The Editor gets first go of the latest Brocock Sniper XR incarnation – the Safari Sniper XR

The privilege of being part of any new rifle’s pre-production test program is never lost on me.

It’s an undiminishing honour to have my thoughts, opinions and results included in the final version of a rifle, and whenever I’m asked to contribute these, I give it everything I have. Sometimes, fundamental changes are advised, and at other times, the prototype I’m testing is so close to the finished article that my suggestions are merely cosmetic. I tested Brocock’s first pre-production Sniper XR and that was one rifle that didn’t need much tweaking, so I wasn’t surprised to discover that the latest variant, the Safari, was also a done deal. The important thing for me to remember, though, is the need to discard my previous association with a rifle, and to treat, and test, every variant as a new model, because that’s how the majority of our readers will experience it. Besides, I know Brocock constantly refines and upgrades components when better performance becomes available, and these must be assessed from scratch. Here goes then.

Read the full review