Happy New Year! Few of us will be sorry to see the back of 2020, which will go down in history as a downright miserable year – although as we highlighted last issue, shooting managed not just to survive but to thrive despite all the distancing, lockdowns and tiers. The major international competitions and shows were sorely missed of course, so it’s all the more exciting to launch into 2021 with the prospect of World Cups, the Game Fair, the Tokyo Olympics, World English Sporting and so much more. It’s going to be quite a year! Jasper Fellows takes a look at what we can look forward to, in our lead feature this month, starting on page 12.
I’d also draw your attention to our interview with Philippa Stroud, a remarkable young shooter whom I first met when she was starting to make an impact in the Oxford Gun Company’s TSC Series a few years back. A bubbly girl with a tremendous sense of humour, she impressed me with her determination to progress in her shooting. She was doing so well, and was definitely in with a chance of winning the car in the TSC Series – and then disaster struck when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Remarkably she won that battle and is on her way to greater things in shooting. Read her inspirational story on page 28.
We’ve also got some great kit features for you this month. Becky McKenzie is testing the Beretta 694, launched last year to widespread acclaim – but what will she make of it? Then Richard Atkins turns his microscope on two interesting cartridges from Maionchi: the 24g target loads in fibre and plastic wad versions. They promise impressive performance with modest recoil, something many shooters would welcome – so how will they stack up under Richard’s expert scrutiny?
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