Smash and Grab woody!

A double whammy this afternoon - two of the most amazing things that rank amongst the best experiences I've ever had when out hunting. It's things like this which, for me, make being out and about with my airgun such a wonderful way to spend life.

I'd taken the afternoon off to zero up my Air Wolf which has a new, fixed-power MTC (10 x 44 Viper) on board. I needed it for tomorrow night's long-range rat shooting session with a mate. The zeroing went well, with one-hole groups at 30 metres and a bit of 'plinking' out to 40m just to re-aquaint myself with its SCB reticle.

Afterwards, I popped up to the farmer's father's place, where my Mum is house-sitting. A large stubble field borders it and whilst we were in the garden, there was enough crow and pigeon activity to tempt me into getting the gun out of the boot!

I was able to sneak around the garden unseen, and had the added advantage of being able to rest the Daystate on one of the bars of the wooden boundary fencing.

Nothing was within range; the closest woody (a solitary one) was a good 60 metres away from me. However, it was feeding with its head towards me, and with the ground rising slightly in front of me, its head was just about all I could see. The gun was very steady on the fence and I spent a while watching the bird and assessing the range. Even as its head bobbed up and down, I felt I could land a shot. There was no wind to speak of and the target presented a clean-hit or clean-miss opportunity.

Calculating the range at 60 metres with the scope's sidewheel P/A system, I 'guesstimated' that I'd need to use 3.5 lines down on the ladder cross-hair, took aim... and slipped away the shot.

The Air Wolf's electronic action barely moved and, through the crystal clear optics of the MTC, I saw a couple of feathers puff up and then watched the woody simply roll forward. Its wing momentarily caught what little breeze there was, and then dropped back down. I'd delivered one of the longest-range shots of my life!

Because of the Wolf's integral silencer, none of the surrounding birds lifted. I scanned the ground and noticed a couple more birds, about 15 metres beyond, which were feeding in a similar way. I was hopeful they might work their way toward me, at least to the distance I'd just scored at.
Two or three minutes went by, and the birds didn't play ball. Out of boredom more than anything, I swung the scope back onto the shot bird to admire my handiwork.

Then, while I was looking at it, my scope was suddenly filled with the brown and beige flash of a buzzard as it swooped down to scoop up the dead pigeon in its out-stretched talons!

At 10x power, it looked like an eagle and in a split second it had its head down into the grey feathers. I suppose I should have stayed put and watched it devour its free dinner, but I was very proud of that shot and wanted to have it for my supper!

I jumped up from behind the fence, shouting at the top of my voice. "Oyyyy!!!!!" The entire field took off, and the buzzard - its huge wings outspread as it dropped the pigeon back onto the stubble - rose with that elegance all birds of prey have. Fantastic!

With my cover blown, I retrieved my pigeon, setting up a twig where it had fallen. Then, when I got back to my firing point, I used my laser range-finder to zap the twig. It was 64 metres (which equates to 70 yards!). Even starting out at just 11 ft. lbs. muzzle energy, the 8.3-grain Air Arms Field had still had plenty of punch to despatch the bird humanely at that phenomenal distance.

Quite an eventful late afternoon's impromptu hunt - and one I certainly have pleasure recounting on this blog. I didn't have a camera with me, but these pictures were taken as soon as I got home... just to record the bird for posterity, you understand!

Sloe Gin & Blackberries - a full bag!

I love autumn - even if there's only a hint of it round here. Good 'Indian Summer' days have made me get out and about more than usual this year - and although I think I pretty much reduced the woody numbers earlier in the year, the last couple of weeks have still seen me coming home with a pretty full game bag. Not woodies and bunnies... but blackberries and sloes!

"A season of mists and mellow fruitfulness", now is the time for the airgun hunter to gather a lot more than just meat for the table. Blackberries are pretty much everywhere, and on one of my shoots (which is well off the beaten track for the public), they've been in particular abundance this year. On Sunday alone, I picked four kilos (yes, that's almost nine pounds in old money!) which I'm having with a shake each morning for breakfast. (It makes it the colour of Ribena, but it ain't half tasty.) The kids love 'em, too - snacking on them instead of buscuits when they come home from school. And, of course, with the cookers I picked up from the old orchard, there's my wife's scrummy apply and blackberry pie for pud after supper. I probably should be making blackberry jam, too...

