The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

We understands the "technical" is popular in many parts...

meles meles wrote:We understands the "technical" is popular in many parts...

The technical is an ideal vehicle for the job if the anti aircraft cannons can be replaced with 4 x .22 rimfires or if a bit of decoying is the name of the game 4 x 12g semis

Are vitara's any good? they seem to be lowish budget

Good off road, still slightly overpriced for what they are. Higher road tax than a Jimny and bigger 1.6 petrol engines are cheap to repair, but watch out for knackered cam chain tensioners.

I had an SJ413 for several years as a recreational off-road toy and my wife's daily driver. She hated the firm ride due to the cart springs but off road on good tyres it was virtually unbeatable. We annoyed the Land Rover set by telling them we used Landys as ground anchors .

I never saw one rolled but then those of us that had them knew what we were doing.

The best mod I did to mine was to fit rear disk brakes as the drums would get full of mud and stop working.

Later on I had a Vitara which was better on the road but not quite so good off it. Mind you I'm talking serious mud piles, steep slopes and small lakes which are probably more than you're looking to conquer.

Racalman wrote:Mind you I'm talking serious mud piles, steep slopes and small lakes which are probably more than you're looking to conquer.

Yes, I'm looking at fields with maybe a slight incline

I've had a Subaru Forester for nearly 10 years. It has never gone wrong and is more than capable of what you want to do. The ground clearance is impressive (210mm I think) and it has a good size boot. It's worth a bit more than your budget but there are some cheaper ones around.

Not saying that you should buy one, mainly because you will get a heap for £1K, but a series landrover is the best shoot vehicle I have used. I used one for years when as a general shoot wagon, but it really excelled for lamping. Windscreen dropped, door tops off and you have a massive clear shooting platform.

I currently have a LandRover 90 for proper off road stuff but a Suzuki grand Vitara for day to day and have to say it's great, cheap to run and service and goes pretty much anywhere (Well - soft roading rather than off roading)

Prior to that I had an old RangeRover Diesel, 1997 model that I picked up very cheap as the paint had peeled and it looked a state. Used to go rabbiting with it, one person driving and one stood on the bolsters of the front seats standing out the sunroof. It worked brilliantly! Apart from empty .22RF brass going down the sunroof channels and causing a constant metallic rattle right above your head as you were driving along! It drove me mad!

I'd recommend looking at a Freelander, this is the thought process I went through a year ago. The Suzuki options, in my mind, just weren't substantial enough; although cheaper.

The Freelander is a lot more versatile, easy to come by and not unaffordable. Mine is a 2005, 120,000 miles, most options on it and it was £2,300. Look out for Freelanders with the VCU taken out, which stops it being 4WD, a lot of the cheaper ones have damaged seat bolsters so look out for that if it's a big thing for you.

A good plus for shooting from a Freelander is the rear glass (certainly on the 5 door) drops down fully so you can actually shoot from the boot.