Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Sporting Shooter

JASPER Dulhunty has contributed his first gun test this issue. I’m really glad to have him working with us and the quality of his first rifle review only confirms my feelings. He has nailed it, as you’ll see when you turn to the Browning article. Jasper is an absolutely dedicated hunter and fisher. While I slaved away here at the desk, careening towards another deadline, my emails to him went unanswered because he was deep in the bush, hunting deer with the Browning. That’s the kind of contributor we want on the Sporting Shooter team. We have it Jasper, in Dylan Smith, in Graham Park and all the others whose names you see regularly here. Graham doesn’t spend as much time hunting as he’d like because he dedicates an immense…

SINCE its first introduction in 2008, the Browning X-Bolt has become a household name among shooting and hunting enthusiasts. During the past 16 years the X-Bolt has become synonymous with demanding hunts, ideal for hunters requiring a precision high-country mountain rifle, available in a range of large, flat-shooting calibres capable of administering ethical dirt naps to large game species across continents. With such a well-proven platform and almost a fanbase following, I bet you’re wondering what Browning brought to the table in the new and improved X-Bolt 2? The X-Bolt 2 Ovix Speed has been designed to well suit the same niche application, with a lightweight design — 3.2kg bare or about 3.6 with a light scope — making it easy to carry up and down mountains and rugged terrain.…

I bought my first shotgun at 16, a Sportco bolt-action shotgun, from the same shop I worked in, James McEwan’s hardware. Yes, a hardware store that sells guns and ammunition — unheard of in today’s politically correct world! From an early age I was always interested in guns and hunting. It was there from my first little air rifle at 10 years old through to the powerful centrefire rifles and shotguns I own today. Dad didn’t teach me much in this regard, although I did enjoy mucking around with his old Lithgow single-shot .22. My elder brother Bob was the main instigator in my education in the shooting arts and we enjoyed countless hours together in the field, on the lake shores and at the range. I remember fondly the…

I had never hunted in snow before. I’d only seen it twice — once in the Snowy Mountains when I was a kid and once in Europe, back in 2006. Both times it was different because there was more of it and I was expecting it. This time, Andy and I were hunting on a friend of a friend’s property not far outside the ACT and were prepared for the winter cold but not snow. We were sleeping in the woolshed and planned to wake up early so we could head out just on first light to stalk rabbits. As we stepped out into the dim, grey morning, snow flakes began to fall around us. It was eerily quiet and, apart from the falling snow, dead still. It was cold…

IN my little handloading world, I use a task orientation approach. I look at the end task for which the ammunition is to perform and tailor the load to meet that need. For someone who target shoots and hunts, the approach may be quite different for each task. Many of us have very busy lives and the need to save time may dictate an approach that, while being safe, would not generate minute-of-pinhead consistency. But those who are highly competitive or who have game that is twitchy and hangs out “a fur piece” from your position need greater precision than the minimalist approach can deliver. Each requires a different method. Let’s call the two methods the Gross Error Approach and Chasing Minutiae (small, precise, trivial). Ninety-five percent of my time…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Exit pupils and relative brightness Q I am in the market for a spotting scope to use for varmint and big-game hunting. I want the highest magnification I can get, but there’s a big difference in the price of different scopes of the same power. Looking at different model specifications, I see the terms “exit pupil” and “relative brightness” a lot. What do these terms mean, how do they relate to performance, and how much importance should I attach to them? Earl Osbourne A A high-quality image doesn’t necessarily mean high magnification. Image clarity and brightness are more important than magnification. Exit pupil (EP) and relative brightness (RB) give a good indication of how much brightness and clarity the scope has. The exit pupil is merely…

I performed like a complete goose the first time I took the Celik Arms Chimera PB223 into the bush but this little push-button rifle made up for my shortcomings, leaving me with a great first impression and a dead boar at my feet. I didn’t even see the porker that was just 15m away until my wife, a few steps behind me, casually said, “Pig!” Now, it took me a moment to find it myself, another to unsling the Chimera from my shoulder, and then I quietly opened the action but couldn’t keep the noise down quite enough as I eased the bolt home and chambered a round. The boar’s head and tail came up and it bolted — zero to a hundred in a nanosecond. I raised the rifle,…

IF you think back to your high school social studies classes, you may recall that in Australia, laws are made by parliament, with elected representatives — MPs — voting on them. Nowadays, apparently, gun laws are the exception to that, based on what we’ve seen happening in Queensland and Western Australia. The most recent example is Queensland’s Weapons Licensing Group (formerly Weapons Licensing Branch) getting a bee in their bonnet about “large calibre” rifles — things like .338 Lapua Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum, among others. For decades, these were treated the same as any other Category B firearm and getting a PTA for one in Queensland was essentially a tick-and-flick exercise (as it should be). There is nothing in the Weapons Act 1990, Weapons Regulations 2016, or Weapons Categories…

