The history of Scottish stalking rifles is set out in Terry Wieland's book 'Great Hunting Rifles', Chapter 1.

The first stalking rifles were .450 and .500 black powder rifles, and stalkers used deerhounds after the shot to course down the wounded deer, sometimes finishing off the wounded animal with a knife, stones, or - presumably - the rifle's stock. (See: Forty-five years of Highland Deer Stalking by James Henry Corballis). The main problem was that the rifles of that period were insufficiently powerful to kill. That changed with the later development of the metallic cartridge and nitro powders.

First came the Farquarson rifle. These are being slowly remanufactured by Mayfair Engineering for Rigby. The basic Farquarson design was refined by Woodward, which represents the final development of the design. Today you can get the same effective single-shot rifle from a Dakota model 10 - I have one which I bought in the white - the finish was a disgrace - The Ruger number 1 - which benefits from an ejector rather than an extractor - for those of us in the UK, Mark Crudgington of George Gibbs will tart you one up, if you want - Martin Hagn - they seem to be slightly heavy to me - and Soroka from New Zealand which - deep breath - are probably the best of the modern rifles of this type.

The golden age of the stalking rifle was really between the wars. The classic rifles were the Rigby .275 (a Mauser 98 action firing a Mauser 7x57 bullet), the Mannlicher-Schöenauer 6.5x54 (also known as the .256) and, for the stalker, the more utilitarian Lee-Enfield .303. For anyone interested, I recommend John Buchan's 'The Three Hostages' which has an exciting climax which involves two men stalking each other in a deer forest (NB - the term 'deer forest' does not necessarily refer to woodland and can mean open hill ground).

I have used the little M-S extensively although it is fair to point out that, absurdly, it is illegal to use on Scottish red deer (see: Deer (Firearms etc.) (Scotland) Order 1985), whereas a Browning half-inch is perfectly acceptable. The 6.5x54 round was noticeable for lodging under the skin on the opposite side of the shot, such that you had to be very careful in skinning not to cut your own knuckles on the expanded bullet. It is also a beautifully gentle round to shoot. The M-S action is not made anymore, which is a great pity. Those that come up on the second-hand market are usually shot-through: if you want to buy any vintage rifle, you must check the throat of the barrel for 'cordite burn'.

For those who don't like the jewel-like movement of the M-S and prefer their rifle bolt to slop about like a pendulum, Rigby will sell you a 'Highland Stalker' rebadged Mauser in .275. For what they are, they are very expensive and, so far as I can see, the only British element is that they have been proofed in London as well as in Germany. If you want a Mauser stalking rifle, you should probably sniff about a Mauser G33/40, actually made in and by Brno, now CZ, although (1) I have only ever come across shot-through varieties; and (2) it apparently has an unpleasant kick.

The last of the classic stalking rifles is the Lee-Enfield, agricultural and heavy in its original guise but can be refined in its sporterised version. The trouble with L-Es is that they are like a box of chocolates - some are good, some are bad. Don't buy and sporterise a L-E - let someone else spend the money and buy it second hand.