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Clever
Mirage T4 / Bol D'Or |
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CLEVER MIRAGE T4 / BOL D'OR 28 gram 7½ & 8
I have shot Clever Mirage T4's for a while now, say a couple of years? It's the same old story though, when I couldn't get the Rio Star Team shells I had to pick something that I could get hold of regularly and Kibworth stocked these shells. Ooo bugger they stopped selling them, what to shoot next? Well being the difficult **** that I am I didn't want to stop shooting Clever, Clever didn't want me to stop buying them so I buy a pallet load every now and then. The 'ordinary' T4's are soft shooting and hard hitting, I have dabbled with Eley FITASC, Gamebore Black Diamond, Lyalvale World Cups and Hull Sovereigns during the odd weeks at Kibworth and they all seem a bit harsh in comparison, the Hull Sovereign FITASC 6½ were the nicest to shoot and with no discernible 'gggrrr'. The Bol D'Or shells are available in 7½ only, have polished shot and the best powder, though I can't remember what it's called ... erm ... lets say Dave. The velocity is up and the recoil is down - oooo nice. Right now I wouldn't want to shoot anything else. Happy Krieghoff + Happy Clever = Happy Me! |
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RIO STAR TEAM PROFESSIONAL 28 gram 7½ & 8
I bought a thousand of these to try, something a bit different, don't see many people using them. I was the natural successor to Victor Kiam, I was so impressed I tried to buy the company ... they told me not to be so stupid and not to bother them again. The second plan was to buy 10,000 direct from the importers at a great price ..... that wasn't such a great idea in the end as I could buy them cheaper by the thousand from the gun shop. Then I tried to buy 3,000 from the gun shop ..... that was a damp squib as they only had 1,750 and "didn't keep much stock". It was at this moment that I decided not to do the bungee jump that was planned for later just in case they had run out of bungee cord and had to use a bit of rope from Blind Tony's reclamation. The cartridges (when I connected with the targets) gave really nice kills, both way out and up close and personal. Nice and smooth, definitely a buy now recommendation. In fact a Hull sponsored shooter that was shooting with me asked if I would swap a box of Star Team for a box of Wang Wangs and liked them very much, so shall we see him as a RIO sponsored shooter soon? Wait and see. Over the year or so that I shot Rio's I ound them to be a fab shell. I still have odds and sods lying around - Sovereign, Sovereign FITASC, World Cup, White Gold F2, Super Comps .... and I seemed to miss more when I didn't use the Star Team! Maybe its all in the mind? If it is all in the mind it goes to show that you should settle on a shell and not deviate. Tell you what though - I used World Cups back to back with Rio and the WC's kicked like a mule with a poker up its doo-dah in comparison. "Rio Star Team - the healthy smoke" I often think that all cartridges generally go bang and clays break, analysis of pellet count and ballistics means little to me and thee, just put them in the gun, shoot a 100 birder with them, forget about them and then decide how you want to spend your £££. The choice is simple for me (can I have my sponsorship deal now CCI?) |
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ELEY VIP 28 & 32 gram 7½ & 7
The VIP cartridge has changed !! Gone is the 25mm brass case and in comes the 16mm case which reduces costs for Eley & the price for the consumer. I understand that that this has been the only change to the established performer. I shall be shooting this cartridge in the next week or two, it's best to isolate each brand and get to grips with one cartridge at a time otherwise confusion reigns! One thing looking at different cartridges reveals is why the established "shooting press" reels off and repeats the manufacturers data about muzzle velocity and observed velocity blah blah blah. This is acceptable and informative to a point but can we take in, evaluate and choose a cartridge after reading pages of statistics. When was the last time a statistic shot a clay? So what DOES matter? Loading Price Reliabilty Image Maybe if you have a particularly good (lucky?) shoot one day you will put it down to a fab new cartridge that you are shooting with ~ I have been guilty of this! So next time you read in Clay Shooting Magazine that The Spunk Cartridge Company's new shell has a 17,000 mps muzzle velocity, whistles Land Of Hope & Glory as it exits your gun and is dead good ~ just remember that sooner or later there is only so much that can be said about a 70mm long piece of plastic and brass containing lead and gunpowder. You pull the trigger, if you're lucky the cartridge goes bang, the clay breaks into miniscule pieces, your grin widens as you straight yet another stand. Job done. However, these cartridges ARE all different, they have different characteristics and do things differently, it's just that a point and shoot man like me might not appreciate the intricacies of the mix. Jilly Goolden