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THE 2015 BRITISH SHOOTING SHOW | GENERAL
impress? Mine is ordered for test. RUAG
also showed the Nightforce B.E.A.S.T. yet
again and apparently, these are now
available although I still think far too large,
bulky and complex to use? We will see!
BRIGHTEST STAND,
BRIGHTEST OPTICS?
Schmidt & Bender looks to be getting their
act together again. Thomas Pehlke manned
what must have been the largest, brightest
stand at the show with the full range from
8x56’s right up to custom Police and Military
units featuring the latest electronics. Their
sporting focus is on the new Polar T96
hunting scope which currently promises to
beat all rivals with a promised 96% light
transmission rating and I must admit, even
older S&B glass still often outguns the latest
offerings from some of their rivals. This new
Top-Trump is chasing a serious target, I am
fortunate to use ALL the top glass side by
side on a daily basis and will tell you
straight, the optics we now see are so equal
in performance it is hard to choose. On that
basis, ergonomics and specifi cation of
magnifi cation, reticules, turret design and
illumination controls are where the game is
going to be won or lost. To my mind, the
Zeiss Victory HT/ASV is its hardest
competitor and will take some beating with a
95% rating from its 30, rather than S&B’s
34mm tube seeming more suitable for the
hunting market?MECHANICAL AND
OPTICAL, THAT’S MEOPTA!
Viking Arms have now taken on one of the
great unsung heroes of the optical market,
MEOPTA! Their optics are some of the bestvalue available, punching well above their
weight in the low light hunting market with
specifi cation and discreet sleek designs to
match! I’m really hoping to pop one on top of
a Haenel Jaeger 10 rifl e (also from Viking)
for some long term testing as I think this
combo from the company’s stable, who are
celebrating their 50th year of business, will
raise the game in the mid-priced market of
sporting arms. Spotting scopes were also
shown here and I am really getting to know
and like these products, learning to use
them is a great parallel aid to long range
marksmanship and I have an S1-75 APO on
test right now that is shifting my horizons.NEW CLOTHES FOR THE EMPEROR
Night vision and Go-Pro style cameras were
drawing attention all over the show from
Scott Country, Thomas Jacks, ATN and the
like but the busiest retail stand I saw was
Nightmaster, who’s LED/Aspherical
fl ashlights are now evolving from the lamping
world to offer IR illumination to the N.V. kit,
with quick change head units and gun
mounted remotes. Fitting and operation
becomes totally intuitive at speed and we
are clearly well into a time of great fl ux here,
not owning night vision gear is becoming the
unusual approach to pest control and at the
stalking end of the market shows
encroaching NV and Thermal kit is speeding
up and simplifying deer population research.
I took a detailed look at the Swedish
Woodline clothing that is appearing on the
UK market showing subtle elasticated panels
in quiet, lightweight fi bres that also show
slightly more generous cut for fl exibility and
movement. This seems a general trend
among most of the quality Scandinavian kitRidgeline clothing is becoming a real show stopper with great performance at its price point.Mossberg at York Guns are a step up from the
usual `Wal-Mart` rifles some companies bring
to the U