Table of contents for Summer 2019 in Sporting Rifle

Sportsman Gun Centre were good enough to send me a Steyr Mannlicher CLII SX in .243 Win. The rifle arrived fully assembled and cocooned in a foam-lined hard case with a Nightforce SHV on top, in a set of Warne rings. All I had to add was a moderator and some ammunition. Unscrewing the thread cap, I spun on on my old faithful S5. The stainless build has seen the moderator last through many years, and the ability to change the thread bushing easily has allowed me to cater for the numerous threads I have encountered on review rifles. ZEROING June was decidedly wet, which has made hunting and zeroing forays more difficult. On an initial zeroing at 100 yards on an uncut silage field, with target board pegged high…

No doubt many of you enjoy having a nicely laid out plan for the week ahead – I certainly do. Recently I had just such a week lined up. I was going to put a day aside to get some assessment work completed for level 2 portfolios. I also needed to go through and check out a couple of new plantations to make sure everything was OK. There were some seats to check, and some to move, and on top of that, I was sure the Memsaab would have a few jobs for me. It was very relaxed; I had no clients to worry about, so I could lie in until 5am before checking my computer for emails – bliss. Then everything changed. The first email of the morning was…

One morning last summer I took out Stuart, an Australian stalker. At home, he was a member of a syndicate, with the main quarry being fallow deer. We met at 3.30am as arranged, and walked and stalked until just after 8am. We were lucky, with the sun finally breaking through patches of thin mist shortly before we finished. I was able to show Stuart a young roe buck and a muntjac doe – the first time he had seen these species. As a sheep farmer, Stuart was also interested in the fields of growing arable crops and the generally green landscape. When we had finished stalking, we debriefed, with Stuart showing me that he had got a good grip of English low-ground ‘still hunting’. His one query related to our…

B laser, as a brand, have a very loyal following, and when their optical line of binoculars and riflescopes appeared more than two years ago, it was interesting to see how marketing and technology would combine to honour their name. The 2.8-20x50 option most appropriately represents the market for hunting purposes; a smaller fast fire 1-7x28 for driven game and larger 4-20x with 58mm objective for low light are also offered, the former of which has interesting properties of variable illuminated dot size. The first encounter with this 2.8-20x50 shows the rail mount facility, which is relatively uncommon in the UK rifle shooting world. The underlying construction shows a 34mm diameter tube melding into the Zeiss pattern rail that Blaser specifically market for mechanical performance. They are especially proud (and…

EUROPEAN GAMES UNDER WAY The second European Games will be taking place as this issue of Target Sports comes out, taking place on 21-30 June in Minsk. Minsk 2019 represents the last senior multi-sport event before next summer’s Olympic Games and will provide invaluable experience for the British athletes hoping to travel to Tokyo as part of Team GB. There will also be Olympic quota places for the Tokyo Games on offer at the event in a selection of sports, including shooting. Four rifle and pistol athletes will represent Team GB in Minsk: Kristian Callaghan, Sam Gowin, Katie Gleeson (pictured above) and Seonaid McIntosh. British Shooting performance director, Steven Seligmann, said: “We are very pleased to announce a strong shooting team that will represent Team GB across all disciplines; rifle,…

THE ROE RUT IS HERE Calling tips and stalking stories from the experts ALL THE KIT YOU NEED From callers to camo, sticks to socks, it’s the ultimate stalking gear collection HARVEST HEAVEN Make the most of this most productive time in a foxer’s calendar STICK TO YOUR GAME New sticks from Wicked Lights on test PLUS… • Kahles optics on test • Night vision from ATN • In pursuit of fallow buck and red stag • What stalking’s like in New Zealand • News, views, competitions and offers THE BIG ONE! News and product launches from this year’s Game Fair 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…

