Innehållsförteckning för February 2023 från Sporting Shooter

WE’VE upped the ante for our competitions! Between them, Hunter’s Gallery, Hunter’s Diary and Bacon Busters all boast amazing prizes that we’re really excited to offer you. Garmin sponsors Bacon Busters, an apt arrangement for a photo competition all about pig hunting. Garmin’s navigational devices are renowned, of course, and the monthly prize we’re now able to offer is the eTrex 22x. It’s a sensational GPS device that retails for $329! Among other things, the eTrex 22x comes preloaded with topo maps, ideal for hunting. Its screen is readable in sunlight, a pair of AA batteries lasts up to 25 hours of continuous use in GPS mode, and it is tough and durable. Find out more on page 82. And then get some good pics of your busted bacon and…

THIS rifle has a most intriguing feature: the barrel and receiver are made in one piece. Steyr reasons that this will create a more rigid and accurate firearm, and the results of our testing indicate this is true. The Monobloc is also a modular rifle and Steyr implies you can switch calibres: one bolt and one stock and one trigger suffice for different bolt heads, magazines and barrelled actions. However, as the serial number applies to the entire barrelled action, Steyr’s suggestion isn’t valid under Australian registration laws. Instead, what you have is a rifle whose appearance can be highly customised with different stocks, inlays and other components. Steyr Arms is an innovative firearms company. It has been ever since Ritter von Mannlicher pioneered his designs in the last quarter of…

IT’S always fun when you get a new piece of gear and can sit back and appreciate how shiny it is. New toys are fun to muck around with and there is no shortage of different knives, packs and other gadgets that can be had for an outdoorsman. It’s easy to fall in the trap of wanting to try new gear in the constant search to find what works best for you, but it’s also nice to look at some gear you’ve had for a long time without realising it and be in awe of how much abuse it has copped without ever having skipped a beat. Due to how much wild game my wife and I process, our knives cop some of the hardest use of all our gear. A…

THE boar I bagged just five minutes from our front door was easily the biggest of my short, amateur hunting career and when it dropped, the magic moment reaffirmed why my wife and I moved our family to the sticks. When we upped stumps from the suburbs to our rural property in 2018, we knew there would be challenges but we felt strongly about raising our kids in the country. I faced a three-hour daily commute to work and we were forever ferrying the kids to school, footy and soccer, but we knew we’d found home. Then came COVID. I began working from home several days a week (thank you, broadband). The extra hours in my day meant more time with my family. And more hunting. With five kids under…

I COULD barely make out Steve’s vehicle through the sheets of bulldust thrown up by the passing vehicles high-tailing it down the Cape York Eastern Development Road. Despite his headlights being on high beam, they appeared as little more than a smudge in my shaking rearview mirror as I rumbled over the endless corrugations. My friend was indeed getting his Cape York ‘baptism in dust’ as we steadily rolled towards our destination hundreds of kilometres away. THE nine-hour drive from my home base in Cairns towards Kendall River Hunting and Fishing Safaris puts you on notice that you are heading towards one of the remotest hunting locations in the country. This trip had been a long time coming. For years Kendall River Safaris had been the subject of story and…

Sightron SII HD spotting scope Whether you’re in the field or at the range, Sightron’s SII HD Blue Sky spotting scope offers excellent clarity with features like ED (extra-low dispersion) glass, fully multi-coated lenses and nitrogen charging to prevent fogging, while also being water and shock proof. The SII HD Blue Sky spotting scope is available in 16-48x68 with angled eye piece or 20-60x85 with either angled or straight eye piece. These scopes also offer a quick-focus wheel conveniently located on the top centre; twist-out eye cup for the correct eye relief; and a 76mm sun shade on the front to protect the lens from glare and rain. Each Sightron spotting scope comes with a protective cordura field case. To find out more about these spotting scopes or Sightron’s full…

Q I have had a 9.3x62mm 98 action with a 24” Pac-Nor barrel with 1:14 twist. I am reloading for it using RWS brass. I know you owned a similar rifle back in 2006 so can you suggest a couple of good loads for it using the 231gn Norma, the RWS 258gn H-Mantel and 293gn TUG? Which ADI powder and charge weight is best for each? Charles A Reardon A My rifle was based on a barrel. I gained the best performance with bullets weighing from 231 to 293 grains using AR2208 powder. A charge of 60gn with the 231gn bullet clocked 2650fps; 59gn behind the 258gn got 2545fps; and 57gn with the 293gn TUG got 2400fps, equalling the RWS factory load. Light bullets in the .458 Lott Q I have…

THE Helia name is quickly approaching its centenary and still going strong, representing all the experience and quality that Kahles has become famous for. In the Helia S binoculars, it represents simplicity as well, for these hunting binos can’t be accused of being flash. They’re not overloaded with features, just designed to be strong, reliable and optically excellent. Perhaps it’s for this reason that Kahles still makes the Helia S in Austria instead of outsourcing to either Japan or Myanmar as it has done with its other binoculars, its red-dots and its rangefinders; all Kahles scopes are still made in Austria, too. Helia S binoculars look very much like a development of Swarovski’s discontinued SLC binoculars, which were highly regarded. Kahles is owned by Swarovski so the switch would make sense:…

