Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2023 i Airgun Shooter

GET ON TARGET AT THE NORTHERN Up to 240 competitors are set to take part at the World Hunter Field Target Championships, which is being hosted by the Northern Shooting Show this May at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate. This is the first time the international competition has been held in the UK, and will see competitors from across the UK, Europe and South Africa shoot two 40-target courses on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 May. The course will be made up of four standing targets, four kneeling and 32 prone. The overall winner will go home with a specially commissioned trophy, and there are medals for first, second and third places in each of the classes – Open, Veterans, Ladies, Junior, .22, Springer and International Team. All competitors…

ZEROING IN CONSERVATION A report has been published by Airgun Shooter writer JDJ Braithwaite and co-author Charles Dutton providing clear evidence that shooting grey squirrels with air rifles is an extremely effective and humane method of pest control with important implications for conservation. In recent years, some forestry organisations have questioned the utility of air rifles and shooting in general. Indeed, in one statement discussed in the report, one organisation claimed that shooting grey squirrels with an air rifle was neither effective nor humane. But the Braithwaite-Dutton report notes that these claims have never been based on any published or hard evidence. The report, published by the European Squirrel Initiative (ESI), seriously challenges unsubstantiated claims held by some woodland organisations. In the first published report to provide empirical data to demonstrate…

Like all modern hunters, I rely totally on optics to maximise my field performance, so I thought I'd share a few things I've been taught and some others I learned the hard way. Regular readers will know that I always champion the use of binoculars and have done for many years. People have told me often that binoculars are an unnecessary expense and a bother to carry around, and while I accept those points to a degree, until you've tried a pair properly you simply cannot know what you're missing. BINOCULARS My favourite hunting saying is that you can't shoot what you can't see, and I honestly believe that's true. “UNTIL YOU'VE TRIED A PAIR YOU SIMPLY CANNOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING” I wrote recently about the correct technique for…

In my previous article I discussed returning to a section of woodland I had been shooting, but had pulled out of more than a year ago. On my return I had placed a feeder to assess the level of activity. The resulting high engagement was proof that it had been well worth making the effort. Now knowing that coming back to this area was worthwhile, I will detail here the setting up of the hide and the first shooting session of my return. For this wood, I decided on setting up a pop-up hide. The main reasons mitigating this decision were that it was winter and the natural woodland cover was low. That meant there was little to work with in terms of building a natural hide, or indeed just…

I won't pretend to be an authority on American history, but I thought that the Colt Single Action Army ‘Peacemaker' was the ‘gun that won the West' – but it seems that the Smith & Wesson Schofield has a good claim too. It looks to me that the Schofield was more advanced than the Colt, so definitely of interest to those who love to collect such replicas. The key difference between the two was their loading methods, where to me the Schofield appears head and shoulders better. It featured what they call a ‘top-break' action, where the top strap of the frame has a lock that when opened reveals all six of the chambers. An extractor then drives empty cases from the chambers, making them ready to accept fresh rounds.…

Is there a new rival to the mighty JSB Exact? At the British Shooting Show, the man from H&N Sport handed me a sample tube of the company's new Baracuda 8 pellets in .177 which weigh 8.44 grains. I knew the .22 was already here, but I'd not seen the smaller calibre before. I asked for a full tin to do some proper testing, but they only had the tiny samples. Being blunt, I pointed out that they looked exactly like and weighed the same as the JSB Exact and he laughed. “Yes they do, but there's one big difference. You can buy these!” It's well-known around the industry that JSB is offering some very long delivery times and H&N has seen an opportunity to fill in the gap, which…

My love of small-town America enlarged no end at the sight of a Sheridan Model C in Lewistown, Montana. It was for sale for not much money, and was simply too good to leave behind on that cross-country trip in 1988. This was my first and only ‘high-power' air rifle. The Blue Streak, as Sheridan liked to call the little Model C, came in a cardboard box with a pack of .20 calibre slugs for company and the excitement of a new land that never goes away. That rifle was a direct descendant of the famous and very collectable Model A Supergrade and, like the Model C, was a multi-stroke pneumatic, which had to be pumped up until either you were tired or became distracted, whichever came first. The reward…

