Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i Sporting Shooter

RUSSELL Dempsey’s fallow-hunting story is a nice balance to this issue’s tests of two rather expensive, high-end rifles. The Aero Precision Solus and Mauser 25 are a long way from the $500 goodness of Russell’s secondhand Marlin XS7. His point that you don’t have to spend a lot of money is absolutely true. The fact that we have a $3000 rifle and a $5000 rifle tested this month isn’t a sign of Sporting Shooter veering permanently into big-spending company. It’s just the way things worked out this time. We have tests in progress of some more affordable rifles: Savage’s Axis 2, the Ruger American 2 and the sweet little Savage Revel .22 lever-gun, among others. We’ve previously tested most of the entry-level rifles like the Howa 1500, Winchester XPR and…

MAUSER has made a straight-pull hunting rifle with a new and unique design that is exceptionally smooth, light and quick to use, and produces exceptional accuracy. Rather than working on existing concepts from other straight-pulls, Mauser’s designers have come up with some novel concepts for its new Model 25 that bring worthwhile outcomes, yet they’ve kept the price at the lower end of the scale for rifles like this. The Mauser 25 is a strong entry into the market, but also cheeky. Mauser has arrived late on the scene and so has had the luxury of time to look at what everyone else has done and try to out-do them. It’s all part of Mauser’s stated goal of dominating the lower part of the market with its range of turn-bolt and…

REASONABLE-MINDED firearms owners in Australia may rightly view our gun laws as being unjust in all kinds of ways, regardless of whether or not you agree with the concept of them being the gold standard or the knee-jerk reaction of a gun-hating Prime Minister. When a loose .22 LR round or even the judgment of a police officer about your attitude can cost you your licence for a decade, it’s hard to consider them fair. But if you’ve never been able to make sense of it, Munslow on NSW Firearms Licensing Law will open your eyes. While the book is billed as a guide to appealing a firearms licensing decision in NSW, it’s far more illuminating than that and it applies generally to the whole of Australia — even WA.…

I LOVE the evocative sound of a crow calling lazily across open country on a hot summer’s day, but it fills me horror when I hear it in my paddocks. When you’ve seen crows walk up the backs of your sheep, hop onto their heads and try to peck their eyes out, it’s incredibly satisfying watching the bloody things fall dead out of trees. LINING one up in the crosshairs, squeezing off the shot and seeing it plunge limply to the ground is a grimly rewarding experience reserved for those who know what it is to successfully protect their flocks from predators. Crows (or rather, ravens, to be strictly correct about the ones here) are amazing birds and I’m always conscious of the dilemma created when I kill such an…

TROPHY HAS become a dirty word. The idea of hunting a large trophy has been separated from the rest of the hunting process. Wall-mounted antlers are seen as vulgar and disrespectful, despite a seared free-range backstrap being regarded as nourishing, sustainable and natural. But there are still hunters who embrace trophy hunting and tackle the conversation head-on. MEMBERS of Trophy Takers, a bowhunting club with members from all corners of Australia, are a prime example. Trophy Takers (trophytakers.org) was established in 1986 and comprises dedicated bowhunters who serve the community with a rating system for game animals. They proudly represent a group who are consistently taking mature trophy animals each year, both in Australia and abroad. Game is taken and rated in the club, and successful hunts are celebrated at…

WHY is it that three century-old rimless cartridges are still wildly popular among hunters? We are talking about the 6.5x55 SE (Swedish; .264 inch), the .270 Winchester (6.8mm) and the 7mm Mauser (.284 inch). Bullet weights across this spectrum are anything in a range from 85 to 175 grains, depending upon the cartridge, which indicates that, depending upon bullet construction, this range will handle anything from mid-sized varmints like foxes and dogs to large non-dangerous game like red deer and sambar. In the case of 6.5mm bullets, the general minimum is 90gn, like the Speer Varminter. In the .270, again, 90 grain bullets are suited for long, flat shots across paddocks to lay waste to marauding canine predators. The .270 tops out with 150 grain bullets, covering a good range…

Q I think I read where a TriggerTech single-stage trigger has the critical contact points chromium plated. If this is true, what advantages does it have over a trigger which has the parts already hardened for long wear? Desmond Barrat A I don’t remember reading A that, and TriggerTech says it does not use coatings on its triggers, which are made of 440C stainless steel. On any good trigger, the contact points would probably have been hardened for long wear, but chrome plating will give a trigger longer life under field conditions where abrasive dust can and does cause some wear. In addition, the chrome plating will lower the friction between moving parts. Another advantage with chrome-plated surfaces is that oiling is not necessary. In fact, oil should not be…

​THE fellas at Mudgee Firearms handle rifles all the time and don’t usually bat an eyelid when transferring guns to me for testing. This time, though, they were wide-eyed and grinning, joking that they couldn’t hand over the Aero Precision Solus because, um, well, just because. They coveted it. That’s the effect this $5500 carbon-wrapped beauty has on gun nuts. And the closer you get, the more you’re drawn to it. “The action may be a 700 in essence but it is Aero’s unique take on it” It corrupted me, progressively crushing the resolve of my conservative blued-and-walnut-loving core until I could no longer justify my prejudice and had to admit it was not just a great piece of engineering but beautiful, too. That was unexpected but if you look…

I WAS at Hatfield again, this time stalking across a paddock leading to what we called the house dam, about 2km from the homestead. I had the Mossberg .30-30 lever-action, stacked up with my handloaded 150gn flat-nose rounds. I spotted a fox sneaking around the wall of the dam. Now, I was after pigs, but could not resist the chance to nail this little introduced predator. I always had my tin fox whistle on a cord around my neck, so I settled down at a forked tree some 100 metres back from the dam, rested the rifle into the fork, nice and steady, and commenced whistling. Immediate reaction! The fox’s ears went up, he lifted his head and broke into a trot, coming straight at me. We all sort of consider…