I also collected a large bowlful of sloe berries last weekend - and the sloe gin production line is now well under way! They say that sloes are at the best in October, after the first frosts, but down in the south-west, they're definitely a little ahead of time this year - probably because of the wet summer we had. In fact, some are visibly 'going over' on the bushes.

How do you know if a sloe's ripe? Well, certainly don't taste one straight off the bush! If they've got that deep blue-purple look with a white-ish bloom over them, they're most likely ripe enough for picking. Gently pull at one and it should come away quite easily. If you need to give it a tug, it's not ready yet.

Spotting sloes can be quite difficult, particularly on bright, sunny days as they're perfectly camouflaged in the hedgerow shadows cast by low sun's dappled light. But you can make locating them a lot easier earlier in the year.

The fruit of the blackthorn hedge, when you're hunting around April time, make a mental note of where you see the emergence of the white blackthorn blossom amidst the othewise bare hederows - because that's where you'll be wanting to head in the coming September and October!

And how to make sloe gin? It's easy. Halve the contents of a full bottle of gin (by transferring it into an empty, equally-sized bottle). Into each, pour in around 150 grammes of white sugar (it doesn't have to be exact).

Next, the laborious job; prick each sloe and drop them into the bottles until the level comes up to the neck. (A quicker method is to freeze the sloes overnight. When you take them out of the freezer to thaw, they'll then split.)

Screw the bottle tops on tightly and store them in a dark cupboard, away from heat. Agitate the bottles every day for 10 days, then perhaps once a week until Christmas, when you'll need to decant (and filter) the gin into clean bottles. Now you'll be able to serve your family and friends one of their best-talked-about tipples of the festive season!

They say sloe gin gets better the longer it's kept (I wouldn't know!) - but if you are able to make enough that lasts into the following year, then remove the sloes after about six months.

Cheers!

Ultimate Airgun Fun - Exploding Tin Cans!

I'm pretty serious about my airgunning - I make my living from it, after all. But I've never forgotten the fun-side of it which, for me, is the very heart of my love for the sport. So every now and then I forget the serious stuff and just do what millions of airgunners the world over also like doing. Fire a 'what if...' shot.

What if... I didn't drink that can of fizzy pop but instead, shook it up, placed on that post over there and took a shot at it? Just what if...

Wa-hey! Absolutely no scientific use whatsoever - but one of the most exhilarating shots I've taken for yonks!!!

Young Guns - a shooting legacy

It's over a month since, but my efforts to introduce non-shooters to the sport of airgunning as part of May's National Shooting Week have, actually, paid off! Last week, my teenage son asked "Dad, can I go shooting at the weekend?"

Result!

So, under complete and constant shooting supervision - besides not being 14 yet and therefore not legally allowed to shoot unsupervised, this was also his first outing with an airgun - he enjoyed a 'by choice' plinking session at the farm. Okay, it didn't last much more than 40 mins before he wanted to do 'something else', but the seed may well have been sown. We've even gone since - again at his request - and I suspect there will be many more outings ahead.

Even if he's not as keen as I was in my teenage years, the likelihood of him 'returning' to airgunning when he's in his twenties or thirties is now much higher - and, albeit in a small way, this is another positive step in securing the future of our sport. It's so important that today's airgunning 'Dads' encourage their kids to follow suit and at least 'try' shooting. It ain't easy competing with the PS3, but as my son said: "This is actually a lot better than shooting stuff on Call of Duty."

We did some target stuff, but he got most enjoyment from spinning tinnies. So did I - but I got the most pleasure just from teaching him the rudiments of safe shooting and watching his reaction at each well-delivered strike. (He was actually much better than I was when I first started shooting.)

And the gun? Well, a truly fanstastic 'starter' model from Sportsmarketing - their all-new SYNTARG, price £99.95.

It comes with a synthetic stock that's rugged enough to withstand any teenager's rough 'n' tough handling. It's been skeletonised to keep weight down, and the 'shark fin' butt really looks the business - no matter what age eyes you're seeing it through!

Its break-barrel action is mid-powered and easy enough to break open and cock - and the trigger, though non-adjustable, breaks consistently. It's not too light to be dangerous in the hands of a novice, but not so stiff as to be a hindrance. The gun's dimensions are perfect for a teenager, and though the finger reach to the trigger appears to be a bit long, it's fine once the blade has been pulled into its pre-slip position.

