alexm

Thanks for all the 'large snake' comments... particularly what I wake up to find 'under my blankets' I am flattered! Its a lab bred rabbit. I buy them in frozen from a supplier who breed specifically for reptiles and raptors.

Slightly random thread... Anyone have any unusual pets? I just took these photos so thought they might be of interest... This is Mojo, she is a female albino Burmese Python. She is about 3 years old, 14' long, weighs 76lbs and is still growing fast! She is a glutton and will quite happily down 2 or 3 rabbits in one sitting given half a chance. She gets one large rabbit every week, or two not so large rabbits every 10 days depending on how hungry she is. She let's me know if she is hungry by trashing her vivarium, turning all the hides upside down, and banging her water trough around in the early hours of the morning! Unfortunately I don't get the opportunity to shoot as many rabbits as she eats and have to buy in frozen supplies so if anyone in my area has a surplus of fresh, clean ungutted rabbits with bullets/pellets removed then Mojo will gratefully turn them into fertilizer for you! Alternative Carcase Disposal Brewing her meal over the heater

I find, particularly after firing a couple of hundred shots with fibre wads, that I get a lot of lead streaks just at the end of the forcing cones and again at the chokes. I use Napier cleaner spray and a payne gallway brush to scrub the lead off. The payne galway brushes are brilliant and last forever, unlike the normal brushes that tend to get squashed flat on one side after a few uses.

From memory my Xtrema (should be very similar) w. 28" barrel is 51" overall I *think*... I measured it for a gunslip the other day! I'll check this when I get home...

Yes, potential can of worms this one! Personally I prefer to shoot moderately tight chokes (1/2 & 3/4) for virtually all sporting clays because: a. When I'm bang on the targets they break very convincingly and this gives confidence b. When I'm slightly off the targets I am more likely to see if I am hitting one edge and can adjust accordingly (a nice tight pattern will smash one edge off, whereas a loose pattern is more likely to just ping the clay into two halves) What I am sacrificing is a bit of pattern diameter on the nearer targets, but I am (hopefully!) of a standard that I won't need the extra leeway for the nearer targets! The likes of Digweed obviously have even more confidence in their ability on the nearer targets and hence shoot full choke for virtually everything! However, for someone new at clays I would advise using some fairly open chokes to start with as it's more important for to get yourself hitting some clays to build confidence even if it means some chippy breaks. Just HOW open depends on the sort of targets you are going to be shooting. What discipline are you going to be focusing on? For example if you are shooting skeet or not too distant sporting targets I'd put your Improved Cyl (*****) in the bottom and 1/4 (****) in the top. Whilst maybe not dusting the clays this combination will still break the majority of targets quite happily. If the targets are a little further out then maybe 1/4,1/4 or 1/4,1/2.

We're going a little off topic here, but according to the CIP regs... http://www.basc.org.uk/media/cip_regulatio...steel_shot1.pdf It would appear the half choke rule only comes in to play for 'High Performance' steel cartridges (i.e. those only to be used in guns specifically proofed for steel), and then only for over a certain shot size. For 'Standard' steel cartridges (i.e. those designed to be used in guns that aren't specifically proofed for steel) there is no mention of any choke limit!

Tony, I think 'SP' means proofed for steel shot on the chokes if you mean the markings... although whether or not it's a good idea to use very tight chokes even if they are marked 'SP' is debatable. It's like all these things... ask 5 people, get 5 different opinions! It's the hot topic at one of the grounds I shoot at because they have started flogging cheap steel cartridges. Someone was adamant you shouldn't use more than 1/2 choke, someone else said they had been using 3/4 with no signs of wear.... I'd kind of like to know the answer myself because I almost exclusively use 1/2 and 3/4 for clays! The other thing people might find useful is identifying which type of flush fitting choke they have... I have 3 Berettas and they all have different sets of chokes! In general for flush fit chokes: The newer semi auto's use Optima Plus Newer Competition guns use Optima Older guns and guns 20 bore and under use Mobilchoke Some of the competition semi's use extended versions of the above.