IT’S dark. It’s humid. The smell of wet ground and insect repellant is almost overwhelming. Bugs galore. The suction sound of little gumboots in mud — skwellsh, skwellsh. The constant croak of the cane toad is relentless as the hunters stalk the edges of the dam in search of the unpopular pests. “There’s one, Nana!” a little voice shouts. One of Knockem Down Nell’s little soldiers has spotted a big, fat, ugly toad lying half in the water. Crank, patink! The sound of the Daisy Red Ryder at work is distinctive and another dirty toad goes stiff and straightens out its limbs as the copper-coated BB tears through its slimy hide. “Got him! Got him! That’s 25,” the young, excited kids yell out as Nana cranks the little lever-gun, ready…

WE’VE TAKEN A lot of animals on the Northern Territory’s Back Country Hunting blocks where hunting is permitted on public land. These are the stories of a few of the bulls we have taken over the past few years. The Back Country program is well set up and provides great hunting. THE hunting is dependant on the time of year and whether the country has been burnt or not. Game taken in the earlier months of the year is earnt by pushing grass all day, and it is tough going. As it gets burnt, the hunting gets better. Later in the year, conditions are very tough, very hot and hard going. The more distance you do, the greater the number of game you will see or take. The program requires shooters…

Winchester Xpert .22 LR The Xpert .22 LR from Winchester offers accuracy, dependability and style in this new lightweight bolt-action rimfire. The Xpert features a precision Rimfire MOA trigger, button-rifled barrel with Bentz-style chamber and recessed target crown. It has a lightweight polymer stock with bold styling and innovative features, and weighs only 2kg, making it easy to aim and carry around. The new MOA trigger is like that of the Model 70 and XPR centrefire rifles, with a three-lever design that has no creep, no take-up and no over-travel, for a light pull that breaks like glass. In addition, the hemispheric firing pin promises improved reliability with rimfire ammunition. An ambidextrous magazine release on the sides and bottom of the firearm drops the magazine into your hand with ease.…

COMPETITION BROUGHT TO YOU BY WINNER WIN a GARMIN eTrex 22x EVERY MONTH! ENTRIES: Please email your high resolution. jpg or. png pig hunting image as an attachment to the email addressed to mickmatheson@yaffa.com.au – all images must be at least 1MB in size. For entry to be valid the following contact details must be included: First name, surname, full mail address, contact phone number and email address. A short explanatory sentence with the email is also needed. Garmin’s outdoor range features unparalleled innovation in hiking, camping and hunting tech in handheld or wearable configurations. Options span from navigation, communication, safety and tracking devices. Garmin also produces a range of bow sights with built-in rangefinder enabling better shot placement. A Garmin eTrex 22x GPS Navigator will be sent to the best entry…

THE Meopta Optika5 4-20x50mm scope with BDC-3 reticle is a versatile offering for longer range shooting that won’t clean out your bank account. Like the rest of the Optika5 lineup, it blends solid European glass and manufacturing with practical features that most shooters will find useful. The 4-20x50mm version gives a bit more reach than its slightly smaller siblings yet still allows for good light transmission at the higher end of the magnification range. While winding as low as 4x allows shooters to quickly acquire closer targets while hunting, the ability to wind up to 20x indicates this scope is pitched at people who want to push out past typical hunting distances. Ringing steel at 300 and 400 metres was very doable with this scope, even when the light was…

SHOOTERS in NSW and Victoria may not appreciate just how good they have things, between R-licence hunting in state forests and the many hunting opportunities available on state land in Victoria via Game Management Authority licences. Shooters in most of the rest of the country do not have that available to them, and in Queensland and WA there is absolutely no public land hunting at all — if you don’t know someone with a property, then no hunting for you. One of the most common inquiries we get from our members in Queensland is, “Where can I go hunting?” The cold, hard reality is that for anyone who doesn’t have access to a property, the answer is nowhere, unless you want to get an R-licence and drive to NSW. The further…

WITH mature stags standing only 70cm high at the shoulder, and hinds even less, hog deer (Axis porcinus) are Australia’s smallest deer. With their stumpy legs and their habit of moving quickly through cover with their heads down, they sometimes resemble a pig, which is presumably how they got their name. Despite their small stature they are a mighty challenge for hunters. Introduced into several parts of Victoria in the 1860s, they thrived only along the coastal swamps and offshore islands of South Gippsland. Today, their range remains relatively contained in that same region and they are considered to be the country’s least abundant deer species. Hence the first challenge for people seeking a trophy stag or some delicious hog deer venison is gaining access to hunt them. Access The…

I HAD BEEN on long service leave for a few weeks and had been flat out with appointments and doing chores for my wife. But I was now desperate to fit in a hunting trip. My passion is deer hunting and what has made this passion so much more special is that my 10-year-old son Harry now accompanies me. I have a favourite location where I like to take Harry. The terrain is nice and flat and not too taxing on his young body … and my old body! It’s a great spot that’s not only very scenic, but also productive. More often than not, we come home with a deer. On this trip, like most of our hunts, we were specifically after meat. I was due back at work the…

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I’M becoming a bit of a fallow deer specialist. This largely comes down to having good access to fallow in my area, as well as them being the go-to protein in our household. For the past few years I’d say I’ve killed more fallow deer than any other medium game. But the northern NSW tablelands offer plenty of other critters to chase. I think if I had to choose one animal to hunt with the bow for the rest of my life, it would be pigs. Pig numbers have picked up in a lot of areas after a few good seasons. While I try to thin them out with a rifle when the farmers ask me to, I do my best to kill as many as possible with a bow.…