Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Sporting Shooter

ONE thing I didn’t write into my goat-hunting story in this issue is how I missed the very first shot I took in the sequence of hunts that I did at the time. It didn’t fit the flow or structure of the tale I wanted to tell, but it’s a story in its own right. It’s an anecdote that clearly illustrates the essential place practice has in maintaining your shooting skills. As you’ll read in the hunting story, the point of hunting goats was to put in some practice with a large-calibre firearm. I went out thinking I was pretty ready for it but, after stalking in to within 30m, I sent the first shot about 5cm over the back of the goat I was aiming for. Useless! The next…

THE search continues for the perfect flyweight rifle. The idea of absolute minimum carrying weight will always interest hunters who hunt in mountain country where the hills are steep and the air is thin. Acquiring a light rifle is easy. It’s the effective ultralight rifle that’s harder to come by. The genuine flyweight mountain rifle is the lightest outfit practicable for its calibre, the accuracy needed and the recoil felt. The Howa Super Lite is the new contender here. Flyweight rifles weighing 2kg without a scope have been around for at least three decades, but most were semi-custom jobs like the Ultra Light Model 20 and Rifle Inc Custom Model 700. They were not affordable nor easily obtained by the average Aussie hunter. The Howa Super Lite has all the…

SOME hunters have a folding bipod with telescoping legs attached to the fore-end of their rifle via the front sling swivel. A bipod can improve a hunter’s hit-to-miss ratio but personally I don’t like extra weight hung on the fore-end as it spoils the balance of my rifle for offhand and running shots. A solution is to carry a bipod in your daypack and attach it whenever needed but that can take valuable time. Now there’s a new line of bipods available which are light and have all the features lacking in most other bipods. No longer do you have to endure carrying a bipod attached to your rifle; there’s a simple, faster and more reliable way to steady your rifle for a long shot — the Spartan bipod. By…

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LETTER OF THE MONTH Wants a different 6.5mm cartridge Q Today, there’s so many 6.5mm cartridges on the market that there’s no reason for the added expense and going to a lot of trouble by working with a wildcat — but who ever accused me of being reasonable? I bought a reamer for the 6.5-270 WSM from Pacific Tool & Gauge and will rebarrel my Winchester Model 70 .264 Win Mag which has a washed out leade. I’ve got a 24” barrel with 1:8 twist and a set of RCBS loading dies; with nearly 200 new .270 WSM cases, I’m am all set to go. Can you tell me if there are any problems that might crop up with this wildcat? What kind of velocity am I likely to get…

THE Steyr CL II is a real eye catcher. A modified version of the original Steyr Mannlicher Classic, it revives that rifle’s handsome, traditional Euro-style stock — hand-chequered, oiled walnut with Bavarian cheekpiece, slender fore-end with contrasting rosewood schnabel tip. The buttstock’s graceful hogsback comb is high with hardly any discernible drop at heel. Panels of fish-scale chequering in grip and fore-end are neatly executed and provide a non-slip grasp. The closely curved grip is oval in cross-section and has a palm swelling on the right side. A slight flare at the bottom of the grip helps keep the right hand firm to control the rifle. There’s a rosewood grip cap with a silver insert carrying the Steyr logo, which matches the fore-end tip. The long, slim, tapered fore-end is rounded…

I’VE reloaded my centrefire ammunition for years. My motivation for doing so was being able to select premium projectiles for specific purposes and keeping the cost around what you would pay for standard factory ammunition. When I first started out the idea of saving a few bucks here and there was good, but the price of ammunition and components has exploded in recent years. Rolling my own has been satisfying and I’ve taken many animals for the wall and freezer. Despite being reasonably competent, I’ve never tried to squeeze as much accuracy or velocity out of my ammunition as others I know, mainly because I can’t be bothered. If my groups are around 1.5 inches at 100 metres and I’m somewhere between minimum and maximum recommended loads in reloading manuals,…

