Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i Sporting Shooter

A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR WE hunters and target shooters are probably aware that legal shooting and hunting are statistically most likely the safest sports a person can participate in. Having sustained virtually no injury in my lifetime of involvement in target shooting and basically only sore muscles and tiredness from hunting, I’d have had to concur … until a few weeks prior to writing this column. I’d come home from the last shooting day at ANZAC range for 2016 and it was pretty beastly hot. Consequently I doffed my runners and donned my new flip-flops, setting to work cleaning my rifles. In the process I dropped a Parker Hale .22 cal. cleaning rod vertically onto my left little toe from about half a metre ATL (Above Toe Level).…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Butler Creek Stocks Q I recently bought a secondhand rifle built on a Mauser 98 action that has a Butler Creek stock. The lines of the stock are slim and trim and very pleasing to the eye, and I believe it is injection-molded. I’ve been told that injection-molded stocks are often too flexible to adequately support barrel and action, yet nearly all factory rifles today have this kind of synthetic stock. What’s your opinion about this? – Harley Simpson A In my experience injection-molded stocks can be light or they can be rigid, but it is difficult to make them to be both. Making a stock both light and rigid usually requires more expensive materials and production methods. I’ve had plenty of experience with Butler Creek stocks…

Lyman – Auto Advance Targets The new Lyman Auto-Advance Target System is a revolutionary design offering the advantage of target advancement with the use of a hand-held remote controller at a distance of up to 200 yards. This new system means there’s no more having to walk downrange to replace a target. Targets are on a roll and the Target Advancement System by Lyman is battery operated so there’s no need for a power outlet. The new target system features steel protection plates that are rated for use with all rimfire calibres and the legs of the stand use standard inexpensive conduit tubing which is available at any hardware store if /when they need replacing. This makes replacing damaged legs simple and also allows for customising target height to suit…

DEER season in most states is upon us once again and there’ll be bucks and stags dropping left, right and centre. Some however (and it’s just part of the sport but one part we can all work on) will be wounded and it comes down to shot placement and knowing where your cross hairs were the instant your rifle goes off. Confidence in calling your shot plays a big part in putting those antlers on the ground. On this topic, I was guiding in Scotland about 10 years ago and I had led a Danish client to within 40 metres of a Red stag in the Highland heather. Due to the closeness of the situation, I kept my head down while he slowly raised himself higher and let rip with…

AN ASSORTMENT OF HUNTING FACTS & FIGURES “I have made a dozen one-shot kills on deer with a .257 Roberts.” IT'S become the fashion nowadays to rate cartridges according killing power in foot-pounds of energy. I won't elaborate on these two factors here. However, I have seen charts showing just how far individual cartridges can be depended on to kill various animals of different sizes. One article even had it tabulated. The .270 Winchester, let us say, would kill a wapiti at 278 yards, a .30-06 at 293yd., a .300 WSM at 366yd. and a .30-378 Weatherby at 453 yd. I am sure that inexperienced readers lapped the stuff up. It all sounded very scientific. The writer had referred to ballistic tables, used a slide rule and some formula far…

HUNTER DATA-SHARE SNAFU Hunters in Victoria will no longer receive Game Management Licence renewals via email. Changes come after it was discovered a bureaucrat mistakenly shared personal information of more than 8700 licensed shooters. http://www.sportingshootermag.com.au/latest/shooters-details-leaked-in-security-bungle MONTANA ELK In international news, we shared the new world record elk taken in Montana. After the mandatory 60-day drying period ended the massive elk antlers upheld all the hype. The elk’s official entry score was confirmed at an astounding 430 inches. MOST POPULAR STORIES AND VIDEOS • Shooters details leaked in security bungle • 375 Cheytac records 4 hits at 4159m • Gun Rule Changes Ahead for Tasmania • How Many Firearms Can A Shooter Own - The Loose Cannon • Fox hunt catch and cook Aussie style • Driving offences could cost you…

EUROPEANS have always had different ideas from the Americans about what a big-game rifle should look like, hence Continental rifles are prone to be stocked in Germanic style and be over-engineered. They are loaded with subtle refinements and features that many shooters have little use for and shy away from, preferring instead for their smokepoles to be rugged with the mechanism as straightforward as possible. Modular rifles with a switch-barrel capability ain't exactly everybody's choice, but a few aficionados tend to become rapt over them. In an attempt to increase sales, Sauer recently brought out the Model 100 a refined bolt-action with features aimed at impressing a lot of traditionally minded hunters in Australia as well as America. At first glance, it shows very little Germanic influence having a classic-style…

IN recent years commercial ammomakers have been placing growing emphasis on premium-grade, select-component ammunition. This trend started back in the early 1980s when Federal launched its Premium centrefire rifle ammo, but their competitors didn't hurry to climb on the bandwagon; it took a few years before they followed suit. Today, they all offer upmarket ammo loaded with a variety of innovatory controlled expansion bullets. Hornady even went a step farther by using propellants that are custom blended for each individual load which is 100-200 fps faster than conventional ammo. The undoubted superiority of today's factory ammo hasn't impacted those of us who still load their own ammo and we still have an undeniable edge. Not only are all the different super premium bullets available to handloaders along with all the…

Steiner Ranger 2-8X42 Riflescope Steiner, founded in 1947, has only recently accelerated its marketing in Australia, with particular emphasis on its Ranger line of riflescopes and binoculars. Steiner’s Ranger series of German riflescopes lists four different models - 1-4x24, 2-8x42, 3-12x56 and 4-16x56. All feature oversized matte black 30mm one- piece tubes; four times magnification zoom ranges, tapered power rings that are angled to allow the settings to be easily seen from behind the scope; low profile knobs have audible click adjustments with a value of 1cm at 100 metres for windage and elevation; a third turret acts as the illumination control for a bright red dot; and the scope features eyepiece focusing. All Steiner Ranger scopes are set at the factory to be parallax free at 100 metres, but…

“...long enough to fit a long action without extension rings.” LAST year SIG entered the market with its Electro- Optics Division which specialises in hunting optics - riflescopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, enhanced handgun sights, laser rangefinders and red-dot reflex sights. I got the chance to use one of the firm's Whiskey3 riflescopes, a 4-12x40mm on the new Sauer 100 in .308 Win. SIG's scopes are designed for hunting, with the whiskey3 line having a three-times magnification range and the Whiskey5 line offers a five-times magnification range. SIG also offers the Tango line of riflescopes designed for tactical work. Manufactured in the Philippines, the SIG SAUER Whiskey3 riflescope boasts low dispersion glass, fully multi-coated optics and durable shockproof construction. The one-inch main tube is a non-reflective matte-black and the body plenty…

“Geese rocketing over them, honk, honk, honking at seemingly 100km/h..” DAVID Swift and I had booked our shotguns through to Melbourne at the Port Macquarie terminal on Friday the 13th of January after a 4am start. There’s enough Irish in me to be a wee bit apprehensive about three flights on this date. We were discussing this when a little bloke who was behind us in the airline queue wandered up and said: “I was told you blokes had pool cues in your hold baggage. I play, too, and was wondering what size tip you used?” Quick as a flash, Swifty - of Usedguns.com.au fame – fired back: “We use 12 gauge.” The bloke thanked us, then walked away slowly, frowning, clearly puzzled. When he was out of sight, we…