Ten Bore - 63gms - Enough Lead for you Sir?

The Ten bore is making a comeback!  The latest semi autos in 10 bore can pack a mean punch.  We now have Gamebore 10 bore in 63gms of number 3s and the semi auto to match!

Boker Knives now in

We now have a selection of knives by Boker of Solingen.  Everything from sturdy field knives to lovely damascus steel folders.  In store only.

High Bird Browning

We have in stock a 32inch Barrelled Browning 525 - perfect for a smooth swing!

Good Glass - increasing quality in Optics

It used to be that to get decent quality in a scope or a pair of binoculars you had to spend an awful lot of money on hand polished german crystal.  The super clarity of Swarovski, Zeiss and Khales scopes is legendary as well as the price!

The old adage was that you needed to spend at least the price of your rifle again on decent glass, but now the production of lenses from the far east is getting markedly better - the gap is narrowing between 'budget' scopes and the very best of european manufactures.

Hawke scopes are some of the UK's most popular scopes.  We now have a good range of Hawke scopes and have recently acquired a set of stocks for mounting them.  That way you can check out things like eye relief, reticle style and reticle illumination.

We're stocking the new revitalised 'Redfield' scopes and binos too.  These are assembled in the USA and so far are getting good reviews - come have a look through some yourself and you'll see what we mean.  Super clarity and bright images in a robust package.

Seeland Endmoor Ladies Jacket

At last practical shooting clothing cut for a Lady at a reasonable price!  The Endmoor Jacket from Seeland is a waterproof tough jacket with cartridge pockets and handwarming pockets designed for the Lady shooter.  We love the coyote fur detachable hood too!

Seeland have been listening to UK customers and understand that the sporting lady has not been well catered for.  In response Seeland have introduced the Endmoor and the ever popular Keeper jackets in a feminine cut.

Lady Keeper Jacket

Seeland Woodcock

New from Seeland - the Woodcock range of clothing.  Seeland have always produced great jackets and trousers - but they were always cut in a 'nordic' hunters style.  Here in the UK we like to be a little smarter on a driven day.  Seeland have listened to their UK customers and produced a range of clothing to suit UK shooters.

Made from Seeland's waterproof materials there is a jacket, breeches, waistcoat and a cap.

We'll have the full stock instore soon!

Fleece Bush Shirt from Ridgeline

Fleece in summer?  Well it has been one of those years.  Cold north easterly winds making it feel more like october than july.  Just in to make you feel warm and cosy for summer is a new fleece bush shirt from Ridgeline of New Zealand.

Made of a good thick fleece and cut in a true bush shirt style, nice and long to keep your back warm,  the  fleece has velcro adjustable cuffs, and a zip up front pocket and high collar.

Its a great fleece at a good price too - just the right gear to make summer bearable!

See it on our store site here

Details on Ridgeline's site here

6.55 by 55

The 6.55 by 55 or as its sometimes known as the 6.5 swedish is an old calibre that has loyal following on the continent, and its seeing a lot more interest here and in the states.

We have a very special rifle in at the moment in 6.5, so we thought it was a good idea to share what we think of the 6.5 swedish.

The 6.5 was born out of Swiss research in the late 1800's and first put into service in italy where an Army officer by the name Carcano developed a service rifle (rifle buffs out there will know that a 6.5 Mannlicher Carcano was used to assassinate JFK).  This calibre was then adopted by the Swedes with a 55mm cartridge case.

The thing that sets the 6.5 by 55 apart is the ballistic coefficient of the bullet - sort of how 'aerodynamic' it is.  It's a very long bullet, so it carries plenty of weight and deforms along its length to deliver that all that energy in a controlled fashion.

Having good aerodynamic and stability properties sets the 6.5 by 55 apart for accuracy, and now with modern rifles and powders the 6.5 can be propelled a lot quicker than the older swedish military rounds.

In Scandinavia they use the 6.5 on anything up to moose, so it should be more than adequate on any species of deer we have in the UK.

We have a special rifle in at the moment in 6.5 by 55, a Browning X-Bolt.  It's a available from Browning only by special order - but we have one on the shelf ready to go.

