Christmas2016

A IRGUN GURUS ARTICLES | VIDEO| REVIEWS

STOCKING FILLERS TO DROP HINTS ABOUT

Air gu n Of Th e Year

Nit esit e Wolf RTEK Best Of Th e Web

RIPLEY STILL CUTTING IT

WALTHER ROTEX UPDATE

CAMO, WHAT'S HOT

Welcome to the Christmas 2016 Airgun Gurus Online M agazine. For airgunners by airgunners. www.airgungurus.com

FOREWORD

Great Scott!

Or to write it in a more grammatically correct manner: Great, Scott.

As someone who has edited, produced and published more airgun magazines than anyone else on the planet, you may well expect me to have flicked through the pre-launch copy that Davie let me have sight of in advance with somewhat of a critical eye. Yet the truth is, I lost my editor ?s hat to my shooting cap on this one ? I got so engrossed in every single page that my professional eye gave way to my aiming eye.

Yes, I know it?s unlikely to become a monthly or even quarterly ?magazine?, but what Davie and his AGG helpers have produced here is, to put it succinctly, the kind of magazine that hardcore airgun enthusiasts will want to read? and probably read over and over again.

It?s done out of love and passion for the sport, and not for pocket-lining ? though I?d urge everyone, after they?ve read this inaugural issue of Airgun Gurus, to perhaps consider a very small donation to the AGG cause; it?s an all-round great resource for airgunners (as, of course, you already know). For my part, I also know only too well how much blood, sweat and tears will have gone into making this e-magazine, so I?d say a small ?tip?to its creators to help cover costs is not too big a favour to ask.

The truth is, airgun magazines ? and hobby-related magazines in general ? have a tough time these days, and in an attempt to stay profitable, publishers are forced to cut costs. The inevitable result is, to my mind, that mainstream publishing is increasingly failing to deliver what its audience really wants. I?ve walked away from two airgun magazines where I felt the publisher couldn?t ?get?the fact that readers are every bit as important as advertisers, and I?d have walked away from a third had they not beaten me to it in the misguided belief that it doesn?t need ?that many experts?to produce an airgun magazine. Said publishers should probably take a look at this issue of Airgun Gurus?

Any credentials Davie may lack from a professional journalist?s perspective are more than compensated for by his dedication to a sport that we all are so passionate about ? and Davie has both harnessed, and portrayed very creatively, all his enthusiasm in this brilliantly executed e-magazine. The fact it?s created from north of the border, where the Scottish Parliament is doing its upmost to curb airgunning as a pastime, should be an inspiration to us all. Flying in the face of Holyrood adversity, it?s a very fine effort indeed.

I hung on to Airgun Gurus?every word; a terrific, inspirational, enjoyable, entertaining and enlightening read that made me (a) remember why I?m an airgunner first and foremost, and (b) grab a gun from the safe and grab a couple of hours?impromptu shooting! To reiterate, the airgun shooter (no capital A or S!) side of me was well and truly hooked from cover to cover.

Actually, it got me at Miss Santa? a rather nice hors d? oeuvre it has to be said, though the main course turned out to be even tastier!

From myself and AirgunTV, I wish all the team at ? and followers of ? AGG a very Merry airgunning Christmas and happy 2017.

Nigel Allen

DAVIE " BARNDOOR" SCOTT

IAN BEER

Grant Nielson

Santa

M ERRY CHRISTM AS FROM THE AIRGUNGURUS TEAM Wel c o m e t o t h e A i r g u n Gu r u s Ch r i st m as I ssu e. We h o p e yo u l i k e o u r m ag azi n e an d en j o y t h e ar t i c l es. T h i s i s al l n ew t o u s an d w e ar e n o t w r i t er s o r ed i t o r s b u t w e ar e ver y k een ai r g u n n er s an d w e p u t i n t h e t h i n g s t h at w e l i k e an d h o p ef u l l y yo u w i l l t o o. T h an k yo u f o r t ak i n g t h e t i m e t o l o o k , f eel f r ee t o g i ve t h e m ag azi n e l i n k t o yo u r f r i en d s.

Seek t h er m al r eveal pr o on t est Thanks to our friends at Drew's labs we got a loan of one of these to have a play with. We had tried the previous version and didn't like it too much so we thought we would give this newer "pro" version a go. At just under ÂŁ700 we thought it would at least work to a certain extent so off we went on the bunnies. The battery life of the seek pro is about six hours and even in the very cold weather we got four hours constant use and it still had a decent charge left on it which helped test it to the max.

Our perm was wide open fields with very a very tall hedgerow along the sides. We turned on the seek pro and it gave a very pretty picture but it lit up everything and made it very hard to spot any rabbits. We had a night vision kit and scanned the fields with it and there was plenty of rabbits sitting rather happily and we could not see them using the seek pro. Well that wasn't much use and we were thinking we had seven hundred quids worth of rubbish. There is an easy to use menu which gives you nine different colour pallets and we found that the black and white version did pick up the closer rabbits but nowhere near good enough at distance and this kit is supposed to be good for four hundred yards.

The picture was very clear and we could easily pick out individual tree branches and although the display is small it looked very nice and reminded us of one those 1970's ultra violet Jimmy Hendrix posters. All very nice but so many colours made it virtually impossible to spot the quarry which wasn't quite the object of the exercise.

Like true pest contollers we went back to the car for a well needed flask of tea, well we had been out for almost twenty minutes after all. To our shame we resorted to actually reading the instruction book.

The default mode reads a large amount of temperatures and this is why we were getting a beautiful multi coloured picture as each temperature band showed in a different colour. We read the instruction booklet using the seek's inbuilt 300 lumens torch which was very handy. It turned out that you can set the temperature ranges on an easy to use menu and after a bit of mucking about and pointing the thing out the car window we found a range that gave a virtually all black picture and decided to go back out for another go. By sheer luck we picked a good preset temperature range and we had one of those "Eureka" moments. The sight picture now revealed a pitch black background with about twenty bright orange glows and they were all bunnies waiting to be sneaked up on. We liked this a lot. We tested the 4x zoom and we got very

good images and with a longer time to play with the settings we think we could have managed even better.

One click on the right hand button takes screenshots and we had a bit of fun trying not to make light sabre noises, well we all like a gadget don't we?

The seek pro can find quarry behind thick bushes that you would not see with a night vision kit and this is very handy if your quarry is hard to find or there are not many about.

THE KIT robust hand held and easy to use. It feels a bit strange having to hold it parallel to the ground rather than holding it vertically as you would with a camera phone but you soon get used to it. The colour pallets and temperature range menu's are easy to use but you will need to spend a bit of time getting them to your liking.

Gorilla glass and shock protection is very good indeed.

Battery life and inbuilt torch are both excellent. We liked this equipment a lot and were sorry when we had to return it. The only thing we didn't like was that the pictures were corrupted when we downloaded them and this needs to be improved. The landowner of our perm had lost his iphone the day before and we went and had a look for it. The seek pro found it in under twenty seconds with a bright glow from 150 yards.

SHOOTING STARS

Con n or M cSh er r y

Junior shooters are the future of our sport and our AGG facebook group members picked this young man to star in this edition of our magazine. If you are a regular on the HFT circuit you will most likely have met Connor at a UKAHFT National or a Sarpa or UKAL league shoot where he regularly takes home silverware. Connor puts in many hours of practice and it shows in his results and his scores are up there with the very best adult shooters. Apart from being a brilliant lad and the first person to offer help to his club and his club mates Connor has achieved something this year that is a definite first. A total clean sweep in his class.

UKAHFT NATIONALS Junior 9-13 CHAMPION SARPA LEAGUE juniors CHAMPION UKAL LEAGUE juniors CHAMPION Scottish UKAL Masters juniors CHAMPION Sarpa Scottish Championships juniors CHAMPION SACS HFT MASTERS tier 1 juniors CHAMPION

Th ey say you can n ev er h av e t oo m an y ai r gun s. M i k e Tayl or seem s t o t ak e t h at l i t er al l y. Pi c f r om our f acebook com pet i t i on

Laser Gen et ics NS-300 Laser Design at or on t est We quite fancied a go with a laser designator and our friends at Livelines tackles and Guns were good enough to give us a loan of one. If you don't know what a laser designator is it is basically a bright green hunting torch. We decided to try it on two different rabbit permissions. Taking pictures was very tricky and the pic to the left had a 30 second exposure time.

Perm one (farm)

Perm two (open fields and hedgerows)

The NS300 is easy to fit and goes onto your scope in seconds. It has a battery life of around six hours even in cold weather. We tried it on both a very tight beam and a wider one and we found the wider beam could still illuminate targets at 300 yards and that crosshairs could still be seen easily. On this permission we found that the bunnies stood still when the laser lit them up and it made them very easy to shoot. This perm does not get lamped and only night vision is used but the NS300 performed beautifully. We also lit up a fox that totally ignored the bright green beam and walked to within 50 yards of us. We also used it lamping style where one shooter would use it to light up targets and this worked very well indeed. All good so far. Kenny Weddell one of our facebook group members uses the NS300 along with thermal gear for foxes to great effect (not with air rifles) and it was his post that made us want to try this kit out at air rifle ranges.

The night we tested it was drizzly and cold and the beam cut through the light rain well without dispersion and when used on it's tightest setting we estimated it could identify targets as far away as a full mile.

We were only shooting out to around 45 yards as we were using sub 12 air rifles but it was very effective indeed.

Much more difficult on this perm due to it being lamped fairly often. The bunnies scarpered almost immediately and not the usual run 10 yards, stop, then run off again. This time the bunnies ran full tilt to get away and we blanked. We waited an hour and switched back to our normal night vision kit and it worked a treat.

The NS300 comes with a rats tail pressure switch and a figure of eight style torch mount. We used an adjustable torch mount instead which made it much easier to use and well worth forking out some cash on especially if you like the tight beam. The designator is hydrogen purged and totally waterproof and it's alloy body is both very tough and very light.

We really liked this kit but it did not work where the bunnies were "lamp shy" It did not help that the "spotter " when we used it traditional lamping style kept putting it onto a tight beam and pretended to be a Jedi complete with making light sabre noises.

We preferred our normal night vision but there is a real place in your bag for the NS300 and we will be asking Santa for one.

Big price drop over the past year and available at ÂŁ160 Thanks to the fantastic livelines for the loan.

LIVELINES

APPS THAT WORK We have tested loads of android and IOS apps over the past year and we liked these ones.

They have all been tested and we reckon you might like them. Some are very handy.

Target Scan. Perfect for scoring your shots on various different types of paper target. Great for pistol competitions and scores quickly and very accurately. ÂŁ8.99 from both android and ios versions. There are in app purchases as well for things you might never use but the basic one is super accurate and super fast. Take a pic of your scorecard and your score comes on screen. In app purchases can analyse your groupings and much more. We tested it on ten pistol cards and the scores were bang on.

Strelok Free and Strelok Plus ÂŁ5.99. A bit like the Hawke Chairgun app but it seems to work slightly better. You can print off your holdovers for your scope cap. The free version is good enough and although there are limited reticles they are all pretty much based on mildot or milrad ones so you will find one that suits your scope. The paid version has over 600 reticles pre installed if you want exactly the reticle you are using. Care has to be taken when setting it up but we found this one to be slightly more accurate than the Hawke one even at air rifle ranges. It does give your holdovers/unders pretty accurately but it is still not as good as putting out target cards and getting your own holdovers/unders which is always the best way to do it. Strelok is easy to use and it's results were very close to what was achieved in real conditions. Not quite close enough for the dedicated target shooter but it is still a good guide .

Sniper Shooter FREE. Very addictive, accurate , and great fun.

Available on both android and ios devices. Quite hard to put down and as you progress you need to take the wind into consideration. You do get some adverts popping up and it nags you to rate if 5 stars to get some free stuff but it is not too much in your face and the game is great. The free version gives you plenty of action and there is no need to pay for the in app purchases. The only thing wrong is that you might be tempted to purchase some of the in app extras but we guess they have to make money somewhere. Well worth a download and a play for an hour or two of the free version though.

