stuartyork

Interesting responses, thanks all. I'm a keen salmon and trout fisherman, I frequently take fish from the rivers I fish and eat them. I also use minnows as bait for salmon and pike. I wonder if the definition quoted applies to all fish and all waterways? I'll e-mail the environment agency and ask the question. Thanks all. I also as a child, and as a Dad allowed my kids to catch sticklebacks. Cheers

Good afternoon all I'm stocking a 2500 litre wildlife friendly pond in my garden. Does anyone know of a pond or lake near Sunderland that has a good stock of resident sticklebacks. I want approx. 10 pairs of fish to stock my pond. The pond is well stocked and ready. I know a lot of you chaps spend a lot of time out and about, so \I think if anyone can help it's you. Any help gratefully received. All best Stuart

Hi Andy H, you are a star! thanks for taking the time to help. All best stuartyork

Hi everyone Can anyone help I bought a box of brass 12g cartridge cases recently. I drilled out the primer pocket to suit a standard shotgun primer. I've loaded them with standard 12g. reloading components, both fibre and plastic wads. None of the over powder wads fit tightly enough in the cartridge case to allow the wad to be pressed tightly over the propellant. The result of this is a very poor powder burn with no power. I read something a while ago, that suggested using 11 gauge wads, when reloading brass cartridge cases. Has anyone had any experience of reloading this cases, if so, any suggestions? All best stuartyork

The plague of the small bore reloader, the horrible crimp! The MEC600 in 28g. and 410. don't have a 6 petal pre-crimp head as the larger calibres do have. I also have had huge frustration reloading 28g. on this press. I bought a metal super sharp pre-crimp tool to help improve things. Under normal compression pressures, it actually made things worse! I found that the super crimp starter caused a "Bulge", just below the crimp on the hull wall. This "Bulge",then got snarled up in the final crimp die, producing hideous results. Like F.C. I eased off hugely on the pre-crimp pressure, and set up the final crimp height with a new factory cartridge. Success! Useable rounds. These smaller rounds always have a faceted finish to the crimp finish. This is simply remedied with the RTO Tool. I can now produce reliable rounds from my 28g. MEC. Remember, make sure the press is precisely set up for the hull height you are using, this is critical, if you are having crimp problems, ease off on crimp and pre-crimp pressures used DON'T increase it. I know how frustrating these rounds can be to get right, but, it's worth persevering.

Hi Talk to Clay and game suppliers, Steve and Amelia have always given excellent service, and they have a great stock, although they aren't the cheapest. Have a look at: http://shotgunreloading.co.uk/ This guy is worth talking to, his prices and delivery charges are good. I agree with Dangerous Brian about the R.T.O. tool, It works really well, especially with small bore rounds. They also do a Taper tool, that makes a great improvement in getting cartridges to fit the gun. I have reloaded thousands of 12g.rounds and I have recently restarted reloading for my 28g. I find the smaller calibre rounds are more tricky to get correct. I've never heard of heat resizing hulls, I go skip diving for my 28g. rounds, and I've learned what are good and not so good for reloading. It's not worth your sanity messing around too much with uncooperative hulls!Keep the faith and keep trying!

Hi, That is spectacular, well done. I always say that, " Making your own cartridges, and successfully hitting a target with them, is akin to catching a salmon on a fly you've tied yourself". How much better must if feel to produce the shot in them yourself! As well as the satisfaction, the cost saving must give you a nice warm feeling in the wallet!

Hi, I have one and a bit, tins of this old Noble powder. It was gifted to me by a great friend, along with his Hornady pacific 155 press. I think they all sat in his loft for Twenty years unused. The press is still producing thousands of rounds for me, It's 12g. and is mounted on my reloading bench next to a M.E.C 600 Jr. 28g. The old Pacific press is easily the stronger of the two. It's also nicer to use than the MEC press. Hornady still have parts available for the old press, I ordered a few bits, and Hornady in the U.S. sent them free of charge to me!. Sorry I'm waffling. Is it possible to acquire a copy of any Noble reloading data? I'm not sure if this old powder is categorized as: Black powder, Black power substitute or a modern type of propellant. I'll use it rather than throwing it away if I can get some safe data. However, If anyone is really keen to use this old powder, I would be more than happy to swap it for some of a more modern propellant. If anyone wants the powder, let me know, and I'll weigh it exactly for you. so you can decide.

Thanks for that Tightchoke. Greatly appreciated.

