Reviews

Spectre, the new James Bond film, is out in cinemas on Monday 26 October. Bruce Potts was lucky enough to be able to test the .500 Nitro Express double rifle used in the 2012 film Skyfall. It’s definitely more upmarket than any previous James Bond firearm as well as rather more powerful. Daniel Craig is seen with…

The semi-automatic shotgun — or self-loading shotgun if you wish to be very British — is an interesting concept. When viewed in a dispassionate way simply as a multi-shot firearm it is very efficient and one-up on the pump-action. Judged just on the basis of firepower it has some advantages over the double-barrelled gun, which is itself the simplest form of repeater, being a…

The Blaser R8 really needs no introduction. Its patented straight-pull bolt action is by now legendary and popular both on the Continent and in the UK. It is not just the bolt action that is the selling point, but also the way in which it is designed to create a shorter, lighter rifle, while clever quick-change features mean you can exchange barrels and…

Prior to the ban on lead ammunition over wetlands at the end of 1999, most of my “serious” wildfowling was carried out with my “big gun”, a 6-bore muzzle-loader — though later I acquired an 8-bore breechloader. Shooting around inland ponds and lakes was taken care of with a heavy old double 12 of nondescript make using cartridges such as Eley Maximum. The…

Semi-autos are a bit Marmite. You either love them or hate them. There’s no grey area. Turn up with one and you could become the shoot pariah, even if the event if a farmer’s knock-about vermin day. Don’t even start me on a camouflaged gun. In many people’s eyes that will put you beyond the…

After the .17 Hornet round was introduced by Hornady it was not long before a rifle was made by Ruger for this mini marvel of the cartridge world. Ruger had a perfect platform for the .17 Hornet round in its excellent M77/22 model — which was capable of shooting the .22LR, .22WMR and .22 Hornet — and the newer M77/17, so a few…

Tikka rifles have always been a popular choice for shooters due to their accuracy. The brand offers a rifle for any eventuality due to the smooth bolt combined with a good choice of calibres. The Tikka T3 Super Varmint model is a heavy-barrelled version of the T3 with a modified stock design and metalwork made…

Yildiz is one of the best-known Turkish gunmakers in the UK. Its guns have been imported and distributed by Entwistle Guns in Preston, Lancashire for a number of years. Initially, the company’s guns have been game or field guns, with many models being built on a lightweight alloy action. This has been welcomed, particularly when it comes to some of the smaller gauges,…

Secondhand Browning Citori: If you were trying to think of a name for a new gun you hoped would conquer world markets, what would you call it? Browning had that dilemma during the early 1970s, and the word they hit on was ”Citori”.

Our expert Mike George looks into the second-hand options for a Remington Versa Max

If you’ve never seen a modern shotgun from one of the great English makers in the flesh, you might be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. Whether side-by-side or over-and-under, it is easy to imagine a gun from Beretta or Browning is only different from a gun from Watson Bros or Boss & Co in purely aesthetic terms – or, more likely,…