Continued

APPS THAT WORK HFT MILDOTS available on android, ios, and windows. Brilliant app for HFT and FT shooters. as an example say for instance that you know that the distance from the bottom of a target hinge to the lug that takes the string is 120mm just put that into the app and it will tell you how many mildots cover that distance at ranges from 8 yards to 55 yards. Pre loaded nokover and gamo targets included. And you can print off your range charts. ÂŁ5.99 Weather&Radar Scarily accurate and very handy if you are going out on your perm.Live rain radar will show you when the rain is likely and when it will pass over. Available on android and ios. This is the UK version but worldwide versions are available. There are in app purchases but it works fine without them and is updated every five minutes. Rain radar and satellite maps as well as eight day forecasts. This app can also give severe weather warnings and wind speed but these come as in app purchases. We checked this one out and it was very accurate. We were close to three automated weather stations though so it may not be quite as accurate if you are in the middle of nowhere. Weather radar is zoomable.

USA only but airgungurus are everywhere. android and ios and expensive at $30. This app gives you land boundaries and "no hunt" zones Used by game wardens this app gives you full GPS coordinates and draws lines round all no go areas. You do need a phone or tablet with GPS and it does work better if you have a phone signal too. Just search for HUNTING GPS APP You can also get the AIRGUNGURUS app on android. The app gives you all the links to our social media pages all in one place and it is of course free. It is currently being used by 800 users and sometimes AGG radio is available (just sometimes) you can get it HERE

LAM PING TIPS We get asked quite often about the best way to lamp rabbits and people tend to do it slightly differently and with varying results. We have gathered a few general tips you might find useful. The normal advice of keeping the wind in your face and checking your permission in daylight always stands as does making sure you have shooting insurance but here are a few tips for the newer lamping airgunner that we thought might help you get a bigger bag.

If you have a gun mounted torch do a test run and check the torch is actually shining where your scope reticle can see it. It's amazing how many times you knock your torch mount so check it regularly. Use the lowest power setting on your torch that lets you see eye shine. No use going full power when you don't need to and scaring off your quarry.

You can always power up when ready to take your shot.

Keep your light source off as much as you can and don't sweep a beam around the field as your quarry can spot it easier. A good way to spot your quarry is to shine your torch high at a 30 degree angle and then drop the light onto the ground, that way you wont see a beam sweeping over the ground and your quarry is less likely to be spooked. Move your torch up and down rather than left to right or vice versa.

If your quarry is sitting near a hedge shine your torch slightly to the side that is nearest the hedge. Your quarry is less likely to want to run into the beam and if it does move you have a better chance of it running away from cover.

If you prefer to take your shots kneeling rather than standing get into the kneeling position before switching on your lamp. You may have to take a quick shot and it is better that you are in your shooting position as quickly as possible. This

is harder than it sounds as wandering about and kneeling down all the time can be hard work but it's worth it if you are fit enough.

If you are using coloured filters on your torch/lamp don't be scared to try good old fashioned bright white.

Sometimes your quarry will be used to seeing white lights such as farm vehicles and headlights from distant roads and tend to ignore it. It's always worth a try. Every permission is different and what colour light that works on one may not work on yours but the white light is definitely worth a try. Switch colours often to see what the quarry on your perm likes or dislikes.

Rangefinding can be very difficult at night and if you are using a sub12 air rifle knowing your ranges can be the difference between a clean kill and a miss. If you new to shooting at night it is a good idea to walk your perm during the day and getting a feel for the distances between trees, fences, and anything else that is lying around. You can even put llittle orange stickers on objects and these will show up at night and you can rangefind much easier. If you are flush you can treat yourself to a night vision range finder and use that as a spotter before switching on your lamp. You

do not have to move around all the time. If you find a spot where your quarry comes to you can find an ambush point and just wait for them.

Remember to take a game bag with you and if you are doing a lot of walking you can leave your rabbits somewhere to pick up on the way back. If you have a sharp knife with you a good trick is to cut the tendon in one of the back legs and stick the other foot through the gap in the tendon and that way you can hang your rabbit on a fence and hopefully out the way of passing foxes.

We hope you will find these tips useful. Make sure you tell someone where you are and what time you expect to get back. A mobile phone is pretty much mandatory if you are out on your own and a whistle can be easily stuck in a pocket. You will automatically be stealthier at night as you will walk far more carefully than normal but be aware of your background. Walk slow, stop often, and approach your quarry head on.

Rabbits can see sideways movement better than a shape getting larger so walking straight at them is very effective. If you have cover use it Try to place your heel down first when walking. It's rather hard to do in the dark but you will be quieter. Stay safe, shoot straight, and go get those pesky rabbits.

RECIPE Rabbit stew with dumplings For the Dumplings 400g self-raising flour 200g butter 1 bunch chives, finely chopped salt and pepper to taste milk as needed For the Stew 2 rabbits, jointed plain flour as needed

For the Stew

Method (serves 6)

Gas 4.

2 rabbits, jointed

Prep:30min ? Cook:2hr ?

Ready in:2hr30min

Meanwhile make dumplings. Rub butter into flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in chives, salt and pepper.

Add just enough milk to form a dough. Knead until smooth, about 2 minutes.

plain flour as needed olive oil butter salt and pepper to taste 10 rashers bacon, prosciutto or smoked ham 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 350g mushrooms 1 onion, quartered 750ml dark ale 750ml chicken stock

Heat an oven-safe pot on the hob with a little olive oil and a knob of butter.

Meanwhile, dredge rabbit pieces with flour, shake off any excess.

Once the pot is hot, sear rabbit in batches until golden on all sides. When all the rabbit is seared, return to the pot with bacon. Cook until the bacon starts to colour, 5 minutes.

Add rosemary, mushrooms, onion, dark ale and chicken stock.

Cover with a lid, let simmer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 C /

Separate the dumpling dough into 18 equal portions. Roll into small balls. Chill until needed.

Once the 30 minutes is up, take the stew off the hob and drop dumplings into the pot. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

RIPLEY RIFLES

CANRIPPERSSTILLCUTTHE MUSTARD?THEANSWERIS ANUNQUALIFIEDYES.

RIPLEYRIFLESARESTILLGOINGSTRONGANDHAVEAHISTORYOFMANUFACTURING HIGHQUALITYSUPERBLYENGINEEREDWORKSOFART.. THELONGWAITINGLISTFORA RIPLEYAIRRIFLEISWORTHTHEWAIT.THEYAREMOSTDEFINITELYA"KEEPER" Ripley rifles are hand craft ed t o a very high specificat ion and each rifle m ay be very slight ly different t o t he nex t . We recom m end a fact ory service rat her t han get t ing a " m at e" t o do it . Ripley m anufact ure t he AR5S and t he XL9 There is a Ripley " elit e" m odel out t here w hich is quit e popular but t his is NOT m ade by Ripley and alt hough rat her good it id not m anufact ured t o t he sam e st andards.

A second hand AR5S is a great buy alt hough t hey do hold t heir prices very w ell but t hey st ill pop up now and again on t he sales sect ions of t he bigger airgun forum s but you need t o be quick as t hey get snapped up very quickly.

What 's Good. It 's a Ripley. Very accurat e, keeps it 's value What 's bad. Wait ing list and part s really need t o com e from t he fact ory as t hey are engineered for your part icular rifle and you m ay need t o send it back for t he part t o be copied especially on t he very popular older ones.

The Ripley AR5S is not everyones cup of t ea but w e t hink it m ight be t he sex iest airgun on t he planet .

They are st ill in product ion but you can only buy t he act ion and you need t o get yourself a cust om st ock m ade for it . Ripley are w orking on st ock prices. Wait ing list s are long. This st ock w as hydro dipped.

Sacrilidge?

The pic below is t he original st ock. You can click on any pict ure in out m agazine t o see it full size.

GETTING A NEW PERM ISSION SOMEGREATTIPSFROMRICKBELLARS

Long article this one but so useful we decided not to edit it

Perm ission grant ed.

As usual, t his is m y w ay, it m ay not be your w ay, but t he inform at ion is based on m y ex periences gaining shoot ing perm ission, t rust , and free range t o com e and go at w ill on various areas in Norfolk.

Trust is a long road, so som e of m y perm issions st art ed out being quit e rest rict ive as t he landow ners w ant ed t o 't est t he w at er' so t o speak.

When I had proved adequat e and t rust w ort hy t hen rest rict ions w ere lift ed bit by bit unt il I had free range. This is quit e norm al. You m ay be asked just t o shoot rabbit s on one field and be aw ay by a cert ain t im e or m aybe only shoot on a Sat urday et c.

If you read t he Air Gun press or surf t he various shoot ing forum s you cannot fail t o not ice t he num bers of request s

for, and enquiries about shoot ing perm ission. It seem s t hat finding som ew here t o shoot is a t op priorit y for m any.

Being w it hout som ew here t o shoot can be frust rat ing w hen you've spent hours in t he garden and club honing your skills, yet have now here t o hunt .

It st ands t o reason t hat If you are going t o offer your services, you do need a cert ain level of com pet ency and if t his is your first perm ission, t hen references are not available. When you are event ually successful you w ill need t o deliver w hat you prom ise and it 's good t o know t hat m odern Air Weapons are now readily accept ed by t he farm ing and shoot ing com m unit y as a discreet , hum ane and effect ive w ay of cont rolling verm in. It w asn't alw ays t his w ay!

It 's w ort h m ent ioning t hat t he Wildlife and

Count ryside act list s suit able quarry and t he legal reasons for t he cont rol of cert ain species of birds and m am m als.

All species of birds are prot ect ed but a General License is grant ed each year t o allow som e species t o be cont rolled in cert ain circum st ances.

Also, all land is eit her ow ned or com m on so shoot ing w it hout perm ission is t erm ed arm ed t respass carrying harsh sent ences. You need t o be fully conversant w it h t hese law s t o avoid becom e yet anot her court st at ist ic.

It appears t o som e, finding som ew here t o hunt can be quit e a challenge and w it hout a planned approach it can soon t ranscend int o " Air Gunners search for t he Holy Grail" 1. Blanket request s do not w ork.

In m y ex perience

GETTING A NEW PERM ISSION Fact ories. et c only t o get one reply w hich said, " I don't have any verm in problem s" Farm ers are busy people and t hey m ay have already let t he shoot ing t o a syndicat e or have som eone already. Also consider t hat you are asking som eone t o let a gun t ot ing st ranger loose on t heir propert y.

It 's no surprise t hat so m any request s go unansw ered.

You m ay w ell be a safe, responsible and accurat e shot but get t ing on t he first rung of t he ladder is difficult .

But luckily, not im possible.

2. Don't look for perm ission, look for verm in.

You w ouldn't offer t o clean som eone's car unless it w as dirt y so asking t o shoot w here t he land is bereft of problem s is a w ast e of t im e.

To give you t he best chance of success I suggest you st op

looking for perm ission but look for verm in and t he dam age t hat t hey are causing. Fields of w heat suffering from Rabbit dam age at t he field edge. Rabbit dam age on golf courses or m aybe feral pigeon on fact ories et c. Find a crop t hat is being ravaged by Pigeons and t he first piece of t he jigsaw is in place.

3. M ake or break t im e.

A planned approach can pay dividends and as som e professional pest cont rollers do t his for a living your offer of a free service m ay seem invit ing.

Rem em ber t hough t hat areas t hat at t ract verm in can be dangerous places and landow ners w on't w ant t o be sued if you have an accident , or t olerat e you t ram pling t heir crops or scaring t heir st ock. Conversely w it h rural crim e on t he increase it can be an advant age t o have a regular visit or t o keep a w ary eye on t hings. You

w ill oft en be about early or lat e w hich can prove useful t o t he landow ner. Som et im es perm ission is a t w o w ay st reet .

