A jewel of a gun testers
Robert Kelway and Robert Rooney, two of our reader testers, return to the pages of Sporting Gun to assess the attributes of the over-and-under Browning Crown ROBERT KELWAY ROBERT ROONEY
The two Roberts are back and this month they have got their hands on the new Browning Crown, an over-and-under game gun. It is a particularly attractive gun with beautiful engraving, but what strikes our reader testers is the label warning that the gun should not be used with steel shot. They both guess that the chokes must be pretty tight. Doug Florent, owner of The Oxford Gun Company, measures the chokes and they are both ¾, so steel shot would damage the barrels with a restriction this tight. Both Roberts say that it is rather unusual to have two barrels with the same choke, but this is a test gun. If you were to buy a Crown, you can choose the chokes you want.
Good looks
Handling the gun, Robert K says he likes the dark wood. “It is very striking against the silver action, but I’m not sure about the bright silver game scenes on the side of the action.” The other Robert leaps in: “I love the game scenes. They are classy, not too blingy and make the gun stand out from Sports instructor Around 50 years Miroku MK70 and Browning 725 Game and clays
Occupation: Years shooting: Guns: Type of shooting: Occupation:
Owns a motorcycle dealership Years shooting: Around 40 years Guns: Browning 425 and 525 Type of shooting: Game and clays
CARTRIDGES
The cartridges used in this test were Eley Select 24g, 7.5 shot with fibre wads. For more information visit www.eleyhawkltd.com, or telephone 0121 352 3277
Up to 14,000 shells per hour from a single machine and there are 21 of them cranking out cartridges at Lyalvale Express’s West Midlands base
but frequently surpasses the best from overseas. The reason for my visit was twofold: an insight into the business and a profile of its latest release.
The 30g Supreme Game Ultimate Power, as the name suggests, is Lyalvale Express’s latest flagship game cartridge, which not only packs an appropriate punch but somehow manages to deliver it without the shoulder pain often associated with high power/performance cartridges.
Originally launched in 2017 in 32g and 36g, the cartridges are now available as a 30g load. Before getting into the tech specs and performance, it was off to the factory floor for a guided tour.
The scale of the operation is impressive; on the upper floors are all the key components, cartridge cases and hoppers filled with one tonne of shot at a time, all feeding down into the main production area.
With 21 machines on hand, it’s obvious why the warehouse capacity needs to be so high. Some of the machines can produce up to 14,000 cartridges per hour. It’s simply a matter of configuring the machines and pressing a button, though I’m sure the 18 staff would argue it’s a good deal more complex than that.
As you can probably tell from the accompanying photographs, it’s a welloiled and highly automated process, as you’d expect from any modern production facility. However, it’s not all about cranking out cartridges. Prior to every production run each machine is calibrated individually.
Each new batch is tested in the company’s own in-house proofing facility with pellet speed and performance logged prior to a production run.
“Quality control, safety and security are taken very seriously”