We test the Webley & Scott 1012 Sporter

Tester: Doug Florent

Occupation: Owner of Oxford Gun Company

Age: 72

Years shooting: 40

Type of shooting: Competition clay shooting

Having shot at competitive level for many years, Doug knows his way round a Sporter. As he assembles the gun he notes the deep, polished blacking and the quality of the gun’s components. “This looks a good gun for the money. It fits together nicely,” Doug says.

Shouldering the gun he says, “The thing about the Italians is that they do a lot of Trap rather than Sporting shooting and their guns tend to be a bit low in the comb. Even Beretta and Perrazzi can suffer with this.”

However, Doug did point out the tapered top rib, which “helps bring the balance of the gun back to the hands”.

As a left-hander, Doug is not keen on the right-handed palm swell, or the right-handed cast of the stock. And for Doug gunfit is everything. “Buying a gun is like buying a coat, you wouldn’t buy one that doesn’t fit. I always suggest that you look at every gun within your budget and choose the one that fits you best.”

So it was onto the test. Doug smoked the first two clays and the right-handed stock didn’t seem to put him off. It just goes to show the talent Doug has.

Summary: “The Webley & Scott 1012 offers everything you’d expect from a good Italian gun.”

Tester: Tom Veitch

Occupation: Sub-editor/staff writer Sporting Gun

Age: 25

Years shooting: 2

Type of shooting: Clay shooting

Tom is a relative newcomer to shooting and only took it up two years ago. Having spent most of his shooting career on the clayground, Tom is a reasonable shot. Being a right-hander with a bigger frame than Doug he finds the stock fits him well. “The 15-inch length of pull suits me and the comb isn’t too low for me,” says Tom.

Tom shatters most of the first round of clays in a pretty impressive way. “This isn’t a bad gun,” he says, smiling. He looks at the chokes that have been fitted to the gun and sees they are ½ and ¼ choke. “That’s perfect,” says Tom and Doug agrees. Although Tom admitted he rarely changes the chokes on his own gun, he said he’s a fan of multi-chokes and likes to know he can change them should he need to. He continued: “The 1012 offers all you need in a Sporter. It has 30in barrels, multi-chokes, a barrel selector and it’s well-balanced.”

Tom likes the look of the gun. “It’s well finished and I really like the deep polish to the bluing. It’s an affordable gun, that performs well. I want something that’s practical; if the stock was of the finest walnut I’d be afraid to use the gun.”

Summary: “This gun is well-balanced, well put together and is great value for money.”

We need you!

Don’t let us have all the fun. You can get involved too. All you have to do is email us at sportinggun@timeinc.com and live within easy reach of Oxford Gun Centre and you could be one of our reader testers.