Of all the investments I’ve made in Field Target, I think the Rowan Adjustable Hamster has given me the most targets from a single payment of the folding stuff.
Now, that’s a very bold claim but when you’re as inflexible as I am, this thing is a Godsend. I’ve tried a few of the cheaper alternatives, I wish I hadn’t wasted my time/cash and gone for the real thing in the first place.
If you shoot at Anston or Blaenau Gwent regularly you know for a fact there’s a few rocket launcher targets coming, my problem wasn’t getting the gun into position it was always getting under the gun to take the shot. I remember doing The BFTA Masters at Blaenau Gwent and really struggling coming down the right-hand side banking of the course. This wasn’t helped by our Andy telling me to get my leg up on the bank and just get under the gun, what he seems to forget is everyone else isn’t as flexible and that I seem to be made out of marble!
The Rowan Adjustable Hamster is a very sturdy build with just one handle to lock both pivoting points, as I’ve mentioned I’ve tried a couple of cheaper versions that have two locking handles and man the fannying about you have to do is just frustrating and when you’re on the clock it doesn’t half waste time as both halves flop about.
For me, the Rowan just works and has made shooting those difficult targets easier to range and knock over. The design is simple, easy to understand and very flexible, unlike me!
Sure it’s expensive but in a sport where every target counts it’s a very good investment. It does add a bit of weight to your gun but I think the payoff works out in the long run.
The only thing I don’t like about the design is the soft tipped grub screws for tightening the mechanism up on the rail. Even though they are soft tipped they will cause bumps in the rail if you are not careful. I’d like to see it shipping with a safer flat insert so this doesn’t occur. You can see from the photographs that I had to have one of these made to protect the FWB 800 cage as the clearance is only .4mm on air tube. One small bump and my POI would be different.
So, to round up, the Rowan is an excellent tool, the build is fantastic and it which will defiantly help with those difficult to reach targets we are all seeing more of. It’s not cheap but it’s worth every penny and I recommend the investment.
