Innehållsförteckning för October 2021 från Sporting Shooter

PANDEMIC ISSUES. The Covid situation in Australia ramped up quite a few notches in July and by the time this magazine hits the stands, the “Pandemic Panic” may have decreased somewhat. We can only hope. As recreational hunters, we can take a selfish view that our travel activity to hunt should be largely unrestricted, but we should be seen to be contributing to limiting the spread of Covid as citizens of the wider community, who have had strict limitations placed on their lives. Think that if you are going onto private or public land to hunt, carrying all your food and fuel and camping alone in the bush, how on earth would you be able to spread this “dreaded lurgie”? I feel most for the small businesses considered non-essential, who…

FOLLOWING up from an epic trip hunting red deer in early April, I turned the car north again to head for Charters Towers. It was a long two-day drive on my own to the station but its always worth doing. Following up from an epic trip hunting red deer in early April, I turned the car north again to head for Charters Towers. It was a long two-day drive on my own to the station but its always worth doing. I hadn’t seen many deer on the drive in and this made me a little nervous. The new lease holders had mentioned culling all the deer, so I thought I might have been too late. I had a few jobs to do for the station owner, so I got to…

THAT feral cats are an environmental disaster in Australia’s fragile ecosystems is irrefutable. Even animal rights organisations, including PETA, recognise the destruction wrought by the introduced Felis catus roaming the bush. Having been brought up as a fan of Australia’s natural diversity I, like many hunters, despair at the sheer magnitude of the feral cat problem. For as long as I’ve been a shooter (more than 45 years), feral cats have been high on my target species list (along with Indian Mynas, but that’s another story). I’ve hunted them with singular focus, using all of the firearms at my disposal, along with traps where shooting is not possible. Why the passion for removing cats from the Aussie bush? Since their incursion into Australia, cats have spread throughout the continent, inhabiting…

To complement their range of optics, Vortex offer a large range of tripods for use at the range or in the field. For the trophy hunter who requires a steady bipod to support a spotting scope or binoculars when evaluating game at long distance, Vortex range of tripods features the High Country II, which offers reliability and packable performance at a budget-friendly price. What’s more, its aluminium design offers durability in a lightweight package. Offering a two-way pan head with Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release system, movement and adjustment is smooth and precise. The High Country II offers a minimum height of 11.3” up to a maximum of 62.5” via a 3-leg section with 3-angle leg pivot locks and flip lever locks. Other features include a counterweight hook, rubber feet, rubber packing…

To celebrate its 165th birthday, Anschutz has produced their very first rifle chambered in 300 Winchester Magnum. And what better rifle than the stunning 1782. It is available in four variants, Classic style stock with either 24”or 26” barrel and German style stock in 24” or 26” barrel. Featuring a blued steel action and finished in hard chrome, it offers a 60 degree bolt throw and two-row, six locking lugs (2 x 3) array. Other features include a Gold, single-stage trigger, which is fully adjustable and factory set at 2.42 lbs., sliding safety catch on the right side, threaded M15x1 barrel, checkered stock on the pistol grip and fore end, rubber butt plate, oil-finished walnut and a steel magazine with a capacity of two rounds. For more information visit www.nioa.com.au…

NORMALLY, I’d be giving the mighty Honda Pioneer’s accelerator a bit of a workout as we headed towards a likely pig haunt, but today my passenger wasn’t an unkempt, rough looking, hairy faced, addicted pig chaser. You see, my son was at work; he has to act like an electrician sometimes. So I eased back on the give-it-stick pedal and took in the scenery. Today, being a completely romantic and devoted husband, I’d unshackled my caring, beautiful wife Gina from domestic duties as we had more important things to do. So, as she relaxed and enjoyed the breeze in the passenger seat, I mapped out a hunting plan of attack in my head. The solid, black boar was chest deep in water, pushing its large snout through the sedge grass…

FINALLY, my new Pulsar scope and the Night Tech monocular were going to get a workout. My mate Rian and I were up at a small block where I have permission to hunt. On the first afternoon we had a good look around, riding from paddock to paddock on my quad bike. Suddenly, a mob of deer ran out from the thick trees on one side and started crossing the track. We stopped immediately to check them out while they stopped for a quick look and then trotted off up into the mountain. There were four large hinds, two with fawns in tow and a yearling hind from last year. Initially, we were a bit slow evaluating them, but noticed the small one looked to be a great meat deer.…

