Innehållsförteckning för September 2024 från Sporting Shooter

TESTING thermal optics reminds me of what a vast array of hunting methods we employ in Australia. We really are extremely lucky to be hunters in this country. Yes, I know it could be better still and many states impose some stupid laws and regulations that unnecessarily limit hunting, but overall we’ve got it pretty good. We can hunt on foot or from a vehicle. Day or night. Purely hunting or purposefully culling. Centrefires, rimfires, shotguns and bows. Public land and private land. On your own account or with a paid guide. Then there’s the range of terrain, from the tropics to the High Country, across rolling hills and way out in the Outback. We mightn’t have bear or elephants or big cats but we’ve got a massive array of…

​AS our Aussie dollar has dropped and inflation has grown over the past few years, we have all watched sadly as firearm and ammunition prices have risen significantly. This has been especially evident in the beloved .30-30 lever-action, which has always enjoyed huge popularity in the Australian market. It’s both an all-round great farm gun for hard, everyday use on the land and one of the best pig and medium-game rifles for close-in work. Historically, there were several affordable choices but now almost all new, quality .30-30s retail for $2000 or more. Yes, you read that correctly. It really is news when a respected manufacturer like Rossi brings one to Australia at a price around half that of many of its competitors. In fact, the Rossi R95 is sold here…

SPIKA’S Edge jacket and pants are an outer layer, and are the flagship choice for high alpine treks and multi-day hunts where you are planning to push the limits. They are lightweight garments yet built to be durable and designed to withstand the toughest, most uncomfortable weather conditions including torrential rain, wind and snow. I was sent a pair of Edge pants for evaluation and found them ideal when roaming the paddocks in wet or frosty conditions and can’t wait to try them out in the snow. They are ideal outer wear in wet or windy conditions. I don’t mind hunting in wet weather, or just after a dump of rain, as the game is still out feeding, and sneaking around is a lot quieter. Wet-weather over-pants keep your legs…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY Powered By WINNER YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A WEATHERBY RIFLE & ZEROTECH SCOP PACKAGE IN EVERY ISSUE IN 2024 *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 – all images must be at least 1MB in size.…

Browning X-Bolt Stainless The Browning X-Bolt was designed for accuracy. From the design of the recoil pad to the adjustable trigger to the construction of the barrel, nearly every feature contributes to accuracy. Of course, the X-Bolt is about more than just accuracy. The trim lines translate into less weight for easier carrying and a natural ease when bringing it to your shoulder. All while being tastefully stylish so it will never look out of fashion. It also has a free-floated barrel that is bedded at the front and the rear of the action for stability and to help maintain barrel-to-stock spacing for consistent accuracy. A bolt unlocking button works in conjunction with the tang safety to provide an added measure of safety during checking and unloading of the chamber.…

COMPETITION BROUGHT TO YOU BY 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…

Q You seem to stress a high loading density as being an important factor in obtaining the highest velocity and best accuracy. Could you please explain this for me in more detail? David Parsons A The criterion I have for a good load is that the powder fills the case to 85 percent or better. The less air space the better. Using a propellant that fills the case precludes a variation resulting from changes in powder position, making things more uniform. As a general rule, the more powder you burn in a given cartridge without exceeding pressure standards, the higher the muzzle velocity. Variables like bullet weight and case capacity determine the optimum powder burning rate or propellant. A heavier charge weight at equal pressure indicates a slower burning powder,…

ANY rifle that comes with a factory guarantee of .75 MOA accuracy over five shots is sticking its head above the parapet. Sure, there’s the caveat on the guarantee: it must be factory match-grade ammunition, a fair stipulation. Still, it’s a seriously tough promise to live up to. It’s scary having to prove whether or not the rifle can do it, too, because it means I’ve got to live up to the promise in my preparation and shooting. In my first session, I didn’t, and if I’d stopped there I would have said the CZ didn’t shoot as it should. I would have been wrong. As well as going away to remount the scope, re-torque the action screws and check other details, I gave myself a stern talking to. Shooting…

