Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Sporting Rifle

If you haven’t seen it already, a rather disturbing news story has surfaced on the Countryside Alliance website. Called ‘Lies, damn lies and petitions’, I thoroughly recommend reading it yourself when you get a spare 10 minutes, but the gist of it is that the founder of online petition platform 38 Degrees has been sacked for gross misconduct. He was given the boot for providing illegal drugs to his staff – but the more interesting discussion this has sparked, and what has been explored well in the Countryside Alliance piece, is how 38 Degrees, and other sites like it, use social media databases to boost the number of responses to their petitions – generating large numbers in a comparatively short time. One example relevant to a fieldsports audience is the…

Just days away as this issue of Sporting Rifle goes on sale, The Northern Shooting has unveiled its traffic plan for the 2019 show, which will use three entrances instead of one when it returns to the Great Yorkshire Showground on 11-12 May. Using a plan normally reserved for the very largest shows – such as the Great Yorkshire Show, which regularly attracts upwards of 100,000 visitors – the revamped traffic plan is designed to take pressure off the main A59 and A1(M) roads and get visitors in to the showground much quicker. “It’s testament to the success of the show that the ramped up plans have had to be put in place,” said organisers. “The show has grown to be the UK’s largest indoor and outdoor shooting show in…

Gamekeepers have been urged to watch out for a new wave of attacks being co-ordinated on social media. The issue sprung up in late March after a Facebook post, made by animal rights activists, claimed to give away the locations of several game farms and game rearing premises. The post was reported on the grounds that it promoted the unlawful targeting of rural enterprises; Facebook has since removed it. Victoria Chesters, BASC’s social media officer, said: “The original post sparked a lot of comment on social media and it is to Facebook’s credit that they have listened to the concerns of the rural community. “Facebook say their community standards are in place to ‘create a safe environment’ and the rural community deserves protection as much as anybody else.” And Tim…

With Dominic retiring from this column, as BASC’s deer officer I am happy to step in and keep you up to date with the world of antlers. March was a busy month and saw a good few heads submitted, 59 of which made medal or yearbook status. We also had the first major show at which the measuring service was present: the West of England Game Fair. While relatively quiet, it marks the start of what I’m sure will be a busy show season. Up next is the Northern Shooting Show in May, so please bring any heads along if you’re attending. Our team will be happy to give them a look. In the meantime, our measuring team are happy to measure any heads you have locally, so give me…

RIFLEMAN FIREARMS OPEN NEW INDOOR RANGE It has taken Rifleman Firearms just eight months to change a plot of land used for impromptu HFT shoots into a state-of-the-art fullbore rifle range. It consists of a five-lane, all-weather 100-yard range complete with returnable targets, all built to MoD JSP 403 specifications. Shooting can be done from any position including standing, bench, kneeling and prone, safely separated from your fellow shooters. Touch controls enable target distances to be set and quickly dispatched. This saves having to use spotting scopes as even at 100 yards the target returns for examination in just a few seconds. On-target lighting means perfect illumination at all distances. Special scenarios can be programmed for different distances, turning targets and even distractions with rapidly changing colours! There are an…

Most European hunters would naturally wait to shoot a buck until it is clean of velvet. Many would even consider taking a buck in velvet as unethical. However, taking a sambar stag in velvet is common. Indeed, many American hunters consider a velvet trophy as more interesting than a clean one. European hunters who choose to shoot a stag in velvet will probably want to peel it off and mount the trophy ‘clean’. For this to be possible, that the bone mass under the velvet must be hard. When taking the shot, the hunter must be willing to take a chance, a chance that might be expensive! HOW TO CLEAN THE ANTLERS Louise Pearson is born in Denmark, but currently works as a conservator and resides in New Zealand. Louise…

RIMFIRE Steyr Mannlicher Zephyr Steyr Mannlicher haven’t offered rimfires for years – but the Zephyr .22LR is a welcome return to that market. Also new is the biathlon-style Scout. Sportsman Gun Centre ■ 01392 354854 www.sportsmanguncentre.com Price: £744 CZ 457 rimfire The successor to the 455 series is out, with a modular design, 30-degree bolt throw and interchangeable barrels. Edgar Brothers ■ 01625 613177 www.edgarbrothers.com Price: From £535 Tikka T1X The long-awaited T1X has arrived – Tikka’s very first rimfire rifle. We can’t wait to get testing it. GMK ■ 01489 579999 gmk.co.uk Price: £575 A2R semi-auto Hailing from American firearms brand 2A Armaments, this tactical-looking .22 is set to find favour among target shooters on the range. Edgar Brothers ■ 01625 613177 www.edgarbrothers.com Price: £1,759 CENTREFIRE Christensen Arms Ridgeline…

Acorn Deer Management Stalker training and firearms safety, guided training outings for anyone wishing to experience a deer stalk, through to candidates wishing to complete their DSC 2 certificate. Training courses from £80 per 3-4 hour outing, with the possibility to take a cull animal. Approved witnesses to the DSC 2 certificate. Contact: 07944 959380 or www.acorndeer.com Ashgrove Wildlife Services Stalking courses. Contact: 01255 670094 www.ashgrovewildlife.com Bangs, Bucks & Bullseyes Improve first-shot accuracy, long-range accuracy and multi-positional shooting with Keith Poyser. One-to-one and group tuition with a fun, relaxed, medal-winning and published instructor. 100-1,200 yards, with wind, bullet drop and position coaching. Come away with a tailored distance table for your rifle and round. Accompanied stalking available. Contact: www.bangsbucksbullseyes.co.uk BASC BASC offer a wide range of rifle, shotgun and airgun…

Online petitions could be the next big threat to field sports – and as the Countryside Alliance found, their numbers don’t tell the whole story. A recent petition to ban pheasant shooting on Welsh public land gained 12,700 signatures – but the Alliance discovered that seven eighths of these were from postcodes outside Wales. Just 1,487 signatures came from Welsh postcodes – or 0.05 per cent of the population of Wales. Meanwhile in Scotland, 98 percent of responses to a consultation on hunting with dogs were supplied by five organised campaigns – and the government does not have access to the data from these campaigns, meaning it no idea who the respondents really are or if they even exist. The identifiable people who responded numbered just 260, with a fairly…

Organisations are getting together to shout about all the work gamekeepers do across the UK countryside. The NGO, the GWCT and the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Assocation have joined forces to launch a new survey that aims to gain a better understanding of all the benefits of game management. NGO chairman Liam Bell said the aim was “to show that the countryside would be a much poorer place without our efforts.” To fill in the survey, head to: http://bit.ly/GamekeepingSurvey.…

Dear Sporting Rifle, I have just returned from a week in Tenerife. Packing for the trip was simple: Sporting Rifle’s April 2019 issue, a John Macnab paperback, passport and not much more! It rained – a lot – which resulted in my reading Sporting Rifle cover to cover and in a depth which I have to confess I do not normally do. I was genuinely absorbed and challenged by a number of the featured articles – in particular ‘Legal wrangles’, ‘Hot, hot hunt’ and ‘Why do we hunt?’ The legal article got me thinking how things have changed so much in respect to the Firearms Enquiry Officer’s role as I once knew it and how it is today. I served 30-plus years in rural Grampian and Northern Constabulary areas. Dealing…

The hunting season here in Ireland drew to a close at the end of February, so while deer hunters in the UK are out seeking roe, I am catching up on a host of maintenance jobs around the homestead. During the six month offseason I usually concentrate on mountain biking, building strength and mobility in the gym, as well as hiking the hills and camping with the family. This year I plan to do all of the above but I would also like to dedicate a little bit of time to shotgun clay pigeon practice and something new that I’m very excited about: diving into the world of Precision Rifle. The Precision Rifle Series is a competition based in the US that has grown in popularity in the last seven…

As was usual for the springtime, my shooting mate Gary and I were busy on all the farms trying to reduce the fox numbers as the first of the lambs were already being born. It wasn’t long before we got a call to say a lamb or two had been taken. Despite shooting a good number of foxes in the run-up to to the lambing season, the smell of fresh afterbirth on the grass soon pulls foxes in from further afield, and the inevitable happens. One of the farmers had also sent over a picture of a dead ewe – it had died of natural causes but she had seen a fox on it already stripping away flesh from its neck, showing they were clearly paying close attention to the…

