I agree. SD feels like a place where one can happily discuss Hawke scopes as much as one can Swarovski.
And the Blaser tease is just a bit of fun that has become almost a meme on here. It will never go away. A bit like the Jocks all liking .270s and Jimbo being a deer manager...
It works, I think.
Best,
Carl
The Blaser/ Swaro tease is very much the same as the grief those who use a 6.5Creedmoor, ,,,, The Blasers are a good rifle but definitely over-priced but so are Sauer and various other brands.
Stalking FOR SOME is prestigious, such as you will rarely see a Baikal at a Grouse shoot. There can be a bit of a fashion contest but a lot of that is due to the lack of knowledge on equipment and maybe a little too much money or the expectation of having to pay the price to be in the sport.
I can assure you more animals are probably killed by a £50 Whitetail Classic scope on a £300 Savage than there ever has been by a £2500 Blaser with a £2100 Swaro housed on it, that is actually a fact, but, it is a case of shoot what you can afford.
Top money does not mean good there is ample proof of this, Harkilla Pro boots £350 in some places, anyone who is in the field daily has said they are awful, Le Chameu in 2015 moved their factory and since then their boots have been awful, Meindl dry out very quickly and are sooooo uncomfortable all top brands asking over £250 when there is cheaper that are better.
I have had £200 jackets that the inner tapes have just come away after the first soaking in heavy rain, but then I have had £60 jackets that last for year. ALL of us have experienced this.
Look those who have the ability will pay for it no matter what but they have to understand they are not always buying the best.
Lets talk rifles, with the right ammo or if you reload with the right recipe almost every rifle will shoot sub moa at 100, yes some of the more expensive ones have a better quality control and wont leave the factory unless they can shoot sub moa, but you don't need to pay £2000 for a rifle that can shoot that.
You want a rifle that will out shoot and better furnished than a £2500 rifle get a custom, Pick a secondhand Mauser actioned rifle, £250 , put a custom 1/9 or 1/8 barrel on it £750 and then put a £300 custom stock on it and reload and I bet you will get a sub quarter MOA group at 100m everytime day or night and only costing you £1300 the price of a good factory rifle such as a Tikka.
Look it is all about whether you wanna spend more time stalking or working on your rifles and equipment. Less you pay on your equipment the more you can stalk.
) and take him to a shoot about a 1/2 hour’s drive away. What really surprised me was the time he wanted picking up and the route...... via LONDON!! The London element of the otherwise West Yorkshire round trip was to pop to his brother’s house to collect a pair of rather very posh shotguns - allegedly circa £30k. I enquired as to why knowing that said customer had shotguns of his own. He basically explained that he’d been invited to the shoot as a guest - the plan was that rocking up in his Mother’s bells & whistles Range Rover, accompanied by a driver and sporting two antique shotguns would ensure that he was invited back (FOC) the following year!! Like I said - more money than sense..... but with lots of sense!!
