My New Rifle

Man has to start somewhere, I guess? And, as most of anyone who comes at me has an interest in " Hunting " (Never could get used to that term for what you lot do. To me " Hunting " is something ye do on a horse, wearing a red coat, after a fox. Me, I Shoot. I Lamp. I used to Ferret. Never 'Hunted'. That's that out of the way .....) I figured I'd bring ye up to date about my rifle.

The old NEF Handy Rifle, .22 Hornet finally packed up on me completely. Fucking thing. It was a bitch, pig and a nightmare from word one, really. Weighed a ton. Trigger weighed a ton. I was sick and tired of the thing even before it went completely tits up.

It did that one evening when I was out with Dean O', my partner in various crimes. We were up in a gate way just opposite and down from Pat's farm yard and there was a flock of magpies about. Can't remember if Dean had been using his excellent, digital calling box. But, they were about and giving it large anyway. Game on then.

Craic is; I loaded up and lined up. I had one of these muvva's in my cross hairs and the shot was confirmed safe. The sinews in my right wrist knotted and bulged under the strain till, finally; Click!

FFS! I kept my cool and reached into my pocket for a fresh round. About three rounds refusing to fire later, I imagine one must've gone off. I don't remember where I was aiming though. I certainly remember I never got a maggie that evening. Then, having fired a live one and broken the gun open? Fuck all. Damn round was stuck fast!

Cutting a long story a tad shorter; " Throat Erosion ". That and the Pin Spring was fucked. All in all, time to move on.

I actually found and fell in love with a Browning A Bolt, .223 with all the trimmings. This thing was a Goddess of a gun! Diamond cut receiver, fluted barrel, black synthetic furniture, light weight and beautifully balanced. Gorgeous gun.

But, as I gave myself time to ponder and check out this calibre a bit more, I came to the simple conclusion that she was just too much gun for me. I simply don't need that sort of reach around here. I'd have to hold a summit meeting, phone a friend, the whole shebang before ever even touching that trigger.

So I looked at the other options. Rimmy anything? Fuck that. No Way was I stepping down to a rimmy. I decided a .17 Centrefire would be the Dogs bollocks. I found only one available. And that thing weighed a ton!

So on and so forth, till I actually worked out what would be my ideal; Another NEF Handy, break action, single shot .22 Hornet. These days they come in Black Synth. Look cool and weigh a site less. The trigger's also said to be lighter these days.

Months later, I finally had to face the fact that no power on this earth could get me a black NEF. They simply aren't available in Europe. FFS! I was getting truly pissed off. By this time I'd missed the entire winter season of 2008/9. Things were getting desperate.

That's when Dave, my Gun Dealer, suggested a CZ 527 'Lux'. A Bolt Action, five round clipped, wood furnished rifle. Just about everything I Didn't want! Then I took her out of the factory sent box ....!




There she is. My Queen. Dressed to kill! I fuckin' Love this gun!