Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i Sporting Gun

Not only have we got a really nice ATA SP shotgun to give away this month (pg65) , we’ve got two Bushwear vouchers worth £500 each (pg62 ), which will certainly sort out your Christmas shopping. As if that wasn’t enough, all seven pages of our Christmas gift guide (pg67 ) are up for grabs! Every single gift will go into a lucky dip, so don’t forget to enter. Of course the best present of all would be a subscription to Sporting Gun – and we’ve got a really good deal this year, with a saving of nearly 30% – and we’ll even throw in a Gerber Multitool worth £49.99. New faces… You may have noticed that a few new contributors have joined the Sporting Gun family:…

A TA was founded about 60 years ago and has flourished into a thriving gunmaking business. Its guns are made in Turkey and a range of O/U guns are already available here in the UK. ATA also make a large range of semi-auto shotguns, and its latest series is the Venza. It is something new, but there are a good deal of tried-and-tested design principles in this gun. The test gun has a khaki-green finish to the action frame. There are also options to have black, bronze or grey. The black finish is anodised and the other colours are Cerokote, which is a very durable baked-on finish developed in America, and used extensively in the defence industry. Clever design The gun is effectively a gas-operated semi-auto, with gas from the…

The foreshore is a fantastic and versatile area of land, which can provide a vast variety of sport from dawn and dusk flights to daytime tides and magical moon shooting. This month I’m talking about the joys of creek crawling as I stalk ducks for the pot while they lie up in back channels and gutters. Stalking ducks is incredibly exciting and a challenging sport that takes a mixture of skill and luck to get right. Knowing the lie of the land As with any form of stalking, to be in with a chance you must have a good knowledge of the ground you are on and the likely spots to find your intended quarry. This isn’t like walking a pond off where the ducks are concentrated in a specific…

Acreage: 10 acres. Stands: Up to 12 Sporting stands. Traps: 30 traps, grouse butt, 150ft high tower. Parking: Around 50 vehicles with overspill available. Shop: Clothing, accessories and the full range of hull game and clay cartridges. Toilet facilities next to shop. Disciplines: Sporting as well as corporate, stag and hen parties, archery and air rifles. The air rifle range is up to 40m and costs £5 per hour and is equipped with field and zeroing targets. Catering: Available for some events. Costs: Clays are 34p per clay and if shooting solo then a button presser can accompany you, if in parties it is done on an honesty system. Membership: Benefits include 32p per clay, free tea and coffee, Summer barbecue and clothing discounts. Number of instructors: Up to 15…

The education of gamekeepers has changed dramatically over the past few decades, largely due to developments in the law, technology and societies’ attitude towards fieldsports. The opportunities for aspiring young gamekeepers have increased hugely and there are now a whole multitude of options when considering a career in the industry. The first, and often most beneficial, step is to start helping out your local gamekeeper – whether that be on a shoot day or throughout the year. Experience is vital; it also provides you with a step onto the ladder in the shooting community. Word of mouth is key, a strong reference from one or two keepers for being a good worker will help carry you forward on to the following stages. The second step is usually finding a college…

Be warned! I read with great interest the article titled One For Sorrow in the October issue. Last year, I was having trouble on my bird feeder. The squirrels kept emptying it and the magpies took what was left. We had no songbirds or little birds at all, except a robin that made a nest and reared four chicks. One morning I found all the chicks dead – a magpie had raided the nest. I decided to help, and with an air rifle I shot 18 squirrels and 12 magpies over a few weeks. But one day armed police surrounded my house and asked to see the gun I was using to shoot the squirrels and magpies. It is an old BSA with open sights. The police were mildly amused,…

What is the burn time of the Apollo Lantern? A. 40mins B. 140mins C. 240mins 3 WAYS TO ENTER: 1. POST Regina Tumbridge-Harringer, Bushwear Competition, Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. 2. PHONE 09012 930103* (£1 per call) 3. TEXT SGUNBUSH TO 85088 (£1 per text) followed by a space, your answer, full name, house number, postcode and email address to 85088** (£1 per te t) E.g SGUNBUSH answer Mr John Smith 17 SE27 OBE jsmith@johnsmith.co.uk . COMPETITION CLOSES 4 DECEMBER 2015…

