Air Arms – Fieldsports Channel

Egyptian Goose Pest Control with an Airgun

October 6, 2017

It is August and Richard Leonard has a new pest control problem on the farm in…

Air Arms AirHeads Latest shows

Airheads – Night Hare Hunt

June 10, 2017

It’s our airgun show AirHeads: Richard Leonard puts the Nitesite kit through its paces after hares…

Air Arms Airguns Richard Leonard

Shooting Starlings in South Africa

May 12, 2017

Richard Leonard is protecting a farm from attack by starlings. He is hunting them with an…

Air Arms Airguns

Target Sprint explained

April 7, 2017

We are off to Yate in Somerset to visit Sedgemoor Target Shooting Club. The reason? It…

Air Arms Airguns Paul Hodson

Distance shooting with air rifles

April 7, 2017

Paul Hodson wants to see how far he can break a clay with an airgun. 30…

Air Arms Airguns Browning Lamping and night vision Rabbits Rifles Tim Pilbeam

Airgun vs Rimfire

April 5, 2017

Tim Pilbeam is a powder hound. He likes guns that use cartridges with propellant. Chris Kemp…

Air Arms Airguns Pigeon shooting Richard Leonard

African farm pest control

March 17, 2017

Where pigeons are a pest and pheasants a gamebird in the UK, in South Africa, it…

Air Arms Airguns Pigeon shooting Richard Leonard

Dove hunting with airguns

January 20, 2017

Rich Leonard is after doves on a farm in Cape Privince, South Africa, armed with his…

Air Arms Airguns

Stoke Mandeville Paralympic Airgun Range

November 25, 2016

British shooters have been winning medals at the Paralympic Games since 1976. We visit the next…

Air Arms Airguns Paul Hodson Ratting

Pest control with Paul Hodson

October 15, 2016

Out with the night vision: Paul Hodson runs a clay ground, is a keen foxshooter and,…

Air Arms Airguns Cai Ap Bryn Lamping and night vision Ratting

How to Shoot 100 Rats

June 29, 2016

Here’s how to have a massive pest control outing. Cai Ap Bryn hefts his trusty Air…

Air Arms Airguns Cai Ap Bryn Pigeon shooting

Sorting Feral Birds from Tame Ones

June 6, 2016

We are hunting pigeons. Cai Ap Bryn and his Air Arms S410 have the job of…

Air Arms Airguns

Air Arms Factory Tour

December 31, 2015

So how do you service an Air Arms airgun? We go behind the scenes at Air…

Air Arms Airguns Pigeon shooting Roy Lupton

Shooting pigeons in city centres

August 26, 2012

We’re in central London where the feral pigeons are a real menace. The birds have found…

New launch: Merkel K5 break-barrel rifle

December 5, 2019 1:00 am

by Charlie Jacoby Generally, I like the sleek, new single-shot break-barrel rifle from Merkel. The company lent it to me for a week of red hind stalking in Argyllshire (my film is at the bottom of this review). It is designed as a ‘mountain’ rifle: lightweight and with the break-barrel rifle’s reputation for greater accuracy than the bolt-action. It is Merkel’s go at matching the Blaser K95. I prefer the K95 (disclosure: Blaser sponsors films on Fieldsports Channel, Merkel does not). The K5 grew out of the K120, the rifle Merkel produced for its 120th anniversary. Compared the the K3 and the K4, the stock shape makes it look prettier. Here is Sebastian von Stauffenberg from Merkel to talk through the rifle: It is a hogback stock with a Bavarian cheek piece. The stock has a double fold. This is both goodlooking (as Sebastian says in his film) and an important consideration. You are probably going to put a scope on it. Check this stock shape works for you and your chosen scope. The stock on this rifle is in wood and has ebony finishes, which gives it a sense of contrast. Merkel has now changed the ebony to palisander wood for the finishes on the fore-end, pistol grip and the release. The trigger system is adjustable longways and sideways. It is also wider than usual Merkel triggers, which I like. Merkel has developed a silent new handcocking system for this rifle. Decocking is simple and easy and is more secure than a simple safety-catch. The gun simply can’t fired with cocking it. It has a jaeger tilted block breech which locks steel on steel. One feature is that the block is removable. You simply take off the fore-end, take out the barrel, you push back the breech, click a …
Swarovski Z8i

November 23, 2019 6:00 pm

by Charlie Jacoby This is one of the big three: the Z8i is the scope to have if you don’t want the Zeiss V8 or the Leica Magnus. With an 8x magnification, this scope takes your target from 1.7x to 13.3x. It is aimed at both short range driven hunting scope and for long ranges around 400m. Lightweight, it has a ballistic turret with a personalised ring. You take the ballistics of your bullet – the calibre, muzzle velocity and ballistic coefficient (all of these available on your box of ammo plus you can check them yourself on a range) – feed this info into the Swarovski website, pay your money, and a week later a special ring turns up for your ballistic turret in yards or metres that you can click to match the range of your target. So your zero is spot on at 100m, you rangefind your deer at 300m, you click the turret round to 300m, and the scope will hold the zero. The luminous dot is pre-set in two positions for day and night. You can dim it or increased in brightness via pushbuttons on the scope. Here is Michael Ott from manufacturer Swarovski to explain the scope: Want to see the Swarovski Z8i in action? We take it on a hind cull in Scotland: Thinking of buying a £2000+ riflescope? Have a look at our price and capability comparison here:
Swarovski EL and ELO Range binoculars

November 23, 2019 5:58 pm

by Charlie Jacoby Swarovski EL and ELO Range binoculars are designed to combine Swarovski quality with a range finding capability. They come in the standard deerstalking sizes of 8×42 and 10×42 and include an easy-to-use rangefinder. Simply point them at your target, click the button on top of the binos, release, after a couple of seconds, you get the range in metres. The ELO – the ‘O’ stands for ‘orange’ – are that colour so if you put them down on the hill you will easily be able to find them again. Here is Michael Ott from manufacturer Swarovski to explain them: Buy it on Amazon: Want to see these Swarovski binos in action? We take them on a hind cull in Scotland:
Swarovski modular ATX spotting scope

November 23, 2019 5:53 pm

by Charlie Jacoby For the big game hunter who likes to see their distant game up close, this is the Swarovski spotting scope to choose. Zoom is from 30x to 70x. This one has the 95mm objective lens. Modular means you can take the headpiece off and replace it. As you would expect from Swaro, the light transmission is outstanding. The resolution you get out of it is terrific, not only for spotting when I go hunting but also to take pictures. Swarovski sells a special adaptor for your phone that attaches it to the scope. Here is Michael Ott from manufacturer Swarovski to explain them: Buy it on Amazon:
Merkel HLX suppressor

November 23, 2019 3:04 pm

Merkel has gone into partnership with military moderator manufacturer B&T to make a moderator for the hunting market. 200mm long, it has steel baffles, which allows up to 30 consecutive shots without waiting for it to cool. It fits on every barrel with a M15x1 muzzle thread. Merkel claims its moderators reduce sound by more than 30dB. For cleaning, just soak the moderator in soapy water, rinse it out and dry it with a compressor (if you have one) or leave for 24 hours on a warm radiator. Here’s what Merkel says. Want to see the Merkel HLX in action? We take it on a hind cull in Scotland: