It’s all here

www.garmin.com/en-GB

Labradar introduced sports shooters to radar chronograph technology. FX then broke new ground selling a micro version to airgunners, before going head-to-head with the ‘big orange’ with their full-speed, full-size True Ballistic version. But between them, they left a gap over £700 wide that Garmin has just commandeered with the full-velocity-pocket-sized-app-connected capability bomb that is the £500 Xero C1. It doesn’t work out BCs like the Labradar, and it doesn’t talk to you like FX, but it does everything most of us need for everything most of us shoot!

www.deertraycovers.co.uk

Every experienced deer stalker knows the challenges that bad (and warm) weather, food hygiene, and unplanned interactions with the public can present. Mark Punter (Deertray Covers) is an enterprising stalker with some great solutions: there are covers for trays to keep carcasses away from mud, flies, and easily offended eyes (custom-sizes on request); covers for rifles and scopes (the former baggy, to fit all guns and present a more neutral silhouette); washable gralloching sleeves; and broad deer drags. All are made in the UK from high-quality materials that weigh little, pack small, and wash easily.

www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk

Most Turkish citizens can’t own rifles, so most Turkish firms make shotguns. The exception is ATA Arms, whose Turqua rifle - a centrefire bolt-action repeater with a detachable box magazine - has been quietly evolving since it débuted in 2018. With the 2024 model, its moment has surely arrived. Always well-made and well-featured, it now has aesthetics to match, with sporting and target (PT) versions, and stocks in walnut (regular or thumbhole), laminate (grey or red), or polymer (black, green, camo, spiderweb). Chamberings are .243, .308, and 6.5CM. Adjustable combs are standard, and prices run from £600-£1,025, making the Turqua unbeatable value.

www.simpsonbrothersgunshop.com

The Simpson Brothers’ stand is one of the show’s landmarks, due to its striking visuals and the great products and prices on offer. There are guns, ammo, and optics, of course, but also a ton of equally useful stuff, like this Tundra 65 cool box (£350) from Yeti, the world’s leading brand of adventure-tough coolers. Simpsons do the full range of boxes, backpacks, bags, and bottles. With the arrival of warmer weather, a big Yeti like this could be the perfect way to get chillin’ long before you get to the chiller.

https://kryptek.co.uk

Paradoxically prominent on Highland Outdoors’ stand was an extensive display of camo clothing by Kryptek. Under the slogan “Battlefield to Backcountry”, Kryptek has channelled expertise from every sector of camo users to make their many patterns more effective, and they infuse every aspect of their garments with practicality and performance. Prices run from £54 for a Stalker hoodie to £272 for a Vellus jacket. Based on the shadows cast by camo nets, and with variants for any terrain, Kryptek offers an unashamedly-technical alternative, letting you blend into nature while standing out from the crowd.

www.thesteeltargetcompany.co.uk

The Steel Target Company keep coming out with great target designs, as well as refining old favourites. Last year it was pivoting targets, and this year it’s floating ones! The target face (forward-facing fox, C-Zone, or double-gong) is pierced at the centre to take a new crescent-tipped bracket that bolts to their upgraded Hardox stakes (face/stake combo: £195). The design is perfect for longer-range use, since wherever you hit the face, it will rock away from the strike, indicating high/low and L/R. It also rings as clear as a bell!

www.devanahunting.co.uk & www.tomstargets.co.uk

Devana specialises in free-standing and lean-to seats ruggedly constructed from treated timber and galvanised steel, but - having joined forces with Tom’s Targets - they now offer S-hooks, handle-hooks, chest-spreaders and gambrels cut from sheet steel (£5-£15). For their part, Tom's Targets have a great new flat-packable multi-target frame (£200), a load of new heads and gongs to hang from it, and new full-sized CWD (£280) and Sika (£550) silhouettes.

www.instagram.com/wild_food_boy & www.rachel-green.co.uk

The game butchery and cookery demonstrations, led by award-winning chefs and authors José Luis Souto and Rachel Green, are a highlight of the Stalking Show. As great educators, they teach easy techniques, point out potential pitfalls, and produce mouth-watering results. This year, the audience got to savour delicious, tender pan-fried loin from each of the UK’s six deer species in turn, as well as being shown how to remove the loin from the carcass, trim it, and cook it to perfection. They also judged the butchery competition. Open to all visitors, it’s another fantastic experience that sharpens skills and increases engagement, and one I plan to try my hand at next year.

www.rabprotection.co.uk

I reported last year on Rab Protection’s range of vinyl wraps for guns and equipment, and the wrapping service they offer. This year they’ve added a range of deer, boar and fox targets (£15 each) printed on 700mm x 1000mm PVC sheets complete with matching vinyl stickers for patching holes. The PVC is durable and waterproof, allowing targets to be shot (and left out) in wet weather. Designs include black, monochrome and colour silhouettes, each accompanied by zeroing roundels in the upper left corner.

www.thomasjacks.co.uk

The Telos is Pulsar’s successor to the Helion range of full-sized thermal monoculars. Previously available only as a top-end XP50 LRF model (£3,400), it can now be had in the more accessible XG50 (640×480/12µm/<40 mK) or XQ35 (384×288/17µm/<25mK) spec, and in either LRF (£2,930/£2,040) or standard (£2,650/£1,770) formats. Uniquely, the modular design of the Telos also lets you add an LRF module later if desired, and upgrade other aspects of its hardware.