Magnification: 7x Objective lens diameter: 24 mm Exit pupil: 3.4mm Twilight factor: 13 Relative brightness: 11.8 Field of view (at 1,000 m): 115.6m Subjective viewing angle: 6.6° Eye relief: 15mm Prism system: Roof Coating on lenses HDC™ Coating with Aqua-Dura coating on external lenses Phase correction coating P 40 Dioptre compensation: ±3.5dpt Maximum range approx.: 2500m Equivalent horizontal distance approx.: 1,100 m/1203yds max Ballistic output values: 800m approx. Minimum range: 10m Measuring accuracy 10-200: +/- 0.5; 200-400: +/- 1; 400-800: +/- 2; Above 800: 0.5% Display/Unit of measure: LED with 4 numbers plus additional characters/choice of meter/centimetre or yard/inch Max. measurement time approx.: 0.3s Metering methods: Single measurement scan mode Laser Invisible, safe for eyes in compliance with EN and FDA Class 1 Beam divergence: approx. 0.5x1.2mRad Housing/chassis material: Carbon…

Hunting guide Marcel Powell slips the key to the ATV into his pocket and zips it carefully. Losing the key out here won’t quite be life-threatening, but it would certainly make things difficult. New Zealand farms are often big, and on this farm we’re about as far as we can get from the farmhouse. One after another, we start off in the dark night. Marcel in front, then Jens Kjaer Knudsen, and me at the back with cameras in tow. The grass is wet and the slopes uneven. Now and then we lose our grip and slip a few metres before some scrub stops us. Fortunately, none of us get hurt as we methodically approach the place Marcel has chosen as the best for today’s observations. As we finally get…

ENGLAND CHILDERLEY SPORTING Chinese water deer and muntjac specialist. Also fallow, sika and roe. A wide variety of hunts for individuals or groups. Estate rifles available. One-to-one guided stalking or from high seats. Novices welcome. 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 by year three (loyalty discount). We will prepare all necessary requirements for police, FAC…

RIMFIRE Brno .22LR bolt action with Leupold VX1 3-9x40 scope and Parker Hale mod. £200. Gavin Jones 01646 603814 07967 284704 (Wales) CZ452 American .22RF bolt action 10-shot mag. BSA Sweet17 3-12x40 scope and moderator (bipod not included). Good condition. With 500 rounds. £150 selling due to retirement. Patrick Plavin 01303 863891 07934 597060 (Kent) BRNO .22 RF bolt action, five-shot magazine, ASI Super scope 4x40, wide angle image. All as new with silencer. £275 ono. Michael Darlison 01189 783202 miketat3@yahoo.co.uk (Berkshire) CZ 452-2E ZKM American .22LR complete with sound moderator, sling and Simmons 4-12x40 scope. £200. Andrew Sharp 01246 467180 07919 345050 sharp.a6@sky.com (Derbyshire) CENTREFIRE Sako 85, Leupold 3-9x50 scope, ASE UTRA moderator, Harris bipod, hard case. Cost £2,700, selling for £1,500. Only fired 15 rounds. Steve Phillips 07811…

The British Deer Society has revealed details of the lots in its 2019 summer auction, starting on 17 May. The sporting lots offered include: Two days stalking for sika stags in woodland in Inverness-shire; a one day reloading course for a sporting rifle; one week’s fly-fishing on the Upper River Findhorn; An accompanied muntjac stalk on the North Norfolk coast; a day’s shooting for pheasant and woodcock; three days’ stalking in Ross-shire with self-catering accommodation; and a custom-made shooting/wading stick. The auction will be hosted on eBay, with lots going live at different times and lasting for 10 days each. BDS chairman Rory Putman said: “Our generous donors have yet again produced some really excellent lots for our major summer event, which raises essential funds for our research and educational…

A new report submitted to Scottish Natural Heritage has called for greater obligations to be placed on local authorities to manage deer on their land. The report, produced by the Lowland Deer Panel, also says cull data on the numbers of deer shot in Scotland’s lowlands to be improved. BASC responded to the report by saying it broadly welcomed the recommendations, and urged policy makers to stick with – and even expand – the current system of amateur stalkers providing the bulk of the country’s deer shooting force. Jake Swindells, BASC’s country officer for Scotland, said: “The highest proportion of qualified deer managers in the UK is in Scotland’s central belt. This resource is available and willing to help deal with the impacts that deer can have on forestry, the…

