The Coolest Shotguns & Accessories We Saw at the British Shooting Show

The British Shooting Show is a fixture in the calendar here at GunsOnPegs HQ - although we don’t have a stand at the event, we always head up on the Friday to catch up with friends and have a bit of a mooch around, ogling new gear. Being the first event of the year and the first after the end of the season, there’s always lots of great stories to hear, and lots of exciting products to learn about. Here’s a selection of some of the kit we saw that caught our eye.

Shotguns

ATA SP Pro12 - £999

If you’re just getting into shooting and you’re on the hunt for a shotgun that won’t break the break and will be suitable for the clay ground and on the peg, then the ATA SP Pro12 is a pretty good place to start. The price tag, at under a grand, is hard to argue with. Ryan at Sportsman Gun Centre told us:

“I’d recommend this gun for any level of shooter, but obviously given the price point it is going to appeal to people early in their shooting journey. It is proofed for High Performance steel, and the drawings for the back-boring were done by Nigel Teague of precision chokes, which has reduced the felt-recoil by 23%.” The gun was awarded ‘Shogun of the Year’ in the prestigious Great British Shooting Awards which were handed out on Friday evening of the show.

FIND OUT MORE

Browning B525 Composite - £1030

And now for something truly different: Browning’s latest addition to the enormously successful B525 range. With  a stock and foreend made from a composite material rather than the traditional wood, it brings the durability of Browning’s semi-autos to an over-and-under. Although it is billed as a game gun, we suspect that people will see it more as a pest-control workhorse or a wildfowling gun. The composite material is hard-wearing, while the texture of the pistol grip and foreend give you great purchase, ensuring it feels secure in the hand. 

FIND OUT MORE

Julia Syren 20g Game

Named for the daughter of Julius Caesar, this gun is designed specifically for female shooters, with a Monte Carlo style stock that should suit the female frame. The colour case hardened sideplates add to the overall elegance of the gun, while the fantasy-style engraving depicts a woman’s face emerging out of the scrollwork, all picked out in gold. 

FIND OUT MORE

Shotgun Cartridges

Lyalvale Express  Ultimate Power Extreme Performance

Combining a fibre wad and the Baschieri & Pellagri Greencore biodegradable obdurator system, Lyalvale’s latest flagship cartridges are designed for the real tall stuff. Marcus Iddon of Lyalvale told us that this combination results in a fantastic gas seal, giving better patterns and down-range energy. Available in 35g 4 (lead) load.

FIND OUT MORE

Optics

Swarovski Optik AX Visio smart binoculars - £3,820

A few years ago we tested a ‘smart monocular’ from Swarovski Optik that harnessed the power of the Merlin bird identification app to help you to work out exactly which LBJ you are looking at on your bird table or in the field margins. The AX Visio Binoculars builds upon this concept, combining high quality optics (10x32) with the power of Artificial Intelligence to enable you to identify birds and other animal species at the touch of a button.

FIND OUT MORE

Accessories

Flint and Flame 6” boning knife - £115

Whether you’re filleting pheasants or breaking down a whole deer, a boning knife is one of those items you don’t think you need until you own one, when you wonder how you ever managed without one. Flint and Flame’s knives are made from high quality German carbon steel and are used by top chefs, and the boning knife's blade has good flex, allowing you to get right in to the bone, while the ergonomic rosewood handle and excellent balance make them a pleasure to use.

FIND OUT MORE

AnySharp Classic - £19.99

Sure, you could learn how to use a knife steel or a whetstone or any of those other whatsits, but why bother, when the AnySharp knife sharpener will do the job far better and without all the hassle. Its suction cup locks it on to almost any surface, and the two 20 degree tungsten carbide sharpening tools will put a razor sharp edge on near-enough any knife (including serrated blades) in just a few light strokes. I bought one and have re-sharpened every knife in the house.

FIND OUT MORE

Yeti 7.6L Beverage Bucket - £150

Anyone who spends any time messing about in the outdoors knows that there is one big problem - how to keep your beers, white wine and champers cool. Yeti have been the go-to brand for this sort of thing for some time now, and my eye was caught by this handy cool bucket, which is big enough for half a dozen beers or three bottles of wine - ideal for the riverbank or just a garden barbecue. 

FIND OUT MORE