4. That 's t he w ay t o do it .

You can st um ble across likely shoot ing areas w hile you are out and about . I found m y best perm ission by regularly driving past a riding st ables and not icing t he huge num bers of rabbit s. I sent an E m ail t o t he st ables saying if t hey had a problem I could help and gave a dat e and t im e t hat I w ould call. They t old m e t hat of all t he offers of help, I w as t he first t o approach in a professional m anner, be fully insured and I appeared t o have t hought out any pot ent ial quest ions t hey m ay have had.

Perm ission grant ed.

While driving about you can st um ble on a pot ent ial perm ission but m y advice is t o concent rat e your effort s

GETTING A NEW PERM ISSION in cert ain areas t hat have a habit of at t ract ing verm in.

You m ay like t o check local and Int ernet m aps for sm all holdings, nurseries, fact ory sit es and business parks, riding st ables, large gardens, orchards, farm s, golf clubs, caravan sit es, and perhaps a local M anor House or st at ely hom e t o nam e a few .

Est ablishing w here t hey are, and w het her t hey have a problem is t hen your priorit y.

Do rem em ber t hough, t hat som e m ight not accept shoot ing pest s as readily as you, and Rabbit s you perceive as a problem could be encouraged for t heir grazing capabilit ies. So be prepared for t he occasional, " t hanks, but no t hanks" It 's a st range t hing but w hen you secure your first perm ission ot hers follow as if by m agic.

Your success, if w arrant ed can soon

spread and t he old boy net w ork st ill operat es in t he count ry. You m ay end up w it h m ore t han you can handle. Trust m e!

Joining a gun club or Int ernet forum could also increase your chances by advert ising your services w it h like m inded people, or you could offer t o beat during t he Gam e season in t he hope of som e pest cont rol.

5. The approach.

If aft er all t hat research you find a possible venue, dress sm art but casual and m ake a polit e enquiry. Point out t hat you not ice t hat t hey appear t o have a problem and offer your services. St at e t hat you consider yourself t o be a safe, responsible person and if you get som e init ial int erest point out you are fully insured and t hat Air Rifles are a quiet effect ive m et hod of cont rol.

If your enquiry get s t he t hum bs up t here is a lot

t o be discussed in t he int erest of bot h part ies.

You w ill need t o discuss a set of ground rules and st ick t o t hem . Losing your perm ission can be quicker t han finding one! All agreem ent s need t o be in w rit ing but t his is not set in st one and you need t o be guided by t he landow ner. I prefer t he " I w ant it in w rit ing" as t hey are oft en m ore professional. You don't w ant perm ission being given t o anyone else w it hout your know ledge as anot her shoot er out t here w it hout you know ing can prove dangerous!

Ask t he ow ner t o w alk you round so t hat t here can be no doubt as t o t he boundaries of your shoot and any no go areas. If it 's a riding st ables t hey m ay have a day of riding for t he disabled and a guy w it h a gun is no no. There is a lot t o t hink about .

Look out for foot pat hs

GETTING A NEW PERM ISSION and areas t hat t he general public can go even t hough t hey have no right . Dog w alkers for inst ance. I've had t o have a w ord w it h a few over t he years.

paper t o leave w it h t he landow ner should t hey w ant t o t hink about grant ing perm ission.

Wit h your hom e address, t el no and m obile no.

Ask w het her t hey w ant you t o phone t hem before and aft er a visit and agree t o any of t heir requirem ent s or rest rict ions know ing t hat in t im e, w it h t rust t hey m ay be relax ed.

Once perm ission is grant ed I suggest you feedback your result s, success and failures and any problem s t hat you consider t he ow ner needs t o be m ade aw are of. I alw ays offer pick up any lit t er as I go about t oo. It 's all in t he det ails.

A dress code could be considered and it w as at t he st ables w here I shot .

Cam ouflaged clot hing m ay not be appropriat e for every venue.

The disposal of shot quarry is som et hing t hat needs discussion t oo. The landow ner m ay relish a couple of fresh bunnies or not w ant anyt hing t o do w it h t hem .

Respect t heir w ishes and act accordingly. If you consider all t hese point s you are likely t o be t aken seriously.

You can alw ays list all t hese considerat ions on

Finally, rem em ber, aft er all t hat searching and hard slog, it is not your land t hat you are shoot ing on and your success and behaviour w ill influence w het her you keep or lose t hat all im port ant first perm ission.

M y all im port ant checklist .

The init ial approach.

Be able t o shoot w ell.

Know t he law regarding Airguns.

Research your quarry

and t he Law regarding t he General Licence.

Do your groundw ork and find som ew here suit able t hat needs your services.

M ake a personal approach t o t he ow ner.

Be sm art but causally dressed.

Be fully insured and t ake a copy of your cert ificat e w it h you.

Leave your rifle in t he car.

Suggest you have not iced a pot ent ial problem and offer t o help.

Ex plain t hat you are safe, com pet ent and responsible.

Take any refusals polit ely.

Leave a card or your proposals in w rit ing if t hey w ill accept one in case t hey change t heir m inds.

If your request m eet s w it h approval.

Agree ground rules in w rit ing if desired.

Where can you shoot .

GETTING A NEW PERM ISSION What can you shoot .

When can you shoot .

Where are t he boundaries

And give yourself a pat on t he back.

Rick

Do t hey have any special request s in relat ion t o your com ings and goings.

Seek t o obt ain a perm ission let t er.

Let t hird part ies know .

Eg. Police, neighbours et c.

Leave your det ails as follow s.

Car m ake, colour and regist rat ion. Nam e address t el no and m obile no.

Rick Bellar s Getting a shooting permission is very important to many airgun users and possibly even more so in Scotland where the new air weapons Licensing kicks in on the first of January and you need a valid reason for owning an airgun.

We thought Rick's article should be printed in a full and unedited version. There's nothing quite like being on your permission on a nice sunny day or pitch black night and we wish you the best of luck in getting that elusive permission.

Keeping your perm ission.

Visit regularly Shoot safely, hum anely and only shoot w hat s been agreed.

Respect w ildlife, propert y and t he count ryside.

Give feedback on your result s.

A bot t le at Christ m as is alw ays w elcom e by w ay of t hanks.

Davie "Barndoor " Scott Hammerli AR20FT Carlsberg don't do permissions but if they did !

Air gu n Pics? Well Wh y Not We ran a picture competition for our test issue and we put the winner on the cover. We liked these pictures so much we decided you might like to see them.

Dale Harris's pic of his huntsman in the rain

Andrew Hart's Arty Pic of his R10

Oliver pasztor 's rather nice Steyr LG110 FT with loads of modifications. We think it may have been used in "starship troopers"

SPOTLIGHTED AIRGUNNER PETER LOWE The AGG spotlight this time round is on Peter Lowe. Pete suffers from Chronic back pain and takes many of his shots standing and is very good indeed at it. The questions we asked Pete all came from members of the AGG facebook group and we will use the same ones every time we feature a shooter on the AGG website. All answers are unedited.

AGG...Are you a member of a club and if so what do you like about it?

I am a member of 2 clubs, Dunfermline airgun club and Glenrothes Target shooting club. Dunfermline is fantastic for HFT, with a plinking range out to 60yds if needed and our own wood which is considered to be one of the best courses in Scotland, whereas although only 25yds, Glenrothes is indoor, (with free tea, coffee, and biccies ) which comes in handy during a Scottish winter. The thing I like about both clubs is that the people there are always willing to help a newbie or someone having trouble with their setup.

AGG...Do you remember your first airgun? Tell us about it.

My first air rifle was a Webley Tracker in .22 with a Tasco 4x32 scope attached. It was a Christmas present from my older brother when I was 15. ? He told me that he spent his first ever wage to buy me it, was so chuffed when I heard.

AGG...What is the most enjoyable part of shooting? Plinking at the range or competitions and which format?

Hft competitions really are the best thing in my opinion. Having shot HFT in Scotland for 5 years now and ventured down south to ?the worlds? a couple of times, I attended my first UKHFT event at M.A.D. and the HFT Masters at the Northern shooting show in Harrogate. I am always astounded by how friendly the competitors in our sport are.

AGG...Tell us about your kit.

I currently own 10 rifles, 5 p.c.p. and 5 springers.

My competition rifles are a Steyr hft hunter in .22 and MTC Viper 10x44, which I use in the UKAL league and a HW 99s in .177 with open sights which I use in the SARPA/STS league.

Have you ever tried to or been successful in converting a none shooting family member/friend into the sport? If so do they still talk to you?

Not really, my family are very supportive of my shooting, but nobody has asked to come along even though I said they would be made very welcome.

CONTINUED

SPOTLIGHTED AIRGUNNER PETER LOWE AGG...What have been your most memorable shots? Best and worst.

AGG...Tell us something we don?t know about you.

My most memorable shot was a 45yd shot at Cloybank a few years ago. I was shooting the course standing that day as I suffer from chronic back pain. I was next to shoot after a ceasefire, took the shot with my BSA Ultra in .22 and killed the target, instantly heard my friend and club mate Rob Cochrane shout out to congratulate from about 10 pegs away, turned round and realised almost everybody in the competition was watching me.

I am secretly a multi billionaire, I only drive a beaten up freelander to keep the begging letters to a minimum. Oh yeah, one of my favourite movies is The Quiet Man.

My worst shot was my first shoot off at Dechmont later the same year, 1st target about15yds and I missed it completely, because I knew everybody was watching me.

AGG...Do you stick to one gun or do you match your rifle to the task at hand?

I try to stick to 1 rifle for each of the leagues I shoot in, but it doesn?t always happen. Too many to choose from I suppose. I do however stick to the same scope. I personally favour the MTC reticle and have been using them so long now I can?t use a mill dot scope.

AGG...Do you do pest control and what to you shoot? Do you cook it and/or eat it?

I don?t do pest control, but would like to try a rat shoot.

AGG...Where do you see the future of airgunning in ten years time?

I would like to say bigger and better, but I fear that won?t be the case... 2017 will be a very pivotal year in Scottish shooting, that?s for sure.

Really hoping we can get an open sight league set up for next year and we can get some more people attending a truly fun day out.

AGG...Have your say. (anything you like) I think that especially in Scotland there are too many people with big egos running things in our beloved sport. These people seem to think that because they are elected to a position that everybody else doesn?t matter, whereas they are there to put forward the wishes of a majority, whether at club level or organisation level. If all these big egos had actually worked together I honestly think the air weapons license. may not have happened.

I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and an on target New Year. Hope to see many more Gurus rolling about in the mud.

AGG...Thanks to Peter Lowe for being our spotlighted shooter and all the best for the 2017HFT season.

Recipe

Preparing wood pigeon is much easier than it sounds. There are loads of videos on youtube but we think the one below is the simplest. Remember to have a good look for lead shot or pellets and remove them before cooking. As if you wouldn't. If you shoot it with an airgun and a head shot it makes life much easier. enjoy.

Pigeon Stroganoff Breasts of 2 pigeons, cut into long 20mm-thick strips; 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes; 1 onion, sliced; 1 red pepper, sliced; 1 tbsp paprika; 25g butter; 142ml sour cream; bunch parsley, chopped

Method (serves 2/3) Gently sweat the onions and pepper in the butter for two minutes, then add the paprika and cook until the onions are soft.

Increase the heat and when the pan starts to sizzle add the pigeon strips and fry until all sides are sealed. Add the tomatoes a little at a time, so the pan doesn't cool too much, then add half of the soured cream a little at a time. Check the pigeon strips are cooked as well as you like, then throw in the parsley, stir and serve with rice and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Bad Gr ou pin gs? Use ou r ch eck list pellet height. if groups are still out to left and right you can discount regulator (if you have one) O rings and breech seals. (it's almost always the breech seal ) They are super easy to replace.

Try Our handy checklist.

Remove your silencer if you have one and check groupings. If groups are much better your silencer will be faulty or not fitted properly.