Pressure has piled on the government to restore the general licences to allow the control of pest birds, after BASC estimated that losses to farms and rural businesses were in the region of £29 million so far. Figures collected by BASC’s survey of 29,657 shooters paint a damning picture of the effects of the licence revocation. Of the survey respondents, 96 per cent said they viewed the previous general licence system as beneficial. They had contributed 3.4 million days of pest control annually, which almost totally ground to a halt when the licences were withdrawn. Now, 86 per cent of respondents reported increased risk to crops, 79 per cent to wild birds and 59 per cent to feed for livestock. Four-fifths of respondents reported some form of economic loss, adding…

You’ve still got a few days to respond to the NGO’s survey on the work of gamekeepers on conservation projects nationwide. The survey, being run jointly with the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, was extended until 30 June, which means there’s still time to submit your evidence – if you’re quick. The aim of the survey is to amass evidence about all the work game management contributes to environments and species around the UK – something that’s often overlooked in mainstream media and political discussions about the countryside. NGO chairman, Liam Bell, said: “We do not shout loudly enough about how our efforts play a crucial role in preserving the habitats and wildlife that are so import to Britain’s biodiversity. I would urge all those that have not yet completed their questionnaire…

The nation, home to an estimated 130,000 elephant, imposed the hunting ban in 2014 but now appears set to reverse it despite pressure from environmentalist groups. The move stems from president Mokgweetsi Masisi, who created a panel to review the hunting ban two months after he came to power in 2018. The panel found in favour of restoring hunting earlier this year. “The number and high-level of human-elephant conflict and the consequent impact on livelihoods was increasing,” the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism said. The ministry said it wanted to ensure the reinstatement of hunting would be done in an “orderly and ethical manner,” in accordance with the country’s conservation laws. Details of how many elephant will be taken per year have not yet been released. It’s…

The Hughes 500 flared, pivoted on its axis and dropped nimbly into the tussock. It’d landed on a rib that joined the backbone of the Southern Alps to the south-east. To the west, the thin ribbon of the West Coast was just visible, with the Tasman Sea beyond. Rob Dines (61) and his nephew Ben (28) disembarked the chopper into a chilly autumn dawn and set up base camp to the backbeat of retreating rotor blades. While the skies were clear and the weather settled, with the forecast indicating a slowly advancing low and 10-30mm of rain later in the week, Rob knew from experience that New Zealand’s alpine environment was unpredictable and could turn from benign to deadly on a dime. On the other hand, he and Ben had…

I’m squeezing in practice for some Precision Rifle type competitions that are being run this summer, and as I look deeper into this type of shooting I am learning lots of little bits along the way. A good buddy of mine is also jumping neck-deep into the world of PRS and I was keen to test out his new rig recently. So in this article I’d like to do a couple of things: have a look at a custom PRS rifle, and go through some basic training techniques for this game. We’ll do the training first. The most productive training sessions I walk away from usually follow a logical format, and that format looks something like this: Identify some key outcomes you want to get from the training; plan the…

An interesting package arrived at my door the other day, containing the latest hand-held thermal spotter, the Pulsar Axion Key XM30. I’ve written many times before about how thermal technology has changed the game for fox shooters, not to mention its many other uses. I heard recently that Darryl Pace of Pace Brothers fame has been using a thermal camera mounted on a drone to locate wader nests on keepered moorland, as part of a research project with the German game conservancy. It’s remarkable how people find ingenious uses for technology once it gets into the hands of shooters, who as we all know are the real conservationists, not some charities whose main aim seems to be to obliterate shooting in their quest for money and power. Rant over! This…

Richard Faulds stormed through in the final minutes to win the 2019 Clay Shooting Classic outright. His score of 139 ex-150 was just one target ahead of a handful of top shooters on 138, who had gathered outside the Garlands clubhouse in anticipation of a shoot-off for the coveted trophy. DIt was a fitting climax a week of tricky targets and great shooting at the revitalised annual competition, run by Steve Lovatt for Clay Shooting magazine, with some fantastic prizes from headline sponsors ATA Arms and Sportsman Gun Centre. Richard was delighted with his win. “It was close,” he commented. “At the end of the day there’s never many targets between the top shots now, and to come away with high gun today was a challenge and I’m very pleased…

