THE GTN MATTHEW PANTER

Taking the Quick Quiz challenge this month is Matthew Panter, competitive Shot and UK sales director at Anglo Italian Arms

Please tell us who you are and who you work for

I’m Matthew Panter and I’m the UK sales director at Anglo Italian Arms, who import Caesar Guerini and Fabarm shotguns.

How’s business?

Currently trade is great. We are having a good year and the momentum leading up to the game season is very positive.

Up to anything new?

We have just had the UK official launch of the Caesar Guerini Invictus iX GS, which is a sideplate sporting model with deep mystic engraving with gold and synthetic coloured stones inlayed. Then from Fabarm we have the new N2 RS sporter just hitting the shelves now, which is a fantastic competition clay fun with an adjustable comb and steel shot proofed to full choke for a retail price of £1,950. We have a couple of new models in the pipeline for 2024, which we are looking forward to.

Do you shoot? If so, why? And what?

I do. I’ve shot for 20 years and competitively for

18 of them, representing Great Britain at Olympic trap at three World Cups and England at seven home internationals. I shoot any of the trap disciplines competitively but do occasionally venture out to shoot a bit of sporting or skeet. I’ve shot a Caesar Guerini Invictus Ascent now for ten years and I absolutely love it.

Aside from shooting, what are the main loves of your life?

My dog. There’s something about a dog. No matter how good or bad your day has been, they are still just as excited to see you when you walk through the door.

Which other fieldsport/shooting businesses or organisations do you most admire, and why?

To be honest, at the moment I admire a lot of the shooting businesses and organisations. The world went through a tough time with Covid, etc, and the shooting industry seems to have bounced back well, with a lot of shooting grounds investing and expanding, and with some new great products appearing on the market.

What’s the biggest threat facing shooting today, in your opinion?

At times I do feel the biggest threat is negative press.

As an industry we need to stick together and push forward, and be positive in the development of new biodegradable wads, steel shot, new products, etc. Sometimes it’s very easy, just because a product doesn’t suit your needs or work for you, for it to get branded as ‘rubbish’, whereas in reality it’s likely to be a good product, just not quite right for you.

What’s your favourite shooting read?

Personally, I always enjoy my monthly copy of Pull! magazine as it’s full of all the latest clay shooting news and reviews, etc. But I do also like to have a flick through Fieldsports of an evening.

And the best bit of kit you ever bought?

Being around shooting as long as I have, I’ve brought plenty of good bits of kit. My first Caesar Guerini Invictus 1 Ascent helped me achieve a lot. But then also the Swatcom Active 8 Ear defenders I have are also phenomenal in terms of protection, comfort and clarity—nothing comes close.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself or your organisation that we might not know Our Fabarm shotguns have barrel technology that allows steel shot to be shot through full choke.

If you could only eat one kind of soup for the rest of your life, what flavour would it be? It would have to be tomato. GTN GTN