Towngun

You can get a Carp Barrow which has a motor: http://www.carpbarrows.co.uk/ However, I used one without a motor but sold it after an exodus from a muddy field. The clay stuck to the wheel and brought the whole shooting match to a halt. Ended up unloading it piecemeal and making several trips back and forwards. I'm now resigned to making two trips to get the kit on and offsite. Of course its best to travel light and use field craft rather than technology but not many of us have the time to do the recognisance and so we rely on kit which weights a ton!

The Beretta opens on a stub pin positioned between the barrels. The Browning mechanism for opening is contained under the barrels. In consequence, the Beretta has a “shallower” action and feel as alluded to in some of the comments posted. My preference is for the Miroku MK38 model with 30in barrels and Teague multi-chokes. It is hefty, utterly reliable, really well made and value for money. However, I would not want to carry it on a day’s rough shooting. If you shoot a lot of shells you need a heavy gun. Manufacturers like to create a brand loyalty but both guns (and many other makes) are better than the man or women who shoots them.

Pigeon are flock birds. Wing flaps are both a signal to join the feeding group and also warning of danger and departure. I was using a flapper with a timer on and noticed two events: a) it pulled the birds in and b) then warned them off. The secret is one or two flaps and then nothing more. Invest in a remote control which is much better as you can shut the thing down when the birds are on their way in.

I have been looking at the 24 V 28 gram debate and wonder if anyone has further comment. The advantage of 24 grams is: 1. Lower recoil* 2. Lower cost 3. Less deformity of shot - better patterns *If frequently heading a football can lead to brain injury, what happens to the brain following several thousands of shots taken on the clay ranges? Heading is believed to have killed the English footballer Jeff Astle. The disadvantages: 1. Less shot in the air I have looked at the average pellet count for 28 grams of No.7.5 and this is 350. So what if we took 24 grams but moved up to No.8? When we do this we see the average count is 359. Not only do you resolve the pellet count issue but you actually increase it. Problem solved or at least the problem now moves to another debate i.e. No.7.5 to No.8 shot? For those who suffer from recoil issues or for those who are concerned about the long term impact of recoil on the brain box this may be worth consideration. PS: I am not suggesting N0.8's are suitable for live quarry.

At all ranges out to 30 meters (32.8 yards) we are greatly handicapping ourselves with a tightly choked bore versus a more open choked bore. With an open choke your will kill more than you will miss. Old English game guns were always open choked. Check out the data: http://www.chuckhawks.com/where_pattern_today.htm

These guns are a modren classic. Just ozzes quality. I own a 26" Skeet Gun, its short barrels break all of the conventional wisdoms espoused by the 30" plus shooters, including myself at one time and up to 40 yards "you" have the advantage over chokes!

There is no one gun for all men/women! I started with a B125, went to a Berretta, back to Browning GTI and now have a Miroku MK38 Grade 5 Sporter 30”. It is a fine robust and attractive gun. For me the Miroku fits better than the Browning and I prefer the non ventilated centre rib. The gun is barrel heavy and while some may consider that a disadvantage it absorbs recoil and helps momentum during gun swing. In fact I purchased it for this reason. I would suggest this is a true clay gun and I use an old 26” Miroku Skeet gun for game. The more expensive Berretta is an excellent gun and much is said about the Berretta shallow action but this aesthetics. I prefer the deeper action of the Browning. My experience with Berretta was not good. I did not like its blueing, which you could scratch with a thumb nail and the extractors were razor sharp and overrode the cartridge head. Pick up a Browning and it feels so well engineered it could last a lifetime. I feel the Browning/Miroku is far better than its marketing.