can pick out the aroma of tyres, hot tarmac and hedgehog in a wine (I think that girl spends too much time drunk crawling around on the road looking for her car keys!) So, are most of us that enjoy a glass of wine, wine connoisseurs? No we're people that like the results, get tipsy and lose inhibitions with your neighbours wife. Are most of us that shoot clays, ballistics experts? Of course not, we are guys doing what we love and using equipment that we have been led to believe is THE item of choice, the canines spherical reproductive organs, I think we shoot what we know and generally stick to it. If you haven't tried any of these cartridges, I recommend getting hold of a box or two, do a shoot with them and compare them to your regular smoke. You will be assured of success with any of these, I have found that all of them have a place in my ammo cupboard and I would willingly buy any and all of them - if I adapt to them and keep plugging away. It won't necessarily be an instant hit. Again I am afraid that it's down to what your dealer stocks, but if you want a specific cartridge, ASK them to get it in for you. You can also commission your own recipe of cartridge subject to a minimum order of 10,00 units in most cases. I dread to think what you guys would ask for!! |
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HULL STORM HIGH VELOCITY 28 gram 7½ HULL SOVEREIGN 2000 32 gram 7 The Storm is billed as "the club shooters dream," I'm a club shooter and I dream of slim big breasted blondes forcing me to do terrible things to them, so I was initially disappointed that I opened the box to find 25 dark blue cartridges instead of Anna Nicole Smith and Drew Barrymore Jelly Wrestling. Anyway, back to these cartridges. The Storm is also portrayed as a new cartridge, how new I wouldn't like to say as my local gunshop doesn't stock them. That's a big thing with shooting ~ the market place has ten plus cartridge brands out there and many many derivatives, so you have lots of choice right ? WRONG !! You have what your friendly local gun shop has in at the time. You are lucky if you are able to visit one of the large dealers that has buying power and the necessity to stock and turnover what the public wants, rather than the local rod and gun one man shop who has a few catapults, knives and a couple of tatty non-descript shotguns for sale. But even with these large dealers you are stuck with what's in stock and what cartridges they are buying (i.e. what sells) So if, like me, you wanted to try Storm High Velocity and Sovereign 2000 cartridges from the extensive Hull range, you may well be stuffed! Anyway, I digress. The Storm and Sovereign feel .......well ..... they both feel fine, smooth, good clean breaks, they go bang at the correct time, but remember that Anna Nicole Smith is NOT a cartridge in the Hull range! (if only huh!!) |
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EXPRESS SUPER COMPETITION 32 gram 9
Just a quick word about these. To be honest I didn't know that I had them !! I was taking cartridges out of my case (see "stuff" review section) and as loading my pockets, I thought that the cases were the wrong colour ~ being blue instead of clear. But I was pleasantly surprised and took a box of 25 out alongside a mixed pocket of Milleniums, Super Comp 7½'s, a couple of Supremes and a Super Game or two, just odds and ends! I was really pleased with the results of these cartridges, whether it was the shot size, the extra load or a combination of the two ~ maybe I was relaxed today, but it resulted in a good B class win and my highest score to date at that particular ground. WEY HEY !!! |
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EXPRESS SUPER COMPETITION 28 gram 7½ EXPRESS SUPER GAME FITASC 36 gram 7½ EXPRESS SUPREME 28 gram 7 These marked my return to a decent cartridge just before the Christmas shoots started. It was a welcome relief after the on off Trap 100's to have a cartridge that went bang when I pulled the trigger. Again the Super Comps felt comfortable and confidence levels started to rise. For the first shoot of the Christmas period I brought a few of the 36 gram FITASC shells out with me, on the first two stands I decided to "try" them out and the clays instantly disappeared into powder. The recoil wasn't at all bad but I think that muzzle flip is noticably worse, especially to anyone watching! I did however go back to the car and load up with the rest of the FITASC shells ~ it's not often that a cartridge puts a smile on your face so I thought that I may as well enjoy it ! Certainly a cartridge to make to you wake up and pay attention The following week I shot with Express Supreme cartridges, well what can I say they're OK. So am I terrible for not being able to appreciate these premium cartridges? I can appreciate that they are loaded with a fine grade of lead shot, a fine powder and that the case and brasswork are lovely, but if you have a more than satisfactory performer that costs a chunk less why buy these? I think that you are paying for reliability and excellent performance, where the performance of your equipment and mistakes REALLY make the difference between taking the honours or being an alsorans. For me and my shooting I wouldn't buy them, but I may just stop protesting if Express forced sponsorship upon me. Oh Go On Force Free Cartridges On Me (please) |
