Editor’s welcome

From now on, the magazine will be bursting with more content, including competitive shooting articles, cartridge reviews, shotgun reviews and ‘how to’ articles, in addition to all the old favourites, making Sporting

Gun the most comprehensive shooting magazine on the market.

Also in this issue, we look at the latest news on lead shot. Things have moved rapidly since this time last year, with the National Game Dealers Association now saying that its members will only accept lead-free game from 1 July next year. Lead shot will be banned, possibly sooner than any of us imagined. I am still to be convinced that steel shot is the way to go, and I know that I am not alone.

Cartridge makers have already made great progress in a short time with various biowads and steel loads – after all, necessity is the mother of invention. But what are the alternatives to lead and is there a more effective option than steel? See our news story (right) and Robin Scott’s article on page 18.

I hope you are getting back on form at the shooting ground and that you enjoy this issue of the magazine.