SHOOTING ADVICE FEATURE NON-LEAD AMMO Airgunning as we know it could be under threat. The sport is facing a challenge that some believe puts its very future on the line. The threat is not to our guns, but to our ammo. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is consulting on the use of lead ammunition as part of its UK REACH programme, which will regulate the industrial use and importation of chemicals. It's currently proposing a near-complete ban on the outdoor use of lead projectiles. This ban could quickly affect all forms of shooting, from centrefire and rimfire rifles through to shotguns. But it's arguable that if the UK REACH proposals go through unchanged, then airgun users will be among the worst affected. LOVELY LEAD? Lead has been used in the…

TESTING STATION RIFLE TEST BSA SCORPION TS KEY SPECS MANUFACTURER: BSA Guns (bsaguns.co.uk) 01675 481006 MODEL: Scorpion TS TYPE: Pre-charged pneumatic ACTION: Bolt action, magazine-fed multi-shot LENGTH: 930mm WEIGHT: 3.2kg TRIGGER: Two-stage, adjustable FILL PRESSURE: 232 bar SHOTS PER FILL: 140 in both .177 and .22 PRICE: RRP £569 BSA Guns has a long and deservedly proud history of making guns right here in the UK, or more specifically in Birmingham. In recent years some of its production was moved overseas, but the good news is that much of it is coming home, which makes me happy. BSA recently told me that the next new pre-charged pneumatic it would offer would be completely manufactured in England, and that is the rifle you see here – the Scorpion TS. What blows my…

Qiang Yuan Sports, better known as QYS, has been making pellets since 1994, but it wasn't until 2018 that this ammunition became readily available over here thanks to The Shooting Party. It's easy, if a little lazy, to dismiss anything coming from China as being nothing more than cheap and cheerful, but the whole QYS range, which so far is entirely .177 calibre, has proved itself to be among the very best on the planet, with plenty of Olympic and World Cup medals being won with QYS pellets. While we've been enjoying these pellets in the West for the past five years, manufacturing processes can change over time, and the dies that produce these projectiles certainly wear out and need replacing, so I decided to revisit the range to see…

At the British Shooting Show, Edgar Brothers was showing a very flashy bronze version of the brand new EB Arms XV2 PCP. Readers may remember the XVI that the company introduced a few years ago, and the XV2 is something of a spiritual successor to the original XVI design, but being brought right up to date in terms of its layout and style. This rifle drinks from a large buddy bottle into its sidelever action. This configuration makes the action tall, on top of which we find a bridge-style Picatinny rail that's machined in. There's another section of Picatinny rail bolted to the bottom of the action to accept accessories. The action looks to be milled from a huge block of aluminium and has a distinctive shape that's unlike anything…

FIRST IMPRESSIONS Daystate has another new rifle that should wow target shooters worldwide – the Red Wolf Grand Prix. This model combines the electronic action of the standard Wolf with a multi-adjustable stock co-developed with Precision Rifle Systems, Daystate's official accessory manufacturer. The new chassis offers an array of features, including quick adjustment to the cheek rest, forend rail and full-length Picatinny rail, as well as a comprehensive range of accessories. I predict we'll be seeing some examples of the GP at this year's Extreme Benchrest competition in Arizona, but the adjustability of the stock should mean it's perfectly capable of taking on sitting, prone, kneeling or standing shots too. In addition, the Red Wolf Grand Prix's fully electronic action is matched to an electronic trigger that can be fine-tuned. An…

