from uncle nick

This section offers technical advice from Sporting Shooter's Nick Harvey to improve your hunting. This section is for magazine subscribers only.

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What Is A Field Gauge?

My .270 Winchester rifle, a custom Mauser 98 has been giving partial head separations which my gunsmith says are caused by excessive headspace. He says that using hot loads has probably set the locking lugs back slightly so that it will chamber the field gauge.

9x57mm Mauser To 9.3x62?

I’ve been given a 9x57mm Mauser 98 sporter weighing only 3kgs. Since I already have a .30-06, which I use on deer, how would it be to have the Mauser rechambered for the 9.3x62 for use on sambar and heavier game?Ammunition for the 9.3x62 is a lot easier to get.

Do Rifled Slugs Crossfire?

I’ve been told that in using rifled slugs on pigs, my 12ga Rossi side-by-side will prove inaccurate because of its tendency to crossfire. Is this true?

.300 WSM For Deer

The only cartridges I can get for my new Browning A-Bolt in .300 WSM are loaded with 180gn AccuBond bullets. For long range shots at fallow and red deer in open country, I believe the 150gn Power Point or Ballistic Tip would be a better bullet, so I propose to handload it. For the best results how many grains of AR2209 powder should I use?

Trigger Changes Point of Impact

I shoot in military matches around the country and now that the NRAA has changed the rules to allow people with sporting rifles to compete, I have retired my SMLE in favour of a CZ .223 Varminter. This has proved to be one of the most accurate rifles I have experienced, particularly when shooting 69gn Sierra MatchKings. Recently, when shooting a Sniper Match at 200 metres, something strange happened.

Fit of Shotgun stock

How do you test a shotgun stock for fit. A guy at my local gunshop says you put the butt in the crook of your elbow with the gun held vertical, and if your trigger finger hooks the trigger at the second joint the gun fits. Is that true?

Replacing the scope

My .270 rifle was sold to me as a Model 70 Winchester because that’s what is stamped on the barrel. But when I removed the scope mount I found the receiver ring carried the following markings “F.B Radom (1938” and an eagle. All parts have matching serial numbers. The scope is a wreck and hard to see through. What scope would you recommend for this rifle?

Greek military rifle

A friend of mine has an old military rifle marked “Y:1903/14” and “Steyr 1914.” Is ammunition available for it in this country. What sort of big-game could it be used on effectively?

243 Vs .30-30 For Deer

Please give me some comparative ballistics figures on the .243 and .30-30 as deer rifles? I mainly hunt pigs and fallow deer in undulating semi-open country where ranges seldom exceed 150 metres.

Rifle Cleaning

I’ve been shooting some old ex-military .303 ammo with corrosive primers in my Lee Enfield rifle. I’ve been told that the best method of cleaning the bore is by pouring boiling water through it. My questions are: Will boiling water affect the temper of the steel? If not, what’s the best way to go about it?

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