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EXPRESS MILLENNIUM 28 gram 7½
I started shooting these cartridges mainly because when I bought my first gun Nev Bailey, the DTL supremo, told me that they were a good consistent cartridge and they would do everything reasonably well. I must say that he appears to be right. To be honest I'm sure that at my level of shooting most cartridges will do the job and question whether I would notice too much of a difference ~ Some may be harsher, some smokier, some may misfire more than others, but they will all break clays. I am a creature of habit, if something works for me and I like it ~ why change. In the case of cartridges it is only when our regular "Brand X" is not available or something is offered free that we may consider using something else. When this happens you will either thank goodness for your trusty "Brand X" or be persuaded to change your allegiances to this fantastic new cartridge that you have discovered and wonder why you've lost so much time in finding out about it! Well, I HAVE tried other cartridges and I'm still shooting the Millenniums, or as some frequently say with a straight face wondering why I'm smirking "Minnelliums." Shock Horror! I might be changing my regular cartridge though to Express Super Competition, which I understand is a VERY popular choice. With Express I have never had a misfire, which is more than can be said of the Winchester Trap 100's that I got free with a gun purchase. I have only been using them for a few weeks and to be fair only had a couple of misfires, but they stick in your mind, that missed shot could have been very important ! The shot also came out of one cartridge in my pocket, so it was empty when I went to load the gun .. OH HOW WE GIGGLED ! These Winchester Trap 100's MUST be from a bad batch, surely the cartridge as a whole cannot be this hit and miss, any comments ?? I have had an all too brief opportunity to test cartridges on a pattern plate and although patterning varies from gun to gun and from cartridge brand to cartridge brand, I did put a few brands through my Briley choked 425 and the Express cartridges came out the most consistent of the bunch. Although time constrictions did not allow for a greatly scientific table of results, they felt right and produced the results that I desired. The brasswork on the cartridge feels and looks good, solid dependable, confidence inspiring. Silly words? Maybe but compare them again to Trap 100's and the contrast is apparent. The cartridge feels good in the hand and good in the gun, I cant wait to get through the remaining 900 or so Trap 100's and back onto the Express! As an addendum, Santa Claus is a keen sporting shot himself and has asked me not to light a fire on the 24th because he doesn't feel safe squeezing down my chimney carrying a certain rather heavy present labelled as explosives ~ I have a tip off from Rudolf that they're Super Comps! Post Christmas ~ That bloody fibbing swine Santa ... did he bring me Super Comps ~ did he buggery. It turned out that old beardy isn't real .... my whole life was turned upside down by this revelation. I had to buy my own ggrrr! |
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LYALVALE EXPRESS FACTORY
VISIT On December 18th I was lucky enough to visit the birthplace of my trusty clay killers ....or so I thought. The Express cartridges, like a girl I used to know, like having a bit of French and Italian in them oooeerr Missus!! Lyalvale are situated near Lichfield in Staffordshire. I was on the look out for a Colditz style fortress surrounded by twelve foot high razor wire fences and sinister looking guards patrolling with genetically modified Rottweillers. What we found was a smart building like any you would find on a modern out of town industrial estate. Surely some mistake!! We were there to meet the elusive Dr X the evil scientist responsible for S.P.E.C.T.R.E's latest threat to world peace ..... OK OK Dr X is a just a figment of my imagination ~ we were really there to meet Steve the Sales Manager and as we found out he's an all round nice guy. This guy is so dedicated he sheds blood for his customers. Firstly a bit of the history, Lyalvale was formed in 1983 by Kevin Gill and Mumtaz Al-Daftary, mainly because he could not find a cartridge on the British market that was suitable for his requirements. So like all too few of us, he didn't moan about it, he did something about it. Big pat on the back for Mumtaz! Lyalvale produce 119 models of cartridge and over 700 variants when the different loadings are taken into account. Steve gave us a tour of the testing and manufacturing facilities and it was fascinating to be given such an insight. Each batch of cartridges is tested extensively ~ at the beginning, middle and at the end of the production batch to ensure consistency, firing a test sample of ten cartridges, recording the data and analyzing the