That's great Thanks for taking the time.Cheers

Anyone have a reliable and safe lead shot maker for sale in the U.K? Details inc. photos and price wipould be great thanks in advance. Cheers

This thread is fascinating. Does anyone know of a source in the U.K. Where I can buy a shot maker ready to use.I would love to be able to produce my own quality shot. I pretty much reload all of my own cartridges, and like everyone else, the cost of shot is becoming crippling expence,to the point were its no longer cost effective for 12gauge spoting ammo. I do still save on my 28gauge reloads. thanks in advance for reading this. Any information will be gratefully received. Cheers

Hi, As a club, we bought 25000 of these rounds. Some guys liked them. Most indicated a large amount of felt recoil, also lots of debris and smoke. We also noted a high number of misfires. The general consensus is: We won't be buying them again.

Hi, There are still some great value shooting venues around. For those lucky enough to live in Co. Durham or Tyne and Wear. Come and try the Times Inn Gun Club. Sunday morning shooting for £20:00 that includes 50 Cartridges and 50 Targets! Go To: thetimesinngunclub.co.uk Loads of info, contact details and maps. Have a look you won't regret it.Cheers

Hi,These guns are fabulous! I shoot between 800 and 1000 cartridges a month with my beloved 12g. Essex sporter. It's never let me down. It feels fantastic to hold and swings through beautifully. It also has looks that would stop traffic. I had an issue with a cracked stock 6 years ago. I contacted Mike Mansfield at Guerini U.K. not only did he arrange the repair my original stock faultlessly, and at no cost to me.they also gave me a second matching stock and fore end as an apology for any inconvenience caused. Try getting that level of service from the Beretta or Browning boys.

I think Blue Diamond are one of the best on the market. Gordon recoil system diamond hard lead shot. Hard hitting, excellent pattern and gentle on the shoulder, not the cheapest, but well worth the outlay.

Hi, do you have any photos of your gun? I'm keen to buy a mint example with top quality wood.Cheers

Hi Figgy I've just found the Oak Lodge web site. Very Impressive, I really like the clean look. All club info. is simple to find, and the site is great to navigate around. Nice one compliments to the people responsible.

Thanks Figgy, The website was a bit of a labour of love. It took ages to get it half way decent, I've never done this before. Loads of hits on the site, people seem to be enjoying the content. I've not done much with the useful links page yet. I would also like to have a wanted/for sale, page. All suggestions regarding content gratefully received. Why not build one for your own club. We get a lot of guests coming to give clays a try. A good percentage continue, get their ticket and join us. It's very inexpensive for web hosting and securing your web address.

Tightchoke makes an interesting point. I agree you should when possible shoot with a cartridge that you are confident with. Kent's, comp x, superfast,t Fiocchi and many others are all reasonable inexpensive rounds. As with all in life, generally you get what you pay for. Confidence, I think is the most important component in your choice of cartridges. There are pros and cons with all ammunition If a cartridge doesn't kick you to death and patterns well on a pattern plate, then you should start to get consistent results with it if you shoot enough to learn it's limitations. Try not to shoot a box of cartridges and then discard it. Use the same gun/cartridge combination and shoot lots of rounds. Don't get hung up on one specific part of your shooting i.e. Chokes, Cartridges or barrel length. Good stance, gun mount and shooting lots will help more than chopping and changing cartridges. I can't work out why anyone would shoot with a cheap round for practice then change to another for competition shooting. On the subject of dirty cartridges. Is it important if a cartridge leaves more **** in your barrels. It's never going to build up. The next cartridge fired will clean it out. And then of course at the end of the day you're going to clean your gun anyway so why worry?

hi Have a look at the Times Inn Gun Club. Great club, friendly and great value. For loads of info. go to: thetimesinngunclub.co.uk Cheers

Thanks again Cheers

Hi Thanks for that. Can I also ask, after I take out the washer, when I release the tension on the ejector, will it decompress completely, or is there another part of the procedure I need to follow to strip the ejector completely? Thanks again for taking the time to reply. Cheers Stuart

Hi I'm about to service my Caesar Guerini shotguns. The ejector assembly is ununusual in that it has "Washer", type locking discs recuring the ejectors in their tracks. Does anyone have experience of disassembly of this ejector layout? Or does anyone know of any links to any instructions or video tutorials on the subject? Any advice will greatly appreciated, before springs start flying around my ears!!! Thanks in advance.