Read more about the 6.5 here

Lightweight Rain Jackets

Rain rain go away!  Well it's midsummer and it feels as though we should be talking about summer days on the river, pigeon shooting over rape and ambushing rabbits at dusk.  Instead its been a trial to stay cheerful after deluge after deluge has swept the country.  Even the dog has looked up with pleading eyes asking if I am really sure I want to go out for a walk when the rain is bouncing down.

The only thing that makes life bearable is a decent lightweight waterproof!

New in we have a jacket from Browning - full of features, like a good sized game pocket, but best of all for the summer we are having are the internal carrying straps - IF the sun comes out you can slip the straps on like a rucksack and slip the jacket off staying nice a cool!

Ridgeline from New Zealand know a thing or two about rain.  Their super value Mallard jacket is just right for stowing away in a pack and if you are in serious weather then we thing that the Ridgeline Monsoon and Roar jackets can't be beat.

Seeland's lightweights are popular too - especially the Lingfield.

We have a good selection of Seeland waterproof trousers too.

Now there's no excuse for not exercising the dog!

The New Browning 725.

John Moses Browning is widely regarded as the father of the over and under shotgun in its modern form.  The Browning Superposed.  Yes English manufacturers had made over and unders, but they had also built three barrel and four barrel shotguns!  Browning developed an over and under shotgun that could be mass produced to a high quality featuring a very strong lock up with a full width hinge pin.

The Browning 425 and 525 went on to be legendary guns in their own right.  Both guns had the distinctive 'deep' Browning action.

The new 725 has a much shallower action - it used to be that you suited Beretta or a Browning.  The fit of the gun being dominated by the depth of the action, but now with the 725 you get the full strength of the Browning action with its full width hinge pin that sits somewhere in-between the two.

Yes there's a raft of new features on the 725, the most notable being the choke tubes which now feature a brass ring, the aim of which is to provide a gas proof seal in the barrel to reduce fouling and increase strength.  The means the barrel ends don't flare out and keeps weight down at the barrel ends.

For an american designed gun the 725 has a great trigger too - the 'firelight' system.  Light and crisp with 3 adjustment points the 'firelight' is a mechanical trigger that does not rely on recoil to set the second barrel.

We have the game and the clay busting sporter in stock.  Come and shoulder one and see how the 725 fits.

You may have gathered that we like this new generation of Brownings - we're not alone Mike Yardley likes it too!  See his review here

Mike's YouTube video too

Meindl have been making boots for over 200 years but that hasn't stopped them developing boots using the latest technology.  The MFS on this boot stands for memory foam system - a system that takes the heat from your own foot to shape the boot to you.  This technology has been used in ski boots and provides a snug fitting without being to tight, this minimises your foot moving about too much preventing blisters and hotspots.  A high rand and a vibram sole add to the durability of the boot.  The laces use Meindl's 'digifix' system and your foot is kept dry by nubuck leather backed with a goretex liner.  

We offer a ladies version too in blue!

See them on our boot page here

We're hoping to put a pair of these on long term tests - but so far the memory foam system seems to have real advantages with getting a comfortable pair of boots right out of the box.  Brings back memories of standing in warm water trying to break in my old 'fortress boots' !

For field use we'd recommend a good pair of gaiters - we like canvas the best.

Our new store is open now for you to purchase online.  We have a few clearance bargains to kick off with from Ridgline, Harkila and Nomad.  Have a look here.

Badgers in the Dark

 Hawke are well known for there increasingly good range of rifle scopes and optics.  They make nature cameras too.  Above is a badger caught on camera at night in oxfordshire by a budding wildlife photographer. 

The Hawke Prostalk wildlife cameras support photos and short bursts of video too - all captured to a standard SD card.  Just like an ordinary digital camera.  And with built in infra red LED illumination in works in the pitch dark too!

Supplied with a flexible strap and in a weather tight case the Prostalk camera is a great tool to have about to check on deer numbers, protect pens, and of course just to see what’s wandering about in the dark