An exciting new development at GlosGunCo is our new on-site, fully out-fitted airgun workshop. With Airgun Tom installed to offer speedy turn-around of all air rifle issues, from simply re-springing break barrel and underlever rifles and pistols, to more complicated work on precharged pneumatics (PCP’s), CO2 guns and stirrup pumps. Servicing, leak repair, power tuning, blue-printing, barrel shortening and screw-cutting for silencers, even regulator fitting – it’s all available on-site!

We have an on-site range and chronograph service and we hope to soon install diver bottle filling equipment, enabling us to fill both rifles and bottles on-site!

We also offer a growing range of spare parts and accessories – call us if you are looking for something to tune-up your rifle. Remember – always keep your rifle the safe side of the 12 FT/LB legal limit! Use our chronograph facility to keep an eye on your guns performance.

Regulator fitting is a speciality, and we work on both BSA and AirArms rifles, fitting both Tench and Tweaky regulators. For example, the standard BSA Ultra PCP can be regulated to achieve 60 shots with a consistent power level throughout its fill – an amazing 100% increase on its original shot to fill capability!

Click HERE if you have a technical question to ask, and we shall respond as soon as possible. We welcome work from both public and trade alike – our pricing is much keener than sending back to the manufacturer or original importer.

This new facility compliments our growing range of airguns and accessories. Click HERE to go to our Airgun page to learn more. Also, don’t forget our range of informative videos and reviews on our YouTube channel – click HERE to go there now!

 Can I shoot foxes at 300-400 yards with NV kit – answer NO. You would frankly struggle to do this with a traditional lamp – can you identify your target and a safe back ground at this range? I think not! This does not mean NV ‘magically’ enables you to do this – even Generation 3 costing £5-6 thousand pounds will struggle to accurately place a bullet (given its low magnification) much beyond 300 yards.
The key with NV is to change your technique – it is NOT a magic answer to wary foxes. What has made the fox wary is in-experienced operators sending bullets towards long-range animals, and scaring them off the lamp.
Use a bait point, squeak or place yourself on an established fox ‘highway’ and be patient – bring the animal inside 100 yards and ensure a clean, accurate, well placed and humane shot. Gen 1+ will allow this, as shall digital solutions, and keep your spend to around £1000. If you want to spend several thousands of pounds pushing your operating boundary to over 250 yards, be very sure of your land and your background.

So, what NV option do I go with? A rear mounted unit, front mounted, digital or a  dedicated light amplification optic? We would ALWAYS recommend a dedicated unit – having a seperate, dedicated rifle, in a suitable calibre – ideally NOT moderated (more on that later) gives the operator a proven zeroed platform for night-time pest control. rear mounted units can add 8-9 inches of equipment to the back of the scope, drastically altering the handling of the rifle. Front mounted units need regular zero re-checking when attaching, and are best fitted to a mil-spec picatinny style rail to the front of the scope, often requiring a custom rifle stock to allow this : pictured below -
 

Such as the PGW pictured above.  Cobra and Pulsar offer some great dedicated devices, offering the shooter tube options from G.1+ through to G.3, with a price range of £700-£6000.  Additional illuminators used with G.1+ equipment shall give 80-100 yard performance, with a spend below £1000.

Use of sound moderators and NV equipment? Well, we are all aware of how popular sound mods have become, making the rifle more pleasant to shoot, reducing felt recoil and muzzle flip. But what is it doing to the optic on top of the rifle, especially the delicate piece of NV equipment? Fitting a sound moderator drastically changes the way a barrel behaves – it changes the way it moves, vibrates and resonates. As the bullet passes through each chamber of the fitted sound moderator, imagine it sending out ‘pulses’ of resonance, a little like driving a car over those speed reducing strips as you approach a juntion or round-about. That, ‘thump, thump,thump’ is transferred to your optic, traditional scope or NV and can cause zero problems and components working loose. Consider the use of sound moderators and NV equipment carefully – some manufacturers DO NOT WARRANTY equipment that has been damaged due to the presence of a sound mod on the end of your rifle barrel!!

Of course, check out our…….. on-line shop for our great range of NV equipment, specifications and prices, and our YouTube channel has me playing with some interesting kit! Al.