THE results from Victoria’s election are in and once again shooters appear to have shot themselves in the foot. The Dan Andrews-led ALP has secured a comfortable majority in its own right, while the Greens have also secured several seats in both upper and lower houses. They are joined in the upper house by the Animal Justice Party (AJP), which has a seat there as well. This is not good news for shooters. The Greens and AJP despise hunting and the Victorian ALP is known to be left-leaning, so we’re not exaggerating when we say that duck hunting (and other forms of hunting) in Victoria are going to be under renewed pressure for the next few years, even with a Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP, Jeff Bourman, in the upper house.…

THE main topic for argument among hunters gathered around a campfire concerns the effectiveness of various calibres. One man who has successfully hunted every size game animal with a 7mm Mauser swears by it. But he’s no sooner aired his opinion than another chap airs his view and condemns the 7x57mm, claiming that it isn’t powerful enough for red deer, let alone sambar. This is when all the other shooters start taking sides. Soon a heated argument is taking place — and a more fruitless subject is hard to imagine. The difference, of course, lies not in the cartridge or the rifle, but in how it was used, by whom and under what conditions. Right from the start, it should have been obvious to these guys that where you hit your…

Ever since my young bloke was born, I’ve been keen to get him out into the Aussie bush to experience what hunting is all about. Sure, we’d talked hunting and he grew up seeing heads in my trophy room, but I felt like I had to get the timing right with his personality to make sure the first hunting trip was good for both of us. TED started asking, “Dad, can I come hunting, too?” Once this became a regular question, I knew he was keen enough and the time was just about right. I didn’t want his first experience to be a dud, game wise, so I waited until I knew some particular apple trees were dropping fruit and that the chance of nailing a pig or two was…

AMERICANS have had a long love affair with the .30 calibre, which has been the bullet diameter by which all other cartridges are judged. From velocity and trajectory to terminal performance and recoil, any new .30 always raises the question: “How does it compare to the .30-06?” The .30-06 is a quiet achiever, an old warhorse that is 107 years old. As a mark of its excellence, nearly every manufacturer of centrefire rifles still lists it in the calibre line-up. One of the most controversial wildcats ever developed was PO Ackley’s .30-06 Improved back in the 1940s and ’50s. Two schools of thought clashed heatedly over the cartridge; one group claimed it was little better than the standard .30-06 while another school argued that it was as good as the .300…

HIKMICRO offers a large selection of thermal monoculars, rifle scopes, binoculars, clip-ons and accessories. In this test we’re looking at the Lynx Pro LH25 monocular and the Stellar SQ50 riflescope. When out shooting at night, it makes good sense to carry a separate thermal monocular, or spotter, to find your quarry, then use a thermal rifle scope on your firearm to shoot with. It’s a lot easier to scan an area with a wider-angle spotter, rather than having to look through a bulky, sometimes heavy rifle and scope with a narrow view. The monocular is one of several models in the Hikmicro range, including the Owl and Gryphon. The Lynx and Lynx Pro are ideal in size and function. The Lynx Pro LH25 is top of the line in this series.…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY BROUGHT TO YOU BY TSA Australian distributors for Weatherby Firearms and Fiocchi Ammunition YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A WEATHERBY RIFLE IN EVERY ISSUE OF SPORTING SHOOTER IN 2023 *AVAILABLE CHAMBERINGS TO WINNERS INCLUDE 223REM, 22-250REM, 243WIN, 270WIN, 308WIN, 30-06SPRG, 300WIN.MAG. SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. With the basis of a cold hammer-forged 24-inch barrel, 3-position safety and adjustable Match-Quality Two-stage 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…

PENFOLDS, the famous wine company, publishes a book called The Rewards of Patience which extols the virtues of the winery’s various world-renowned wines as they age in the cellar. Many of their top labels can be drinking magnificently after 20 years in the bottle. As with aging of wine, hunting experiences can be especially savoured if many years of effort are expended before grassing a truly exceptional trophy. FOR my hunting mate Zeke, the Tassie fallow deer season rewarded 20 years of patient endeavour with a once-in-a-lifetime trophy. We were all smiles as we drove off the boat with the HiLux loaded to the gunnels for yet another annual deer-stalking effort. It was wonderful to be back in Tasmania, enjoying the crisp, clean air, the abundant wildlife and the amazing…

Most people regard chital as the prettiest deer species of our Australian six. I first hunted them in 2013 up in north Queensland. A few years later, I did a heap of door knocking and landed some great access. I managed to take a lot of friends to enjoy this part of the world and learn about these very switched-on, flighty deer. MOST of my experience is based on the northern Queensland herd. I find they behave differently depending on where you hunt them. Chital or axis deer (with the scientific name Axis axis) were the first deer species introduced to Australia, imported from Sri Lanka and India in the early 1800s. They were first brought in by Dr John Harris, a surgeon in the NSW Corps who had a…

AFTER a nine-hour drive with Dad and his two hunting mates, Brad and Gav, we arrived in Bourke. This was my first trip out west and I was stoked! However, everyone’s advice that it was going to be hot did no justice to how hot it really was. I was not prepared for this. The 41-degree days were not what I was used to. This was a few years ago and the severe lack of green grass was a real eye opener to how bad the drought really was at that time. After settling in to the shearers’ quarters we sat around the kitchen table studying the property map so we could get a fair idea of the layout of the place. Luckily for us, Brad had been going to…