There can be little doubt that for a shoot to succeed, owner and gamekeeper must sing from the same hymn sheet. At Cowden Farm Shoot, in East Sussex, shoot owner Alastair Ainsley and his part-time keeper Roy Harris seem to have an almost telepathic level of agreement. With Roy approaching his 30th anniversary as keeper, they have forged a relationship that is both happy and harmonious. Like many small shoots, sport and conservation also march hand in hand at Cowden – a symbiotic relationship that was acknowledged via a well-deserved Purdey Award in 2008. The award recognised Roy’s decades of improving the shoot using sound conservation measures, experimenting with gamecrops and new drives, and developing new ponds for duckflighting. Innovation did not stop with the Purdey. This season’s improvements include…

Lately I was asked: “What do you consider the most important technique that should be put into practice while deerstalking?” I have to say the question found me a little off guard. At the time I was giving a DSC1 lecture on roe deer and it wasn’t the question I was expecting. My answer at that moment was to the point: don’t be seen, don’t be heard and don’t be scented. And in a nutshell that really is the answer, apart from the safe practice with a rifle and all the equipment likely to be used. If the deer being stalked picks up even a hint of any of the above, then the stalker has little chance of success. Unless the deer in question is missing any or all of…

Depending on the kind of dog work you intend to do, you may know that it needs to be trained to take hand signals and to be able to be sent back, left or right. If you plan just to go beating with your dog, then you may never need to send the dog out in a particular direction, and there is a train of thought that if you are only going to go roughshooting the same may apply. I shoot over my dogs on small walked-up/roughshooting days and I considered it an absolute necessity to be able to handle my dog on to the line of a runner or to a dead bird that dog has not seen down. If you plan to enter working tests, scurries or field…

A lot has been written on the subject of ferreting, and in my eyes some are factual, but others are less so. There is a lot of notions and old wives’ tales associated with the task of rabbit control. I’m often amused when I read an article on the subject that starts with those infamous words: “It was a nice frosty morning…”. The reality is often very different. Such a tale will often include the words “rabbits bolting” and will encourage the novice reader to believe that rabbits will only bolt in such conditions. Horrific weather I started the rabbit control business in 2000, but I was heavily involved in rabbiting some years before that. Rabbits have become a huge part of my daily life and are my only source…

W&C Scott & Sons, 20-bore, ble, model 400 G1, carved fences, 15in POW stocked. 28in file cut rib. 2.5in chambers, nitro proof. All original, ex con. £3,250 ono. Also MK7000 SP3, 12-bore, O/U, m/c, 29in barrels, 2¾in chambers, 15in LOP oil finished figured stock, 10 choke tubes, flush and extended. Ex con. £850. Tel 07772 487728 (Milton Keynes). Webley & Scott Model 700, sbs, 12-bore, 30in barrels, twin trigger with POW pistol grip stock, perfect barrels. £1,150 ono. Tel 07772 433137. (Leicestershire). Franchi Harrier Sporter, 12-bore, O/U, SST, manual safety, 30in barrels, extended m/c, ABS case, user manual, vgc. £600. Tel 07977 079436 (West Sussex). English 16-bore for sale, well engraved, made in Birmingham around 1920, no maker’s name, 28in barrels, POW pistol grip stock, silvers pad fitted to give…

ADAM PARTRIDGE AUCTIONEERS, CHESHIRE: Tel 01260 223675, or visit www.adampartridge.co.uk for details of next sale. SOUTHAMS, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE: Tel 01832 273565, or visit www.southams.com for information on next sale. GAVIN GARDINER LTD, IN ASSOCIATION WITH SOTHEBYS: Next sale 9 December, Sothebys, London. For details of valuation days and to make appointments, tel 01798 875300, or visit www.gavingardiner.com. JS AUCTIONS – FINE ART AUCTIONEERS AND VALUERS, OXFORDSHIRE: For details of next sales (mainly arms ad armour) tel 01295 272488, or visit www.jsauctions.co.uk for details. SCOTARMS: Auctions held at Newark Showground. Visit www.scotarms.co.uk or tel 01636 893946 for details. BONHAMS: For details of next auction on 2 December, tel 020 7393 3815, or visit www.bonhams.com/eur/guns/. COY’S: For details of next auction, or to enter a lot, tel Chris Routledge on 020 861 4888,…

