Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i Shooting Gazette

A pair of 12-bore single-trigger sidelock ejectors by Boss & Co and a pair of 12-bore selfopening sidelock ejectors by James Purdey & Sons were the star lots at Gavin Gardiner’s Live Online Auction of Modern & Vintage Sporting Guns on 2 September. The Boss guns (top), built around 1928 and rebarrelled and restocked by the London gunmaker in 2006, were bought by a private buyer in the US for £37,500. The Purdey guns (bottom), built in 1980 and overhauled by the London gunmaker, were bought by a private buyer in the UK for £37,500. For more information, visit gavingardiner.com…

Colin and Vicky of The Fox & Hounds, Ainthorpe, share their experiences of steering an historic country inn through the COVID-19 pandemic and explain how they re-opened with a focused mind and an eye on the future. Stick to the plan: Every business needs to look forward, and having a written plan is essential. At The Fox & Hounds, keeping a rolling schedule of ‘must-dos’ for the next 12 months, ranging from installing camping pods to revamping the wine list, has been a massive help. It enabled us to stay focused on the future while emerging from lockdown and adapting to the new COVID-secure world. An eye for detail: During lockdown we redecorated the parts of the building that would otherwise be in constant use. Having time to really assess…

Robert Cuthbert Sporting agent, Serious Shooting Ltd. The first invitation goes to my eldest son, Fin. This will be his third season and he’s progressing delightfully with his 20-bore. Rob Gray, my best man and former editor of this illustrious mag would be there, if only for (cough)… quarry recognition purposes. Charles Grime, a client turned brother. The downside would be the tinnitus-inducing din of his elephant-stopping depleted uranium ammo. My hero and mentor, the late Adrian (AA) Gill, would hopefully take a peg. Sadly, he died months before our planned pigeon shooting jaunt. Next a slight cop out… a revolving peg for my syndicate clowns: Jake Eastham, Rupert Riley, David Keddle and Hugh Bourne. Jake is Tom Ford’s double and leading interiors photographer who really should be a model.…

To say that the past few months have been a bit unusual is an understatement of some magnitude. Communities across the land have adopted the brace position and squinted uncertainly into an equally uncertain future and The Back Gun has not been alone in wondering if, when and how country pastimes will emerge blinking from the effects of the Black Pestilence, damaged commerce and the Government’s handling of both. Rural communities are, by and large, very resilient. This probably stems from centuries of having to deal with the over-privileged and under-informed, who regularly descended from their urban enclaves to supposedly spread beneficence upon the residents of the shires. They probably regarded their very presence in whatever capacity, from landowner to occasional rider to hounds or shooter of game, as a…

If you travel north from Perth on the Braemar road you will eventually find yourself coming into the still, somewhat sleepy town of Blairgowrie, described as the Gateway to the Highlands. Situated in Allan Street are the premises of James Crockart & Son, the gun and fishing tackle suppliers. Over the past 150 years the name Crockart has appeared above premises in Blairgowrie, Perth and Stirling, the latter two premises now having long since closed down. James had gained his fishing skills at an early age, when his father had been operating the toll at the ‘Brig of Isla’ at nearby Cargill. He would have developed his skills fishing both the River Tay and River Isla and opened his first shop in Blairgowrie in 1852, following an earlier failed shipping…

Over the decades there have been several designs that have become so well known they are instantly recognisable, such as the vintage Bentley, the Fender Stratocaster and the Spitfire, to name but a few. Gun design is no different; several types of gun are instantly apparent, such as the Purdey hammer gun, the Stephen Grant hammerless gun or the Henry drop block rifle. The Charles Lancaster backaction hammerless gun with its distinctive leg o’ mutton locks can be added to this list. It is unique with its attractive locks, stylish design and quite different from the conventional bar-action hammerless gun. I love the design of these guns as they are that little bit different and are all of excellent quality. The original Charles Lancaster died in 1847 and was succeeded…

In the second half of the 19th century — and indeed well into the 20th century — the standard gun was the 12-bore. Smaller 16-bore and 20-bore guns were for ladies and boys and that was that. (Ed. How fortunate that times have changed). Many makers sought to manufacture lighter loads for 12-bores to enable guns to be made lighter for sportsmen toiling with heavy guns. Like Churchill, Henry Thorn experimented with cartridges and claimed to be the inventor of the 2in cartridge in 1898, when he introduced the 2in Lancaster Pygmie cartridgel a short, lighter cartridge for 12-bores. However, they were unlike the later 2in cartridges developed in the 1930s with smaller powder charges and reduced shot charges that are still in use today. The Lancaster Pygmies, although only…