No worries. It can be a bit confusing because Beretta chokes are labelled using the continental names so what they call 'Improved Cylinder' is really 1/4, 'Cylinder' is Improved Cylinder and Skeet is (true) Cylinder. This might make things a little clearer: Notches British Beretta Marking ---------------------------------------------------------- True cylinder Skeet (SK) ***** Improved cylinder Cylinder (CL) **** 1/4 Improved cylinder (IC) *** 1/2 Modified (M) ** 3/4 Improved modified (IM) * Full Full (F)

1 slot - full 2 slots - 3/4 3 slots - 1/2 4 slots - 1/4 5 slots - improved cylinder (English) no slots - cylinder

Sometimes syndicates will advertise in publications like the Shooting Times if they have places to fill, but much of the time it's word of mouth, especially with the smaller syndicates. In our small 10 gun syndicate the last vacancy was filled by a guy who had been coming along beating for us for a while and had shown an interest in joining. In fact beating for a local shoot is a great way to find out about other shoots because they all know people who know other people etc... If you don't know of a local game shoot try asking around at local clay shoots, or the local gun shop and they should be able to point you in the right direction. It can be a little daunting trying to get into the 'inner circle' if you have no one to introduce you in the first place, but nothing venture nothing gained! In my experience most of the smaller syndicates are run by like minded, friendly people and, speaking for us at least, we always help newcomers any way we can. Apart from anything else, getting people involved in shooting is vital for the future of the sport and keeping the local community on side. We have some of the local 'doggy people' (who aren't really into shooting but are into working their dogs) come along to retrieve, and they in turn know the 'horsey people' and keep them sweet about bangs coming from near their bridleways etc. So basically sniff out some local contacts and don't be afraid to ask!

Yep, definitely tapeworm. You can get the cysts in the liver as well as the intestines as they are often confused with liver fluke and coccidiosis.

Good point! Don't mind us... It's a westcountry thing!

Bristol (Portishead) here!

Yes this can happen quite easily, especially around the neck area or around pellet holes. I find putting them in the fridge for 24 hours before plucking helps a lot because the skin and fat beneath becomes firmer and it seems to stick the skin down better.

Good link! Another tip people might find helpful (if you are going to bone the pheasant) is to follow the above guide to remove the skin then use game shears (or very strong kitchen scissors) to remove the spine and innards all in one. This takes literally 30 seconds to do, saves poking around in the cavities with your fingers and makes cleaning the inside a doddle! Remove the crop if it hasn't already come off with the skin then (see pics): 1) Insert the bottom blade of the shears between the neck and the shoulder 2) Cut along the spine through the ribs keeping the bottom blade up close underneath to get between the ribs and the lungs all the way to alongside the anus. The ribs are easy to cut through, however you'll need to use a bit of force when you get to the pelvis. 3) Repeat both sides of the spine 4) Grasp the neck and pull the whole lot out (you might need to ease your finger along the inside of the breast bone to break any adhesions). If there is a decent amount of fat on the bird like this one the whole lot should just drop out in one unit like a removable Perazzi action!

That would be good to hear as that is where they have now booked!! Ok, update as promised!... They do a 60 bird open sporting shoot every 2nd Sunday of the month which isn't very well publicised for some reason and there is no mention of it on the website. Kick off is 10:00 am, not sure when last entries is and unfortunately you have to use Eley Hushpower shells (which they also supply there) due to noise constraints. Personally I find subsonic loads a little anaemic for my tastes and the first few shots always feel a bit strange when you have been shooting 32 gram game loads every week for the last couple of months! Anyway... we turned up 1000 this morning in a howling gale and showers expecting the worst but the layout is over the brow of the hill on the south slope so you are sheltered from the worst of the weather. The layout is pretty good for a small shoot, plenty of variety, but all fairly close range. It didn't seem overly busy either... we were done in just over an hour. The best part was the friendly atmosphere. Dave the owner introduced himself and showed us down to the layout and all the trappers were equally welcoming... not a hint of any cliqueyness that you can get at some small shoots. As you know, they do a lot of corporate/stag-do type stuff too... paintball, quads etc... none of which was there when I last went to the shoot years ago, but the shoot itself was pretty rough and ready back then if I remember correctly, whereas now it is set up very nicely. Obviously I can't comment on the organised corporate days but today's open shoot was most enjoyable and I wish (living 1/2 a mile away) I had been back sooner! Alex

Sorry for the late reply to this but I live just down the road from Weston Lodge (the Portishead shoot) and I believe they do a normal 50 bird sporting shoot on the second Sunday of every month which isn't very well publicised for some reason. I have been there once about 9 years ago (when I lived further away in Bristol)... since moving to Portishead about 4 years ago I haven't actually been (sounds stupid I know!) but I'm planning to try it out again this weekend so I'll let you know!