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First gun. The stagnation is at its height... Having honestly passed the hunting license exam and obtained a hunting permit of the Military Hunting Society in the Central
Council of the Northern Fleet of the USSR Navy, I organized my hunting group on
the ship, became its chairman and entered myself first in line for buying a
rifle. The group consisted of around 30 people and it was just my luck that
29 of them were fishermen and
mushroomers, that’s why nobody contested my first place in the line for
the weapon (back then my position and rank weren’t the highest... it’s the
army, you know). For more than a year I went hunting with
different groups equipped only with a knife! I scaled fish,
cleaned mushrooms, and peeled potatoes, sometimes I carried someone
else’s rifle...In a word, I was earning a good character reference and
letters of recommendation, waited in line for the delivery and the
distribution of weapons, camped on the doorsteps at the Council and said
“Cheese!” to the local elders who were in charge. Thanks to the torture and suffering a miracle happened about 1.5 later, and I obtained a stock IZH-27Å ( I
didn’t have enough stars on my shoulders for the custom edition), caliber 12õ70 (back then 12õ76 didn’t even
exist), choke and halt-choke, with two triggers, with a simple but beautiful
inlay, with a beech wood butt and fore-stock for the price of 112 rubles (it
seems). I slept, walked, ate, watched the TV... keeping
a hold of this rifle for a whole month! My happiness
knew no bounds! During this month I cleaned the barrels more times than during
the rest of my life. It was a good rifle. An ideal top
barrel and traditionally a bit crooked bottom one. I always accounted for that
while hunting and shot bullets only from the top barrel. This rifle is
still in good order and is being used even today (five years ago I
transferred it to my son). The wood has aged a bit, there are dents and scratches,
the extractors have been replaced several times (they bend and start falling
out on their own), but as a whole! Chrome-plating and oil-blackening of the
barrels are ideal, the trigger
assembly, firing pins and safety function without fail! The “combat”
record of this rifle reflects the time and place where it was used (the Kola
Peninsula). Sandpipers, white tundra partridges, gray partridges,
black-cocks, wood-grouse, ducks, geese, a couple of foxes full of fleas,
hares, one reindeer (already wounded), some squirrels... that seems to be it.
The use of this weapon was accompanied by bags of shotgun pellets, knockouts for patching and fillers, piles of felt, cardboard from document files, self-made cartridges with starch and wax, lots of cans of “Sokol” and black gunpowder, mounds of shells of all kinds, crimps,
medical balances and other accessories... there was a time when we made the
pellets ourselves. Although, the trap-shooting ¹7 (with concentrator
patching) and ¹9 which we had for training for the hunting license exam were
excellent for partridges. A wonderful
weapon and a wonderful time! But I had always wanted a carbine... The First carbine. Having returned to my lares and penates in Saint-Petersburg as a military pensioner with no fixed address (no home, no registration, only functionaries’ promises), I let my gun permit expire for a month and had received an administrative penalty ... it
was impossible to obtain a permit for a carbine. I found another temporary
solution and in 2002 bought a smoothbore carbine “Saiga-12” with a
full-length barrel, folding plastic butt (it shoots while folded), 12õ76, with
magazines for 5 and 8 cartridges (with a cartridge in the chamber 6 and 9). Right away I modified it for shooting
bullets, i.e. took off and threw away the sight-leaf, and put on the
submachine muzzle sight. For what? Times
have changed, new conditions and places for hunting have appeared, and
besides I bought a wonderful Russo-European laika stud (photo of Aksai is on
the top right). First, geese. A barrage fire from the
“Saiga-12” ate up the 0000 cartridges and buckshot by the pack, terrible
bruises on the shoulder grew right before my eyes, but lots of geese with
cabbage compensated all the losses. I want to note that the submachine muzzle
sight didn’t get in the way of shooting offhand, so to speak. Besides that,
excellent Dynamit-Nobel cartridges allowed to pick off teals, for example, from incredible
distances and angles. I’ll say right
away that the Fetter cartridges (good ones) my “Saiga” carbine didn’t
tolerate, they simply would jam it up. Trying to analyze the situation and to measure the cartridges, I came to only one conclusion, the
shell of this cartridge is thinner than others by 0.1 mm, perhaps because of
this it expands more during shooting, which hinders (slows
down) the ejection as part of the gas mechanism operation. Sometimes I left
the magazines at home, not to worry, I did fine with a single-barrel gun! Second – animal hunting. The
“Saiga” barrel is made according to the “combat” technology (slide milling or
something like that). That’s why it’s very resistant to vibrations while
firing. Shooting bullets from the “Saiga-12” gave
me a certain pleasure, because I never missed. The game wardens gave two nicknames
to my “Saiga-12” right away: 1. Pick
axe 2. Golf
club It was very comfortable to walk around the forest with the “Saiga” butt folded up, especially in the winter, with a backpack full of grain, on skis, and while hunting in general. But some time had
passed (around four years) and the “submachine gun” got worn out and I sold
it for scrap, because it had become a permanent single-barrel... fire, take
out the jammed shell, load, fire, take out... and so on. And then the
moment came… The first rifled carbine. One or two years passed. At
last I got accommodation, passport and the registration. The stud grew up.