Further to my last post, the video diary from Namibia is almost complete and edited, so soon you shall be able able to see and hear the brilliance that was the Blaser / Zeiss trip to the Blaser hunting lodge, back in May. How quickly the time has run on….FROM 10th February 2011, ALL airgun owners shall legally be required to prevent access to their guns by under-18′s. This is about ACCESS not the ability to use them – hence, trigger locks are NOT suitable. Airguns need to be locked in a cupboard, kept in a gun cabinet, chained or otherwise made inaccessible to under 18 year olds. This moves all firearms legislation in line with European Firearms law. Under 18 year olds CAN use airguns, in the company of over 21 year olds – refer to the www.BASC website for further information or call us for more details… 01285 740898….

01-02-2011

LOTS happening as ever…. BIG news for our new Training courses. We are running two excellent courses – One-day Introduction to Rifle Handling Course and Two-day Advanced Rifle Handling and Practical Stalking Course. Training Courses! All go from February onwards, One-day and two day firearms training and rifle handling courses. Learn to use a rifle on a rifle range, shooting at steel targets and paper silhouettes. Improve your rifle handling skills, learn to shoot a rifle and improve your rifle skills.One-day Introduction to Sporting Rifle Course. Experience bolt action and straight pull rifles, rim fire and centrefire, rifle safety and handling, rifle care and security. Spend time on the range facility shooting and gaining experience with rifles. £95 per person, plus ammunition used.

Two-Day Advanced Rifle Handling and Practical Stalking Course. Ideal for the post-DSC1 candidate as an ‘intermediate’ course between DSC1 and DSC2.  Multi-positional rifle shooting techniques, rifle care and maintainance, safety and security. Advanced ballistics and bullet placement, deer behaviour, high seat placement and practical field craft. Extended use of the rifle range, practicing standing, kneeling, sitting and prone shots and use of sticks. £195 per candidate, excluding ammunition used.

05-01-2011

Well, 2011 is with us, we hope you had a pleasant Christmas and New Year? We had a very pleasant walked up day over the festive break, breaking last years record with no fewer than 11 pheasants, 2 pigeons and a rabbit! Well done to all involved, and the tirelessly working dogs!
BIG plans for 2011 for the team at GGC. There is talk of finding bigger premises, as the walls seem to be getting ever closer at Dovecot Workshops…. however, this is on the long-term plan as we continue to grow the business. Watch this space!!
BIG news is certainly our developments in firearms training – our pre- DSC1 course is proving popular as we write the course and take bookings. We also intend to offer full DSC Level 1 training this year, alongside pre-DSC1 training. Ever worried about taking your shooting test during the Deerstalking Certificate level One? Wanted to get a feel if the answers you have been swatting from the handbook are correct? Then practice your British Deer Society DSC level 1 with us! We shall walk you through the assessment, leading to a simulated shooting test and gently probing questions, placing you in an ideal situation to pass your DSC1 just outside Cirencester. 
Alongside this, we shall be offering rifle handling courses and introduction to firearm courses, affiliated to both LANTRA Awards and BASC. Again, watch this space, but if you fancy learning how to use, handle and manage safely a rimfire or centrefire rifle, our rifle handling and training courses are for you. We use a selection of .22LR – .308 rifles, including CZ, BRNO, Ruger, Howa, Sauer and Blaser rifles. Estate rifles can be provided for your use. As the Police may require the production of evidence of your shooting ability more so in the future, we hope our firearm courses in the Cotswolds shall be popular! The 100 metre range shall of course form the home of our firearms training.

Watch the blog for updates, and the Notice Board as things are announced during the year. Check out Pauls Blog over on ‘Home on the Range’ where you should see further information about our firearms courses, introduction to firearm and rifle courses and our popular pre- DSC1 course. It’s going to be a busy New Year! Kind regards to you all, Al.

16-12-10

December - will we have a white Christmas?? Only time shall tell, as I type just over a week from the Big Day. If it does, you can be assured the deer and birds shall pull back into the woods, close to feeders and pens, close to warmth and food – the shooters? Usually closer to the open fire in the local pub! 
Mauser shifted three roe does today, whilst out with the Blaser R8 in .308, laid up in some tall grass as they sheltered from the cool breeze, possibly aware of the change in the weather. Quite a sight to see as they skipped away, a Bavarian at their heels. More lead time required methinks! He is just TOO hot on deer at the moment, that nose always working overtime. Back to the 10 metre tracking lead!
Christmas brings the anticipated walked up day on the shoot – can we break the record of 8 pheasants from last year? At least it gives us a good excuse to retire to the Village Pub at 3PM for a well earned steak and kidney pie, and the dogs, after a long day, can stretch out by the fire. We hope you can enjoy this special time as well.
Enjoy the coming days, have a safe and happy Christmas, good shooting and a Happy New Year. Have a laugh with us at Christmas time, with our ‘Out-takes’ video  HERE  .We look forward to seeing you all in 2011 with GGC’s BIG plans for the New Year….. watch this space! Good Tidings to you all. Al.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back On the Range

25-11-10 has arrived at last – it sounds like I was hoping for this cold, dark time of year to roll in, but to myself, as many other deer managers will tell you, it is when the majority of cull work is planned for and achieved. Fallow and roe does are in season from the 1st, we only took a few roe buck this season, but a fair amount of fallow were harvested over the summer, certainly at Withington, where Withington Wild Venison has been getting busier as the word spreads! Kate Humble is a big fan of the boxed venison selections, although she never mentions that on ‘Autumnwatch’ !!

25-11-10 NOVEMBER

The long dark evenings have seen an increase in the amount of night vision we are supplying. The new, and now extremely popular Pulsar N550 DigiSight unit has proved a runaway success, with over 20 units being fitted by us to date – we struggle to get them in sufficient quantity, out of Belarus, courtesy of Thomas Jacks. It’s second generation like performance compares very well with the Pulsar Sentinel 4×60 NV solution, but at half of the cost. It has really brought quality NV in to the hands of the average shooter, and we have fitted them on air rifles, rim and centrefires. One went on a .30-06 for boar and fox work! And no sound moderator, but to give the unit its praises, it shot a treat! See a great video from one of our clients  HERE  when out ratting with his HW100.

Mauser the Bavarian Mountain Hound is now approaching 15 months and his nose seems to continue to get better, even if it does spend more time in the bin than anywhere else! His ability on blood trails is excellent, and even though he has only had artificial trails laid for him, my confidence in his ability to track a wounded deer grows every day. He is definately the biggest Bavarian I, and many others have EVER seen! I am sure a fair sized fallow would be no match for him – time shall tell.

With November comes the busiest time of our year, certainly when it comes to the driven game season. Most of the local Estates we supply, such as Stowell, Broadfields, Brimpsfield and Ladbarrow have started, with good returns on early season partridge days. We are selling a lot of cartridges! Our RC Professional Game is incredibly popular, as is the Supreme range of shells from Express, although the RC is favoured by the owners of older English guns, given its lighter recoil and smoother shooting powder.

As the driven game seasons progress, do not forget that Northern sport for grouse continues, with a good many Estates relying on straight shooting, experienced shots to nail as many birds as possible before the end of the season in December. With prices averaging £165 a brace on some moors this season, there were some whopping bills settled by paying Guns on some estates, but the sport was fast and challenging. Maybe one day….. !

As soon as the first doe of the season ends up in the bag, you shall be the first to know. I have changed to the 150gr .308 SST bonded bullet by Hornady through my Blaser R8, and I am keen to see what meat damage is like – I guess only one way to find out! Straight shooting, see you soon….. Alastair.

PS – first Chinese Water Deer, April 2009 !!

Are you ready for the 2011 Game Season? As I type, on the 23rd July, it is CLA Game Fair time, and this traditionally marks the beginning of the Seasons, as keepers prepare for the coming of the 12th on the moors and lowland partridge keepers eagerly await September, to begin things down here….

We have already sent 10,000 game shells up to moors in County Durham, awaiting the start of the Season, so have you considered your requirements for the coming Season? Gun serviced? Cartridges checked? Kit sorted through – did the dog really eat your cartridge belt last Season? If so, get it sorted NOW! We have 20% off gun servicing prior to the season starting, so make use of it NOW before the workshop begins to fill up with those emergency repairs!!

I trust that invites are beginning to land on your doormats (fingers crossed!) so make sure you start your Game Season with at least a refresher cobweb blow-out at a local clay ground – The Cotswold Clay Club in Farmington Quarry has a great high tower, and Martin @ Hollowfosse offers some great pre-season high birds from his rolling valley sides – get yourselves some shells from us and get along to a local ground!