I wrote last month that I was hopefully going to gain a new permission, and it's only gone and happened! The farm hosts a game shoot over the winter, with many of the drives running along a river. This makes my labrador, Joe, very useful because he swims like an otter and loves working in water, which makes him popular with the gamekeeper. The keeper had mentioned that he had way too many squirrels on the ground, and the damage they were causing and the food they were eating was costing him a lot of money and wasting his precious time. He occasionally runs traps, but often lacks the time to go around setting them and so they sit unused. Naturally, I told him that I'm rather good at reducing…

It's strange the things you tend to notice as you get older. For decades, the sprouting of new life in springtime was just something that I took for granted and used as an indication that our world was once again becoming warmer. Spring raised its head from its winter slumber and reactivated nature into colour with the welcome scent of newly sprouting life all around us. As a practical outdoors person, the warming season means it's time to consider venturing out into our beautiful countryside again with either a rod, or more likely a gun, in search of a few hours of peace. It's not that I don't enjoy the friendly banter of a good indoor range shooting session, it's just that quality time spent outdoors seems to recharge my…

From the very first time that some inventive pilgrim dreamed up the idea of using a telescope as a rifle sight, numerous, equally inventive types have sought to devise clever systems for fixing one to a gun. Gorilla Glue and Duck Tape won't win you any friends in this venture, but a dab hand at science and mechanical engineering might get you there. Over the ages, all kinds of mechanical marvels have come and gone, and some of them even worked. Many originated in the United States, or in Germany and Austria, while in the UK we had the likes of Parker Hale, with its light alloy mounts, and from Australia came Hillver's all-steel items. Indeed, most industrial nations from every corner of the globe have at some time had…

TESTING STATION RIFLE TEST ALPHA WOLF SAFARI EDITION KEY SPECS MAKER: Daystate (daystate.com) MODEL: Alpha Wolf Safari Edition PRICE: £2,400 TYPE: Pre-charged pneumatic OVERALL LENGTH: 722mm (24.4in) BARREL LENGTH: 430mm (17 in) AIR RESERVOIR CAPACITY: 480cc WEIGHT (UNSCOPED): 3.35kg (7.4lbs) CALIBRE: .177 (4.5mm) and .22 (5.5mm) COCKING: Sidelever action, reversible MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 13 shots in .177), 11 shots in .22 FILL PRESSURE: Up to 240 bar FAC MUZZLE ENERGY: 20 ft-lb in .177, 45 ft-lb in .22 TRIGGER: Electronic release ADJUSTABILITY: Pull weight, length of stage and blade position SAFETY: Manual, electronic isolation. AR-15-type lever STOCK: Textured wood OPTIONS: PRS accessories, 0dB silencer, Aim Grip bipod Daystate is a company that loves to create and innovate. It's now known the world over for its electronic rifles, most recently the Red Wolf,…

As a keen hunter I'll take advantage of anything that makes me more successful, which usually means helping me find my quarry and place my shots accurately. However, I dislike carrying too much kit as I feel it weighs me down and feels clumsy when I'm covering difficult terrain. Also, things that clank together will surely give you away to quarry alert to the presence of predators. Binoculars are a must-have item for me on any hunt, and I literally never go without them. By moving less and looking more, I can find squirrels high in the trees long before they see me, and it gives me more time to make a plan of attack. I've also learned that a laser rangefinder is invaluable to me. This is because the…

THE GUN ROOM By the mid-1980s, BSA's adult-sized break-barrel air rifle, the Mercury, was getting long in the tooth. It had been uprated in Challenger form, but still was not able to compete head-on with Weihrauch's HW80 powerhouse. Taking the Challenger cylinder and lengthening the piston stroke provided a basis for the power-pack of the Supersport, launched in 1986. Considerably lighter than the HW80, the Supersport could nevertheless deliver 11.5 ft-lb of muzzle energy, and rather more for the US market. In 1987, the Supersport Custom was announced. This model differed from its humbler brother by having a deluxe stock with a prominent, hand-finished cheekpiece and chequering on the pistol grip. An adjustable barrel pivot, a two-stage trigger and a Maxi-Grip scope rail instead of dovetails finished the gun off…