Along with an auto-safety, it comes with fully-adjustable open sights that incorporate fibre-optic elements to make aiming fun as well as easy. There are two green dots on the rear leaf which you line up either side of the red, foresight 'bead'.

The SYNTARG's receiver has also been grooved to take a telly - and I put on one of SMK's 4 x 28 models (£24.95, incl. mounts) which kept the weight down. Four-times mag is perfect for a rookie shooter and this scope has the added advantage of a longer-than-average eye-relief. There will be no cut eyebrows with this optic!

What's more, the receiver has an arrestor plate fitted. If you bolt the rear mount tight up against this, the scope won't creep. Guns that lose zero quickly are the perfect recipe for making a newbie shooter lose interest, so this is a real bonus feature on the SMK.

Sub-12 ft/lbs or FAC? What power for hunting?

I guess playing round with a shotgun has made me come to appreciate the worth of the airgun as an effective tool for pest control - not that I ever doubted it. If you've read my previous post, you'll see that I've been dabbling (for the first time) with a 12-bore. Ironically, it was the thought that I could get bigger bags and impress the farmers that made me want to take up this different shooting sport - though there's zero chance that I'll be giving up on the airguns.

Now, in my 15 years as editor of Air Gunner, I had countless conversations with readers who were keen on going to FAC-power in the belief that it would increase their range and improve their bags. Personally, I tried it and couldn't see the benefits - sub-12 ft/lbs was plenty enough for me to hunt successfully. But I wonder how many airgunners aren't happy with the 12 ft/lbs limit they've got?

Which leads me nicely to something my good friend Ian Barnett (pictured below) communicated to me via email recently. Long-time airgun hunter, Ian began his publishing career with me at Air Gunner, where he's still a highly respected member of the writing team. (He's got a book he hopes to publish soon - a collection of anecdotal hunting trips which touch not just on the shooting, but also the whole country angle, like tracks, trails, sounds, animal behaviour etc. As the editor who launched his shooting journalism career, I'm hoping I get one of the first, signed copies. It'll be a best-seller, I've no doubt, for Ian's one of the most knowledgable countrymen I've ever had the privilege of learning from.)

Anyway, a while back, Ian decided to give FAC-rated airgun hunting a go, and invested in a high-power Weihrauch HW100 Sporter (a sub-12 'KT' version of which he already had). With Ian's permission, I re-print here the basis of his aforementioned email:

"Nige, I've shelved the FAC gun after a year of experimenting. This won't come as a surprise to you. Looking back, I've shot an average of twice as much quarry per outing with the sub-12 compared with the FAC rifle. I'm fed up with random accuracy and low air economy. I'm back on the sub-12 HW100K, confining range to 40 yards max. The Daystate Rangemaster pellets are proving excellent within these parameters and the first-time kill ratio has improved.
I'm not intending to sell the FAC gun and will retain it for the odd longer-distance "special" request, though I doubt it will leave the cabinet much."

So there you go. The personal verdict from one of the best-known airgun hunters in the country. FAC isn't the be-all and end-all when it comes to airgun hunting. Remember that, next time you might begin to doubt the effectiveness of your sub-12 ft/lb air rifle.

(I know I will.)

AIRGUN vs SHOTGUN

Well - how time flies! One or two followers have prompted me about not posting anything recently... and firstly I must apologise for the lack of recent entries. My excuse? Well, I've been busy working... and busy playing around with a 12-bore O/U shotgun!

As a long-time airgunner, venturing into a completely different shooting sport is extremely exciting - but I've also been quite surprised at how 'hard' it's been. There's me thinking the switch from rifleman to shotgunner would be a fairly easy transition but, in fact, it's quite the opposite. Airgunning's a precision sport, whether you're shooting field targets at 50 metres or honing-in on a woody's bonce at 30. Shotgunning, on the other hand, is far less deliberate; far more of an instinctive thing.

I think I'm probably over-thinking everything when the Beretta's in my shoulder: head position, aim, yardage etc. etc. The bird I got on the wing yesterday evening was my first (having wasted a half-dozen cartridges on previous forays). It was the second of both barrels, the first load being aimed at another pigeon before I swung onto the bird which I eventually dropped. The funny thing is that I don't remember why (or how) I made this a telling shot. I guess, in the end, it was an 'instinctive' shot - and that's why the bird fell out of the sky!

