of the most historically popular ‘small centrefire’ calibres. Unlike most centrefire cartridges in use today, the .22 Hornet has a rimmed case. It started life the black powder .22 WCF, developed in the 1920s by a team at the Springfield Armoury, which included among others the legendary Col. Townsend Whelen. A decade later, the cartridge was standardised by Winchester, and within a few years most manufacturers were chambering it. Its versatile, light and compact nature also saw it chosen for military survival rifles in the Second World War. Though the .22 Hornet quivers in the taunting…

BOOK REVIEWS: Joy of texts Shoot In Scotland is your annual guide to the mystery and magic of shotgun and rifle sport north of the border, and it’s back for 2019 with an all-new collection of knowledge, kit and tales from the field. Start planning your trip today with our detailed guide of shooting-friendly places to stay and sporting providers, from the Borders to the Isles, plus travel and legal tips. And get geared up with a round-up of affordable rifles and a guide to what to look for when buying a new shotgun. Then, get inspired as Byron Pace tries out wildfowling for the first time, the Shooting Show’s camera team gets a sample of shotgun sport that won’t break the bank, and Chris Dalton guides a newcomer after…

Three of the general licences for controlling pest birds in England were revoked on 25 April, leading to a situation labelled a “shambles” and not resolved weeks later. General licences GL04, GL05 and GL06 – which permit the lethal control of 16 species, including woodpigeons, feral pigeons, carrion crows and magpies for a number of reasons including to protect human health and prevent serious damage – were stricken from the record. What’s worse, no one got more than two days’ notice, meaning confusion reigned as masses of farmers and pest controllers were unsure whether they were acting illegally, what they needed to do to stay within the law, and what was going to happen next. Though NE had promised to roll out new, legally compliant general licences as soon as…

STAR LETTER Dear Sporting Rifle, ‘Why do you hunt?’ As asked by some of your recent conservation columns. What a genuinely great question for not only the readers of Sporting Rifle but the wider community, and especially in a climate where anti-hunting sentiment is prevalent. For me, hunting is a very constructive and positive part of life. Put briefly, I hunt because: 1. I believe I have a warrant to do so since the beginning of time; 2. The responsibility and decision to hunt is solely mine; 3. I have a moral conscience and ability that allows me to humanely deal with a sick, injured or suffering animal should the need arise; 4. Lastly but by no means least: I need to feed the family.…

That magic period is approaching when, if you are lucky, the roebuck become almost oblivious to the presence of the stalker, intent only on deterring any other buck from wooing his lady while constantly trying his luck with her. And not only his lady – any in the vicinity will do. Many stalkers will be out far too early in the month, peeping and calling in the hope of a response; some will inevitably get this but most will end up simply educating the deer not to respond. Last year the rut was incredibly late starting. After long, hot days for weeks, towards the end of July the weather finally changed and we saw cooler, fresher conditions with much needed rain. That would normally be the start of it –…

I reviewed the laminate stainless variant of the Lithgow Arms LA101 in .22LR in the past. It was a superb rifle, proving both accurate and pleasurable to use, and I felt that the next progression would be to try out the synthetic stainless .17 HMR. Highland Outdoors, the UK importer and distributor, put together a solid package to allow the Lithgow to shine: rifle, scope and moderator, which after initial zeroing and range work might just allow me enough time to get on to a field where some rabbits had been making their presence known on some freshly drilled grass. “ I got into position, loaded up, closed the bolt and was quickly on to a brace of half-grown rabbits that appeared within minutes ” The package included the Lithgow…

Firstly I would like to thank the two gents who made a good night’s rabbit lamping happen, and will ask for forgiveness in advance for anything I subsequently write! The night was set for some lamping around various grass fields that had too many rabbits on them We had a lamper/ driver, a shooter, and me filming and not helping in any other way unless there were biscuits to eat or coffee to drink. Quickly lifting the shooting frame onto the Gator to be bolted down, and assembling all our associated kit from lamps to cameras, 10 minutes of prep saw us entering the first fields to pursue the local bunnies, which had been doing some damage in a rearing field and generally causing a nuisance undermining banks and gnawing…

It’s like when you are studying for an exam: right when you are getting into a good routine and knuckling down to it, something pops up on the radar and totally distracts you. In my case, the study took the form of setting up my .270 Win hunting rig for Precision Rifle style competitions. I was knee deep in new triggers, muzzle brakes, pump pillows, prototype bipods, ballistic coefficients, aerodynamic jump and such like. The phone beeped – John Lambert (owner of JL Firearms) had sent me a message saying ‘Teaser pic’. Next came a sliver of photo that showed a matt silver action wrapped in grey snakeskin carbon… John was his usual dead pan on the phone. “The eagle has landed.” “Lad… what’s it like?” I asked. “What’s what…

Josh Bennion shot a perfect 50-straight to lift the trophy at Clay Shooting’s prestigious British Schools & Young Shots Championship at the Atkin Grant & Lang Shooting Ground in Hertfordshire on 4 May – beating some of the UK’s best young shots including last year’s High Gun, Alfie Tibbles. The BSYS is widely regarded as ‘the big one’ for under-18s, and this year it attracted more than 200 young shots with teams travelling from far and wide, including the stalwarts from Strathallan in Scotland. It’s the highlight of the school shooting year, with teams and individuals from all over the country competing. This year the event received a major boost with Webley & Scott and Armsan lending prize sponsorship with their O/U and semiautomatic shotguns, on top of sponsorship from…

