OneEye

I'm astonished that the police let him have the guns back. If he'd been caught with a small amount for personal use he still ought to have had the cert. revoked and had to reapply, but operating as a drug dealer...! Words fail me.

I've got a blueing bath, if you want it hot-blue dipped. I'd advise packing it in a wooden box, mind you, or the post office will bend it.

2.3 ft/lbs - as long as it didn't hit you in the eye there's nothing to fear from that. Still don't think I'll be shooting up mind you.

I keep coming across references (including in publications such as Shooting Times) to people using the .17HMR to shoot corvids in trees. I was always taught, and believed, that to fire any rifle other than an air rifle without a clear backstop is the height of irresponsibility and indeed stupidity. If I were shooting birds in a tree I'd use either a shotgun or air rifle. Does anyone know, is there something about the .17HMR round that means the normal prohibition on firing up does not apply, or are there just some idiots about using them recklessly?

Well done and thanks! About time they stopped basing all shooting coverage on lazy alarmism.

There are as many opinions as there are modals of gun. Just a matter of trial and error until you find what suits you best - I've seen a bloke with a £20,000 gun get nothing and the bloke next to him with a rusty old Baikal shoot like a demon all day and get a huge bag.

Depends where you zero it I'd imagine. If you are using a range I wouldn't have thought there was a problem, but if it's a field you might need to get the FEO to check it over first.

I wouldn't advise buying any gun on pice alone. Given the amount of time you'll keep them, you want to take the time, and spend the money, to get something that really suits you. Some gun shops have land and a trap and let you try out the secondhand guns if you're a serious buyer. Having said that I used to own a Remington 11-87, it was only £300 and shot very well. Now I have a Miroku o/u and very pleased I am with it although it was nearly £1000 s/h. The reason there are so many of the cheaper guns for sale secondhand is that people have bought them on price and then found them wanting. On the other hand, you might find something for £100 that suits you perfectly and you want to keep for ever. Personally, I'd suggest getting an o/u to begin with as they're great guns to learn on, and rightly or wrongly a lot of people are jumpy around semis. It's foolish of them as if you simply leave the bolt back anyone can see it's safe, but (probably untrue) stories of the yahoo with the semi who shot a hole in his own car/foot/gunslip are told and retold by break-gun shooters until most believe that the semi is an inherently unsafe weapon. You might find you get more invitations to shoot if you turn up with a break gun. Balmy, I know, but true. Later on, add a good semi. I'd put in a word for Benelli here - my wife shoots with the Montefeltro as she has a bad shoulder and finds it hard to lift heavy guns - it's as light as a .22 and a lovely little gun, which I borrow frequently.

I personally always recommend the Cobra Merlin for a gen1 sight. You can use them as a handheld viewer or attach them to a scope, there are a variety of extra illuminators and lenses available for them. I do sell them, but this isn't a sales plug, I use one on my .22 and also as a spotter when using my Javelin on the .223 for foxing. A reputable reseller will test them for tube quality etc, before sending them out.

The DSC is fine for people who can't find someone to mentor them.

Thatcher did some good stuff - and the unions were well overdue a kicking at the time. But I think she went too far, manufacturing was destroyed and the unions were completely broken. British Rail was pretty ropey, but is Virgin that much better? Not here it isn't - but the bloke you complain to now has a different coloured hat and a mission statement on the wall. GPO telephones were rubbish, but I'm not sure how much better it is to spend three hours on the phone to a call centre in India. Most proper jobs, actually making things, have gone abroad and we've become a nation of customer service operatives. Thatcher opened the door to the Americanisation of Britain - long hours, low wages and lots of shiny things bought on credit that keep people working ever longer hours to pay the bills. And when you complain you get a smug *** in an office with a plastic smile, wittering on about 'company policy' rather than a grumpy shop steward whining about demarcation and the legitimate aspirations of his members. The big winners are the greedy directors filling their snouts with bonuses for mucking things up, and millions of new bureaucrats overpaid to torment us with elf and safety and the like. Sorry, but I think the bad things in the country are not any better, just rubbish in a different way. The good things are pretty much the same.

T8s will burst if you don't maintain them well, which means drying them out on a radiator. and spraying inside with loads of WD40 after a trip. After trying centrefire mods for a while, I've decided they're not all they're cracked up to be. The reduction in sound is useful but is still heard for a fair way off - they unbalance your rifle and add to the weight. I just carry ear plugs now for the most part.

If that's aimed at me, you're way off target mate. More range time required...

And don't refer to vacuum cleaners as 'Hoovers' unless they are manufactured by Hoover. And don't call rotary mowers 'Flymos' unless they are made by Flymo, and don't call nylon-cord grass trimmers 'Strimmers' unless they're made by Black and Decker.

£250-ish, if the barrel's in good order. If it's been used as a pest control gun by a pro, the barrel's probably approaching the end of its life - pros only sell off guns when they've thrashed the life out of them as a rule. As a general rule, I buy new rifles and used shotguns. You couldn't do much better for a bolt gun than one of the CZs, about £250 new and then maybe another £200 for a good scope. Their varmint barrelled rifle was my first .22 and I still regret parting with it.