Dummy Launcher & Red Dummy

Training a Gun Dog presents many challenges and is, to me, one of the most rewarding aspects of work in the shooting field. The pride and satisfaction of working in tandem with a well trained canine shooting pal can be very fulfilling and rewarding. There is a large variety of equipment on the market today to assist with the processes of rearing a working animal. Some of these products are valuable tools which can help the training process in an efficient way. The Bisley Dummy Launcher is certainly very useful indeed and combines a number of features to approach more than one aspect of gun dog training. A bright red rugby ball shaped dummy, weighing 129g (4.5oz) and 14cm in length (5.5”), is supplied with the launcher and a more traditional white canvas type is available as an optional extra.

The launcher is a manual device which fires a .22 cal blank cartridge and as a result of the small explosion the gas expansion propels a dummy which simulates a retrievable bird to a good distance. This obviously creates an audible ‘bang’ simultaneously and replicates the gun being fired as the retrieve or represented game, in the form of the dummy, travels outwards and falls out of the sky. This is very useful as it can be used to teach the dog to sit to the gun (or sound of the gun), wait for the retrieve, then fetch the game on command and not until it’s owner has given the ok.

Easy To Use

With the Bisley Dummy launcher, operation is very simple and safe with clear instructions supplied in the box from new. The launcher is primed by pressing the spring catch to open the breech, a .22 cal high power ‘Red’ blank is placed into the bore, the breech is closed and the Dummy is slid over the “barrel” or cylinder (which makes an air tight seal with an O-ring). The Launcher is now primed and ready to fire. At this stage care should be taken as to where the Launcher is aimed as this is no feeble machine, and is capable of propelling the dummy out to around 80-90yds. This is a lot of force, relatively, when you consider the size and weight of the projectile. To fire the dummy the handle is held with the outside of the fore arm facing towards the aiming zone (thumb will be facing towards your body at this point) so that the elbow will bend and safely take the recoil of the operation, then the striker at the bottom of the handle is pulled right back with the other hand and released to fire.

To remove the spent cartridge, a spring collar has been included in the design which acts as an extractor, lifting the blank case just out of the bore when the launcher breech is in the fully open position on the hinge. This allows you to remove the spent blank with your fingers easily, a nice little touch, simple but clever in design. This is quite an impressive piece of kit, demonstrating solid build quality, simplicity of use and dependable reliability after countless shots with easy maintenance procedures. Price of the Dummy Launcher and Red Dummy (supplied) is around £85, and an optional white canvas Dummy is available for about £21.75. This particular Launcher was supplied by The Skipton Gunroom in North Yorkshire (01756 792630 www.theskiptongunroom.co.uk).  For your local stockists contact John Rothery’s Wholesale, who are the sole UK distributors, visit their website at www.bisley-uk.com