Groupings checklist in order. Assuming you have removed silencer/mod Make sure you set your parallax at the distance you are grouping at (eliminates parallax error) Check you are using the same pellets as you normally use to get decent groups tighten all scope mounts check groups. if still not correct move on clean barrel and check barrel crown for dirt Fire 30-50 pellets through newly cleaned barrel check groups. if still not correct move on Load a pellet and watch carefully as your pellet probe pushes the pellet in. If the probe is off centre it may be damaging the pellet If it looks ok try hand loading a pellet by pushing it into the barrel with your fingers.

Hand load five times and check groups.

Okay we are now down to three possibilities regulator problem but this would only effect

Your scopes F* * * * * Borrow a scope you know is sound and try it.

By your shot pattern I am guessing this is the most likely cause of your bad groups. Do a rough zero with the new scope and check groups. If your groups are still bad change your breech seal.

To check your scope stick it on a borrowed gun and try to zero it. If it doesn't zero and you get bad groups on a good gun you will know it's your scope. To test your scope on a known good airgun do the following.

Fire one shot at your target. turn your elevation turret UP by 20 clicks and fire a shot at your first pellet strike (you should shoot higher) Turn your windage turret 20 clicks right and fire a shot at your second pellet strike (you should hit right), turn your elevation turret DOWN by twenty clicks, fire at your third pellet strike (you should fire lower) Turn your windage turret LEFT by 20 clicks and fire at your fourth pellet strike and this time because you are back to where you started you should hit your very first pellet strike. If you don't then your scope is broken.

If your scope is not broken change the o rings on your breech seal and your magazine.

If you are still getting bad groups get a small hacksaw and cut ten inches of your barrel and five inches of your stock. That way your gun will fit into the bin much easier.

AGG AIRGUN OF THE YEAR 2016

We had over 300 respondents to our Airgun Gurus poll to pick the best air rifle of the year on our social media platforms and forum and our winner was a long way ahead of the others. The B.S.A R10 did very well and the accuracy and high shot count made the R10 popular. The Air Arms range faired well with the S410 getting the most votes.

As well as the poll we asked the question "If you could only ever own one sub12 airgun what would you choose?" and again this airgun was streaks in front. The Airgun Gurus air rifle of the year 2016 goes to the Weihrauch HW100.

WHY IT WON AND WHAT YOU LIKED ABOUT IT Accuracy played a very important part in your decision making because of it's obvious importance but it came as no surprise that the number one reason for this air rifle being chosen as the Airgun Gurus air rifle of the year was because of it's 14 shot magazine which operates flawlessly even in the toughest of conditions. The side lever cocking action along with the ease of changing and loading the magazine made this airgun our winner by a country mile and well deserved it is too.

The pest controllers loved the fact that magazines can be inserted quickly and easily in the dark and the fact that it was just about impossible to double load a pellet. They also liked the fact that the Weihrauch silencer is the benchmark that all others are judged against and makes this airgun amongst the quietest out there. The thumbhole stock and standard length cylinder versions were the most popular.

The target shooters liked the accuracy and consistency and the fact that the single shot tray that is available also works really well. The only bad feedback we had came from HFT shooters who almost all agreed that the cheek piece is far too low and many users had extended the cheek piece and were very happy once this was achieved. Weihrauch have addressed this problem in their newer laminate versions. Our poll was so strong in favour of this air rifle that we think it may go on to win every year. The Weihrauch HW100 really is that good. Well done Weihrauch.

AGG REVIEW GAM O COYOTE

One thing about Airgun Gurus which we hope is different is that we do honest reviews.

Just ask the guys at fliptarget.

The reason being is that we are all air gunners and would never tell someone a gun is a good one if it is not. Have you ever seen a bad review in an airgun magazine? Probably not.

So here we have it. The Gamo coyote Black whisper (synthetic) .177 Look s.

The first thing that went through my mind as I opened the box was ?tactical? The thumbhole stock is very reminiscent of the Weichrauch HW100 although there are enough differences to make it unique. There is an adjustable cheek piece which works well. However with a 40mm objective scope fitted 3mm from the barrel I had to extend the cheek piece to it's absolute maximum to get the correct sight picture and if I had used higher mounts I

would have had a very bad eye position. This is due to the top of the butt slanting downwards which makes the cheek piece very low to start out with. The stock is ambidextrous but shoulders well but you might have bother getting a good eye position on your scope. The scope rail is 11mm (10.6) actually and has a good length of travel.

The gun comes fitted with a Gamo Whisper silencer and our review rifle had the silencer bonded on and this will likely change on the production model. The Gamo silencer is huge but it balances the gun pretty well.

In short the gun looks pretty cool, shoulders well and is nice and ?pointable?.

Bu ild Qu alit y The Gun is made by BSA so the standard is more than decent. The synthetic stock feels nice to hold and the bluing on the action is deep with no blemishes. The trigger

and safety is plastic as is the Gamo whisper silencer and to be perfectly honest the silencer looks fairly cheap and borders on nasty. The silencer would be the first thing to change but the one on my model is bonded on.

All in all as far as synthetic stocks go this one is rather nice. I don't like synthetic stocks and have a bit of an aversion to them but I could get used to this one The butt feels hollow and getting a sling on it may cause problems but is has a rather nifty butt pad that can be made softer or harder by removing rubber inserts and although this is far more suitable for recoiling guns it it is still a nice touch.

HFT shooters would need to do a fair amount of designing to enable a hamster to be put on the gun so that may put a few people off. It is designed primarily as a hunter and I think hunters and pest controllers on a budget might like it. (continued)

target shooters might be able to add the fore end riser/hamster as there are loads of people on the social networking sites and forums that should be able to do it but it's not really a gun gor competitions.

which can be reversed for left handers. The ten shot magazine cycles faultlessly and quietly and didn't miss a beat. There is a handy purple indexing ring that tells you how many pellets are left and this works well and is a handy feature.

Bolt an d M agazin e

The bolt cocking is nowhere near as nice as a B.S.A R10 and a million miles away from the HW100 but it is acceptable and it is quiet.

The coyote comes with a fairly standard bolt

Tr igger an d Saf et y The trigger is curved and designed as a slightly set back trigger. It is easy to reach allegedly has adjustments for the first stage and second stage pressure. The safety is in front of the trigger and some hunters prefer this as they don't need to move their hands to an odd position to flick the safety on and off and it feels natural. This type of safety is a favourite of mine and I have always liked it. The safety is not automatic and has to be manually set on or off. The plastic trigger does look fairly cheap but no doubt there will soon be after market triggers available. The trigger however does not work well. Out of the box the trigger wasn't

great. In fact it was pretty poor. The first stage length was excellent but it took a lot of pressure (around 2.5 lbs) to fire and this would affect your aim on longer targets. Despite the good instructions in the manual we could not adjust the trigger and we went to a very good gunsmith to get it adjusted and were told that the trigger adjustment screws did absolutely nothing and he showed us the mechanism and he was spot on. Unless you do a serious strip down you will be stuck with a heavy trigger and we checked two of these airguns that were on display and the triggers were exactly the same.

The gunsmith had them on sale and will not stock them again (continued)

Silen cer Really?

Terrible just doesn't even get close to describing it and the reduction in noise level I am guessing is nil. My model had the silencer bonded on so I could not check it against another silencer but the gun will also come as a ?coyote

Air Cylin der Gau ge an d Fill adapt er Deep blued cylinder with manometer/Pressure gauge on the end the same as the HW100 and other rifles. The cylinder can be filled to 232 bar but I wasn't manly enough for that and filled it to 190.

black? model without the silencer and this would be the one to go for. With the silencer on you will get one shot at your quarry and the rest will scarper. However the trigger and action are very quiet and with a decent silencer on the BSA barrel you may have a chance of not

scaring away your quarry. The silencer was the worst we had ever used but in fairness ours was a pre production model.

We did however notice that the "whisper " silencer does appear on some current models .

The gauge was very accurate and gives a good idea of how much air you have left but as always you should never trust any gauge when filling and the only safe way is to use the gauge on your air cylinder or pump. The fill probe slides easily into the air cylinder with no issues

Accu r acy Despite the heavy trigger accuracy was very good indeed. The B.S.A barrel is superb and this airgun grouped small cloverleafs at 35 yards. Insanely good. The accuracy started to sway us back on the side of this gun and despite it's faults (especially that cheek piece) it has great potential but you really would have to be able to get that trigger sorted before you see the benefits. For it's price range it is pretty fair value. Would we buy one? Nope. The Walther rotex is equally as accurate and has a better shot count and is about the same price. The coyote however is well worth trying out as it is you that decides if it feels better or you just like the look of it. As always try before you buy You might love it. Our model was an early pre production version so it would be well worth trying a current version. IF you can get one with a decent trigger you will love the accuracy and that can't be bad.

Pocket Plinker credit card size targets come in at around £5 You can get them HERE

Gun Alarm Clock.

Shoot the alarm to silence it. Available on Amazon and Amazon Prime.Just search for "gun alarm clock" £15 ish Tru Oil stock finishing kit for those cold winter nights at home

Snappy Targets matchbox challenge. £8.50 including delivery and you can get them HERE

Spinner target available on Amazon. £10.50 Identical versions available on Amazon Prime, Postage varies. You can get this one HERE

Firebird reactive targets. Noiseless ones also available. £9.95 from HERE

£19.95 from HERE

And of course the Airgun Gurus Gear shop for Hats, Hoodies, T-Shirts, polos, Jackets, kids and ladies gear and loads more. Just click on the products tab to see all the collections. Every single item makes you shoot better and be more attractive to the opposite sex and you can visit the store HERE

None of the products above are paid adverts.We just thought you might like them and drop a hint or two to Santa.

UKSARC. Wh at t h e h ell is t h at ?

Even if you are up to speed with all forms of airgun competition shooting there is a good chance you will never have heard of uksarc. We certainly hadn't till this summer and we decided to have a go it it.

Mark Lyon sent us an email about how much he enjoys uksarc shooting and we thought it was was worth letting people know about this fairly new discipline. Here is a quick guide to uksarc followed

by Mark's email

M ar k Lyon UK SPORTING AIR RIFLE CHALLENGE ? AN INTRODUCTION (from uksarc.co.uk) The UK Sporting Air Rifle Challenge ? or UKSARC for short ? is a new and fast-growing discipline for air rifle shooters in the UK. Introduced in 2012 UKSARC aims to put the fun back into air rifle competition.

The UK Sporting Air Rifle Challenge is based on totally realistic hunting scenarios, using hunting air rifles. Shooting at metal knock-down targets set at distances from 10 to 45 yards, competitors aim at small kill zones, located in the same part of the target as in a real animal. As well as being much closer to real hunting, this will also increase the chance of a total miss greatly.

UKSARC KEY ELEMENTS At UKSARC, we?ve never joined the ?arms race?of using incredibly expensive rifles and scopes ? we prefer guns to look like guns. As a consequence, the main class in the UK Sporting Air Rifle Challenge will be for traditional sporter style guns, as opposed to target rifles. There will be a place for our friends who shoot such guns, but they will have their own class and will not qualify for championship points.

I?m fairly new to Air gunning. I did a little shooting at cans and bottles as a teenager then nothing till about 20 months ago when I was re-introduced to airguns by a friend and was hooked.

I bought a gun then went and joined my local club, I know it is the wrong way to do things but I was lucky and got a good gun that works for me. I was introduced to plinking and told about HFT and being a competitive type decided that this was something I had to do. I went round my clubs practice course a few times then went along to a pre-season shoot at Juniper Green a club just outside Edinburgh and felt confident What a shock, I was totally unprepared for the size of the kills and distances but still enjoyed it. I started attending the competitions in the SARPA Hunter league when work and family life allowed. I was enjoying the different challenges that each course and target presented.

Eventually it came time for my own club to run its round of the league. Keen to learn more about the

sport I was enjoying I volunteered to help with the course setting and anything else I could do. My contribution was screwing down targets where I was told, putting stakes in for the shooting peg, clearing twigs and branches, cutting grass and basically being the general labour but I did learn what was involved in setting a course.

While helping set the course some of the more experienced members were talking about another discipline of shooting, UKSARC. It stands for Sporting Air Rifle Challenge and is supposed to be more akin to hunting, less sanitary more like it would be in nature.

When it came to the day of the HFT competition despite having checked over the course the day before there was still work required in order to make the course sanitary enough.

After the shoot there was more and more talk about the merits of a SARC round. Eventually one of the more senior members of the club made a motion to change the SARPA Hunter league to be run as SARC instead of HFT, this was rejected but it was agreed that clubs that were interested could run shoots to this format and the UKSARC Scottish league was formed initially with 3 shoots.

sense from a layout point of view.

On the day of the competition I was unable to shoot due to an injury so was elected as chief marshal with the other marshals shooting. This gave me the opportunity to chat to all the competitors and generally the format was very well received. There was a little confusion with some competitors as they were used to being able to go prone for every shot except those that were designated as a particular position, this is certainly not the case In SARC but they eventually got to grips with the idea that if you can?t see from where you are,then move.

As the initiator of the format in Scotland my club invested in a new set of targets with all the kills in the heads of the targets and the correct sizes for the SARC format (smaller than HFT). The Targets are zinc plated instead of being painted which means there is less maintenance but also levels the playing field in competition as you can?t see where previous hits have fallen.

You would imagine that setting the course would be easier than in HFT, it is basically put the targets where you want them then decide where the shooting area is and define it, check that there is somewhere within the area that the shot can be taken from and move on, there are no positional shots in SARC you can use any safe shooting position you like. In reality it isn?t that easy, there were several arguments about target placement then even more about the shooting position. There is nothing in the rules specifying the size of the shooting bay that the shot is to be taken from so we decided on a bay width of 1.8M, although in future we will probably vary the width of the bay to suit the terrain. The placement of this bay seems key to the ease or difficulty of the course, a few inches one way may make using a tree as a support possible but eliminate the possibility of taking a prone shot, a few inches the other and it the target could be the easiest shot on the course!

As we set things out we were looking to try making as balanced a course as possible with as many easy shots as there were hard ones. We opted to have quite a small compact course with several of the shooting bays being used for 2 targets, which added to the confusion over the position of the bay, but made

A week later I was fit enough to go round the course and had the pleasure of being accompanied by the Legend that is Davie Barndoor Scott.

Despite having been involved in setting the course and having watched numerous competitors go round the course finding the best place to take the shot isn?t always easy, there may be 3 or 4 possible places to take the shot from and with each there may be a compromise to be made. At the end of the round I was physically and mentally exhausted, physically because of the number of times I changed position at the shooting line, mentally because of the additional thinking that I did. With HFT it is easy, assess the distance to the target, grab the peg line up and take the shot. This format really stimulates the brain.

At the end of it all I?m hooked on a new discipline and can?t wait for next years uksarc league shoots.

M ar k Lyon

Mark's email came through to airgungurus in August after he kindly invited us to have a go at uksarc with him and we thought you might like to see what it was all about. It is a close relation to hft but has enough big difference to be a totally different discipline. An example might be with the precess when taking a shot. You go prone and scope the target and you see a tin head shot with very little metal around it. It's close to your zero and you think "ok" easy. Being an hft shooter you then think that it looks a bit too easy and an alarm bell rings somewhere in a corner of your brain and you have a look along your barrel and see there is a log placed right on your trajectory and you realise that were so nearly caught with an hft course setters trajectory trap and that you are being forced to kneel. So you kneel but there are twigs and branches in front of the target and you have to find a way through and after a bit of left and right shuffling you still can't find a clear shoot and you decide to stand. Tis is wear the swearing may start as you still can't find a way to the target. A good tip is to try to shoot second and let your shooting partner do all the work. Try the old "Oh i think we will just keep the same order to stop us being confused" trick. Well it might work. Eventually you notice a hole in the foliage and have that "Eureka" moment.

UKSARC has had some bad feedback from around 15% of hft shooters, mostly from very good hft shooters. These shooters in fairness may have spent hundreds or even thousands of hours working out their bracketing of kill zone sizes and like being comfortable on the peg and who adhere strictly to normal hft rules and have spent a lot of practice and competition time to develop their skills.

HFT has become a full on target sport and these guys treat it that way. We can see their point and the time they have invested in their sport keeps these shooters at the top and deservedly so.

When they have to lie sideways shooting through tiny gaps and sometimes having to rest their airgun on a wobbly firing line rope to give them a chance of a lucky shot it can make it a lottery.

Overall though uksarc has had a very good reception and there are many people who prefer it to hft and who will continue to take part in the challenges thrown up by uksarc competitions. At worst it's a day out shooting tricky targets. At best it's a thinking game that more realistically imitates the hunting scenario that hft was meant to imitate before it developed into it's present form as a right and proper target sport. UKSARC is well worth a try, you might not like it and prefer normal hft but at least you have given it a go.

Br ian M cGr at h

M ar k Hor sley

Pict u r es f r om t h e AGG social m edia pages t h at w e lik ed You can click on them to view full size

BEST OF THE WEB Every now and again something rather special comes along and if you have a spare half hour over Christmas we thoroughly recommend this one. Byron and Darryl Pace run the UK's only hunting podcast which now has a worldwide following and they do hunting videos like the one we feature on this page. The boys have also filmed an HFT shoot and are very airgun friendly. That's why they are on our Airgun Gurus facebook group. We get to meet the boys regularly. If you have friends who are anti hunting show them this video. It blew us away

If you want to see just how well the boys film an HFT shoot just check the video on the right. This is a short version of a film made at the SACS HFT MASTERS shoot at Cloybank Phoenix air pistol and rifle club this year which broke the Scottish record for the number of shooters taking part in a Scottish event and it will be taking place at the same venue in 2017. You are of course invited.

We asked on our social media pages if anyone wanted to send in anything for our "Letters" page and we got a very good response. Some of them were totally unprintable and in all honesty those were our favourites. Thank you to everyone who responded. We have emailed everyone back.

Dear Airgun gurus

Dear Sirs.

Why do people insist on advertising airguns with calibers 2.2 and 1.77 ? Who would but anything from someone who doesn't have a clue what they are selling? Every second hand airgun has only had half a tin of pellets through it and can kill quarry every time at 90 yards. It's not just the odd person, there are hundreds of them. Drives me nuts

I know you won't print this but I hope you take heed of it and act accordingly in the future.

James Paton (Wakefield)

We feel your pain James. Here is a pic you can show them to explain the difference should you feel strong enough.

Hi AGG. Did you ever hear about the airgunner who didn't spend any money on new kit? Neither have I. Can I get a free hat?

John Smith ( Sunderland) Nice try Peter. The free hat is yours. Just send us ÂŁ20 to cover delivery and the hat is on it's way.

P.S Try sending it from a different email address next time you big wind up merchant. See you at the next AGG meet.

I am appalled at the fact that you call yourselves airgunners after the disgusting way that your admins chose not to remove dangerous comments on a thread on your facebook group despite me reporting it several times. The thread in question was the one where someone asked if .177 or .22 was better for pest control on corvids and rabbits. The amount of incorrect advice given to the original poster was monumental and could cause suffering to the quarry. I feel it is the duty of every airgunner to make sure of a clean dispatch no matter what they are shooting at and it is your duty to ensure that the advice given on your group reflects that.

Despite your users attempting to justify using a .177 caliber air rifle for quarry by saying that the flatter trajectory can be useful at night when it is harder to range find, your admin staff did not delete this advice and ignored the fact that .177 should never be used in any situation other than target shooting. You have the cheek to call yourself "airgunners" when you seem to be unaware of this simple fact. .177 pellets do not impart enough energy into quarry species and can and often do go straight through quarry especially corvids and not achieve a clean kill. Any airgunner with even basic knowledge knows this. I am disgusted at the lack of knowledge on your group and the fact that you did not immediately remove all references to .177's being used to control pests. Call yourselves airgunners? You shouldn't be aloud to own a potato gun.

Paul R Dickson ( Sandy) Errrr Thank you ?

Dear AGG I am emailing to tell you about a rather bad experience I had and which makes me reluctant to try again to take up air guns. I have been met by nothing but warmth on the various internet forums such as STB, AGF, BBS, and of course the airgungurus forum. That all changed however in real life.

My name is (withheld by request) And I am recently widowed. I do not have a lot of disposable income but I live within my means. I have a nice house and car and I consider myself lucky. After my wife died my son said I should perhaps take up shooting after many years and I bought myself a really old fairly bad airgun called a "Norica" I had great fun in my garage taking it apart and got loads of help from all the forums. I did know it was a lower end gun but it was all I could afford.

I finally plucked up courage to go to my nearest club with the intention of joining and on arrival I was greeted in a polite fashion and put at ease. That however only lasted till I pulled my gun out of the bag. I did explain to the people there that I only had an old airgun and that I would save up for a better one but I was told in no uncertain terms that "I should throw my gun in the bin" and "no one here would be seen dead with one of those" I did get a bit flustered as I had not really been in the company of strangers since my wife died and I felt terrible. One person who seemed to be in charge came to me and said loudly "This is an airgun club not a scrapyard" and turned round to get a laugh from his mates. I was left sitting by myself and waited twenty minutes before leaving.

During that time to my horror I couldn't hit a thing and became the butt of some comments which I laughed off but I was very hurt. I had heard an all the forums that airgun clubs were friendly but I found out this one to be the exact opposite and it seemed very "cliquey" and I got offered no help or advice and was ridiculed. The forums are far friendlier but it seems in real life the clubs are not. * * * * * * * * * * * * (Name withheld by request) * * * * * we are so sorry that you were treated like this, any airgunner reading this will

tell you that airgun clubs are the friendliest of places and a great place to spend a day. Unfortunately with any bunch of roses you sometimes get a few pricks and you seem to have found that. Please do not give up on a sport that can and will bring you lots of fun and friendships as your experience is genuinely rare. We have seen this happen inadvertently with a junior shooter on her first visit to a club when one idiot mentioned she should "save up and get a gun like mine" and she never returned.

That junior may have grown up to be an Olympic gold medal shooter but for the stupidity of one person. Airgun shooters are about the friendliest most helpful people on the planet and see it as their mission to help people get into the sport but in all groups of people there are always a few plonkers. With your permission we will get one of our airgun gurus members to personally take you to a good club and spend the day introducing to proper airgunners who will make sure you are welcomed. We GUARANTEE you will find a great bunch of people and you will have a fantastic day out. We hope you have a great Christmas and we are sending you some AGG Goodies. You have email.

STAR LETTER

Recipe Lemon Drizzle cake 140g self raising flour, 110g caster sugar,

110g butter (softened ) or spreadable Lurpak 2 eggs beaten together in a cup, Icing sugar

This one is a firm favourite at HFT shoots and comes from Fiona Scott who quite often makes it and causes a bit of a rush when it comes out at an HFT shoot. We can't give you any of her magic but we can show you how to make it. Goes great with a cup of tea. One HFT club instead of doing a "Golden Bunny" actually did a "Golden Cake" target at a charity shoot and the money came flooding in. It was rather funny watching everyone at that peg seriously taking their time just to have a chance of winning that cake.

METHOD Heath oven to 150-160g or 325F or GAS MARK 3 Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin Put all ingredients into a baking bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes allow to cool -remove from tin.

Mix icing sugar with lemon juice and drizzle over cake.