IT WAS 4.30am when I drove through the gateway onto Ned’s property. We wanted an early start on our journey into the Victorian Alps. My thoughts were focusing on what the next few day’s might bring. This trip was a little different to most, as I normally hunt on private land. My mate, Ned, was introducing me to a vast area of public land I had never visited. Usually I avoid crown land, seeing these areas as over-hunted and somewhat devoid of game. Still, it was a chance to spend a few days camped out under the stars in spectacular country. Ned’s reputation with a camp oven is legendary and washing those gourmet delights down with a few beers seemed an opportunity too good to pass up. “We wanted to…

LIMITING your footprint on your surroundings and enjoying the satisfaction of judiciously harvesting as much as possible keeps us grounded and feeling as though we have purpose in what we do in and with our lives. In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to be entirely self-sufficient, but every little bit of effort you make contributes to a sense of fulfilment that is worthwhile. I put myself off the above ideas at times when I’m worn out and don’t feel like making the effort. It saddens me when I get that way as getting outside and after the bounty of nature is what makes me feel good. Nevertheless, the coordination of skills and resources sometimes makes living off the land appear daunting, exhausting even and perhaps not worth the…

ADI World Class Ammo ADI World Class Powders & Ammunition products are proudly made in Australia, so their commitment to the local Australian market is extremely strong. Look out for this packaging on your local gun shop shelves. This is the new packaging for the Australian-made, high quality, amazingly accurate, ADI World Class ammunition. If you have been a fan of the OSA Buffalo River or Australian Outback ammunition, ADI World Class has begun replacing them both with exactly the same ammunition that Australia loves to shoot. It is available in .308 and .223, both in packets of 20 rounds and bulk cans, with other calibres on the way soon. I personally use their .223 ammo and find it extremely accurate. In fact, another great feature I found with World…

The ATA Pro 12 over-under Sporting Shotgun is the latest version of the popular 686 series produced by ATA Arms. While it shares many of the useful features of its predecessors, there are notable departures from previous models like 10mm ventilated rib, a 32” barrel option, colour coded extended chokes and Grade 2 walnut stock with 365mm LOP. If you’re after an ergonomic, yet stylish, competition grade over and under shotgun, the Pro 12 from ATA arms will fit the bill. Other features include chrome lined barrels and chambers, available in 30” or 32” versions, 10mm ventilated rib with red foresight, adjustable comb raiser, length of pull 365mm (14.37”), laser cut checkering, Sporting Clays style recoil pad, SILVER (steel) receiver with black PRO 12 motif, selective trigger and auto eject,…

Recently, the humble check shirt has made a fashion comeback and is quite trendy to wear, particularly if it’s a Ridgeline organic, made of 100% organic cotton. These smart, casual wear tops feature a soft brushed finish and feel warm and comfortable to wear. What’s more, they are stylishly cut with button down collar, button down chest pockets and a slight taper, so they fit nicely. Another great feature with the Ridgeline Organic Check shirt is the fact they are pre-washed, so there’s no shrinkage. Featuring a woven check design, they are available in sizes XS to 5XL in red, olive, yellow or blue and retail for around $79.95 each. Ridgeline have recently added a whole range of casual wear to their clothing line-up including long and short sleeve Tee…

AFTER paying a visit to the Meopta factory in Austria several decades ago, I've been using their optics regularly, not only riflescopes but a H75 20-60x spotting scope. Meopta dates back to 1933 when Dipl. Ing Alois Benes founded Optikotechna, a precision optics company in the city of Prerov. They started out producing the first entirely Czechoslovakian-produced lens system, built by Dr. Antonin Mazurek. When the country was occupied by the German Wehrmacht during World War II, Meopta's production was taken over and used to produce a wide variety of military optics, including Zielfernrohr 41 (a long eye-relief "scout" type sniper scope for the Mauser model 98K, a 4x variant for the Selbstadegewehr 43 sniper rifle; and a 4x scope exclusively for use on Waffen SS " double claw" KAR…

IT was fantastic to see how the bush had bounced back from the devastating bushfires of 2020/2021 and, consequently seeing deer numbers recovering. Now Old Pop and I had a few close calls as a large stag jumped up over the ridge behind us, just as Dad was answering nature's call. We were unfortunate in not taking some meat home for the freezer, but Lady Luck was on Ryan’s side, with him taking home a nice fallow hind. After our encounter with the stag, Old Pop and I were greeted by three consecutive shots coming from just below us. Not knowing exactly where the shooter was, Old Pop and I made our way back down the gully, chatting as we did. Although we were wearing our blaze orange caps, we…