The administrative penalty expired (it lasts for one year) and as I wasn’t a homeless
and an violator, I received the permit for a rifled weapon. I didn’t hurry
in choosing a weapon. I surfed the Internet, the catalogues of leading
companies, spoke with “armed” friends, came around all the shops of
Saint-Petersburg, held everything in my hands, listened to salesmen, compared
the prices. …and bought the HEYM SR-21 with
three changeable barrels. The purpose and the usefulness of every barrel are quite
clear, although sometimes this doesn’t go hand in hand with the current
hunting regulations in our country. 1. caliber
243 (6mm). This is almost a small caliber and is suitable for any birds and various small animals (gilt, squirrel, marten, raccoon, badger, fox, hare). It’s
clear, it wasn’t often that I used this barrel with such an
assortment, who needs these squirrels now? And in the spring you “can’t” shoot geese
for example. Scopes are needed for this caliber (long distances and small
game). The optimum magnification is 3-12 (I have Schmidt@Bender). 2.
30-06 (8mm). Good
caliber with a wide selection of types and weights of bullets from 9 to 14
gr. It can be used for a mid-size animal, like a wolf, a wild boar or a
smallish elk. But the hunting experience has shown that the stopping power of
the bullet of such weight is not particularly good. With an accurate shot it was sometimes necessary to fumble
through the forest in search of the wounded animal for a very long time,
especially in the absence of snow. Scopes with magnification 1.5-6 are
suitable. I have a Schmidt@Bender which I use in open spaces, but I take
it off in the forest and put it in my pocket. 3. 9,3õ62 (9mm). In time I completely changed over to
this powerful caliber. The bullet with weight of up to 19
gr., besides, there are new cartridges of the
«EVOLUTION» type, made by RUAG Ammotec GmbH (Germany), which have
a brass cap (don’t lose weight in
flight) and ultra modern syntetic gunpowders. It’s a real
pleasure to shoot these cartridges. The 9mm
caliber is good for everything. A bear, an elk, a wild boar... I shot a marten, a badger, a wood grouse and even a mallard
drake, but one has to know where to aim, or you won’t be able to collect it,
like the above mentioned drake! Nothing runs away from this caliber.
Scopes with magnification 1.5-6 are
suitable. I have Schmidt@Bender which
I rarely use, because the 9 mm caliber is
for close engagement. Mostly I set up the
scopes while hunting bear from a scaffold in daytime. But I prefer the open sights. Experience comes
with time… What I hunt with today. A single-barrel
carbine limits the hunter’s possibilities
for shooting regardless of the caliber. I’m riding the tractor with a carbine, the dogs are running through the forest, what won’t
they rattle, either a hazel
grouse, or a hare, or… and I
have a 9 mm in my hands! And also I have gotten rid of the pick axe (“Saiga-12”),
and transferred the IZH-27Å to my son…and
took to thinking. And I got a «Blaser» Â-95 with
two replaceable assemblies. One 12õ76 plus 9,3õ74 (a
combined weapon), and the second 9,3õ74 plus 9,3õ74 (short
rifle). An exceptionally powerful, accurate, safe, and
reliable weapon. The first
question – why Â-95, and
not Â-97.
