Innehållsförteckning för January 2025 från Sporting Shooter

MARTIN Auldist would not normally need an introduction but I’m giving him one anyway. I’m very pleased to say he has accepted my request to join Sporting Shooter as a regular contributor, writing the new Head Shots column every month. It will be a very good addition to your favourite magazine. Martin has, of course, been a long-time contributor of hunting stories and other articles over many years. I have a buffalo-hunting yarn of his teed up to run in a few months. Many of you also know him as the editor of the Australian Deer Association’s excellent Australian Deer magazine. He has been around, both as a hunter and a writer. Head Shots takes up where Gun Lore left off when Nick Harvey died. Martin jacked up at the…

THE BANK of the gully gave me cover as I inched closer along the dry stream bed. My last measurement with the rangefinder said the ibex were barely 80 metres away. There was little vegetation ahead of me and nothing other than the natural wall to conceal my advance. Beyond the creek line, the Spanish farming countryside rose in a series of stony terraces to the barren hills behind. PEEPING over the parapet, I could see that the two big males I’d been stalking had joined a mob of females and immature males. There were 21 pairs of eyes that could ruin my stalk! However, I thought I could still get a bit closer. The next time I raised my head, in a flash I could see that a shooting lane…

A scope with 4-16x magnification is a great choice for open-country big-game hunting with a centrefire, or for rimfire shooting at small game out to ranges at the limit of the little cartridges. It’s not just for that generous magnification but because the range covers a relatively modest four-fold increase in zoom, meaning the scope should be a little cheaper and a little lighter than the increasingly common five-fold and six-fold options. There may not be much in it sometimes, but we’re all on tighter budgets these days and every bit makes a difference. This ZeroTech Thrive is a $700 scope, a very reasonable cost these days. You can buy scopes with either a wider view at the low end for close shots, or a bit more magnification for long…

“Refusing to talk to people because they don’t like you isn’t a viable strategy” I’VE lost count of how many column inches I’ve devoted to the theme of “Shooters need to vote in their own best interests” over the years, and the fact they consistently fail to do it leads us to the subject of this column: why shooting organisations, including Shooters Union, need to work with all political parties, not just the ones who loudly love guns. Queensland recently had a state election where the incumbent Labor Government — which had been in charge for more than a decade — was unceremoniously dumped in favour of an LNP Government. We’ve already been in touch with the new Premier, David Crisafulli, and his Cabinet members to offer our congratulations, provide…

The Hunting Depot Hunter’s Diary competition is open to your hunting story of 200-400 words with at least one high-resolution digital photo. Simply send it with your contact details to mickmatheson@yaffa.com.au. PRIZES Every published entry wins a Vanguard Scout B62 bipod worth $95! At the end of the year, the best three entries will be chosen by the editor to win first, second and third prizes of: 1 Vanguard Endeavor HD 82A spotting scope with case worth $750 2 Vanguard VEO HD 10x42 binoculars worth $699 3 Vanguard Endeavor RL 303CGM Carbon tripod with gun vice head worth $649 Find out more about the competition and the prizes at sportingshooter.com.au/win…

I DIDN’T feel like it. Getting out of bed, I mean. I knew today would likely be my last chance during the rut. If I didn’t get up I’d miss out. I had three coffees before I felt awake and functional enough to check my kit and the clock. It read 4am. Insomnia is a bitch. I KNOW myself too well. No matter how I check my kit I’ll forget something. And if I don’t forget something, it’s nearly a guarantee I won’t see a critter. By the time I arrived in the hunting area the fog had set in thick, pouring into the valleys like wispy waterfalls. Cold and damp, but it muted the world around me into a soft and quiet place. I went to put on my…

Beretta BRX1 Timber Beretta recently released its first straight-pull hunting rifle, with switch-barrel design and double-stack detachable magazine. Other great features include its ambidextrous design with bolt handle that can be installed on either side and a polymer stock with the ability to alter length of pull via supplied spacers. Fast, accurate and precise, it didn’t take long for the BRX1 to gain recognition among hunters and shooters worldwide. The big news for the traditionalist, however, is the BRX1 is now available with a timber stock. You can choose from Class 2 or Class 3 timber quality. Beretta is renowned for the meticulous timber finishes on its shotguns and now it continues the standard on the BRX1. See them at your local gun shop or visit berettaaustralia.com.au for more information.…

IN October, I helped at the SHOT Expo in Melbourne, working with Outdoor Sporting Agencies. The show was an absolute blast with a wide range of products on display for hunting, camping, target shooting and much more. I was lucky enough to catch up with old friends and make many new ones. It’s a great place to meet all kinds of people in the industry. A highlight for me was spending a fair bit of time with both Dan and Kaytie Hardy from Hardy Rifles, learning more about the business and their core values. These two could possibly be the most humble, polite and down-to-earth people you will ever meet. Hardy Rifles is a family business founded by Dan in 2006. He left the New Zealand Army to tackle the…

The sizzling .30-378 Weatherby Magnum Q I have just become the proud owner of a Weatherby Mark V rifle chambered in .30-378. It has seen little use. The original owner took it to Mongolia and bagged an ibex and a wapiti with it, but declared it was too heavy to lug around the steep mountains and the extra power wasn’t needed. He decided to stick with his Mark V .300 Win Mag. The rifle came with 40 once-fired cases so I will have no trouble when I start cobbling up some reloads. I have a few queries for you: Which is the best powder? Best primer? What weight bullet would you favour for big game? George (Buck) Jones A The .30-378 magnum was introduced in 1996 and sales of the…