A Freedom of Information request has shown that the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire spent £34,000 on an independent review into fox hunting in Cheshire last year. The commissioner has now decided to ignore its findings, and plans to spend even more resources scrutinising hunts’ plans. The Countryside Alliance said that the commissioner in question “seems to be incapable of accepting that Cheshire hunts are operating perfectly legally.”…

Dear Sporting Rifle, Over the years the British shooting public have been forced to accept draconian laws imposed upon them by successive governments and police chief constables, who have convinced the non-shooting public that it’s all in the interests of common good and public safety. Those of us who jealously guard our cherished possessions ensure they are kept from prying hands and eyes, because as responsible individuals we know the dangers of allowing them to be handled by the unwary, careless or ignorant. Yes, in the past we have seen the criminal-minded and mentally disturbed get their hands on firearms. Thankfully such seldom happens, though we do not forget past tragedies. Regardless of what laws are imposed by a parliament – which itself cannot even abide by the will of…

Sporting Rifle’s Experts Foxing: Mike Powell Professional gamekeeper and foxing expert Big game: Pete Carr Big game hunter, author and editor of Sporting Rifle Rifles: Byron Pace Rifle reviewer and experienced hunting journalist Antique guns: Diggory Hadoke Auction regular and vintageguns. co.uk owner Technique: Mark Ripley YouTube star and extreme-range foxer Optics: Chris Parkin Target sports journalist and optics reviewer TECHNIQUE Q I’m looking to buy a new sling. Are there any special types I should look at? I’ve seen one with a kind of loop that goes around your arm. A Mike says: The most common type of sling is designed purely for carrying your rifle hands free – but you can actually get more out of it. By passing your supporting arm through the loop from the outside…

LARS FÄLT KNIFE A sturdy bushcraft knife from Casström developed with renowned wilderness and survival expert Lars Fält. The blade is made from thick Böhler K720 tool steel with high carbon content to make the knife durable even with hard use. The steel quality coupled with the Scandinavian grind make the blade robust but still easy to handle and easy to grind. The knife has a full-tang construction, and even if the handle is damaged in any way, it can still be used without problems. A sturdy and deep sheath in vegetable tanned leather and a leather strap for the handle is included. Price: £125 Casstrom 01628 330330 casstrom.co.uk BLASER HYBRID CLOTHING The Hybrid set-up comprises a three-in-one stalking outfit, with an outer jacket with wind and waterproof outer layer…

This year’s British Schools & Young Shots High Gun will benefit from a prize package greater than any we’ve offered before – everything you need not just to get kitted out but also to get training and support to keep improving your game. Here’s what’s included… Webley & Scott 900X O/U Worth £690, this is a true coin-finished, silver-action gun in the style of the Webley 900K. Steel shot proofed and with a three-year warranty, it’s a versatile, durable gun ideal for any young shot growing in stature and confidence. Boxlocksteelaction Manual safety with auto-safety adaptor 3” chamber, steel shot proofed Supplied as 20-bore with 30” barrels 1-year BASC Young Shots membership As a Young Shot member of BASC, the winner will receive: Insurancetoprotectyouwhen shooting or engaged in…

The New Zealand sambar deer, which originated from Asia, is found in NZ only on the North Island and predominantly on private farms. It is a large deer species where the stag can reach a shoulder height of nearly 1.4m and weighs up to 250kg. The hinds are slightly smaller, with a maximum shoulder height of 1.2m and a weight of up to 160kg. WANT TO HUNT ONE? The sambar stag is relatively rare on free-range farms, which also is reflected in the price of a hunt in a good private area. This hunt was arranged directly with the New Zealand hunting guide Marcel Powell. For further information Marcel can be contacted at: Marcelpowellnz@gmail.com…

The following is extracted primarily from the history presented by the Forest History Society. Gifford Pinchot was born on 11 August, 1865 in Simsbury, Connecticut. His family were well-to-do upper-class merchants, politicians, and land owners. Pinchot, as a young boy, took advantage of several opportunities to visit foreign countries, as well as gain a good education at some of the best eastern schools. When he entered Yale in 1885, his father asked a question “How would you like to be a forester?” When asked, not a single American had made forestry a profession. Pinchot stated, “I had no more conception of what it meant to be a forester than the man on the moon… But at least a forester worked in the woods and with the woods – and I…