Shooting in style

I have just returned from a trip to Le Domaine de Sandricourt, one of France’s premier shooting estates, after attending an event to launch the 825, Browning’s latest shotgun. An early flight from Heathrow saw me at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport by 10.30am to meet Browning’s marketing and events manager, Martin Boucquey, who had come to collect me and a group of other European journalists. Our half-hour journey took us through the pleasant countryside of the Vexin region that occupies the fertile plateau on the northern banks of the Seine, immortalised in the paintings of Van Gogh and Monet. In just a few shakes of a duck’s tail we arrived at the entrance to the Château de Sandricourt. The Browning team had outdone itself: it was utterly stunning. The traditional French mansion, with its external shutters and wonderful symmetry, was set among acres of manicured lawns, punctuated with geometric formal gardens, classical statues and avenues of trees.

House history
The house was built in the early 19th century by the Marquis de Beauvoir but sold to an American family, the Goelets, in 1908. Although the staff told us that the château had been used by Hermann Göring as his headquarters for part of the war, it has remained in the possession of the Goelet family, who still visit several times a year but rent it out to hunting parties in between. I was shown to my room, which featured views over endless box hedges and ochre woods. I dumped my bags and spun back down the stone spiral staircase for the scheduled lunch, which consisted of scallops, foie gras, fillet steak, panna cotta and cheese. Then it was time for the guns.

We descended to the armoury with its vaulted ceilings, where there was a selection of both models of the 825: the Sporter and the Hunter. We each grabbed a gun, cartridge bag and slip before heading back outside. My first impressions of the gun were positive. It weighs 7lb 8oz, very similar to that of its predecessor, the 725, but is a little better looking. It felt chunky and solid, but not in the slightest unwieldy. As I waited for further instructions I conducted a few dry mounts to get a feel for the balance of the gun. I immediately liked the semi-pistol grip, the gentle palm swell and the grippy, laser-cut chequering. I played with the safety catch and barrel selector, which I was told had been designed to be slightly more prominent than in the 725 to make it easier to use with cold hands.

We were off to familiarise ourselves with the gun over some clays. The estate also runs simulated game days, so it has an array of realistic clay drive setups. In true French style, the gun bus that was to carry us around the estate was a handsome and heavily modified old Renault G300 off-road lorry. It was reminiscent of the troop-carrying vehicles you see plodding around the edges of Salisbury Plain but had been tricked out with double glazing to keep us warm and had retractable metal steps that made the whole thing very civilised.

Working together
For half an hour the barrage of clays continued. I became rather swifter at locking onto them and had plenty of chances to become acquainted with the gun. I had selected the Sporter for the occasion, and even though my shooting is anything but polished we began to work well together. I fired close to 100 shots over the session and was feeling pretty confident by the end, even smoking one or two of the clays that came over my Italian neighbour. I rarely fire so many shots in such a short time and gingerly pressed my shoulder once the end of the drive had been called. There was no bruising, stiffness or discomfort, which is a testament to the gun.

As I was taught as a boy, I still pop two fingers down the barrels after an unload to make sure I haven’t left a shell in there. After this session, I absent-mindedly carried out my usual ritual and promptly burned the tips of my index and middle fingers on the hot barrels, such had been the intensity of the shooting. By the time we had finished the temperature was dropping, the light was golden and the sun was casting long shadows. As the bus took us back to the house, everyone was chatting about how much they had liked the gun, comparing experiences and results. It had been a great introduction to Browning’s new offering and a great way to get us all comfortable with it in a low-pressure environment.

Après presentation
Once the presentation was over we retired to ready ourselves for dinner, which was a sumptuous array of lobster, sea bass, wild boar and venison, all washed down with a good deal of French wine. After much convivial conversation, most of us retired early for what we had been promised would be a stellar next day.

I awoke in the pale blue light that precedes sunrise. The gardens hung heavy with the night’s frost, and my telephone told me that the temperature was still a few degrees below zero. After a quick continental breakfast with strong black coffee, and it was time to meet our loaders. I have never had a designated loader before and never double-gunned, so this was certain to be a memorable experience.

Much to our surprise and delight the night before, estate manager Thibaut Constant had said that today’s shoot would be almost entirely grey partridge shot from butts, and the experience would be similar to driven grouse shooting. Selecting our loaders was a bit like finding a partner at a dance. They were all milling around and we had to catch an eye and somehow non-verbally enquire if they fancied joining us for the next two days. I managed to snaffle Didier, who looked as if he might be in his late 60s, as my companion. With his smart white moustache, he could have been straight out of a Tintin comic. Didier spoke not a word of English, and I speak just enough French to tell him about my pets and where I went on holiday. Then it was back into the gun bus and off to the first drive.

Rare survival
The Sandricourt estate is one of the few French estates to survive the revolution of 1789 intact and covers around 5,000 acres that has been split into three beats. Stephen Toft, the head keeper, is one of two English keepers on the estate and has had an interesting career that has even included running a Barbary partridge shoot in Morocco. Stephen was keen to stress that this shoot was run in the English style, as it had been from 1940. All the birds were released in July and there was no topping up during the season.

The third evening brought more food, more good conversation, and in the morning we were deposited back at the airport. Waiting for my plane, I cast my mind back over the weekend. The gun was an absolute peach and had served me well. The event couldn’t have been better planned to show us the versatility of the two new models. The Browning team were all hugely knowledgeable, and the passion with which the company has produced its latest release was apparent in every swing and shot.