LETTER OF THE MONTH Accuracy From Hot and Cold Barrels Q I’ve been told that when shooting over a chronograph, a hot barrel makes no difference to recorded velocities. I have also heard that, in theory, if a barrel gets hot after a number of rounds, the round in the chamber will heat up and produce more velocity and may not shoot into the same group as a cooler barrel. I have been letting the barrel cool down when shooting groups for accuracy. Is one way better than the other?– Dave Collins A Some rifles shoot just as tight groups from a hot barrel as a cool one, but in my experience light sporter barrels are more prone to tossing bullets outside the original group. My Kimber .25-06 does this.…

UNLIKE other newly-introduced .22 rimfire rifles, the Rossi 8122 bolt-action has small proportions having been designed to handle the difficulties of young boy and girl shooters rather than catering to the adult rifleman or the target competitor. There are many heavier, more expensive bolt actions available, but not many boys own one, since few parents can afford what they cost. Kids deserve a good start and it appears to me that this handy little Rossi 8122 will fill this niche. The Rossi is a good little rifle, simple in operation, light in weight and available with four different barrel lengths 406mm, 457mm, 533mm and 584mm. The shortest barrel-cuts down the overall length making the Rossi - suited for small boys and teenagers alike. This is a pious idea. Construction is…

If you haven’t seen it, Australian distributors Pro Tactical have released a well-presented digital catalogue for Aussie hunters and shooters, offering a huge range of product now available through many gun shops Australia wide. To view it, simply go to the Pro Tactical website www.protactical.com.au scroll to the bottom of their HOME page and click on the “Download Catalogue” and it’s all there at your fingertips. This 107-page, full colour catalogue offers images and current information on many well-known brands plus a host of their own products including gun care, reloading, gun safes and storage, targets, clothing, spotlights, knives, accessories and more. Their firearm line-up is extensive also and includes brands like Rigby Rifles, Purdey, Pardus, Grulla Armas, Zastava Arms and the premium European range of AlfaProj carbine revolver rifles…

ATA cleaning kits are very well priced and have been around for many years. Some may remember them packaged in a colour coded plastic sleeve and available for .22, .17, .177 air guns, 12 gauge and .30 cal. In fact, I had one for my .22 but somehow managed to misplace it. So, I recently purchased another as the .22 needed some urgent maintenance. The Good news is that ATA have upgraded their packaging to include a well presented aluminium case with clear, Perspex lid and ample room to add a few spare brushes if required. The .22 kit includes a 3-piece brass rod with swivel handle and male threaded brushes including a brass scrubbing brush, a steel spiral brush and cotton mop. Add to this, a bottle of gun…

WITH the first chills of winter came the first howls of the wild dogs. This occurred in Queensland's Mt Perry district range country and there was no shortage of the Cattleman’s Dread being active far and wide. I arrived at a favoured block at 5pm and was pleasantly surprised to see a black dog some 400m away, heading almost directly to me and being none the wiser to my presence. A slow and careful stalk saw me get to the only solid rest tree available. Then I uttered a few quick howls and extracted first blood with a 125gn Nosler Ballistic Tip to the chest. With little daylight left, so ended day one. Day two dawned and a pea soup fog didn’t start to lift until 9am. As I finished…

USUALLY the alpine hunter carries a rifle, binocular, a spotting scope and a daypack containing lunch. Thus laden it is no wonder that he prefers a light rifle. But how light should his musket be? Can there be light and too-light? From comments I've heard, the ideal outfit would be one that weighed about 7 to 7-1/2lb all-up with scope, sling and a full magazine, until you were ready to shoot it, then you wished it weighed 10lbs and hold steadier. In Victoria a considerable amount of game, like sambar, is found in the mountains. I have climbed just about as high - and worked just about as hard - hunting sambar deer as I have hunting Dall rams in the Alaskan mountains. In parts of Queensland, chital and red…

THE Instant Indicator includes a one-diameter bore diameter bushing, surface contactor, shoulder contactor headspace gauge and a new Range Adapter which makes the instrument more versatile allowing it to be used at the range or in the field without the need for a loading press. Measurements are read from a large 1"x.001" dial indicator. Hornady lists the "Lock-N-Load Headspace Comparator" which comes with five bushings and a blank with .188" hole that can be drilled for sizes not listed. This instrument measures headspace with a caliper and has the ability to check most bottleneck cases from .17 Remington through the belted magnums. Hornady also lists the "Lock-N-Load O.A.L Gauge" which is precise and user friendly. This adjustable gauge is used with a modified case and a dial caliper to select…