The Northern Shooting Show has grown visibly every year since it first launched in 2016, but maybe that’s to be expected. What was really notable about this year’s show, taking place as always at the Great Yorkshire Showground on 11-12 May, was that everyone was there. Representatives of international companies, major distributors, local retailers, photographers, writers, spokespeople from organisations, your old shooting mate who you haven’t seen in years… the Northern’s always been good at pulling the punters in, but now it seems to have reached a new level. The show’s dual indoor-outdoor setting really showed off its strength this year too. When the rain came down on Saturday afternoon, everyone flooded into the halls – much to the glee of the standholders inside, who suddenly found themselves with twice…

SUMMER SPECIAL Sun-drenched stalks and hot hunts from around the world WHERE IN THE WORLD? The best places on the planet to go hunting MIDSUMMER FOXING How do you do it when nights are so short? CALIBRE CRUNCHING The best cartridges for hunting abroad PLUS… • Pulsar Axiom on test • Rifles from Steyr and Blaser • Wild roebuck hunting in Scotland • Elephant hunting danger • News, views, competitions and offers THE RUT IS COMING Top callers, tips and tricks fom the pros SUBSCRIBE NOW Never miss a copy of your favourite shooting monthly again – subscribe to Sporting Rifle and save money every month, as well as getting the mag delivered to your door. With a quarterly subscription starting at £12, it’s more affordable than ever to subscribe.…

Most Sporting Rifle readers will be familiar with the Macnab. For those who aren’t, ‘Macnab’ is the name allotted to the feat of a sportsman who, during one day between sunrise and sunset, grasses a red deer stag, catches a salmon and shoots a brace of grouse. These may be taken in any order. Achieving a Macnab requires a good deal of luck and a high level of proficiency. In planning a Macnab there is always a great deal of debate as to which quarry to tackle first. Early-season sunny weather may mean that an early start on the river is favored and a grilse or summer salmon may be persuaded to take a fly before it gets too bright for good fishing. If the feat is being attempted then…

One topic of discussion that constantly seems to crop up both online and within the pages of shooting magazines is which calibre is most suited to the shooting of foxes. Within this discussion more often than not the question of using rimfire rifles to shoot them also seems to raise the hackles of some! As I shot my very first fox with a BSA Sportsman Five .22LR a long time ago I thought I would take a look at the facts behind the use of these small calibre rifles and where they have been involved in my own fox control career. As I have said many times before, virtually any rifle is capable of killing a fox provided two factors are taken into consideration: range and accuracy. Clearly all rifles…

It was still dark when I pulled up to the field gate, quietly slid back the rusty bolt and unhooked the loop of baling twine from over the post. A few of the closer ewes stood on stiff legs to lead their sleepy lambs away from any immediate danger as I swung open the gate and rolled into the lambing field as quietly as the rattling diesel engine would allow. I turned the engine off and closed the gate behind me before sorting out my gear laid on the back seat. As it would be nearly two hours before it was properly light, I attached my night vision add-on and infra-red illuminator to the rifle. I slipped a full magazine into the .260 and unfolded the stock before firing up…

Rifle shooters will have an opportunity to try new kit and get advice from experts at the biggest and best brands when The Game Fair returns for the second time to the magnificent Hatfield House in Hertfordshire from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 July. Already the treasured showpiece gathering of the summertime for the countryside enthusiast, The Game Fair’s exciting new features for 2019 and traditional favourites are expected to attract 120,000 visitors and nearly 1,000 exhibitors as the festival of the great British countryside returns to the venue 21 miles north of London that proved to be such a big hit in 2017. “With an exciting program of interactive, educational and fun have-a-go events lined up for 2019, no other event compares on scale and quality,” says The Game…

Hawke’s Frontier Mil-Pro riflescope is due on sale this summer and has a huge amount to offer rifle shooters across a broad range of calibres. I used the scope on a rimfire, where I specifically find it hard to find decent quality riflescopes within sensible budget with characteristics useful to rimfire shooters, especially on a .22 where likely engagement ranges are below 100 metres, sometimes even 50 metres, where many top optics are limited at higher magnification without extensive adjustable parallax range. This Frontier is similar to its 30mm-tubed Frontier 30 big brother but here shows a 1in tube and 5x (instead of 6) zoom ratio. The one-piece aluminium maintube is sleekly burnished and anodised matt black without the tendency to strip skin dust from your hands, and offers 47/46mm…

A big tom leopard padded across the path in front of us, its sagging stomach testimony to a recent kill. Massive shoulders undulated like a turbulent rapid but supported a broad head that was fixed and resolute, while the deep sweep of its tail tillered the cat in the direction of an unsuspecting Hennie. The chirpy little PH was stalking a large gemsbok that had Rob Dines’ initials seared into its hide, so I knew where his focus would be. Rob and his son Norm had joined my hosted safari and were now revelling in hunting Africa; I could picture them hunched behind Hennie, eyes agog, quivering like spaniels, and totally oblivious to anything but the oryx ahead of them. The leopard swallowed ground with an easy gait. I was…

July sees us move into the second half of the year. In the countryside, time appears to move on at an astonishing rate. No sooner have the bare fields been ploughed, worked down, drilled and rolled than the standing crop shows signs of changing colour. Likewise, just a few short months ago we were bemoaning the fact that the game shooting season was over, yet this month, keepers across the country will be releasing this year’s poults in preparation for next season. Deer stalkers among us will be looking forward to the fact that next month brings far more opportunities for our sport. Certainly, though dense cover conceals much of what goes on in the countryside at this time of year, there is little doubt that the deer population is…