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WORTH IT?
I have been looking around
for a laser rangefi
nderand have just been
offered a Leica 900
SCAN from a friend.
I know that Leica
makes some
expensive
equipment but have
never heard of this
model. My friend
offered it to me for
£300 what do you
reckon?S Elliot
The 900 is an early
model from Leica
and none the less a
good one. The SCAN designation
means you can range multiple targets by keeping
the button pressed and scanning them. 900 means it’s
good up to 900 metres, so well suited for most hunting
needs. The basic 900 was my fi rst LRF ever and I took it
to Africa and was most impressed by its performance
and used it for many years until I splashed out and
bought their 8x56 Geovid rangefi nder binoculars (BRF). The build is
good, the optical and electronic package sound and it’s rubber-
armoured. It’s a fl at/rectangular shape and light and easy to carry
and comes with a neck strap. I believe you can change it from yards
to meters too, I think the switch is under the battery housing! It
sounds like a deal, but for peace of mind I’d check out that it can
measure known distances, such as you get on a rifl e range. But I
don’t think you will be disappointed.
Pete MooreThe Perfect Shot illustrates many African
game species as to organ layout, shot
placement and is an invaluable field
companionThe Leica 900 SCAN
still a good LRF
to this day and a
great second hand
bargain tooKNOW YOUR
QUARRY!
It occurred to me that though the
physiology of most four legged
animals is similar the individual
species will probably differ as to vital
organ placement to some degree. With
boar I know that the heart is further
back and the German’s recommend
what they call a gut shot to hit this
organ. Is there any form of guide that
would illustrate these facts as it
would make a very useful aide
memoir for the hunter?
Brian Scoffi nHi Brian
Yes there are a number of books that
illustrate this giving sectioned-style views of
the animal showing organ positions, bone
overlay and even recommend shot placement
too. One that springs to mind is The Perfect
Shot: Mini Addition for Africa by Kevin
Robertson. It highlights all the main African
species and gives details of not only their
physiology and shot placement etc. but also
gender differences, markings and habits. We
don’t know if there are any similar books for
British and European game but would
assume so. We recommend you hit the
internet for some of the large, on-line book
sellers. Many large gun shows tend to have
hunting/shooting book shops selling their
wears too.17 RUGER
Got a question
or even a problem with
your shooting or equipment, drop us a
line and we’ll do our best to sort it out at
[email protected]Any news on Ruger’s 17
Hornet rifle? I rememberyou said in an earlier
article that you heard they
would be producing it in
this calibre. I want to buy
something in 17 Hornet but
don’t like the look of the
Savage Walking Varminter
nor the old-school build of
the CZ527. I already have a
Ruger 77/22 and like the
look, feel and handling as it
reminds me of a fullbore.
Dave FullshoreHi Dave
Yes Viking sent us through their 17 Hornet a week ago, so it will be on test in the next issue of the
mag (June 2015). As we surmised they have used their M77/22 All-Weather build, which offers a
matt stainless, 24” mid weight barrel and action and a rather nice Green Mountain Camo laminate
sporter stock. In terms of action and build the spec is the same as your 77/22 with a central
locking bolt, 3-position safety and a rotary magazine and sporter stock. The trigger is pretty good
too! Capacity is 6-rounds due to the size of the cartridge and is taken from their M77/22 Hornet
gun as it only needs a different barrel. Preliminary tests have shown it shoots well and does not
seem to suffer any problems with rapid fouling as their stainless 17HMR gun did. We will be doing
some reloading for it as we have 50 x 17 Hornet cases and it will be interesting to see how fast it
can go. We did this with the 24” CZ527 gun and fi gures exceeded factory spec by a good margin.
Keep your eye out for it next issue.Ruger’s latest the 17 Hornet, preliminary testing looks very promising