Engineering: 9/10 The gun is well engineered and finished with attention to detail in both the build quality and the aesthetics. Backed with a five-year warranty, there is clearly confidence in the William Powell Sovereign. Looks and finish: 9/10 Taking the gun out of the box on arrival, my initial impressions were positive. The gun is very elegant and the aesthetics in terms of the scroll engraving first-class. It’s nice to see some attention has been given to the oil finish of the wood, which over time with a little extra effort will improve further. Handling: 9/10 The handling is excellent, and given the balance of the gun predictable. On the higher birds, there is enough weight to keep the shot smooth and well timed. Value: 10/10 Given the starting…

The vets were operating their lockdown service whereby customers wait in the car park and their pets are taken inside by masked young ladies dressed in green. I had managed to extract one of two grass seeds lodged in Granite’s armpit but he had made it very clear that enough was enough. Even so, he looked at me accusingly as he was led away to the indignities of sedation and the recovery of the second seed. Later, a woozy Granite staggered out, his green-clad elf brandishing a small urine sample pot filled with seed heads. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first and you won’t be the last,” she said brightly as she handed me the lead, the small pot and the large bill. “I don’t know where you’ve been walking…

We received a number of extremely high quality entries for Gundog Picture of the Month this month, thank you for sending them all in. It was a tough decision, but God-like status has been achieved by Tommo Roberts from Bedfordshire’s four-month-old German shorthaired pointer, Apollo, whose training is apparently going very well indeed. How to win For your chance to win either a Pintail Explorer II smock (right) or a Seasons jacket (far right), email high-res images to martin.puddifer@futurenet.com. Please put ‘Gundog Picture of the Month’ in the subject line. The winner will be chosen by the Shooting Gazette judging panel. Good luck! The prize will only be posted to winners with a fixed UK postal address.…

SHARE YOUR VIEWS Email: martin.puddifer@futurenet.com Crunching the LACS numbers The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has published a report called Calculating Cruelty, in which a supposedly independent surveyor was appointed to investigate the use of traps and snares in predator control. Let me start by saying that having researched LACS as a pressure group for a thesis on pluralism, no one it uses is ‘independent’ and any research it does is biased. The “leading scientist” the LACS used concluded that 260,000 animals were killed annually to maintain grouse populations for “sport shooting”. To this I can only say well done you gamekeepers, what a magnificent result. You are, of course, maintaining a shootable quarry surplus, along with healthy populations of lapwing, golden plover, curlew and many other species on red…

The Hunter GTX Evo Extreme from Lowa is the boot of choice for Guns and keepers who demand strength and comfort when out in the field. Hand-crafted in Germany using the finest leather, SPS midsole technology and Vibram outsoles, these boots will look stylish and your feet will be well supported, while the Primaloft insulation and Gore-Tex waterproof lining will keep them warm and dry. For more information, visit lowa.co.uk. To win a pair, find the 11 words listed and send the completed entry form to: Wordsearch, Shooting Gazette, Future PLC, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough GU14 7BF. Entries to arrive no later than 31 October. The first correct entry to be drawn will win. August’s winner was S. White from Bassingham in Lincolnshire. Shooting Gazette, published by Future PLC,…

It’s said that we are living in a golden age of grouse; a new resurrection to rival the Victorian and Edwardian records of yore. It’s true that many moors seem to be forging ahead after a period in the doldrums. It sometimes seems like grouse records are being broken every year, but it’s also encouraging to see that for many moor owners, ‘more’ is no longer enough. They want to produce grouse sustainably. It seems unfair that grouse moor management is so heavily criticised in the press at a time when arguably it has never been more progressive. Most accusations of wrong-doing are based on practices which were abandoned years ago, and it’s frustrating that positive stories are often swallowed up by a tide of negative opinion which isn’t interested…

In April I became aware, over a period of a few days, that the vision in my right eye was becoming increasingly blurred. As a lockdown project and given landscape painting — and pigeon shooting — was impossible, I decided to paint my favourite flowers as they came into bloom. This became absorbing and, alone in my studio, was an easy way of self-isolating. However, as spring progressed from daffodil to dandelion and cherry blossom to primrose, it became obvious that my eyesight was deteriorating. I put it down to eyestrain from intensive and detailed painting. Though closed, the optician kindly agreed to see me to check out my right eye. To give you an idea of the severity of my sight loss, while I could read a car registration…

Härkila is offering UK customers the chance to help the homeless and receive a huge discount on a new jacket. Customers who trade in their old Pro Hunter jackets will receive a 25% discount on the new Pro Hunter Endure jacket (£374.99 down from £499.99). The old jackets – which can be Original Pro Hunter, Pro Hunter Short, Pro Hunter X or Pro Hunter Move – will be donated to Härkila’s partner charity Life Discovery. The charity offers the homeless and those in refuge the chance to participate in outdoor activities and it is during these activities that the jackets will be used. To take advantage of the offer, simply take your Pro Hunter jacket to a participating dealer before 31 October.…

For your chance to win a bottle of Taittinger Champagne for Picture of the Month, send us a team photograph or a picture of something unusual from your shoot. Send high-resolution images or prints with captions to Shooting Gazette Gallery, Future PLC, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF or email: martin.puddifer@futurenet.com PICTURE OF THE MONTH Shooting will always need fresh faces and Mark Ewart’s picture of his adopted granddaughter having 40 winks during a day’s grouse shooting in the Lammermuir Hills in August made us smile – not least because she’s wearing a vintage Shooting Gazette cap, one of scores we used to give away in years gone by. Have you still got yours? The Guns, gamekeepers, beaters and pickers-up from the day at Cornwood Shoot, which is…

Dear Uncle Giles I’ve just joined a syndicate and have discovered, to my horror, that one of its members, whom I had not met prior to my arrival, loves to tell non-PC jokes at every available opportunity. I’m sure you can fill in the blanks, but safe to say no-one is spared. He is clearly tolerated by others (though only just), but this kind of humour isn’t my bag. Do you have any advice on how to deal with it? BHRN, by email Uncle Giles writes There is no doubt that the opportunities for conflicts such as you describe are myriad in shooting as in many aspects of life. You may be familiar with your Auntie Mabel’s disturbing racism after one too many Christmas sherries, or that of ribald taxi…

As the pheasant season gets under way, foodies among you will no doubt be preparing to get stuck into some old favourites as well as trying your hand at new recipes. Whenever any kind of game is in season I will always head to my very well thumbed game cookery books (anything by Jose Souto is a particular favourite) or Instagram to prepare for when a brace of something or other arrives in the larder. I’m rather fond of a pheasant crumble on a cosy autumnal weekend afternoon, though I cannot go long without panfried partridge breasts with risotto or my ultimate guilty pleasure, double venison cheeseburgers surrounded by heaps of thick chips and a pint of Black Sheep on the side. Heaven. It’s great to see the way those…

When it comes down to it, shooting is a pretty broad church. Even if we limit ourselves to driven shooting, there are still a wide range of reasons why people shoot and what gets the red corpuscles flowing. For some, grouse is king and anything else a little, well, pedestrian. For others, a day out on traditional partridges bursting over hedges makes them smile, and for some, just to be out in the field, with a gun in their hand, enjoying a day with friends, is enough. For a section of us, the best our sport can offer is the high pheasant, with set wings, sliding across the wind at a height where you’d think they’d need oxygen masks. In fact, I’d guess that most of us prefer a high…

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It is a sad truth that even at a young age those things that help to make our shoot days so special are taken from us without our being ready. Any departure, for whatever reason, is unfortunate and in the case of death a tragedy, with the effects they have on those who are left behind being felt in different ways. It is not always what we feel that reminds us of what once was, either; it might be what we see, or more specifically, what we don’t see, whether it is an empty seat at the shoot lunch table, an empty stool at the bar or even an empty basket by the fire. It is almost 10 years since my former colleague Darren Crush passed away. Darren, our deputy…

Shooting a gun that is new to the market is always interesting; probably more so with a side-by-side as new models in this configuration are not so frequently brought on to the market as their over-under counterparts. I selected some 28g clay loads together with some 30g game loads. Starting on a 40ft tower, the gun was clearly well balanced and consequently the handling excellent. The front trigger took a little more pressure than I expected, but not sufficient to be a distraction. The ejectors were well timed and efficient. On opening and closing. it felt like an elegant, well-made gun with no resonance on final closing. It was a pleasant and forgiving to shoot and delivered some excellent patterns. On to the 80ft tower with similar results, I changed…

The committee of the International Gundog League (IGL) Retriever Society has decided to cancel the 2020 IGL Retriever Championship due to COVID-19. The event was due to be held at Ampton in Suffolk by permission of Peter and Charlie Rushbrook between 30 November and 2 December. In a statement released in late August, the organisers said: “Arrangements for the Championship are unlike those for any other field trial. The committee has been monitoring the developing situation since the start of lockdown and has spent much time considering the steps that would be required to hold the Championship in these challenging times.” The committee, which made its decision following “an extensive exercise”, acknowledged that it would be “deeply disappointing” to all concerned and that “this was not a conclusion reached lightly”.…