results ~ So its not just a case of one man and his dog Alan going pigeon shooting then recounting in the pub later that most of the cartridges did actually go BANG instead of PIFF. We had arrived at what could be considered a bad time, a whopping amount of cartridges were to be shipped that day and the last thing they needed (in my opinion) was to show some daft bugger like me around! We had a whirlwind tour taking in the original cartridge machine that is still going strong through to a super slick machine that churns out a startling number of cartridges. There are over 18 machines operating at a rate of approximately 5000 cartridges per hour and to put this into perspective this means that around 2.3 million cartridges (2,300,000!!) are being produced each week. Imagine for a moment if one of the shooting magazines ran a competition to win the cartridges produced in one hour by Lyalvale ~ sounds like a fair deal to me :o)) ... I shall be contacting Richard Rawlingson of Clay Shooting magazine shortly ... wonder how many times I could enter .... The machines are generally operated by one guy and when we were there there were no instances of the candid camera stunt of the machine going too fast and spewing cartridges off the end of a conveyor belt, the operators coped without boxes crashing to the floor, no Jeremy Beadle, no fat Dingle lass, just nice and steady! What surprised me is that the components are mainly sourced in Italy ~ the manufacturing machines are Italian, the cartridge cases are Italian and French, the shot is Italian, the wads and shot carriers are Italian and Danish, oh yes and the powder is French. (Do we like the French ? I have grown to like their Vectan powder and some of their lasses are worth a sniff but we'll keep it at that for now) Whatever!! It sounds like someone might have an opportunity for European travel, if I had the job of product sourcing I would start angling to start sourcing things in New Zealand and the Seychelles .... While walking around the factory I got the feeling that this wasn't right, I expected something else. We all have preconceptions, I expected something bigger ~ acres of factory, more machines, more people, manufacturing everything on site ~ the plastic, the brass, the high towers forming the lead shot. I pictured a fleet of lorries emblazoned with EXPRESS logos zipping around the country, as it happens and which is of course much more logical they do what most companies do ~ use hauliers. Seeing these cartridges kerchuncking off the machines you soon realise that the cartridges are 'just' another mass produced item, I could have been visiting a plant that makes the tips for shoe laces ~ same principle (apart from shoe lace tips not being highly explosive though) I got the impression that it is quite a pared down and efficient operation and from what we saw there seems to be a friendly working environment ~ which is nice. If you are a shooter that just cannot get the cartridge that you want or need to do the job that you desire, Lyalvale are the company that you simply MUST talk to. They are, I'm told, a company built on giving the shooter what he wants, I want a new car so how about it Steve ? Ooo yes I also wouldn't mind some of those 42 gram cartridges in 7½ shot as long as I can take 10,000 they're mine ... but where am I going to shoot them ... hmmmm well the fair is in town next week, those tin cans don't stand a chance. I wish that I knew what a cartridge should be loaded with to do the job that I want to i.e. kill everything that comes my way !! But I don’t, I dare say that cartridges don’t do that, shooters do ~ well not very often in my case, but you get the picture. Prior to visiting on Monday I was out shooting a round of Sporting on Sunday with, eeeek dare I say it, those Winchester Trap 100 cartridges that I got “free” with a Browning a month or so back. Yet MORE misfires from duff cartridges, are you unfortunate enough to suffer misfires? I would be willing to bet that you’re not using Express cartridges. The Millennium was the first cartridge that I bought and it remains faultless, I have recently gone for the Express Super Competitions to see how they perform and I will be letting all and sundry know in the near future. No matter what Express cartridge you choose I can say hand on heart that I would happily recommend it because of the consistency and unerring reliability. People buy Mercedes because of the proven quality of the engineering right through the range, they just do not break down. Having experienced this do you really want to get back behind the wheel of that '76 Austin Princess? But surely all cartridges are the same aren’t they .. they all go bang and get a result? Well sometimes they don't go bang and sometimes they just don't have the same result. Overall impression? Let me get back and develop a new cartridge! One final thing ~ Lyalvale Super Great Smashing Cartridge Facility, bet they have a slick staff shooting team ... erm apparently there isn't one ... But there is a fishing team! It's like working in a chocolate factory, sooner or later you don't want anything to do with chocolate! |