BEFORE offroad vehicles, quad bikes and motorbikes were invented, the First Nation Australian hunters and gatherers used a nawi — a handmade canoe — to travel from place to place and to fish and hunt from. When I hunt from my kayak I get a palpable connection with nature as there is no noise. The feeling of gliding along without disturbing a thing is very cool. It is the best mode of transport when hunting billabongs or river systems in the Outback. Feral pigs will wallow on the water’s edge, especially if it is hot. They don't expect danger from the water unless you are in croc country. If the wind is right, I can often get within 10m of the craftiest boar. Whenever my mates and I hunt in…

The PetSafe In-Ground Fence System is a versatile, budget-friendly electric dog fence suited for dogs over 3.6kg with neck sizes from 15 to 66cm. The set-up creates a boundary around your home or a specific area to keep your dog in. The waterproof collar receiver included offers four adjustable static correction levels plus tone-only mode for training. The collar uses a replaceable RFA-67 battery which will last 1-2 months with average use. The kit includes 152 metres of 20-gauge boundary wire, enough to cover most suburban house blocks, or about 1300 square metres. As an optional extra, additional boundary wire can be purchased for those who would like to add to the system, expandable to approximately 4ha. There are 50 boundary training flags and a transmitter with power adaptor and…

I VISITED Tamworth on a work trip for a caping day and sale at Calibre Country. Afterwards, I was invited into the indoor range to shoot handguns for the very first time! Calibre Country’s indoor shooting range is impressive. After all the paperwork was filled out, I headed in with Guy, the range office for the night and a good friend. I watched the first round as all the experienced shooters had their go. Then it was mine. For my very first attempt I wasn’t too bad at all. It was good to steady my breathing and take my time for a shot. Listening to an experienced shooter like Guy really helped improve my game. I was one happy girl after going through several boxes of ammunition and putting lots of…

IN my estimation, a high-quality binocular is just as important to a hunter as his firearm. I can’t imagine hunting any kind of big game without one, and can’t think of a single hunt where I could have done without a binocular. When used in open country, the binocular enables the hunter to see game at great distances even when it is partially hidden by brush or lying in the shade of rocks. It also allows the hunter to identify the animal and judge its trophy potential, as well as to look over the terrain and plan the best route for a stalk. A good binocular can also be a valuable aid to the woods hunter at closer ranges for seeing an animal in thick brush. On many occasions I have…

WINTER is coming for shooters, and we don’t just mean the season. We are seeing increasing numbers of attacks on law-abiding firearms users and it’s clear we’re in for a tough time — tougher than usual. 2023 has already been an incredibly challenging year for shooters and we have it on good authority there is more drama on the way. We don’t know what’s driving the latest round of anti-gun activity, but there’s been entirely too much of it and it’s far from over. So far we’ve had: • Western Australia announce it intends to introduce mental health checks for gun owners (but not the police, even though they carry firearms every day as part of their work) • WA banning a bunch of rifles and calibres that have never been…

COWBOYS on the Western prairies called it the good ol’ thutty-thutty; to Pancho Villa’s revolutionaries below the Mexican border it was the triente-triente; and the majority of hunters knew it simply as the .30-30 Winchester. To survive as long as it has, it’s gotta be one helluva good cartridge. But there’s no middle road with this venerable woods cartridge; you either love it or heartily detest it. Most modern shooters weaned on a steady diet of ultra-high velocity magnum cartridges either emphatically condemn it or ignore it. Others voice the opinion that most other .30s have what this old timer sadly lacks, and that in an era of powerful, flat-shooting calibres, the .30-30 is an anachronism, that it belongs in the past and should have been allowed to quietly fade away…

ANY line-up of the most popular centrefire rifle cartridges includes the .243 Winchester. Since the .243 Winchester’s appearance in 1955, it has been challenged by numerous newcomers, last but not least being the 6mm Creedmoor. Recoil of the .243 is tolerable, even in lightweight rifles which naturally appeal to young and female shooters. The cartridge delivers sufficient energy for game animals such as pigs, goats and deer — provided the correct bullet is used and properly placed. That’s the problem. There’s little margin for error; miss the vitals and you’ll be faced with a long tracking job or lose the animal. So it appears the .243 Win is more of an expert’s cartridge than a beginner’s. Despite this, the .243 is still a popular choice, not only with pig hunters and…

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 every month, thanks…