MY wife and I became parents in October 2023. It’s been wonderful but, of course, not without its challenges. We have been doing our best to maintain aspects of our lifestyle that we enjoy, while slowing down in the obvious ways that most people need to when their life goes through such significant change. As we both enjoy hunting, we both need to be conscious of how we can support each other to go after game. During the 2024 rut, I was hunting as hard as ever. It was my first proper time taking out a compound bow and I was determined to give myself as many opportunities as possible. This meant I spent a lot of time out bush, while Kirra looked after our six-month-old son at home. It was…

IT was a good old four degrees heading out at 5:30am on the property at Oberina, near Surat in Queensland. We drove out in search of any sign of pigs. My eyes watered as the cool westerly breeze whipped against my face on the back of the ute. My fingers were cold against the steel of the barrel of my trusty 6.5x55 Swede. Soon the sun began to rise, bringing warmth as its light touched the fields of gold. Cattle and roos came to life. We stopped at a timberline. It was time to get the legs moving. After a quick check of the wind direction, we made our way slowly into the timber. It’s always incredibly peaceful breathing in the fresh morning air. Moving through the early morning bush,…

In the first of a two-part series, Marcus begins espousing the humble .223’s remarkable performance MY heart sank when I saw Gary’s group form as I was marking in the butts. With his latest acquisition, a Sako TRG 22 in .308, he was punching a group under 78mm (3”) from 300 metres, in a telescopic sight match snap shoot. The target was exposed 10 times for four seconds each over a two-minute period and the target-maker had generously provided a 5” (127mm) bull to hit on the Figure 12 torso-sized target. After that first 10-round shoot, we repeated the serial and, in both stages, the target was moved to sit anywhere in a defined two square metre area. Gary ended up with 16 shots in the five ring and four…

NO matter how many times you have flown with firearms it’s still a daunting experience when you arrive at the airport, whether you’re travelling to another part of the country or abroad. You never know what kind of interaction you are going to get from the airline staff; I’ve had them all over the years. I thought I would touch on a couple of handy tips I use when flying in the hope that it can make things a little easier for those of you who are planning to travel with firearms and ammunition. I normally don’t disclose the purpose of my trip, but when I am asked, I tell them I am competing in a shooting competition. The main reason for this is that generally all sporting goods are…

BEFORE you can shoot it, you have to find it and know how far away it is. That statement is one of the keys to properly understanding how to get the best out of thermal imaging devices when you’re hunting. You need a wide-angle spotter to locate targets, which is why a monocular like this is always a better bet to start with than a scope; and then because estimating range is almost impossible through thermal imagers, you want a rangefinder so you can decide whether you’re close enough to take a shot or need to close the distance. The Pulsar Axion 2 LRF is a thermal monocular with a built-in laser rangefinder and it’s exactly the kind of device I’d have at the top of my night-hunting shopping list.…

SHOOTERS Union does a lot of political lobbying for shooters, and a lot of that involves letting our members know about issues and encouraging them to contact their local state or federal MPs to express their concerns or demand action. There’s a reason we don’t do template or pro forma emails for our members to send out in these cases, and it’s simple: They’re a waste of time for everyone. They take time to write, they need to go to our national executive for approval, they need to go back to our media director for changes, and then they need to be disseminated to our members. Once our members add their names, they send them on to their MP, and do you know what happens then? They go straight into…

MOST KIDS stay with their parents in their early teens, living at home, but not this one. No, sir! My background was not typical. I travelled 12,000 miles away, giving life my best shot. A song comes immediately to mind: “Lonely Boy” by Bruce Ormsby. IN September 1962, I was a little brother sponsored by the Big Brother Movement, an organisation that brought boys to Sydney from Britain to give them a chance at farming. I wrote briefly about this in the December issue. We were interned at the movement’s farm at Fairfield and given a few weeks to decide what we felt we could do on the land in this amazing country. We were cautioned at the farm about being careful with our savings. There were no handouts in…

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