Dear Sportsman and Woman Humans first appeared about 195,000 years ago. Of the 195,000 years it is only in the last 100 that hunting has been divorced from food and the last 20 years that animal rights activists have divorced logic from animal welfare giving animals anthropomorphic –human like qualities. Now they promote animals, together with the BBC with qualities and rights to the point where even the advancement of life saving medical science is frustrated. This of course does not apply to the millions of animals subjected to religious slaughter without pre-stunning, the slaughter houses owned for this purpose and the over spill of meat sold to non religious consumers neatly wrapped in polythene without labelling as such. To oppose this would be seen as politically incorrect and it’s far easier to criminalise the rural community for fox hunting and shooting. Today man does not hunt for food but like it or not man remains designed to hunt. This is why the human eyes face forward as do those of every other land predator or bird of prey. You may not like it but hunting is a man’s heritage and the dichotomy is that his/her love of his/her quarry often confers benefits on the very animals he/she hunts, its welfare and habitat that would be otherwise denied if left those that profess animal welfare. As a shooting man or women you "must" take this fight to the antis and challenge their lunacy. To do so may carry risk but you can log onto blogs, newspaper articles etc and voice your opinion. Finally, If you have suffered and been treated for cancer or any of your relatives have then you will have benefited directly from medical research involving animals, research that these lunatics have nearly brought to a halt or driven abroad, where welfare standards ironically are far lower. The next time you walk past a poster, petition and collection in the high street made by animal rights activists consider this, before you walk on. Why not courteously stop and say "no thank you", because my mother, father, brother sister nephew or niece is alive today because of medical research that you would deny! DON’T RELY ON OTHERS – DEFEND YOUR SPORT AND YOUR WAY OF LIFE BECAUSE MOST OF EUROPE IS A WASTELAND OF VERMIN BARREN OF ANIMAL DIVERSITY BECAUSE THE PRO ACTIVE GREEN MOVEMENT WAS LEFT UNCHALLENGED.

NPPC is an excellent concept offering a structured booking procedure, protection for the farmer and a code of ethics for the shooter. I have never experienced any favouritism or bias and always found John Shooter to be a first class ambassador for the sport. I know he has done much work behind the scenes for the protection and advancement of our sport. I am also aware that he has been rewarded by former NPPC members making direct approaches to farmers and then cutting NPPC & members out of the shooting which to say the least is unethical.

I have been a member of NPPC but now have my own more local shooting. However, I remain committed to its concept which is sport in return for regulated crop protection.There are one or two posts on NPCC which indicate to me that those posting have not had any real experience with NPPC. Firstly, booking the field is a good idea. NPCC also has a feedback facility and a code of conduct. I know of another set up where booking was not allowed and to my horror they also allowed Class 1 firearms users (since stopped by the police). Imagine that, sitting in a hide with a high velocity round whizzing past and not even knowing another gun was out there! To make matters even worse this permission was well will within rifle range of a Motorway! This is what happens when you get an idiot in control of another idiot with a gun. I know this because this particular set up shared one field with NPCC and I might add abused it. i reaised my concerns at the time. When I walked the field i found evidence of litter, plastic bags, toilet waste and large volumes of plastic cartridges discarded etc. How could a country sportsman do such a thing to the area he shoots over? Let the great british public loose, without controls, on a farmers land and you will pretty soon lose permissions. Of course a field should be booked out and I might add policed by fellow members who can report earlier users – what is the alternative, two shooters arguing over the field? This is why farmers use NPPC and reject individual approaches. I’m afraid ladies and gentlemen there are those amongst us who will abuse the countryside and the permissions that are granted by the farmers as a privilege. NPCC offers a controls over such abuse and you should value its membership. So as annoying as it may be these systems secure your future sport. There is no favouritism - a field is either booked or not, simple as that. If the area is well shot then try mid week shooting. Farmers want crop protection and are not interested in the recreation shot that comes out once a month. This is what NPPC is all about. Try referring NPCC in rather than going for individual permission. It might seem strange but you will carry far more clout with the farmer when he knows you can offer genuine crop protection that goes beyond your own ability to shoot the field. Discuss a prospective farmer with John and he will help open up the permission. Finally, let me tell you this – John Shooter is a keen sportsman and has done more for your sport - perhaps more than you will ever know or do! . He is ethical and runs a first class sporting agency that costs peanuts to join. In comparison try buying a day with another agency and you will soon find out NPCC offer you a year’s shooting for the same. For the modern sportsman who is “passion rich but time poor” this is a method of securing sporting opportunity. Note it is the opportunity for sport you pay for not the guarantee - these are wild birds not farmed fat pheasants driven over you at head height.

Question: Wouldn’t it be nice if you could slow your target down and take your time over the shot? You can with maintained lead! If two cars travel at the same speed, one in front of the other the perception of speed is lost. (Maintained Lead) If one car comes from behind, overtakes the other the perception of speed is greatest. (Pull through) Why mess about mounting a gun behind the bird when you need to get to the front? Maintained lead is so logical and economical.

The shotgun is the idea sporting firearm mainly because its lethality dissipates rapidly beyond 50 yards or does it? Compared with a class 1 firearm – lethal up a mile plus. On the Clay pigeon circuit shooting requires at least a 300-yard fall out zone because the shot from the cartridge can travel 300 yards. It is really quite astonishing how far 300 yards is especially if you use a rangefinder to assess distance. Now the question I would ask is how many of us shoot pigeon on fields where public roads, houses or footpaths fall well within this 300 yard perimeter. The UK is a congested little place and when you apply this rule to your shooting I would suggest that many will reclassify there permissions as unsafe!

