Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i Sporting Shooter

A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR SIMON Munslow is an avid shooter and hunter, politically savvy and active in the field of Firearm Law. You see Simon is a lawyer, but wait … he's a good and honest one. Lawyer jokes aside, Simon, who hails from rural NSW, is most active around the courts nationally representing licensed shooters who have fallen foul of the law for many reasons, not least of which is unreasonably harsh prosecution of licensed shooters for minor “offences” against the regulatory regime in their state. Aside from his firearm owner advocacy out in the very complex and all-too-real world of the Australian legal system, Simon also regularly writes a very informative and useful firearms law column on our website sportingshooter.com. au. He provides this service to…

Yearning For A .284 Winchester Q I have a good Argentine Mauser 98 action which I’m seriously considering having rebarreled to .284 Winchester, but my gunsmith says I should go with the .280 Remington which is capable of giving higher velocity. I know you had a BSA Royal in .284 that you used successfully on overseas hunts and swore by. It is really my first pick and I don’t think I’d be happy with the .280. What’s your opinion about this? – Dick Hanley A The .284 Win. and .280 Rem. are ballistic twins, two superb cartridges that never achieved the popularity they deserve. Both cases have virtually identical capacities - about 62gn of water to the base of the neck. Assuming your rifle is throated to allow seating a…

A S THE fox sidled even closer to me and just about trod on my boot, I realized that I was really with the guru of fox whistling. But probably starting at the beginning would most likely be better. Rolling up to Ron Kiehne’s place in the picturesque town of Glen Innes was great after a long five hour drive. A quick cuppa was the go as we talked about hunting deer and foxes. A cheeky fox coming in to the whistle. Ron is the man who makes and distributes/sells the Silva Fox Whistles and this was my chance to find out a little more about them. Wondering how the name of Silva Fox came about was shown to me as we went into his walk in gun safe. On…

I HAD walked in the dark summer warmth for 45 minutes so I could be positioned at the stubble's edge for the onset of daylight. This particular morning, I spied a large distant silhouette ambling in my direction from the lip of a dam, raising dust with his shuffling. I had brought my CZ .30-06 and as it was to transpire, I would need its raw knockdown power. The wind was in my face, so while he was still a few hundred yards distant with his head down, I repositioned myself so I could take a shot at what had materialised as a pied-looking boar, the largest I'd seen in this vicinity for some time. He'd obviously been out for the night feeding and was now on his way into…

“The sambar are still colonising, having migrated almost to Sydney now.” WHEN MUDGEE FARMER, Peter Mills asked me to come visit him and his wife Pam for a week at the end of March - “And bring Alita” - I jumped at the offer. These days, with The Redhead very fragile, my hunting is limited to when I can take her with me. Or be able to organise doctor referrals and arrange placement in a nursing home for the duration. That all takes time - and at short notice doesn’t happen. The timing was excellent as the last week in March is the beginning of the fallow rut, though croaking is more reliable in the first week in April, when the “lawnmowers” are in full cry. As it happened this…

THIS month’s top story saw Director and former Gympie local Christopher Sun signing a deal with the movie monster Universal Pictures. Universal will distribute the film starring John Jarratt, Ernie Dingo and Hugh Sheridan. The horror style movie was shot in Kandanga in the Mary Valley. Chris Sun was quoted saying "To have them cheer and applaud at the end of the picture was a great feeling. All the years of indie film making paid off,” While Universal will now decide when to release the movie, Sun said he would lobby to premiere the film on the Sunshine Coast. "They are very open to supporting our ideas. There will be a Queensland premiere and I would like it to be the world premiere,” he said, the film, about a 2.5m-high…

IMPORTEDfor several years now by Outdoor Sporting Agencies, this extensive line of Japanese-made budget rifles are famous for having sturdy actions, accurate barrels, decent workmanship and being affordable. The basic Howa action, a modified Sako design, proved popular because it is capable of handling a variety of cartridges from the .222 to the .375 Ruger. The 1500 Howa range has been kept up to date by the addition of numerous new models featuring the options that modern shooters demand. The Howa 1500 is available in three action lengths - a new Mini-Action about 12 percent shorter than the standard short action for the .222/.223 and the 6.5 Grendel; a short action tailored for the .308 family; a long action for .30-06 length cartridges and short magnums like the 7mm Rem…

NEW Savage B-Series Rimfire Savage’s new B-Series line of rimfire rifles feature a totally new and modernized design that has been engineered from the ground up for maximum performance and user friendly ergonomics. The new model’s ergonomically designed stock, higher comb, top tang safety and target-style, vertical pistol grip allows shooters to hold the rifle in a more natural position that puts less pressure on the wrist. Savage has retained their famous accuracy features which include the AccuTrigger as well as their button rifled, hand straightened, target crowned barrels. In addition, the barrel mates with the action with a threaded lock nut just like their centrefire rifles, creating a more solid connection, improving stiffness and increasing headspace precision, which all contributes to better accuracy. This new Savage rimfire also features…

