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Continental shooting suppies have been doing good business this summer with the budget priced Clever Mirage T2 cartridge. What's the secret of its success?

It's an ill wind as they say and one of the benefits of the strong pound we have had this year is that imported cartridges have become more affordable again. It has been obvious in the aggressive pricing adopted by one or two of the well-known brands and it is the ordinary shooter who has felt the benefit. Cartridges continue to defy the laws of inflation and are probably as cheap today in real terms as they have ever been.   Buying power of the pound against the Italian lira has been particularly advantageous so importers of brands like Mirage have been making hay. Already with a solid reputation for their top of the range competition shells, they introduced the T2 line up earlier this year as a good club cartridge at an attractive price. Originally designed as a promotional product, sales have been so good that a full range is being offered permanently. All the standard shot sizes are on offer in both 24 and 28 gram loads plus a fibre wad option. This is currently loaded with a plastic obturator, but a true fibre version should be on stream by the time you read this.   Price-wise it is easy to see the appeal. Typical dealer prices are around £85 per thousand for 24 gram loads and £88 per thousand for the 28 gram. That is very competitive for an imported product.

My favourite was the 24 gram - a sweet little shell that was more than good enough on a tricky pool shoot pair, yet which barely kicked at all.

You would not expect a cartridge of this type to be designed for top performance, but nor do you get something second rate. The components are well up to scratch, including SNIA powder as used in other Clever products and 3% antimony shot. The wad is different to Clever's premium priced loads, but still a quality item, well up to the job. It is marked with the name EFFE 3 and Italian patents and is a new one on me. It has one of the most complicated central compression columns I can remember seeing. A standard low brass case is used, in blue to differentiate it from the more usual Mirage black.

Speed is middle of the road, the happy trade off being lower pressures - around 500 bars compared to 550 or so on their more expensive loads. Those who are recoil sensitive will find this a pleasant cartridge, not at all Italian in feel. I was able to try the complete line up including the fibre version. This performed very well, but is likely to be unwelcome on many fibre-only grounds because of the plastic obturator - the all fibre version will solve that problem. My favourite was the 24 gram - a sweet little shell that was more than good enough on a tricky pool shoot pair, yet which barely kicked at all. Pattern quality generally was excellent, as is so often the case with cartridges which are not straining for maximum velocity.

For the club shooter the T2 is an attractive buy, which is not to say they could not win competitions as well. Tom Young of Continental Shooting Supplies tells me that Derek Wilson used them when winning the Scottish Open Skeet Championship recently.
 
On the back of winning performances from well-known trap and sporting shooters, the Mirage range has been building a steady base of dealers around the country. The T2 gives them a foothold in another segment of the market and looks set to consolidate the success already achieved.

For information on your nearest stockist, contact Continental Shooting Supplies. Tel. 01294 833297

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