I purchase spray stock oil from a gun shop which subsequently gummed up and proved useless. It was however expensive. I goggled the contents and hey presto it proved to be another name for Danish Oil, which is as cheap as chips! I now use both Danish Oil and Tung Oil, the latter requires more work over time. My theory is that part of the value of a Best London Gun is the man hours spent in its preparation. You may not have the money to own such a gun but you can upgrade your own over time by the slow hand application of such treatments. If you enjoy fine guns it's also therapeutic to apply and the results are rewarding.

Teague chokes are first class top end engineering. For me they are the best so I have the best but that does not mean I need them or that my shooting will be improved by them any more that by my choice of cartridge. However, in shooting there is a psychological element that should not be understated. It’s the shooting equivalent of the Witch Doctor and when you know your pattern and cartridge is as good as it can be then it places the mind into a winning frame and can’t help but help you. If you drive the best car you can afford and wear a nice suit - you feel good because you look good and perhaps better that your peers so too your gun, cartridge and chokes. However, if you attempt to quantify it in scentific terms for most of us our shooting falls apart long before we can blame chokes (or for that matters the makes of the chokes) - we missed the bird because we were nowhere near it! PS Even though I use teague chokes I don't mess about changing them - I also believe more birds are hit than missed through the use of open chokes. Unless your an Ace Shot why not try Skeet and quarter at sporting. Out to 40 yards opens chokes help not hinder.

They say only a fool doesn't learn from their mistakes. Well these's plenty of shooting fools who year in year out keep making the same mistake and never improve scores. Here is one way forward with Springing Teal: 1. These are only constant on the rise 2. Its easire to deal with a constant 3. Position half way between apex and first visual pickup point 4. IMPORTANT position gun to one side, that way you can see the bird rise 5. Follow bird up, bring focus and gun and top edge of clay fire on leading edge before apex

John Shooter is a good man and NPCC is an excellent idea. It too far for me to travel but it deserves to be supported.

PIGEON MAGNET OR REPELLENT! Air Pros, Turbo Flappers, hypa flappers and magnets beware! In 1988 John Batley (The Great Pigeon Ambassador) noticed that during the editing of video footage, rapid wing beats were a precursor to an escape. Approaching birds would turn away when seeing rapid wing movements. If you watch a natural flock then rapid movemnt is very short lived and then the bird settles! John explains in his excellent book* that if a bird was shot and fell to the ground, thereafter still then the second bird would keep coming into the pattern. The moral is rapid movement means danger. This makes sense even if you are not a pigeon! This does not mean that you should not have movement but it does mean you should not have too much movement. If you use a Turbo Flapper, use a timer or a remote control and limit the wing beats. If you accept this view (based on slow motion filming) then a Pigeon Magnet becomes a Pigeon Repellent. I wonder if anyone has considered using a timer on a pigeon magnet i.e. two of three spins and three times as long paused? If anyone tries this please report back. * "The Pigeon Shooter" 2nd Edition by John Batley

Sorry just checked e-mails. Take a note of my contact details or text me 0797 331 8045 if you have any future opportunities. Fully Insured BASC etc, safe shot, full kit and Worcester based.

In the UK we seldom have fields which are not near or boardered by roads or rights of way. Much time is spent talking about fight lines and wind direction but what of shot fallout. How many shooter have tracked a pigeon, fired thereafter realizing that there is a road beyond. What distances would you place behind your shot? NB: French ballistics expert, General Journee, years ago worked out a formula to the effect that the maximum range in yards equals 2200 times the shot diameter in inches. When the gun is held at a horizontal position or only slightly elevated, this formula gives the maximum range of shot sizes as shown below. No. 6 - 242 yards No. 7 1/2- 209 yards No. 8 - 198 yards " As you can see, most pigeon loads go not much more than 200 yards - what are your views?

Just noticed this post - 2003. Is this clubs still in existence? Let me know.

Hi Paul - whats your location?

Q: I am looking for vermin control in the Shrewsbury area. A: Plenty of public sector workers in Shrewsbury - I hear there is a glut of them in need of control before they destoy the habitat that supports them. PS: For those Public Sector types - this is a joke!

PS finally I use Youngs 303 as a protection on the barrels - also I just love the smell which to me is quintessentially the smell a gun should have - to me it perfume!