A female Shot reviews cartridges
We asked gameshooter Laura to carry out a cartridge review for us
With the number of female shooters growing, we thought that it was about time we asked a keen female Shot, Laura Ohrman, to review some cartridges for us.
She is a keen Gun and was happy to oblige. So she took some slabs out with her on a shoot day with friends and family and reported back for us. The shoot was at High Post Shoot in Wiltshire, which used to be part of musician Sting’s Wiltshire estate, before the land was rented back by the family he brought it from originally. Host of the day was Matt Carter.
The day’s shooting party
We asked Laura to sample some Eley Zenith 20-bore 28 gram No 5 cartridges using her Beretta Silver Pigeon shotgun.
When on the peg, Laura likes to channel her inner “Lady Mary”
When on the peg, she channels her inner “Lady Mary” from Downton Abbey. She started shooting a few years ago, introduced to the sport by her father, who presumably thought she should take up weight-lifting as he supplied her with a 12-bore Silver Pigeon.
A little later, Laura traded in the weight-lifting for a 20-bore Silver Pigeon. She’s a passionate advocate of introducing more women to shooting and loves being out in the field, whether it’s shooting high-end driven game or the simplicity of pigeons over stubble.
Laura was really pleased with the lack of recoil
The outcome of the cartridge review
SUK: Laura, how did the day go?
Laura: We had a wonderful day’s shoot. The biggest difference I noticed was the lack of recoil – it was noticeably better than I’m used to. The cartridges are also good-looking and a few people commented on them.
SUK: Laura, did the shot produce a clean kill?
Laura: Yes, absolutely.
SUK: Was the game fit for the table after it was shot? Was there any damage to the meat?
Laura: No, this wasn’t a problem at all. The birds I shot made for good eating I’m pleased to say! The pickers-up said there were surprisingly few pricked birds.
SUK: Relatively speaking, was the recoil from the cartridge harsh or not?
Laura: I was really pleased with the recoil level. My recoil pad slipped during the day but I didn’t even worry about adjusting it as I could tell it wasn’t causing me a problem.
SUK: How clean was the cartridge? Was there much fouling left in the barrel?
Laura: No, any fouling was minimal.
SUK: What was the size of the bag you shot?
Laura: I had a good day and shot around 12 pheasants.