Three sets of Camo or hunting gear we tested

Jack Pyk e Probably the most worn camo in the UK and still a firm favourite. Comes in a good variety of patterns including English oak and woodland and blends in rather well. Jack Pyke gear is very comfortable and comes in large sizes and their gear is soft touch and very quiet. It is resistant to scuffs and does feel very cosy indeed. Their Breatha-Tex material says it is windproof and waterproof but our field tests say it is not. I guess it all depends on your on your definition but we found wearing it in the rain it did let a lot of water through and and that was on a new set. As for breathable our feedback from users is that it usually ends up "minging" and more than one person had to wring out their boxer shorts. We still love a bit of Jack Pyke though and we use it a lot.

Ian Beer 's genius snow camo. White trainers for when there is snow on the ground. That's his excuse anyway.

For t is Clot h in g UK based manufacturers of what the call "Peak performance" clothing and you will see them at many game fairs. They aren't cheap and we have tested their SAS smock (£235) and matching trousers for over a year in all sorts of conditions.

The smock and trousers are very warm indeed and have loads of pockets to keep your gear. The hood is big and very well designed and has a wire inlay to shape it. The zips are big and chunky and the fabric is fairly breathable. Superb for cold weather. The gear is let down by the fact that the pockets let water in immediately and anything you have in them gets soaked. Not much good if you use the pockets to store things which is what they are for. Fantastic for keeping warm though.

Davie "Barndoor "Scott's Fortis gear. Not camo but super warm and as you can see it comes in all sizes. We think he still has room on that airgun for a coffee maker. he has everything else on it.

Fleck t ar n Cam o Our pick of the bunch and our highest rating. Most Flecktarn gear is second hand as it is ex German army stock and the parka comes in on ebay at around just £15-£20 and the trousers are around £10-£15.There can be minor imperfections or repairs so it is a bit of pot luck.

This kit is lightweight and totally waterproof due to the fact that it is lined with genuine Goretex. We know £20 for a Goretex jacket sounds too good to be true but we tested it and it is genuinely fantastic. The gear is a bit noisy and because it is light it can tear if you don't look after it but at that price it doesn't matter all that much.

Genuinely breathable and very light and easy to roll up and put in a backpack and very warm if you have the correct layers underneath.

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE GUNS When we think of the sport of Air Rifle shooting for whatever reason we don't normally think of women being part of the sport or at least not initially anyway.

I am a 31 year old woman who recently started shooting at the Cloybank Phoenix club in September. Not having a clue what I was doing I obviously had my reservations about being in a "male dominated" environment and mostly about how I would be received but all the guys were so helpful and willing to give up their time to mentor and help me in whatever way they could and I can honestly say I am hooked.

From the moment we drove into Cloybank and walked into the plinking range I felt at ease and I was also impressed by what the club grounds had to offer.

The numbers of women shooters has been steadily growing through the years and it is becoming more and more accessible. I have now experienced this first hand having competed in my first HFT competition.

After only a week of shooting, (I'm on the ground in the purple hoody) along side 6 other bad ass women each sporting their own style with red rifles and matching red t-shirt and others going with the ever so slimming and stylish black who clearly had tons more experience than I did but ever as friendly as the guys, so ladies don't be put off, get stuck in and

M ar isol Car r eĂą o give it a shot pun intended... Come visit a club near you and see if you like it, and when you do (because it's not a matter of if but when) you will be hooked just like I am.

Some statistics for you... According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation in 2001 there were approximately 3.3 million women target shooters this increased to 5.4 million in 2003 and that's just target shooters. Women hunters have grown from 2001 to 2013 by 85% so just imagine what our numbers are like now in 2016!

Historically there was been women shooters dating back well before world war two.

Continued

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE GUNS The Vatican had a women's rifle team and Sister Juliette (far right) left the order in 1942 to be part of the French underground as a sharpshooter. She was recognised for assassinating several Nazi officials, bad ass nun or what?

I hope this mini history lesson inspires someone out there.

This sport is not necessarily one of glamour although I guess thats down to the eye of the beholder and whether you consider glamour as something you are wearing or the gun/rifle you are carrying. (Some of the guys absolutely adore their guns) but it certainly can be a sport for anyone willing to give it a go, it doesn't matter if you are short, tall, young, old, male or female.

The club I belong to is very family orientated, fathers and mothers bring their kids and teach them how to shoot. A lot of the juniors are competing already, others bring their dogs and others just adopt people like me who didn't have a clue and have imparted their wisdom of rifle shooting.

I

In 1941 a group of British women known as the Women?s Guerrilla Corps was formed. The WGC consisted of women between the ages of 40 and 60, who were unable to join the other women?s services during WW2 and decided to take up arms.

I can tell you that the guys might say in good fun that I shoot like a girl but in time and with practice my reply will be yeah I do! would you like a lesson? Just because I'm feisty and determined to give it my all.

I would strongly advise anyone interested in taking up this sport to definitely go to your local club, get advice, and try it first before you go out and buy a rifle without having a clue like I did. I learned the hard way after spent over ÂŁ1000 and after trading in 2 different rifles to finally getting my second hand HW 100 Air Rifle because ladies!, this sport is not cheap and certainly not for the faint hearted.

Shooting will mean different things to different people and everyone will have different reasons and goals for doing it, whether it be just for fun or if you have a competitive streak like me you might want to compete in the HFT competitions and you can even potentially train to be part of the GB Team and compete in the Olympics! Why not? It could happen!

Continued

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE GUNS I Have found shooting at the range to be fun and relaxing . It is my place to get away from work and have as much fun if not more than the guys do. Everything I have learned so far I owe to Derek Williamson, Davie Scott, Kenny Bird and too many others to mention, thanks guys for the much needed mentoring and kindness you have shown me.

Ladies we have no limits apart from those we set for ourselves so as corny as this might sound let's bring some girl power and show the guys how's it's done!

Random Fact: Shooting a gun causes the same chemical in the brain as a passionate kiss, just saying.

Yours Truly Marisol CarreĂąo

Some lady and junior shooters from our Airgun Gurus pages used with permission of the shooter or their parents.

Pam ela Bar clay

Ch loe M ar sh aged 6 f r om Ash f or d in Ken t

Lisa Ridley

Laya Boot h

Ju st a bit of f u n over Ch r ist m as. We h ave u ploaded t h is as a pr in t able A4 size pdf f ile an d you can get it HERE Air gu n Gu r u s Ch r ist m as Cr ossw or d

We might need to apologise for this one but we decided to mystery shop Black pool Air Rif les and see how they responded to some daft questions and to get a feel for the shop and it's stock levels. We sent in agent "G" to have a potter and he did actually spend a few quid to salve our conscience. The shop was quite busy at the time and if you spotted someone looking the wrong way through scopes and asking what was suitable for shooting pigeons off his neighbours roof or other such nonsense that would have been us.

WELCOM E Although the shop was very busy agent "G" was greeted with a "hello" as soon as he entered and was left to browse. He was asked in two minutes 25 seconds (yes we timed it) If he needed any help and when he said he was "just having a look" he was left in peace and told to just ask if he needed anything. Polite, Courteous and not in your face so BAR got off to a great start.

HELP There was a newish scope rack with and agent "G" had a play looking through the wrong ends and generally faffing about. He then went and asked for a suitable scope for HFT and was shown three all with half mildot reticles and all very suitable. He mentioned that he couldn't see the "crossy thing" very well and the staff immediately showed him how to adjust the scope and told him to pick one he felt comfortable with and left him to blunder about.

told that there were a few other options and that they were always in stock and to take his time deciding even if meant another trip. No hard sell. We liked that.

SERVICE Agent "G" went into full blown tyre kicking mode and asked to see rifles, pistols, gun cleaning gear and started to point at all sorts of stuff and the staff were supremely patient despite the shop being very busy and showed him everything he asked for along with an explanation and even pointing out a few alternatives and how they kept smiling we will never know as agent "G" must have seemed like a right pratt.

OVERALL We did know the popularity of BAR before we went in and we now know why. Stock levels were high and they have some great stuff that no one else has.

Agent "G" was asked to describe BAR in five words or less and he managed it in three "PROPER GUN SHOP"

HARD SELL Nope not here. BAR were asked about buying a second hand Walther LGV and they politely asked him what type of shooting he did. He deliberately said he wanted to shoot something from a certain place and was immediately put right on airgun law and safe backstops. He then mentioned HFT and was given some very good advice. Our mystery shopper was also

Thank you to agent "G" who is an accomplished airgunner and first class HFT shooter. He did visit another RFD and that one got absolute pelters but as it's our Christmas magazine we are staying with the positive one but the other RFD will be getting our mystery shop review soon and they are NOT going to like it.

WALTHER ROTEX RM 8 UPDATE The RM8 has been on the shelves for just over two years and we thought we would use the feedback we have been getting from users along with a field test of second hand .177 version. The blueing on our two year old RM8 was still a deep blue and looked like new.

The Minelli beech stock is rather curvy and seems very 1980 but it feels good and points very well indeed.The cheek piece is nice and high. The 200cc buddy bottle looks good and is supposed to be good for 180 shots in .177 but we found that it has a sweet spot of around 120 shots from 200 bar to 90 bar and this was confirmed by the owners on our social media pages. The fill adapter goes in the bottom of the stock and there is no need to remove the buddy bottle to fill.

Accu r acy. Very good indeed as you would expect from a Walther Lothar barrel. We managed half inch groups at 35 yards in a strong breeze using jsb exacts 4.53.

Trigger. Plastic and weight adjustable. The trigger gets advertised as a two stage in a lot of videos and reviews but it's not. It is a single stage trigger which takes a bit of getting used to but it breaks cleanly and it won't make you pull a shot.

M agazin e. 8 shot alloy magazine and easy to load. We found the cocking action to be bit "agricultural" and it was easy to double load. One of the advantages of checking out a rifle after it has been on the market for few years is that you can get some great feedback and we were told that the plastic Hammerli 850 air magnum magazines were better and we gave them go. They were indeed better and the RM8 cocked smoother but it was still a tad too "clunky" Ver dict . Although this is an update rather than our usual full on review we think the RM8 is fantastic value at around ÂŁ400 new. Deadly accurate, great shot count, and a multishot into the bargain.

THINGS WE LIKED Over the past year our members liked some bits of kit. All field tested and worth a look.

The field proven mainstay of many airgunners the good old T20. Comes with different pill colours and the IR one is very good indeed. Good for 150 yards and comes in single battery and double battery versions at around £23. We recommend the double battery version as the single battery one is a bit short and the longer version is easier to fit onto a torch mount. https://torchfactory.com M EINDL Solden Sn ow Boot s None of these lace hooks you can't get the laces into here. Easy to get on and a great grip on snow and mud. Extremely waterproof and toasty warm. Good support on rough ground. Normally around £100 but can be found for around £80 at https://www.e-outdoor.co.uk/

M or a 860 (St ain less) Clipper Com pan ion Kn if e Th is is M or a's m ost popu lar m u lt i-pu r pose k n if e.Th e Clipper Com pan ion 860 is a ver y adapt able an d a ver y sh ar p k n if e w it h a pat t er n ed h igh -f r ict ion gr ip h an dle. High qu alit y Sw edish San dvik Car bon or St ain less st eel t h at give t h ese k n ives a r eal qu alit y cu t t in g abilit y t h at M or a Kn ives ar e f am ou s f or . Blade len gt h 104 m m , 2.5m m t h ick .Han dle is r u gged polypr opylen e plast ic w it h r u bber in ser t s. £12 (ish ) f r om HERE Pu lsar Digif or ce 860VS Nigh t Vision M on ocu lar

The new Pulsar Digiforce 860VS is a small compact hand held night vision monocular which packs great performance, combined with advanced features at a remarkable price point. With 6.5x optical magnification, and a detection range of up to 275m the Digiforce monocular provides superb performance for wildlife observation and spotting.The highly sensitive CCD array in combination with the latest software enables the Digiforce 860VS to be used in very low light environments even without using the integrated covert 810nm IR illuminator. Video out included £250 or under.

Google to find a good price.