www.mmeriflebullets.co.uk

MME founder, Pete Watson, is the ultimate bullet enthusiast. So much so, that he set up MME with the goal of challenging himself to make the bullets shooters actually want! That means making bullets perform exactly as intended, every time. The result (to date) is an inventory of 10 distinct bullet designs in a range of 13 calibres, from .224” to .510". For hunters, there are JSP, bonded, partition, and polymer-ball-tipped designs, plus a radical subsonic offering with a ball-tip and rebated boat tail. Bullets are mostly made to order, so give Pete a call and let him know what you need.

www.tj-focus.co.uk

Thomas Jacks’ budget thermal brand, Pixfra, really stepped up this year. For me, thermal spotters are all about field-of-view, so I love the new Arc A613 (£1,370), a pocket-sized unit combining a high-end 640×512/12µm/<30mK NETD sensor and 1440×1080 OLED display with a petite 13mm f1.0 lens to deliver great detail within a huge 32.3°x25.8° FOV. Mass appeal, though, belongs to the tiny Mile 2 M215. We like its palm-sized dimensions, low weight, >8hr run-time, the fact that its 15mm f/1.0 lens, 256x192/12μm/≤35mK sensor, and 800x600 AMOLED display make it a capable deer-spotter/finder. However, the clincher is its expected price on release in May - around £500.

www.gunmakinguk.com

A little table in the corner of Hall A held a special surprise. Not in the programme, but very much there in person were master gunmaker Ian Sweetman (formerly of Atkin Grant & Lang, Westley Richards & Co. and James Purdey & Sons), accompanied by regular collaborator Adam Morris (f.o. Westley Richards and Purdey’s), along with a trio of bolt-action magazine rifles currently under construction: bespoke beauties made by lifelong craftsmen to the highest standards of the world’s most prestigious gun making tradition. Such things never come cheap, nor should they, but if you’ve ever promised yourself a ‘one day!’ gun, it’s worth considering that a classic English custom rifle like this is a good deal more affordable than its smooth-bored equivalent.

www.midcountiesblacking.co.uk

Lichfield-based MCB seemed to have brought the entire shop to the show, displaying plenty of rifles, powder, and ammo. However, they’re as much about making and fixing things as they are about selling them, so gunmaker Stefan Roe spent Saturday alternating between re-chequering a forend, and sharpening and bending steel rods into gambrels and S-hooks! Also special was a poster-sized 16-roundel ‘cold shot’ target (£2.50) complete with conversion tables, game seasons, and tables for your range data!

www.facebook.com/fieldstoframe

There was some beautiful art on show, but Chloe Walker’s pieces were so original they literally stopped me in my tracks. Immediately striking were the simple white backgrounds framing silhouettes of wildlife, gundogs, and country sports, whose outlines combined precision with the natural dynamism of their subjects. Looking closer at the rich and subtle colours within the silhouettes revealed a meticulous arrangement of feathers, species-appropriate for the birds while using the mottled, dappled, and russet tones of pheasant, woodcock, and partridge for the deer, dogs, and shooting folk.

www.esrdistribution.co.uk

ESR are Tony Stone and Ryan Emmett (of noted gun shop Emmett & Stone) plus Richard Ryan (an experienced hand in UK distribution). The Weatherby Model 307, meanwhile, is remarkable in possessing all the qualities of a Weatherby rifle and none of the niche-ness. Both variants offered, the Range XP (£1.3K) and the Alpine (£3.4K), sport a spiral-fluted, black-Cerakoted barrel and bolt, and a detachable 5-round Magpul/AICS magazine. The latter boasts MDT’s ultra-lightweight carbon HNT26 chassis, while the former wears a practical OD-Green polymer handle with an adjustable Kydex comb. The M307 comes in a dozen calibres, including .243, .308 and 6.5 CM. Like Bergara’s B14, it’s essentially an M700 ‘done properly’, which keeps the price down and opens the door to a major aftermarket universe.

www.artemisoutdoorsuk.co.uk

Very much in the same game as the Weatherby 307, and arguably ahead, is the new Bergara B14 Extreme Sierra (£1,050). There’s an M700-style action, a fluted bolt and barrel, a polymer stock with an adjustable comb, and a detachable 5-round AICS magazine. However, with Bergara, you get a grey/tan web-textured stock, ¼” LOP spacers, and a compact 18” moderator-ready barrel (5/8x24). Cartridge-wise, 6.5CM is out (for now) but .223 and .300 BLK (c/w 7-round magazines) are in.

www.gladedeermanagement.co.uk

Glade Deer Management (GDM) are a team of professional deer managers and the sole UK supplier of Eagle Claw Jet Sleds from the USA. The sleds come in JS1 (54”x25”x10”) and JR (43”x21”x8”) sizes and can be accessorised with wheel-kits, tow handles or tow-bars, or GDM’s bespoke balloon-tyred ATV trailer, which takes down to fit neatly inside the sled itself, and allows the sled to tilt back for ground-level loading. Showgoers could pick up the JS1 sled for £120 and add a trailer for just £630.

www.gmk.co.uk

Not everyone’s cup of tea, Beretta’s BRX-1 centrefire straight-pull rifle has nevertheless gained a following among UK shooters for its modern styling, popular chamberings and accessible (for a straight-pull) £1,600 price tag. In 2024, you can have a green polymer or walnut version for the same money. I like both much more than the original black!