Having to touch off the trigger whilst the barrels are still moving is going to be a very difficult thing to come to terms with. I reckon I've shot over a quarter-million airgun pellets in my life, each and every one of them whilst deliberately trying to keep the barrel as still as possible.

And what's my verdict re. airgun vs shotgun? Well, the jury's out. Okay, I might be able to take birds on the wing - but I don't half miss the precision-delivered shot that a high quality air rifle and 12x scope offers...

Airgunner Tempted by Shotgun

I recently spent a day with a shooting party made up of a mix of shotgunners and airgunners and was surprised - as an airgun-only shooter - just how many of them regularly used both types of gun. And after handling some really luxurious shotgun kit, I'm beginning to think a 12-bore is a perfect complement to an airgunner's gun cabinet!

Owning a quality airgun is as important to me as shooting it - and I've got some really beautiful custom specials in my gun room. I'm also a bit of a horologist - I love the intricacies of watches... so when I recently spent some time with the Webley & Scott commemorative '220' sidelock (celebrating the famous gunmaker's 220-year heritage), I found myself getting the urge to 'go cartridge'!

Now, I'm not saying that I'm going to convert from airguns... but I've already applied for a shotgun certificate. And my first shotgun - as was the case with my first 'adult' airgun - will most probably be a Webley. After all, I've got such a lovely collection of their vintage air rifles and pistols, it would be silly not to keep a theme going.

As my blog was born out of a request from the editor of Sporting Shooter magazine, I'm sure airgunners won't mind me showing a couple of images of the sidelock version of Webley's beautiful 220 model (in 28-inch 20g side-by-side format) for the benefit of shotgunning readers of my blog. For a watch collector who's into quality airgun kit and a big fan of the early Webley years, it's most definitely hardware to get quite moist over!

If there are any airgunners out there who also shoot shotguns (or vice versa), I'd appreciate any pointers. I've only really busted a few clays at corporate events - on which I've recorded a 65-70% hit-rate - but I've never done any rough shooting. Is it easier or harder than hunting with an airgun?

Squirrel Orders - by Royal Decree!

Prince Charles 'declared war on Britain's three-million strong grey squirrel population yesterday', according to an article in today's Daily Mail newspaper, who saw fit to give it a whole page's worth of coverage. Well, I've been saying that for years - and I know plenty of other airgunners who concur with the Prince's views!

Of course, there's the usual 'but they're cute and nice' claims from the RSPCA and bushy-tail lovers - but I'm pleased to say that, for once, the journalism was pretty unbiased. It laid out the case extremely well, citing the ever-increasing numbers of this pest as being a major reason for the extinction of our native red squirrel.

Tree-rats - as we airgunners prefer to call them - do untold damage in the wild, raiding songbirds' nests (for eggs and chicks) and killing young saplings. They strip the bark to wear away their ever-growing molars and to line their own nests with.

But the Mail also pointed out that the grey squirrel - which is not an indigenous critter to these shores, having been introduced from the Americas in the late Nineteenth Century) - causes untold havoc in the city. There are reports of them eating through lofts, cables... you name it, they've ruined it.

So, with HRH's full backing, I'll be taking a lightweight carbine - either the Prestige Kub or Brocock Concept - into the woods this weekend for a spot of grey-bashing... and I suspect there will be plenty of other airgunners straining to train their sights through the summer foliage to pick out the flick of a grey-brown tail, too.

Unless you shoot in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire that is. Apparently, you've got a strain of aggressive 'black' squirrels to contend with. (Better use a scope with an IR reticle then!)

So as long as it's not red, the squirrel is now officially Britain's no. 1 pest species - and you've been ordered by none other than the future King of England to exterminate them!

.22 Calibre Officially Better Than .177!

.22 calibre is better than .177 - and that's now official!

The verdict comes from the votes cast by readers of my blog over the past few months - with almost 1 in 2 of airgunners saying they favoured the bigger bore size.

However, .177's still popular with more than 1 in 3 airgunners, showing that the dominance of the larger calibre is coming under threat. My bet would be that if this poll was run 10 years ago on a UK blog, the .22 would have won a landslide victory.

RESULTS:

1st - .22 with 48% of the vote

2nd - .177 with 35% of the vote

3rd - .20 with 16% of the vote

4th - .25 with 1% of the vote

There's a new poll starting today. Now we know your favourite calibre - tell us your favourite type of pellet. My money's on the round-head winning, but who knows? You decide...