ENGLAND CHILDERLEY SPORTING Chinese water deer and muntjac specialist. We manage over 30,000 acres of land in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. We can offer 1:1 guided stalking to all capabilities and training for beginners. We have a zeroing range up to 250 metres along with our simulated stalking area. Contact: Paul Childerley 07715 638934 paul@childerleysporting.co.uk www.childerleysporting.co.uk MARK BOULTON Driven boar hunting throughout Europe and night shooting in Sussex. Groups or individuals. Various packages offered from day trips to France to six-day all-inclusive trips to Hungary. Contact: Mark Boulton 07854 985006 markthedeerstalker@hotmail.co.uk SHOOTING SH A long-established syndicate of 15 years with 19 varied blocks. Red, roe, muntjac and fallow deer with 10 walked-up days as added value plus rough shooting in your annual fee of £750 first year, dropping to £600…

STAR LETTER Dear Sporting Rifle, When my dad handed me my first rifle 61 years ago, little did I know of the roads I would travel, and how important his lessons would be in later life. It’s true that “from small seeds mighty oaks do grow,” and so it was that my love grew for the craftsmanship that could take wood and metal, and by the skill of hands, turn them into functional and beautiful rifles. My first .22 was a single-shot BSA. The firearms officer refused to permit a bolt action repeater as, I quote, “they are too powerful, and the reason we let you have a single shot is because you are protecting sheep from foxes and uncontrolled dogs.” Truly ignorance is bliss – in some cases not…

When it comes to Africa, one of the great debates always centres around cartridges. Is there an ultimate answer, a cure-all cartridge for the African bush? How much gun is too much gun? One thing is certain, almost everyone around a campfire will have an opinion, and it is extremely unlikely that everyone will agree. First things first, I think there is a sensible case for splitting cartridge requirements between dangerous game and the rest of the huntable African game. If nothing else, many countries have a minimum requirement for cartridges when it comes to dangerous game of .375 H&H. The truth is that there are a lot of cartridges which work very well. To suggest otherwise or to narrow down a single go-to option serves only to poke the…

It’s the time of year when I and my able assistant Callum are out by day and night dealing with the inevitable surge in calls for help where hungry foxes are causing havoc to livestock, mainly poultry. This year things have really been bad, with a constant stream of requests for our services coming in from everyone from large enterprises to private poultry owners who keep just a few hens for eggs. Foxes, and vixens in particular, can be extremely persistent in getting what they need in the way of food. I suspect that the number of calls I have been getting lately has something to do with the catastrophic drop in the rabbit population hereabouts. To give an example of this, four years ago on a nearby poultry farm…

It’s now around 16 years that the little .17 HMR has been with us. I remember the furore this fast, flat-shooting round created when it first appeared and the subsequent shortage of ammunition that followed. I, too, was swept away by the biggest step forward in rimfire history for a long time and soon was the proud owner of an Anschütz 1717, which is still with me. All went well for a while, then ammunition problems surfaced, all of which have been too well documented to go over again. Fortunately, these problems appear to have been addressed and seem to be becoming a thing of the past. This is undoubtedly good news as without a doubt the .17 HMR is an excellent all-round vermin cartridge particularly for rabbit work. Sadly,…

When Gary Lamburn purchased The Sportsman Gun Centre in 1993, the business was in transition. The deal for the mail-order gun store was completed for less than the value of your average European-made rifle. Now the company is turning over millions and spans three of the largest shooting superstores you’ll see anywhere this side of the Atlantic, in Exeter, Dorset and South Wales. We meet him in the Exeter superstore, which opened in 2007, covering a vast 22,000sq/ft with 6,000sq/ft dedicated to the retail showroom, presently holding 4,500-5,000 guns at any one time. If you add in the Dorset and Newport stocks, they have somewhere in the region of 7,000 gunsto choose from. Now that’s an armoury to be envious of! It’s certain any rifle shooter could find what they…

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, along with 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 a first Scottish buck.…

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…