Shop Visit: Practical Shooting Supplies

Practical shooting is on the rise as a recreational sport. To cater for the demand, there are gun shops that now specialise in getting the growing band of practical shooters the gear they need. Richard Burton has been practical shooting for a long time and has run a very successful timber business for years. He saw an opportunity to give something back to the sport he loves and make a little money too; so, Practical Shooting Supplies of Doncaster, South Yorkshire was born. The shop sits inside the TBR building with locked entry etc., very secure. When you get inside, you enter what looks like the inside of a ‘hunting lodge’ type timber cabin. It’s very cool and extremely impressive. He even has great looking carved wooden animal heads on the walls, which are also for sale by the way! The guns are housed on racks with the cool logos CNC cut into their bases, very classy, all done by him. Because he is a practical shooter himself, he knows what they need in a gun shop. He knows the guns, he knows the sights, he knows the ammunition, he knows the kit and all the bits in between. Practical shotgun is his thing; he has competed in the European Practical Shotgun Championships and competes regularly in this country in UKPSA events.

Shotguns galore

You’d be right in thinking the shop has a few Section one shotguns! He imports the value for money Adler A110 lever action shotgun that I reviewed for this fine magazine a while back. He also stocks Remington, Mossberg and Hatsan shotguns too. For high-end practical stuff, he has the Iron Armi fully tricked up shotgun and even better than that, the new UTAS Defence XTR-12 box magazine fed semiautomatic shotgun. The action is based on an AR upper and lower concept, it has all the controls in the usual AR places and I am hopefully securing one for a full review, so watch this space. He also stocks ‘normal’ shotgunsover and under Zolis and very nice Lincolns. If you are going to compete in practical shogun comps, you need shell holders etc. and they have the best. The Ezload carrier system is proving to be the fastest re-loading system there is. PSS has stock of 12g slug and buckshot for the practical competitions, they also have Nordic Components parts to build up section one shotguns.

Rifles and pistols too

Going on to full-bore rifles and Richard runs and shoots the MARS CSA VZ.58, he also sells them; what a bit of kit they are, for practical rifle they are a real step change from the AR straight pulls. He has those too, in the form of DPMS uppers and lowers. There are also Magpul stocks and accessories to customise your ARs in stock. There are also Ruger and Remington bolt action full-bores in .223 and .308 and the lever action crowd have Henrys and Marlins.

I bought my .22 rimfire long barrelled pistol from PSS; it is the GSG 1911 and they stock all the versions and accessories you could want. Speaking of them, they also hooked me up with a Ghost holster for the GSG 1911, as well as magazine carriers and a competition belt, a real slick outfit. This is essential for UKPSA events and practical comps. For those with more money to spend on LBPs, there is the all steel Grand Power K22. As for rimfire rifles, there are the classy Rimfire Magic rifles. They stock Walther and GSG, not to mention Ruger 10/22s and Smith and Wesson M&P- 15-22s. He has Power Custom aftermarket parts and Boyd’s gun stocks. Magazines are not a problem either, he has loads!

And air power

I like the fact he also stocks airguns, that’s the way we all start shooting and he stocks Crosman guns, which are THE perfect plinking tools, I own a dozen or so myself. He has the targets you need too, both metal target boxes and paper targets. There are Weihrauch, both precharged pneumatics and spring powered; also FX guns from Sweden and Hatsan guns from Turkey for the next step in your shooting journey. To run the airguns, PSS have quality Crosman pellets and for plinking, top value Bulldog pellets. They also have WE airsoft Glocks and green gas, again for UKPSA competitions.

Don’t forget cleaning products, gun slips and gun safes. Practical Shooting Supplies is a real jewel of a gun shop, run professionally by a real shooter; you need to check it out. Opening times: Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.

Contact

Practical Shooting Supplies www.practicalsportingsupplies.co.uk