THIS Winchester Model 70 test will not start with a history lesson. The history is well documented, nearly 90 years of it, and we’re better off discussing how relevant this rather old-fashioned, fancily finished rifle is in today’s world. Why does Winchester still make it alongside all the more up-to-date Model 70 configurations? Why did the late Nick Harvey, who died owning a camouflaged Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed, say that if he were buying a .338 Win Mag he wouldn’t “even have to think before answering … I’d definitely buy a Super Grade Model 70 Winchester”? There are enough traditionalists out there to keep the Super Grade alive. The Super Grade is a solid, well-made, blued, walnutstocked hunting rifle built to high standards. It’s certainly not the most practical…

MOST of us want to keep our guns in tip-top condition, ensuring they work properly when needed as well as safeguarding their value. Many general purpose tools, especially screwdrivers, are unsuitable for use on firearms and can actually damage them. The common household screwdriver, for example, features a blade that is tapered in a V shape, whereas the screw heads on firearms are straight-sided, meaning that if the screw is at all tight, the household screwdriver will likely slip and damage either the screw head or the finish on the gun — maybe both. That’s why it’s worth investing in quality, specialised gun tools for your maintenance program. You don’t need many and the price is small compared to the cost of our guns, plus it is an excuse to…

BROUGHT TO YOU BY TSA Australian distributor for Weatherby, ZeroTech and Fiocchi. BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A WEATHERBY RIFLE & ZEROTECH SCOPE PACKAGE IN EVERY ISSUE IN 2025 *THE WEATHERBY VANGUARD WILL BE CHAMBERED IN .223 WITH BLUED METALWORK AND SYNTHETIC STOCK 5 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…

LET’S get one thing straight: I’m definitely not an expert on hunting buffalo. I have shot a grand total of one, a bull, in my entire life. However, I have been lucky enough to have spent the best part of a month in a Northern Territory buffalo camp over two seasons, helping and watching other hunters make their own buffalo dreams come true. The experience convinced me that hunting a trophy buffalo bull is something that all true-blue Aussie hunters should do at least once. Here’s why. Australia’s biggest game animal In some of life’s pursuits, as the old adage goes, size doesn’t matter. But in the pastime of big game hunting, it kind of does! And when it comes to big game in Australia, water buffalo are hard to…

IT WAS close to 40, unlike me, as my hunting mate, Neil, the three bailing dogs and I trudged the edges of a narrow, remote semidry creek line on the property’s northern boundary in search of a pig or two. The heat was bearable, just, and the deep sand was frustrating and made the going tough, but it was the humidity that quickly drained the energy out of you. Sometimes it’s hard to believe we subject ourselves to this for fun and to satisfy a lifelong passion called pig hunting. WE’D just stopped for a muchneeded drink break as we felt and looked totally knackered (probably Neil more than me) when the canine cavalry started barking a short distance ahead. The trio of Ace, Rusty and Mate had an absolute…

TO continue on from November’s explanation of the limitations of the ladder test when developing handloads, I’ll discuss Dan Newberry’s optimal charge weight (OCW) methodology in the hope it will offer more real-world advantages to the seat-of-thepants precision-oriented hunter. What is an optimal charge weight load? To explain, courtesy of the OCW website, ocwreloading.com: “With any given bullet and powder combination, there will be a specific amount of that powder which will cause the bullet to exit the muzzle at the ‘friendliest’ portion of the [barrel’s] vibration cycle. This does not necessarily correspond with the tightest velocity figures, however. Many load recipes have over the years become the go-to recipes for trying out a new rifle. If your rifle fails to shoot one of these tried and true recipes well,…

I’VE been fortunate to meet some wonderful people in the hunting and shooting industry since becoming involved with the magazine. Everyone I’ve met has been passionate about driving our lifestyle forward, and supporting brands that are doing great things. Earlier this year I shared a camp with some people from Lithgow Arms, who offered to give me a tour of their facility and the associated museum. On my way back home from a family holiday recently I made sure we were within striking distance and capitalised on the opportunity. I’m big on history, so much so that I make my living teaching it. Australia is unique in that we have some of the most ancient history of all, while still being a young country in most ways. My bread and…

THE crops were about a foot high, there was no moon and it was cold. I was excited that Dad was taking me shooting on Pop’s farm for the first time. All I had done so far was shoot some targets with Dad. When we got to Pop’s, Dad started setting up the buggy. Dad was driving and spotting for a while before we saw the first fox about 150m away. He turned the buggy to get in a good position. I was feeling a bit nervous, not about shooting my first fox but from Dad ragging me about it if I missed. “Go for the chest,” was all he said. So I lined it up and squeezed the trigger. The gun went off and I heard the thud. Dropped…

MY FIRST rifle was an open-sighted Voere M1410 single-shot .22 that we purchased for $50 from a guy in Sutherland, one of Sydney’s southern suburbs. We found it advertised in the old Trading Post newspaper. That was 46 years ago. I was 12 years old, and I remember that I’d hang out for the Trading Post to hit the news stands every Thursday to see what rifles were for sale. EVENTUALLY the pestering paid off. My father relented and we drove out to Sutherland to pick up my new pride and joy. Over-lacquered from a stock makeover and cherry red in colour, to my eyes it was the prettiest rifle ever made. With that rifle, I shot my first rabbit. In hindsight I realise it set me on the path…

HOW blessed are we in this country to have feral deer, rabbits, goats and pigs to hunt and to harvest, and their meat to eat? The Brisbane River Valley has been where I’ve sourced most of my meat over the past 50 years or so. I remember Mum baking a hare that Dad shot in the house yard of our cattle property when I was 13. She soaked it in cooking wine in a tray for 24 hours before cooking it in a wood stove for about four hours. The meat just fell off the bone. It was beautiful! IN those days there were only hares in the Brisbane Valley. Rabbits did not show up for another 20 years. Many people hunted red deer for the table. Some families lived…