ONE of the most uniquely Australian hunting experiences that I have ever undertaken is one that many Aussie hunters may never have even contemplated. Our wide brown land offers what must surely be the world’s only opportunity to hunt feral camels. The trips I have made to our arid inland regions to target these ships of the desert have been both challenging and memorable. Every Aussie hunter should try it at least once! The challenges lie not in the killing of a camel. To put it bluntly, they aren’t the most alert or flighty of game species and are mostly easy to put down, though once they recognise the clear and present danger of someone trying to kill them they will rapidly depart the scene and their long legs help…

A rack of pine baffles is a good way to compare the penetration characteristics of hunting projectiles. There is a process for the testing, and you must know how to interpret the results because, as we said last month, timber is not quite the same as flesh and bone. Whether they’re handloads or factory, you need at least three cartridges containing projectiles of each type you want to assess. These loads should’ve already been tested to ensure they give suitable hunting accuracy. Preferably run them over a chrono as well, to determine muzzle velocity. That will help you work out striking energy at the target range. Your rifle should be zeroed with one of these loads. The other two loads will probably strike rather close but use of a zero…

COMPETITION BROUGHT TO YOU BY 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…

FEDERAL is now loading some of its Premium ammunition line with Hornady ELD-X (Extremely Low Drag – eXpanding) projectiles. These bullets combine a super-high ballistic coefficient with features designed to control expansion at a wide range of velocities, with the aim of being both match-accurate and effective for longer-range hunting. Hornady’s engineers noticed in a lot of their testing that the BC of their bullets was varying more than was desirable out at extended ranges, and it came down to the plastic tips deforming in flight. They worked around this with the ELD-X bullet, using a new material that stays together better and performs more consistently and predictably. Hornady claims that inside 400 yards (366m), the bullet expands well through its penetration path, with the InterLock ring keeping the core…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY BROUGHT TO YOU BY TSA Australian distributor for Weatherby, ZeroTech and Fiocchi. YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A WEATHER BY RIFLE & ZEROTECH SCOPE PACKAGE IN EVERY ISSUE IN 2025 *THE WEATHERBY VANGUARD WILL BE CHAMBERED IN .223 WITH BLUED METALWORK AND SYNTHETIC STOCK With the basis of a cold hammer-forged 24-inch barrel, 3-position safety and adjustable Match-Quality Twostage Trigger, the Weatherby Vanguard S2 Blued Synthetic guarantees sub-MoA accuracy and user safety. The Griptonite® stock and Weatherby recoil pad makes for comfortable shooting and the hinged floorplate allows instant unloading. To be eligible you need to include a box of any Fiocchi ammunition in the submitted photo. ENTRIES: please send your high resolution. jpg or. png image as an attachment to your email addressed to mickmatheson@yaffa.com.au…

IF YOU WERE to ask me what is my favourite deer to hunt, I have to say sambar, which challenge the hunter like no other game animal I have hunted. But if you asked me what my favourite deer was, then I would have to say chital. No deer is as pretty and none has the quality of meat. Chital cuts are smaller than most other deer in Australia but they are beautiful to eat. MY wife and I eat copious quantities of meat and any opportunity to take game from the field instead of buying meat at the butchers is a bonus. I am always one of the first to raise my hand when the opportunity comes to hunt these beautiful creatures. Pauly and I drove to North Queensland…

Spartan bipod pouch I’ve owned and used a Spartan Javelin Pro Hunt bipod on all my firearms for several years now. The thing I like about them is the fact they can be quickly removed and fitted to a second or third firearm by simply adding a magnetic base to each gun. Hence, one bipod for all my guns. I usually carry it in my pocket or pack until required. The one thing that did bother me, however, was the fact it didn’t come with a pouch to attach to my belt or bino harness. Good news is Spartan now offers two options to take care of my problem. The first is the FHF Aspis Javelin bipod holster that features a quick-release buckle and is made to fit my Spartan…

THE traditional archery thing is something my mates and I are constantly pursuing. If we don’t keep our condition and skills current, we lose our capabilities, as well as our confidence. We luckily have a lot of good access to country that holds large numbers of goats and pigs, so we can maintain our confidence when we put our minds to it, and one day, we may just forget about our compounds altogether. I was out with a mate recently to test some rifles for the magazine, and we threw our recurve bows in the back of the side-by-side in case a sneaky opportunity presented itself. One thing about trad that makes it more difficult is that it usually demands so much more time than the rifles or compounds, as…