THINGS WE LIKED Wanna go all Star Wars? Th e NS300 laser design at or is just the job. Good for rats and bunnies too according to our feedback. We thought the video would explain it better. Great battery life and makes the people lamping on the opposite hill say "WTF" Around £180 from Uttings Digit al Han d Held w in d m et er / an em om et er . Get yourself banned from every HFT course in the country with this bit of kit. Ok it's good for practice says our facebook group guys although we can't figure out why. £10 on ebay and a good stocking filler. Handy for long range shooting but you would need all sorts of wind/distance charts. You still want one don't you?

M INOX BV 8x25 Bin ocu lar s. We lik e t h ese a lot . Win n er of t h e best com pact bin ocu lar s aw ar d in 2016 by som e m agazin e w e h ave n ever h ear d of . Com pact an d ligh t w eigh t bin ocu lar s w it h ou t st an din g pr ice t o per f or m an ce r at io, 30 year w ar r an t y St at e-of -t h e-ar t opt ical syst em s: pr odu ces sh ar p im ages in low ligh t con dit ion s: f u lly m u lt i-coat ed len ses t o m in im ise r ef lect ion 8x m agn if icat ion , n on slip an d n it r ogen f illed.

Ar ou n d £120 on Am azon M TC VIPER CONNECT 3-12x24 Hugely popular with HFT shooters due to low parallax error the viper connect is flying off the shelves. This scope is also great for pest controllers due it's very wide field of view and we have found it to be solid and reliable. Suitable for low recoil equipment due to it's very short eye relief. Ultra-low semi-target turrets on a 30mm tube. Choice of AMD or SCB2 illuminated reticle. Side adjustable PA (down to 10 yards) £279 just about everywhere

AGG ADVICE The viper connect is by far and away our favourite scope of the year and it is a true all rounder. However if you are long sighted and wear reading glasses make sure you have a look through it before buying as the reticle is quite fine. More importantly it has a far lower adjustment than normal MTC scopes and there is a fair chance you will not be able to see the reticle clearly. ALL the other MTC scopes adjust enough for us to see the reticle but the connect has only around 66% of the eyebell adjustment that the others have so make sure you have a look first and don't buy without trying it.

£$? AND WHAT WE SPEND We had over 400 replies to our social media polls on how much people spend on their hobby/passion for airguns and the answers were pretty much what we expected. Airgunning can be a fairly inexpensive passion once you have the gear and club membership fees aren't high.

We found that a very common mistake was people taking up the sport tended to buy airguns that were unsuitable and selling them on very quickly after they realised they should perhaps have taken better advice. We found that people were buying an airgun and THEN going onto websites and forums and joining clubs. So what do we really spend on our kit?

We did have to do a load of currency conversions as our replies came from many different countries and this is what we got. £100-£250

3%

£250-£500

7%

£500-£1000

76%

£1000-£2000

9%

£2000-£4000

3%

£4000 and over

2%

We delved into this a bit deeper and fired off a few emails and social media messages and we found out that most of the spending went on pellets and range fees but we also found that people change scopes an awful lot. That is probably no surprise as we have probably all done that but we found people actually spent more on changing scopes than they did their airgun. We also found that many people also revert back to an earlier scope after having tried a few.

Almost every airgunner out there will advise new shooters to try before they buy and this is very good advice. We did find however than more than half of new shooters would go and buy an airgun and only then join forums and clubs before seeing that advice. Here is a slightly edited email we received which we found was fairly typical.

My partner and I decided to take up shooting and we went to a local gun shop and bought a BSA lightning after advice that we would not need to buy air cylinders to keep down the costs. We liked the BSA and and we took a cheapish scope which we now know does not have parallax adjustment. We visited a club whose members were very nice and helped us and although many of them had very high end kit they were not in the least snobbish about our gear and were a great help.

It soon became evident however and especially after looking through other scopes that ours was pretty much useless and was detrimental to out enjoyment. We decided we would be taking up this sport rather seriously and the club members let us try all their gear and suggested a few scopes that were within our budget and their advice was spot on. We had a go at competition shooting and were immediately hooked. Within a week we had switched to a pcp and a suitable scope. We still liked the BSA but traded it in at a huge loss and the scope went in the cupboard as no one wanted it. Hindsight is a great thing but if he had asked for the advice first we could have saved about £300

Wh y join an Air gu n / Pist ol clu b?

Airgun clubs (well most of them) are a fantastic way to hang out with people who like the same sport as you do. They are great places for advice and where you can usually try all sorts of kit as most members are happy to let you have a go. Soon you will be helping other members and the patter tends to flow rather generously. More importantly you can have a wander to the club and get loads of practice on the range. Quite often you can be on your own and do your own thing and if you feel like it you can join in club competitions and events. The more people that join clubs the more the sport progresses and even if you just want to do your own thing clubs are still a great place to get your rifle zeroed and very handy before you go out doing your pest control.

Clubs aren't for everyone but if you think you might want to join a club Jim "Digger " Bucket has put together the Airgun Gurus Club finder which is very handy indeed and it is updated frequently. It does get copied a lot but that's what it's for.

If you want to find a club you can use our club finder by clicking HERE

Wh at a dif f er en ce a year m ak es

We took the easy option on this issues featured club as it is five minutes away from one of the AGG admins and it was easy to get pictures. The rise of this club from nothing in the space of 365 days however is nothing short of phenomenal and it shows what a group of dedicated airgunners can do if they put their minds to it. Many airgunners on our social media pages have visited it so we thought we would show you what can be achieved in 365 days.

In November 2016 the range on Cloybank estate had nothing apart from nine targets and six shooting benches. The people who had previously used the "range " had left it overgrown and in a very sorry state. That's when a group of airgunners who used the range along with the landowners called a meeting to discuss things and during that meeting it was decided to form a "proper " club that would be run entirely by it's members. One person mentioned that the place was "left in ashes" and the name Cloybank Phoenix was chosen. In November 2015 the phoenix arose from the ashes and what a rise it has been.

At the inaugural club meeting the landowners decided to help by putting their hands in there pockets and within 24 hours they had purchased sixty targets and donated them to the club and promised to build a 28m polytunnel indoor range to help the club to get started and they were true to their word. Now it was up to the club members to get things going and get going they did. The strimmers and paint were out and the thirty or so club members all helped out to get the place looking respectable and to get the targets out so that the place would at least resemble an air rifle and pistol club. They then made a decision which has shaped the club over the

past year and will continue to shape it in the future. Many members had been members of other clubs and every single person said that the reason that some clubs become unfriendly or stagnant was because the clubs all had committees who almost always ran the clubs as if the club was theirs and not the members.

Committees are required for the clubs constitution and to comply with shooting associations rules. Phoenix decided that their committee should only discuss questions or problems submitted by members and that the members would vote on anything important and NOT the committee. In 2016 the monthly committee meetings all went as follows.

Meeting convened.

Any questions or problems from the members to discuss.? NONE Meeting adjourned Strange way to run a club? Well it's certainly different. So let's see what can be done in 365 days if a club is ran bu it's members without a club committee having the power to make decisions. Would it work? Perhaps not in all cases but it certainly does for Cloybank Phoenix.

CONTINUED

In 365 days Cloybank phoenix has done the following. Built a 28M polytunnel windless indoor range and hosted a Scottish attendance record breaking SACS Scottish HFT MASTERS event. constructed two new car parking areas.

Installed and partially hardcored an Eighty yard plinking range with with targets out all day every day which members and visitors can just turn up and shoot. Wifi enabled trail cams and number plate recognition systems added to the security system which is monitored 24/7 and hidden infra red illumination to all areas.

New lighted prone area and installation of floodlighting system which enables members and guests to shoot even on the darkest of nights on the 80 yard range which featured in airgun world magazine in 2016.

Two Full time 30 target HFT/Practise courses and an extra ten target practice course for beginners. And lighting for the indoor range to enable pistol and bench rest competiions This is just a part of what the airgunners have achieved in just under a year. Phoenix has also hosted the SACS AGM and introduced their members to competition shooting. They have also organised charity shoots and introduced a club league to UKAHFT guidelines.

Plans are already in place for another range and a large covered outdoor shelter with a barbecue. When the right group of airgunners get together and start from scratch and do things the way they always wanted to they can do amazing things. It is possible to have a club full of laughter where people actually want to chip in and help. Hats off to Cloybank Phoenix and their members and we hope many other clubs new or old will follow in your footsteps.

Ju st f or Fu n Two guys were out hunting, but they weren't getting any ducks.

"What do you think the problem is?" one man asked his companion.

"I dunno," came the reply, "Maybe we aren't throwing the dog up high enough."

Commissioned by a zoo to bring them some baboons, the big game hunter devised a novel scheme to trap them - his only requirements being a sack, a gun, and a particularly vicious and bad tempered dog. Once in the jungle he explained to his assistant, "I'll climb this tree and shake the branches; if there are any baboons up there, they will fall to the ground - and the dogs will bite their testicles and immobilise them so that you can pick them up quite safely and put them in the sack."

"But what do I need the gun for?" asked the assistant. "If I should fall out of the tree by mistake, shoot the dog."

ATHERTON INDOOR RANGE REVISITED We visited Atherton indoor range (AIR) at the end of 2015 and it was the first review we ever did on airgungurus.com. We decided to go back for another look but this time we did it without telling them we were coming. We went all secret agent style much to the delight of the person who visited and our "secret visitor " had a list of things to look out for and as always was told that we wanted any bad points as well as the good ones. Here is what he found (yes it was a he).

Finding it.

Very easy indeed. You can't really miss it as the range is in a huge mill building. Car parking was easy and although the range is on the upper floors it was well sign posted. Entry is through a door buzzer system and the door was opened very quickly.

Upon entry there is a reception desk right in front of you and a passage to the left leads to the airgun shop. Andy and Becky run the range and Becky was on reception.

After I paid my six quid I had to register myself as a new range user which was done quite quickly and I was given a safety brief with particular attention to ceasefire procedures and was shown where everything was. I was told that the shooting fee was for all day and that i could go away and come back the same day at no additional charge. So far so good.

The downstairs range is warm and cosy with heating along the rear wall. It was fairly busy and the benches were solid and the seats height adjustable and there was free air too. Targets were spaced at intervals on the floor and there was a line at 30 yards where you can place card targets during a ceasefire. I had a plink for half an hour and to be totally truthful I got a bit bored after that. I had left the list of the things I was to look out for in the car and decided to go for a wander. There is a good cafe on site and a pub downstairs so I had a nice non alcoholic lunch and went out to look at the list and wandered back after about forty five minutes. One of the things on my list was to check the safety of air filling procedures and it was top notch. The charging station forced you to point your airgun in a safe direction when filling and the air is free and you can fill as many times as you wish during your visit. Time for a look at the upstairs range then. BIG STAIRS

Con t in u ed

With a belly full of steak and ale pie and at peace with the world I went upstairs to the 75 yard range. The stairs aren't the nicest in the world and wouldn't be out of place in a zombie movie but on entering the bright range i almost let out a "wow" I like this already. A huge range with plenty of targets and a slightly odd rise to the floor and the targets go up in steps and get higher as they get further away. Very easy to see with excellent lighting and loads of seats. Another air station was at the rear and all was well with the world. I spent an hour chatting to the other range users and swapping airguns and plinking away at the very furthest targets which was a bit of a treat.

I remebered that on my notes of things to look at their was a rather cryptic message. "remember to go prone upstairs" Looking at the range I found that message to be very strange but decided I just had to do it to see what it was all about.

Oh how clever is that I thought as i had one of those "Ahhhhh" moments. Now I get it! The steps on the range are angled perfectly so that when you are shooting prone you can see every single target as they are not hidden behind each other.

What a clever well thought out idea and possibly a touch of genius. The strange message now became clear and I got a few strange looks because I started to laugh at the absurdity of the message but it was now all apparent and I went into a fit of the giggles. I thought the AGG guy who sent me the message was taking the Mickey.