As ever, for the coming Seasons, we shall be carrying a comprehensive range of shotgun cartridges from RC, NobelSport, Eley, Lyalvale Express and Rottweil. The RC Pro Game is our shop favourite, available in both 28 and 30 gram fibre spec, and the mighty 32gms SIPE is an awesome high pheasant cartridge, and I must add it has been mustard on pigeon over the summer months! My 1963 Browning Auto-5 thrives on them, much to Mr.Woodpigeons chagrin!

Africa – The Dark Continent – our Blaser / Zeiss trip in May was incredible, and many thanks go to the guys at both Blaser and Zeiss for inviting me to the Blaser hunting lodge in Namibia.

Naturally, the emphasis of the week was trying all the latest Blaser and Zeiss kit, and the new R8 straightpull rifles in the new Magnum Blaser loadings – .300, .338 and .375 Blaser Magnum. Superb cartridges for big game!  Read more about the brilliant, flat shooting .300 Blaser Magnum in Sporting Rifle magazine soon…

It was hard, aggressive hunting, with cull Oryx as the main interest during the week, although if I found a good representative warthog, I would be delighted! Hunting took place from 6AM-Noon, with a break for lunch and out again 3PM – 530PM when darkness would rapidly fall. The break in the middle of the day allowed us to escape the ‘winter’ heat and the animals were mostly laid up at this time of day, in the shady bush they could find. Hunting over 25,000 hectares meant vehicle insertions in to the bush, and 2-3 hours of stalking and tracking to find potential cull animals.

All in all, a long, tiring week, but I got my cull Oryx with my R8 Luxus in .300 BM – sadly no wartie!

RPA and Blaser are well on course to be our top-selling rifles of the year so far, which surprises us with the excellent products also on offer from Browning, Tikka and Heym. watch this space for news on our next range days – come and try this excellent kit for yourselves….

Naturally, the emphasis of the week was trying all the latest Blaser and Zeiss kit, and the new R8 straightpull rifles in the new Magnum Blaser loadings – .300, .338 and .375 Blaser Magnum. Superb cartridges for big game!  Read more about the brilliant, flat shooting .300 Blaser Magnum in Sporting Rifle magazine soon… It was hard, aggressive hunting, with cull Oryx as the main interest during the week, although if I found a good representative warthog, I would be delighted! Hunting took place from 6AM-Noon, with a break for lunch and out again 3PM – 530PM when darkness would rapidly fall. The break in the middle of the day allowed us to escape the ‘winter’ heat and the animals were mostly laid up at this time of day, in the shady bush they could find. Hunting over 25,000 hectares meant vehicle insertions in to the bush, and 2-3 hours of stalking and tracking to find potential cull animals.

All in all, a long, tiring week, but I got my cull Oryx with my R8 Luxus in .300 BM – sadly no wartie!

Pictures to follow on the blog – however, for a quick taster, see the first few on our Facebook Page 

Well, Spring has Sprung – soon it shall be 1st April and the roe buck season shall be with us again. We have a huge pile of ammunition in stock and the rifle range is primed and ready for zero checks and making sure your rigs are on for your Gold medal…

The 1st April has come and gone, and with it, the beginning of the UK roe buck season.How does your patch look? I have been out with Mauser and the Blaser R8, having a snoop around through the Zeiss bino’s and our bucks are just out of velvet, with some colour beginning to show on the antlers. We have three good animals on the Park, all with their harem of well pregnant does. We have thinned a few does during the Season, naturally, although we manage their numbers rather than eradicate – always striking that balance between enjoying seeing them on the ground and averting damage to the new plantings on the Park. Of course, getting some in the freezer is popular with friends and family!
Over the next few weeks, we shall identify those with poor heads and thin them out, as we leave the good bucks to breed and continue their blood lines locally.

Regarded as one of the most sought after of the UK’s deer quarry species, the elusive roe buck found on these shores is one of the most sought after animals in all of Europe – the quality of our animal stock put down to the excellent genetic line we were left with in the UK when our shores parted from the rest of Europe following the last Ice Age. With medal heads aplenty, hunters travel from across Europe to hunt and stalk our magnificent animals.