Laden with gear, but filled with that old familiar tingle of anticipation, I stumbled along the wood edge behind my shooting mate, Ed, and eventually out on to the open marsh. When shooting near home, I seldom attempt to decoy geese, preferring to take my chances on watched flightlines. But this particular inland marsh was huge, almost featureless, the movement of fowl was unpredictable, and far too remote to learn their regular habits. After some frustrating attempts to ambush skeins moving up the river valley at first light, we hoped to increase our chances by giving the decoys a try. Going by past experience, the greylags normal routine was to flight out somewhere to feed at first light, before moving back to the marsh mid morning to preen and graze…

Choosing the right college and course for you is vital to your career success. Practical, hands on experience of running a shoot on such a wide range of resources is the reason I chose Newton Rigg, along with the fact that the lecturers are helpful, experienced and passionate. Malcolm Riding is the director of the Northern School of Game and Wildlife, and along with lecturers Sam Riley, Adam Jay and Tony Williams they ensure only the best of gamekeepers leave the college. If the rest of my time here is as good as the first two weeks, I have made the best decision of my life!…

WHERE THEY WERE SHOT 1  Name: Frazer Hamilton Location: Lasswade, Midlothian Frazer Hamilton was shooting on laid barley south of Edinburgh with his friend Scottie. He said: “We set up around noon and shot until 6pm in a shared hide, we had a magnet and flapper on the go with a couple of floaters. Birds were heading somewhere else but we managed to set up under flight line, 165 birds down on clicker but unfortunately only managed to pick 140. Dennis the Lab was struggling to pick any more, it being a hot day – and regardless of plenty of cold water.” 2  Name: Dean Baker Location: Colby, Norfolk Dean Baker shot a personal best on peas in north Norfolk. “This was a new personal best for me and what…

The ATA over-and-under series (SP) is enriched with a high-quality walnut wood on the stock and fore-end, making them e tremely attractive to the eye. Its first choice of wood is a matt oil Grade 2 walnut finish. This displays the richness of the grain and allows for easy maintenance and reconditioning. ATA SP series guns are supplied in an elegant leather case. The barrels are built and finished to the highest standards, with a durable high-gloss steel finish and chrome lined. The action is made from the highest quality steel, and the lock-up between the barrel and action is second to none with a proven and tested design. With e tended forcing cones in the barrels, it allows for reduced recoil and an improved pattern. This gun is perfect…

In the Christmas carol Twelve Days of Christmas, which bird is in a pear tree? A. Partridge B. Pigeon C. Mallard 3 WAYS TO ENTER: 1. POST Regina Tumbridge-Harringer, Lucky Dip Competition, Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. 2. PHONE 09012 930104* (£1 per call) 3. TEXT SGUNLUCKY TO 85088 (£1 per text) followed by a space, your answer, full name, house number, postcode and email address to 85088** (£1 per te t) E.g SGUNLUCKY answer Mr John Smith 17 SE27 OBE jsmith@johnsmith.co.uk. COMPETITION CLOSES 20 NOVEMBER 2015 TERMS & CONDITIONS: Competition can be entered by post, phone or text. • UK calls will cost £1 per call plus your telephone company’s network access charge. **Texts cost £1.00 plus your standard network rate.…

Regular readers will know that I am pretty passionate about my walked-up and roughshooting. In fact, I would much rather have a wander around a few hedgerows with the cockers than stand on a peg at a prestigious high bird shoot. My absolute favourite thing to do is shoot rabbits that are tucked up tight in the heather and white grass high up on the North Yorkshire moors. However, the question as to whether to shoot ground game does quite often come up with the members of our small roughshooting syndicate and everyone has their own opinions, especially where hares are concerned. On a couple of the estates we shoot on, the hare numbers are quite substantial and the gamekeepers are quite happy for us to shoot one or two.…

Venison Ragu INGREDIENTS: » 1lb Minced Venison » 3 large garlic cloves (peeled and crushed) » 2 red chillies de-seeded and chopped » 2 tins chopped tomatoes » 1 onion (chopped) » 1tbs tomato puree » 1tbs fresh basil » 120z pasta » Parmesan cheese to taste Heat some oil in a frying pan and soften the garlic before adding the minced venison. Stir to break up the meat and cook until it has browned. Add the chillies, tomatoes, onion, tomato puree and basil, then stir and bring to the boil. Simmer gently until the meat is cooked. Cook the pasta in boiling water until just tender. Drain and mix with the sauce along with the parmesan. Serve with a scattering of chopped parsley and a little more parmesan.…