These models differ only in the trigger assembly. With Â-95 once the slide is cocked,
we can fire from either barrel, but only from one. To fire from the second
barrel it’s necessary to decock the slide and cock it again. With Â-97 it’s possible to fire from both barrels after
cocking the slide. I (like everybody else) quite often fired from both
barrels in the heat and “haze” of the hunt, and then took weeks for the skin
on my fingers to heal. To fire from two nines... I bought B-95 to eliminate this. Although
I have the short rifle assembly from Â-97 (a different muzzle sight and back
sight). It’s all clear
with the short rifle. We have two powerful nines in the barrel for hunting
big game, including hunting at the den, because we have two guaranteed shots,
it’s possible to correct an inaccurate first shot, things happen, so many
pines have been shot, my goodness. In general I stick to the principle – one
shot, one animal. If you missed the first time, don’t fidget... There is a
wrong belief that the heavier the bullet, the more flesh is damaged (hematoma
and other destruction). Nothing of the kind, the nine damages half as much
flesh as, for example, magnum 300 Win, and the stopping power is twice as
much, a large elk drops on the spot. The short rifle barrels are shorter than
the combined weapon by about 4 cm, but it’s heavier, because the second
barrel is with an insert. The combined
weapon is simply magnificent. It’s short, light, and easy to handle. It’s
ideal for hunting on the move, where “everything is allowed” or not., but a
rifled bullet wouldn’t be out of place just in case. It’s clear that a smoothbore barrel
(cylinder and Magnum) can be loaded with anything and for any purpose. The fire
from the smoothbore barrel is excellent, all the trainings and hunts have
shown very good results. But there is a special feature which nobody talks
about (it’s unclear why), it’s impossible to shoot Magnum bullet (12x76) from
it, because the spread at 50 meters approaches half a meter (the gunpowder
doesn’t burn completely in the short barrel, and that’s it). I use a regular cartridge with a bullet (12õ70), in
this case the accuracy is 100 points from 50 meters away. Last year I mixed
up the triggers (it happens) and shot an elk with a smooth bullet from about
75 meters away ... a clean kill. Night vision scope. There are many prohibitions, gossips,
discussions etc. on this topic. I think that only those who can’t afford it
as well as the manufacturers of tubular lights, or spotlights and other
“jewelry” for night hunting are against it. I love, guard, feed , and treat animals (but I hunt as well, we do
cattle breeding, for example, not only for the sake of manure). Let’s
review a simple situation: There are three men sitting on a scaffold,
hunting a wild boar, for example. They have two double-barreled guns and one
semi-automatic. In a word, 5 barrels and about 11 cartridges,
and with buckshot at that... It gets dark, there is some fog or snow...so,
they can’t see anything. They hear some noise, munching, some bustle and
think, they have come... but who has come, perhaps, these are lost
mushroomers trudging through the field? How many? Where
are they exactly? If there is a manger, it’s ok, but what if it’s just a field of oats or barley? At the order “go” three tubular lights and
one spotlight for everybody turn on... then there is a complete chaos. The
wild boar (if it’s it) runs off, there is panic, and a stir... 3 seconds and
everyone has gone, the hunters spot something moving, fill it with buckshot
until the magazines are dry... who they are shooting at, they’ll find out
later... in the morning. They won’t pick anything off in this stir, but fill
the entire sounder with lead. I would have prohibited such an
outrage long ago. A good night
vision scope is another matter. I have Dedal 2+ with
a Dutch videomatrix. I have to say that I got a very good one, and the
factory is very responsible. Once an internal lens broke in this night vision
scope from shooting a nine. The warranty has long expired, I sent it to the
factory through the store... they did everything, and at no charge, saying that it was a factory defect, can
you imagine! So, when we have a good night scope, we have a complete
knowledge of: 1. Who came before the blind (or a scaffold, or on
approach) – a bear, an elk, a wild boar, a badger, a raccoon.... a mushroomer. 2. Who is who! It’s easy to tell
apart a sow, the cubs, a pig, the gilts, a cow, a calf. I’ll explain for those who don’t know. Bear. A sow comes to the field quietly, and she appears in the open space walking straight as she did in the forest, even if without cubs,
she looks back all the time (it’s a reflex). When she is out in the opening she often
gets up on hind paws and looks around. She behaves calmly, doesn’t run away
into the forest from any rustle, eats oats for a long time. If there are
cubs, she looks at them often. She doesn’t go around the field, doesn’t break
dry branches. She doesn’t walk near the scaffold, I saw many times that she
comes out from the opposite side. If the cubs are pulling her and there
hasn’t been any shooting for a long time (the smell of burnt gunpowder
lingers for a long time in the forest and in the field), then it happens that
she would come out right near the scaffold, but rarely. A bear is noisy, first comes near the field quietly
and through the forest, will sniff and look around. Then he makes a move –
runs through the forest along the field, snorting, roaring, grumbling,
breaking branches, etc. (chases
competitors away). Then there is a 5 minute pause and then come out in stony
silence in the end of the field. Mature and especially brazen ones come right
under the scaffold and start sniffing what does it smell like around here,
this happens in strong wind and the rain. He is afraid of the IR backlight, runs right away. Elk and wild
boar. Here it’s simple. The elk male has antlers, and the
wild boar male has tusks. Mature wild boars don’t travel with dams in the
autumn. The situation is always standard – either a sounder, or a group of
young wild boar males, or a mature male alone. The latter one is very
careful, walks around the field in the tree line, simply looks around,
doesn’t come to the manger, “roars”, snorts like a tiger (and unlike dams and
gilts, doesn’t squeal). The wild boar is afraid of the IR light more than the
bear, runs right away. Raccoons and
badger. The females are smaller, and their faces
are smaller as well (if there is a family it’s not hard to compare). A raccoon differs from a badger by the reflection
from the eyes. They aren’t afraid of the IR, so it can be seen. The badger’s
stripes are very visible at closer range. If these animals aren’t all shot by
hunters, they come out in the field together in a checkerboard pattern, it’s
a wonderful sight. They aren’t afraid of the IR backlight at all, you can
look at them as you please. 3.
The determination of the target and the
range. It’s clear, you take a look at everything, pick your target, aim
calmly, catch your breath and ... bang! I can’t understand the reasons why the night scopes are prohibited in our country (and the stores are full of them, it’s an interesting situation). |
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