Being a FAC holder i had kept the spanky new rimfire range until after my plink and went for a look. Things just got even better. A super safe indoor rimfire range with electric target rail. I am so coming back for a go at this. I will need to join the club and get inducted and I live an hour away but it will be worth it.

RIM FIRE RANGE After swapping phone numbers with a couple of new found shooting bunnies and an invite to have a go at the "Bull run" a 30 yard paper card target competition that has proven to be immensely popular with the Atherton shooters and which of course is totally for fun and doesn't get too competitive (yeah right) I filled my airgun and put it away and prepared to head back home. I remembered my "list" and There was some notes that I still had to do.

"Check the gun shop and pistol range" I hadn't even noticed the pistol range so I set off back down the rather creepy stairs in search of the "invisible" pistol range all the time thinking that the AGG guys were once again taking the Mickey. There was no way I was going to ask where it was.

Con t in u ed

Okay so I missed it. The pistol range is very easy to find and well signed. I was too distracted by having to review the welcome procedure I totally missed it. Very nice it is too. It's not big and is really good for two or three shooters at most but it looks fantastic and really well lit and was rather impressive.

I wandered into the gunshop which is long and narrow and the walls are wood panelled.

Very 1976. The panelling does detract from the wooden stocked airguns but shows off the camo and tactical ones quite well. There was a good selection on show and it is obvious from the selection that the Atherton owners know what the best airguns are as all the favourites were there. The shop does not have huge stocks of things you might want once in a blue moon but it has plenty of what you need.

What the shop does have though is the brilliant Andy Beckley. I had a note saying "Talk to Andy and Becky" with a circle round it so I thought I had better make an effort.

There was no need as Andy was quick to say hello and ask if i needed any help. When I told him I was having a nosey and had no intention of buying anything He said he was having a cuppa and asked if i wanted one.

Now thats a proper rfd in my book and Andy was very easy to chat to. He is obviously an airgunner and who can resist when someone says to you "wait to you see this". A very happy twenty minutes later and a play with some airguns I thanked Andy and went to say thank you to Becky on the way out. She asked If i needed anything and reminded me again that I could come back later that day at no extra charge.

I didn't get the chance to check out the ceasefire procedures as there was none called during my visit. I was tasked to make sure that if there was anything I didn't like to make sure it was highlighted. Apart from the creepy stairs I found AIR to be a fantastic friendly place with outstanding facilities that places great emphasis on safety. AIR is warm and comfortable and a great place to spend a day and at ÂŁ6 with free air you can't go wrong. I did get a bit bored rather quickly as I wasn't going to miss targets indoors with no wind but the banter is great and I genuinely can't think of a better place to spend a few hours. Now for that bull run.

About AIRGUN GURUS In January 2015 we put together a group of airgun experts to help answer questions and to help with all things airgun.To their credit everyone we asked immediately said yes and AirgunGurus was created. We have airgun designers, writers, target experts, as well as fieldcraft and pest control members who are always there to answer questions and to help out. Over the two years we have been going we have found out that the members on our social media platforms have a vast depth of knowledge. We also have many of the airgun magazine editors and writers on our groups and pages as well as film makers and airgun association directors and staff. All the fun comes from our great members and it is those boys and girls that have made the last two years so much fun. We have put some links to our bits and pieces on this page in case you feel like joining in.

WEBSITE WWW.AIRGUNGURUS.COM

FORUM

AirgunGurus have a meet every AIRGUNGURUS.BOARDS.NET year and trophies are put up for the winners. We have what we think is the most up to date airgun club finder and we regularly put up free prize competitions. We do not do too many reviews as we only do FACEBOOK GROUP honest ones and we do not get click HERE sent anything in case the sender does not like our reviews. We have had to fight off two threats to sue us already for bad reviews but people knock their TWITTER pans in to be able to afford @air gu n gu r u s things and if it is rotten we will tell you exactly that. We are for airgunners by airgunners and we will always be just that.

HFT PICS WE LIKED

Jon at h an Pet er Fr an k lin Li m i t ed edi t i on BSA Scor pi on w i t h bl ue l am i n at e st ock an d gol dst ar bar r el . R10 t r i gger un i t f i t t ed an d cust om H ugget si l en cer an d car bon sh r oud. Th e h am st er w as an ol d ch eek pi ece. H aw k e si dew i n der 8- 24x 56 scope.

JPF i s f ai r l y n ew t o h f t an d pi c w as t ak en at a r ecen t h f t m ast er s com pet i t i on .

"I have only really just got into HFT. I wanted to try something different than just range plinking, I'm not a hunter. I have been shooting at Richings Park near Heathrow and one of their guys (Garry) has taken me under his wing (so to say) and has helped me with HFT. I've improved every round I have shot. Last weekend was my best round to date with a 49/60 and at night! "

AGG FACEBOOK GROUP M EM BERS IN ACTION (sor t a)

M ik e O'Neil

St u ar t M acin t osh

Er ic E Jon es

Ch r is Leggat e

Pau l Hobbs

Joh n Salf or d

Cr aige An dr ew Lyn es

NITESITE WOLF RTEK REVIEW Ian Beer our AGG admin has been using this kit for a while and we also got a loan of one to field test. We won't do a full description of it as you can see that elsewhere so we will just tell you how we got on with it.

We found the wolf rtek very easy to set up and it comes in a nicely padded box with all the bits and pieces, even in the dark it can be installed easily and that's a big bonus. Nitesite have obviously listened and have built a dimmer switch for the screen which is easy to use. The laser rangefinder is a bit "plasticy" and isn't very rigid but that comes in handy if you hit a tree or other obstacle so all good so far. Nitesite claim the wolf is good for 300 yards but we felt that was stretching it slightly but the pictures were crystal clear out to about 150 yards and useable well beyond that. No more having to focus your eyebell for a clear crosshair picture as there is now a focus knob on the actual unit. We like that a lot. The unit is very light and it is showerproof.

The wolf rtek as you can see from Ian's picture on the right is a very capable unit and the laser range finder makes this a very capable bit of kit. You don't need to have the laser on your crosshairs as you can see it easily on the screen and you can see where it is aiming and read the distance from the range finders screen quickly and easily and if you have ever tried to range find at night you will know how handy this feature is.

As long as you know your holdovers/unders this combination is as deadly as it gets. It does however have a few little niggles and there are alternatives out there that can do all the things the rtek wolf can do and which can actually do things better for far less money. The RRP of this kit is around ÂŁ949 and can be well out of reach of a lot of airgunners. Due to the wide Infra red beam you can pick up your quarry on the screen very easily but Ian in particular found the sight picture deteriorated badly in rain and mist and we would of course expect that but both the testers were surprised at how little mist or rain it took for this to happen and we tested it against another night vision setup which was much better in those conditions and decided to put them up against each other. The other setup was about a third of the price and the head to head test was rather interesting.

IAN BEER

CONTINUED

We used an amateur built kit as a comparison. Okay it's a very good amateur kit that we will call the ALT kit for now. In low light without the IR on the alt kit gave a better picture most probably due to the high quality camera it uses. We did use a huge T67 Ir torch with this kit and the distance for identifying quarry was greater. It performed better in the mist and rain due to being able to narrow the beam but this reduced the sight picture making it harder to spot the rabbits we were targeting. At airgun distances sub12 or FAC both kits performed very well.

What we liked about the wolf rtek. The ease of putting it on and of your airgun was the first thing.

Not too many wires and the dimmer switch was fantastic. The range finder worked flawlessly and the image was crystal clear. The weight was light and the battery life was excellent, We haven't mentioned it but the wolf has an inbuilt dvr recorder too which is very handy if you want to record your nights shooting. and gives you over two hours with a 4GB memory card.

What we didn't like. The price, ÂŁ949 is a lot considering you can get an alternative home build at less than a third of the price although no range finder or video recorder. We both got some screen interference but moving the wiring sorted that. Because this is not a full review we did not go into the wolf rtek's wifi capability which can send the picture to your phone or tablet but we really couldn't find a use for it and we would most likely never use it. Battery charging time is long.

THE VERDICT. The wolf rtek is without doubt a fantastic piece of kit ,Ian Beer swears by his and we would have one of these any day of the week. It is as close to perfection as anything we have found. If you can afford one you won't regret it and apart from a faulty battery cover Ian's has been problem free and it does get a lot of use. It is however nowhere near as good value for money as the alternative amateur build kits but we guess that's why people pay for expensive airguns too. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford one you will be one very happy airgunner.

AGG TIP On most of one of our reviewers outings he used a technira night vision rangefinder (around ÂŁ140) He used this with the wolf and left the rtek range finder at home. You can use the technira as a spotter which means you don't have to keep scanning with your airgun which gets tiring if you are on a long session and saves the wolfs battery. You can shoulder your airgun and use the technira to find your quarry. It does mean that you don't get the constant distance to your quarry that you do with the rtek but it makes it far easier to wander about your permission without getting tired from the constant scanning using the wolf 's screen.

M EET THE TEAM Jim " Digger " Bu ck et

Man of mystery who uses a made up name. Sleeps with his daystate and never tires of telling us that he doesn't get out shooting often enough. Ninja spam assassin who doesn't seem to sleep.

The first ever AGG volunteer and forum member.

Ian Beer

Pest controller and anti spam expert. Admins more facebook pages than most people have pellets. Has a subtle way of wearing camo that makes his feet totally invisible in snow. Constantly tries to make his pulsar look bigger in pictures. Proud father of the Airgun Gurus mascot and first person to do the "airgun Gurus are everywhere" pictures we are so fond of.

Gr an t Neilson

Our new kid on the block and facebook moderator. Has taken tips from Ian Beer on his white trainer camo skills.

Likes small scopes and responsible for bigfoot sightings. We don't fall out with Grant.

Davie " Bar n door " Scot t

NSRA BFTA instructor, by far the best looking team member and the person who edits all this. Has spent the last eight weeks wondering if a question mark needs an extra full stop and how to spell Hammerli.

Well air gu n n er s t h er e w e h ave h ave it . Th e Ch r ist m as edit ion of t h e AGG m agazin e. Th an k you so m u ch f or t ak in g a look an d w e h ope you en joyed it .

Th is is ou r f ir st ever at t em pt at a m agazin e (apar t f r om on e t est ) an d w e ar e n ot w r it er s or jou r n alist s. Ever y sin gle ar t icle is w r it t en by an air gu n n er an d w e ar e st ill lear n in g. We m ay n ot do an ot h er bu t t im e w ill t ell. You r f eedback is im por t an t . t eam @air gu n gu r u s.com We t h in k t h is m ay be a " f ir st " bu t w e h aven't pu t in an y adver t s as w e w an t ed t h is m agazin e t o be a bit "dif f er en t " .

Th an k you so m u ch f or all you r su ppor t an d w e gen u in ely m ean it w h en w e say t h at w e w ish you a ver y m er r y Ch r ist m as an d a peacef u l an d h appy n ew year .

Jim " Digger " Bu ck et Ian Beer Gr an t Neilson Davie" Bar n door " Scot t

TEAM AGG

Air gu n Gu r u s r u n s at a loss an d w e n ever n or m ally ask f or don at ion s. We love ou r spor t an d ar e h appy t o k eep pr ovidin g t h e w ebsit e, ad f r ee f or u m , an d all t h e f r ee giveaw ays. How ever as it 's Ch r ist m as If an yon e is k in d en ou gh t o m ak e even t h e sm allest of don at ion s t o h elp u s k eep goin g w e w ill give you a f r ee an n u al m em ber sh ip t o AGG AIR t h e w or lds f ir st on lin e air gu n an d pist ol clu b w h ich h as m em ber s on ly con t en t an d a gu ar an t eed f r ee m em ber s m on t h ly dr aw w h er e w e give aw ay gr eat pr izes. You can don at e on t h e AGG AIR w ebsit e w h ich is w w w.air r if leclu b.com an d w e w ill act ivat e you r AGG AIR m em ber sh ip.

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