At some point you’re going to have to introduce your dog to bringing back warm game. Some dogs just get on with it and pick it up and bring it back, whie some are wary and need lots of encouragement. We all know there are dogs that try to eat game, and some will even bury it! The key to introducing warm game is, as far as I’m concerned, preparation and patience. All too often, dogs are taken along to a local shoot because their owners know someone. They have not been trained in the basics, let alone the whistle work. Although some do get away with it in the first season, many do not, and not only do the dogs create havoc, but they also munch and crunch their…

Ingredients Serves 1lb/450g diced venison 2 to 3tbsp olive oil 1 large carrot, peeled,roughly chopped 1 turnip, peeled, chopped 1 onion, roughly chopped 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 1tbsp plain flour 1 measure of port/Madeira ½pint/300ml real ale(a good local ale) 1 sprig thyme 1tbsp redcurrent jelly 1tbsp tomato paste 4 tbsps red wine vinegar ½pint/300ml beef stockor 2 beef stock cubes ¼stick cinnamon For the juniper tarragon dumplings Makes 12 6oz/175g self-raising flour 3oz/75g shredded suet 1tsp chopped juniper berries 1tsp chopped tarragon 1tsp English mustard Pinch of salt andground black pepper Cold water COOKING METHOD 1 Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Add olive oil to a large frying pan heat and seal the meat briskly and in batches. Remove from the frying pan and place in…

Howard Carter spent years digging in the sand before he made his amazing discovery of the only untouched Egyptian tomb to have survived. Even though such a discovery is beyond the wildest dreams of most archaeologists, or indeed anyone interested in antiques, everyone in the auction business that I know dreams of doing just that. It is the buzz of discovery that drives us on. Even in the world of arms, armour and antique guns such discoveries can be made, and recently here at Holt’s such an occurrence happened. At Holt’s we scour the world for fresh material for our sales, often relying on our hard-working foreign representatives to do the legwork. In a recent shipment from South Africa there came a pair of pistols. At this point that they…

WINCHESTER 101 SUPER GRADE GAME “Super Grade” suggests a gun with fine hand engraving and something close to exhibition-grade woodwork, which this gun is not. In Winchester speak it means an affordable gun with engraving and woodwork. What is super about it is that it is light and pointable, but not so light as to cause undue recoil problems over long strings of shots. Apart from its handling, two other features sell the gun to me. The first is that the trigger is set to the second barrel by a purely mechanical system, and not reliant on the recoil of the first cartridge. The second is that the gun is a fixed choke, so there’s no agonising about which choke tube use. Chokes are approximately ¼ and ½ and I’ve…

Like most quarry species, the woodpigeon has established itself in the folklore of the sportsmen who pursue it. Gems of opinion as to how you outwit this wily adversary have been passed down through the generations and repeated so many times, that few people even bother to question their validity. So, for what it is worth, here are some of the old wives’ tales that I have found, through 45 years of experience, to be bunkum. 1 Decoy patterns The first to be blasted out of the sky is: you need to set your decoys in a “pattern” to draw birds within range. Anyone who has studied pigeons feeding should realise after about five minutes that they do not feed in any sort of pattern at all, walking this way…

VETERINARY: NEIL MCINTOSH A practising vet in Scotland. TUITION: JOHN BIDWELL 6 times World FITASC champ and pro shooting coach. LEGAL: DAVID FROST Author of Sporting Shooting and the Law. TECHNICAL: MIKE GEORGE Engineering author with a deep love of gunmaking. GUNDOGS: LEZ GRAHAM Gundog trainer and author of the Pet Gundogbooks. PIGEONS: PETER THEOBALD Author of Woodpigeon: The Ultimate Quarry. STALKING: GEORGE WALLACE National Gamekeepers’ Organisation’s firearms consultant. FERRETS: ED COOK Professional rabbit catcher working over 30,000 acres. GOT A QUESTION? CONTACT: sportinggun@timeinc.com  or Sporting Gun, Time Inc. (UK), Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 0SU…

APOLLO LANTERN The Cyclops Apollo Lantern Torch implements all the features needed to light your path. The lightweight, ergonomic design is complimented by a rubberised, trigger pulse switch to ensure the torch is comfortable and easy to carry. A handy, integrated power display allows you to plan battery changes in advance, and a 140 minute burn time guarantees efficiency. Price: £14.99 Code: 314295 MAXBOX DOOR PRO The Door Pro is a portable rifle rest, which quickly slips onto your vehicle’s window opening and grips to the car door. It operates from three simple parts; the magnetised window grip, the primary rest – complete with two different slot widths – and a panel to raise the rest for extra height. The rest is ultra-lightweight, shock resistant up to 55mph. Price: £49.99…