AN ASSORTMENT OF HUNTING FACTS & FIGURES YOU'LL read about and be told about a great many more standard factory sporters that are capable of minute-of-angle accuracy than you will ever lay eyes on. If you start worrying about the fact that everybody else's rifle seems to be good for 1-MoA while yours seems to average no better than 1.50 or 1.75 MoA, don't get depressed or wrap your rifle around the nearest tree. Your feeling of despair would be considerably relieved if you could actually shoot some of these supposedly super-accurate muskets. Be content in the knowledge that one or two 1-MoA groups do not a 1-MoA rifle make; the long run average is what counts. The accuracy potential of a rifle is dependent on a number of things,…

IF DEER are the crowning glory of hunting in Australia then the Hog deer surely is the jewel in that crown. In Australia we are indeed fortunate to have the opportunity to hunt this remarkable little deer that in their natural range are now declining dramatically and under threat. Australia may play a unique and important role in conserving this wonderful game animal in the future and it will be hunting that drives this role. In this article we will briefly examine the origins and biology of Hog deer and look at how to hunt them based on their biology, behaviour and the habitat they inhabit in South-east Victoria. But be warned, from personal experience I know that Hog deer hunting is very, very addictive and the only known cure…

AS a dedicated consumer of hearing protection, let me tell you that CENS has built my favourite ear savers for when I’m shooting, and in particular for when I’m hunting. Their ProFlex in-ear electronic noise suppressors are superb — the most practical and comfortable hearing protection I’ve ever worn while also being at least equal with the most effective. Being electronic, they kill the damaging blast of a gun being fired without impeding your ability to hear people, game, bush sounds or anything else in your environment. The ProFlex earpieces are based on custom-made plugsthat fit your ears perfectly, and that’s not only their secret to success in comfort, it is a major reason why they’re highly effective sound suppressors. The electronic units that process incoming sounds and make them…

“All the best gear is great ... if you take it with you.” BACK in my late teens I used to do a lot of weekend hunting for small game like rabbits and foxes with an occasional pig shot once in a blue moon. Back then, with limited funds, my mates and I used to traipse around the bush in whatever old clothes we had, preferably in a green or dark colour to hopefully blend in a bit. Our hunting boots were old worn out sneakers, a backpack was the one we wore to school, a rain jacket was whatever old thing had been in the family for years and rifles were generally hand-me-downs and were walnut stocked chromoly barrelled jobs. When the weather turned bad, it was a case…

NIKKO Stirling's new Diamond scopes are intentionally designed to be sold at prices that more hunters and shooters can afford, but OSA didn't skimp on the glass in the new Diamond line. It's made to the same quality requirements as many pricier scopes, and Microlux ETE GEN III multi-coated lenses offer a clarity that is unmatched in the low-priced scope market. The scope I received for testing was the Diamond Long Range 4-16x50mm Holdfast model with illuminated glass-etched HOLDFAST reticle zero-stop Ballistic Drop Compensation Turrets. The scope is not too bulky for a heavy varmint/ target rifle. Mine looked right at home mounted on a Howa Varmint Blue but it may be a bit too heavy for a standard weight sporter. The scope measures 345mm in length and weighs 0.907…

The softest next-to-skin fabric we have ever experienced.” OVER the last few months, since Tony's first look into new Bigfish camo shirts in his Shooter's Showcase column, we have both been wearing them outdoors doing what we love best, huntin' & shootin'. You can refer back to the products' description in Tony's column in the February issue or in a coming website "product of the week" story, but below is a small reminder of what makes Bigfish clothing unique. Bigfish Gear is a fishing apparel and graphic design company based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The company was born through the need for effective, cool, sun protective shirts that also look great. The directors of “Bigfish” are very avid anglers and have generated these shirts due to their interest in…

ORIGINALLY fireformed from the .280 Remington, the .280 Ackley shows slight increase not only in velocity but also accuracy. The cartridge which started life as the wildcat 7mm-06, was adopted by Remington in 1957 as the .280 Remington. Initially it was chambered in the Remington Model 740 autoloader and later the 760 pump-action. I was at the Remington Seminar in 1979 when the company made an abortive attempt to increase sales, by renaming the .280 the 7mm/06, but after objections from the assembled gunwriters it became known as the 7mm Express Remington. Alas, shooters weren't a bit impressed by this monicker either, and in 1981 the company went back to the original .280 Remington designation. Lack of popularity for the cartridge is a shame as when reloaded with a 150gn…