Blow me... A Revelation in Windage!

Wind. It's the airgunner's worst enemy... and my Achilles heel in the field. In all but the most blustery of conditions, it is masterable, though - but how much do you really understand about the effects that wind has on your pellet?

I've spent a few months testing the windage characteristics of typical roundhead airgun ammo - and I've discovered something that I've never before seen in print!

So, I'm in the process of putting the record straight right now - and will shortly be updating my blog with a discovery that's sure to get airgunners talking. Though I'm the one who's done the testing, even I think it's somewhat of a revelation!

Make sure you check into my blog where I'll be giving you the link to an exclusive, never-before published review on how pellets react in a head wind, tail wind, oblique wind and (very interestingly) side winds.

Watch this space... it'll blow you away, not just your pellets!

Range Right Fast Fire 10 - Test

If you've been following my blog, you'll remember me mentioning about the fun I was having with the Range Right Fast Fire 10 (here); this PCP is probably the fastest-firing air rifle on the planet! Well, my full review's now out and you can read all about it in June's edition of Air Gunner magazine, on sale at newsagents now.

Made in the UK by Phoenix Airguns, the Fast Fire 10 is a take-down that comes with two bottle options and a unique grip-action auto-loading system that allowed me to empty its 10-shot magazine in eight seconds flat!

The rifle's also supplied with a hard case and a special silencer - the FF10 - which utilises a special reverse-thrust system of air channels inside to help reduce muzzle crack and prevent barrel flip. It's a helluva long silencer, but super-lightweight thanks to its carbon-fibre casing.

Despite all the fun I had letting rip at high speed with the Fast Fire 10, I must add that it's an extremely capable shooter. Out to 40 metres, I was grouping as well as any 'field' gun, and I think any prospective owner needs to look beyond the Fast Fire's styling. Like or loathe its paramilitary looks, it's an extremely powerful, highly accurate rifle that's ideal for pest control.

Field Testing the All-New Prestige Kub PCP

For the past few weeks, I've been field testing an incredible little carbine from a new airgun outfit called Prestige Airguns - and I'm very sad now that I've had to return it! You'll be able to read my full, five-page feature test in July's issue of the new-look Air Gunner magazine (out the first Thursday of June), but for now, here's a sneak preview...

The rifle's called the Kub - and it's available in three versions: the Kub-SB, Kub-RB and Kub-SL. The suffixes relate to differences in the cocking system - side-bolt, rear-bolt and side-lever. I've played with all three and, essentially, they're the same gun. My favourite (and, therefore, my test reports) are of the side-bolt which has got to be one of the most beautiful looking bolt-action combos on the airgun market today.

The Kub comes in delightful thumbhole or sporter woodwork (both walnut and both ambi) and its all-up weight - unscoped - is just 6.5 lbs. (3.1 kg). With my Hawk 3-12 x 44 AirMax on-board, I got a couple of ounces change out of 8 lbs. - and as well as the Kub-SB being a nice field weight, it's also beautifully balanced in your shoulder

As you can see from these scoop photos - a few more of which are on the Prestige Airguns website, along with detailed specs - the Kub is a very streamlined rifle. There's elegant chequer panels on the grip and fore-stock and despite the rifle's compact weights and measures, it's laden with lots of great features.

The firing valve has a special secondary air chamber which controls air-output in a pseudo-regulator way, and my .22 test sample actually gave me 120 usable shots per charge. In my case, a charge was 180 BAR down to 80, although Prestige quote 200 BAR as the maximum fill pressure.

I was well impressed with the Kub's two-stage trigger and its down-range accuracy was enough to tempt me into reaching for my wallet! With features like quick-fill charging (rotary cover), on-board manometer, 11/22mm scope grooves and adjustable butt, it's easily worth the money Prestige are asking for it. Prices range from £549 (for the Kub-RB Sporter) to £639 (for the flagship Kub-SB Thumbhole shown here).

Kubs are scheduled to arrive in gun shops around mid-May 2009 and I'm hoping to have another sample soon on which to undertake further field tests. When I do, you can be sure I'll be blogging about my hunting trips with the Kub... but for the meantime, remember to get your copy of July's Air Gunner for the exclusive first airing of this cracking little carbine.