Which country are ATA guns made in? A. Spain B. Italy C. Turkey 3 WAYS TO ENTER: 1. POST Regina Tumbridge-Harringer, ATA Competition, Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. 2. PHONE 09012 930102* (£1 per call) 3. TEXT SGUNATA TO 85088 (£1 per text) followed by a space, your answer, full name, house number, postcode and email address to 85088** (£1 per te t) E.g SGUNATA answer Mr John Smith 17 SE27 OBE jsmith@johnsmith.co.uk.…

Last time we looked at the effects of rapid fire on a rifle barrel and its affect on accuracy. My .270 didn’t seem to be affected, but not all rifles are the same. The only way to find out is to indulge in a bit of fast shootin’ until the barrel is too hot to touch and you can see the heat shimmer through the scope. Then test to see if your zero has moved. Mine didn’t, but I have known rifles go all over the place under such circumstances, so even though you may never need to get your rifle that hot, it is as well to know how it behaves, just in case. Don’t forget that all metal can shift when heated and the heat from your smoking…

Well, stealth is not the lad’s strong point, but he is a master at scenting. He can scent deer 1,000 yards away and will often tell me I am being an idiot and going the wrong way! He is on a mission at present. We have a large dog fox visiting and he has all but wiped out the poultry. His visits are around mid afternoon. Whenever the big lad is let out of the kennel, he immediately races full pelt on the trail. He vanished for 20 minutes the other day, by the speed he came out of the kennel, the fox must have been very close. His route on the TEK 2 GPSD collar was interesting and he was moving like a Derby winner. Alfie isn’t keen on…

Many years ago, two of my fellow students hired kilts for a college ball. Having inherited the legs of an anore ic sparrow from my father, I had long since spurned my national dress in favour of a classic dinner suit. That was to prove a godsend. No sooner had their hangovers cleared when the itching started. Despite their best efforts, they scratched morning, noon and night. There was only one advantage to this horrible affliction. Since public transport was the order of the day, they were assured of plenty of space, as their fellow passengers recoiled from their demented digital de terity. The cause, of course, was that highly contagious, occasional kilt dweller called Sarcoptes scabiei, commonly known as scabies. Although the strain is different, dogs can get it…

PROFILE NAME CHARLOTTE BRAYLEY AREA AYRSHIRE MEDIA WATER COLOUR PROFESSION ARTIST Charlotte was brought up in rural Ayrshire and her love of sheep took her to agricultural college straight after school. The timing was not good though as foot and mouth disease broke out shortly after she arrived and, as she was deemed a disease risk because of her sheep, she either had to stay on site for three months or leave. She left. “The timing was actually perfect as I had decided that agricultural college was not for me, so it gave me the perfect excuse to chuck it in and head to art school instead, which was what I had always really wanted to do,” says Charlotte. After following her head and doing the sensible thing Charlotte decided…

Generally speaking, the very finest of “London Best” gunmakers have been in e istence for well over 100 years. They may well have been through financial crises, but they have survived into the 21st century and their products are still eagerly sought after in the auction houses of the world. So what of Symes & Wright, a company which was late on the scene, and lasted for a mere eight years, but whose guns command the top prices whenever they appear in auctions? Peter Symes and Alex Wright had both worked for James Purdey & Sons, but left to form their own company in 1987. The duo’s Best London guns were lovingly assembled in the Purdey tradition – that is on the Beesley-style self-opening actions. The company quickly established an…

GUNS adj — adjustable ble — boxlock ejector blne — boxlock non ejector brls — barrels c/w — complete with cyl — cylinder db — double barrel dt — double trigger ej — ejector ex con — excellent condition fac — firearms certificate fc — fixed choke gc — good condition grd — grade hg — hammer gun imp — improved ltwt — lightweight m/c — multi-choke mod — modified o/u — over and under ono — or near offer ovno — or very near offer p/x — part exchange pa — pump action rf — rimfire rnds — rounds (ammunition) sa — semi-automatic sb — single barrel sbs — side by side sle — side lock ejector slne — sidelock no ejector sst — single selective trigger tge —…