White Rabbit

Watch the shooting channels when decoying over stubble. At some point they will refer to a nearby crop which is being hammered. There's a reason they do that. "Should" this is NE we are dealing with! We have been advised by our agent not to take that risk.

I predict mass hysteria when all the licences are issued due to the many conditions they contain when in reality 99% of them were in the old licences but no one bothered to read them! Applying for an individual licence could potentially put your details in the hands of anti's via a Freedom of Information request. People are receiving emails from the association's at different times. Some of which may be out of date. Tens of thousands of emails can't be sent at once or they'd be blocked as spam. Hence them being sent out over time.

NE are currently re-issueing the general licences with more indepth wording to make them legally watertight. The first one has allready been released to cover crows damaging farm stock. It's a general licence like last time. You do not have to apply for it. Just follow it's conditions like we all did with the last licence, yes?! Further general licences are being issued in the coming days to cover most uses. Crop protection etc etc. There's no information to state they won't cover us all as well. NE prioritised stock protection. Flora and Fauna is next followed by crop protection. Its all there in black and white if you bother to look. Individual licence applications are largely a waste of time now. I'm a professional gamekeeper and see it as part of my job to know what laws I work under but I have to say the ignorance and hysteria shown on this board regarding our laws is breathtaking.

Provisionally sold. PM sent.

I'd like to sell the complete box as one if possible but will bear you in mind thanks. WR

Hornady .17hmr 17gn v-max 500 rounds in sealed boxes. £120. FAC required with relative authority. DH1 (Darlington) area.

Promatic Pigeon for sale. 10 months old and in full working order. Has had only light use. Comes with its integral trolley, foot pedal release and the remote key fob release. I'll also include a box of clays in the deal. £300. ( No offers) To collect from CA17 (cumbria) I'd be prepared to travel a reasonable distance.

This will rock your world! They allready make this new cartridge in their existing range! High Pheasant Extreme in 32gm 6 is really 5.5. There is 20fps difference just to make you feel better! These are obviously aimed at the Whitfield,Linhope,Buccleugh type partridge but the market can hardly be huge. A personal favourite is "spherical tolerance controlled hardened shot" ie.graded! Marketing tosh! They're giving Gamebore a run for their money! WR.

The joys of facebook. I never thought to check that. Cheers. WR.

Morning All. Is it just me or when you search for their site all that comes up is a picture of a cactus?! I assumed Vodafone had randomly switched parental control on which they like to do now and again to annoy me but its displaying the same through Sky broadband. Anyone else having the same issue? WR.

I might try the 30gm 6's when I get the chance. My days vary from very high stuff to local farm shoot type birds so its hard to find a do it all load. Superniks will no doubt contain very hard shot. Incidentally, The pellet count in a 30/6 hpf is the same as a 30/6 Professional Game which would suggest the shot is no harder in them. Just the velocity has been ramped up. Its surprising what you can cleanly kill with the Professional Game. WR.

Amazing as in tight patterns at range or just a good quality even spread? I've been looking to try them but a guest hasn't turned up using any yet for me to cadge some! WR.

I should have been more specific. Apologies. I was referring to British cartridge manufacturers and their game loads. WR.

Yes I use lead. You're not understanding the argument. That doesn't give anyone carte blanche to throw plastic all over the countryside. You're not likely to ever see sales figures as they're commercially sensitive. My information comes from talking to two different cartridge manufacturer's first hand on shoot days. I can't see why they'd lie. Watch someone like Simon Ward in a grouse butt using fibres then explain why you need plastic?! I'm not getting drawn into an argument no one can win as some people just have a different outlook on things and that won't change. WR.

That has to be the most ridiculous argument in favour of littering the countryside with rubbish I've ever heard! Humans by our very existance cause pollution but its our moral obligation to minimise this. I drive a polluting vehicle so I might as well throw my rubbish out the window as I drive seeing as I'm polluting the environment anyway?! I think the plastic wad brigade like to see themselves as superior shots that require a cartridge "better" than us mere mortals! I travel the length of the country through my work and the vast majority of gameshoots ARE fibre only. Ask any manufacturer. Fibre loads outsell plastic atleast twofold. WR.

Hang fires or misfires? I'm seeing more and more hard primers for some reason. We've recently chewed through 2k of Cheddites with 2/3 misfires in each box. It happened in a range of different guns and all went off on the second attempt. Gamebore also use Cheddite primers. I imagine out of the millions they produce its bound to happen. It just takes the material used to be a tiny fraction too thick to cause problems. Its just strange that it now seems more common. It happens in batches so buy from a different supplier next time and all will be well. P.s,don't think buying top end shells cures the problem. It doesnt! I've seen plenty Black Golds etc go click! WR.

If anyone finds an Express shell that is smooth to shoot my advice would be to go back to the shop and buy a few thousand of the same batch. From personal experience and that of friends I'm convinced Lyalvale have a tendency to tinker with the components causing inconsistencies. Three of us separately bought Power Blues when they came out. Smooth as silk. The next two batches (in a heavier ribbed case) were brutal. The case cudnt cause that but it points to things being changed. Its been highlighted on another forum all ready and possibly this one. Out of that list I'd go Italian. RC Pro Game in 28/30gm. Uk 5.5. WR.

Soon to be discontinued. Check Justcartridges bin ends. They're currently selling them off. WR.

I have nothing personal against agents per se and we have sold days through Churchills in the past very successfully but the profit/effort ratio is certainly alot higher for agents compared to keepers!

It would be difficult to be honest. The cheap days towards the end of the season tend to go to regular established teams who are known to be good shots and can commit to a date/price at very short notice. The estates involved don't want or need the hassle of making teams up of unknown guns I'm afraid. That's where sporting agents come in but sadly they have a habit of making large amounts of money from clients for very little effort! Its a tough nut to crack. As an aside,the very large days are rarely let. Very few over 300b would be. These bags are shot by the moor owners and their inner circle. Even the very rich baulke at paying 45k+ for a days sport with the exception of afew mostly american teams. Some of the bags shot on the private days are truly staggering and may not sit well with many. WR.

People love talking numbers and get rather carried away with the whole concept of the costs involved. We no longer run on a 5 year boom then bust cycle due to medicated grit so bags are more predictable. Only bad springs really knock us back now. Driven grouse days are usually taken by teams of 9. The average price in the north pennines is around £150 a brace. Overage nowadays tends to be just set at the rate agreed per brace for your original bag. Estates want to encourage teams to shoot over nowadays. Sticking and extra 20% per brace on overage would be counter productive. Remember in most cases you can shoot 10% over your agreed bag with no additional cost. Prices only get hyper inflated when wonderful letting agents get involved. Avoid them at all costs unless your very rich,foreign or both. Fixed price days can work out very good value towards the end of the season but you need to be a strong team and you need to cost in insurance as the weather can easily see your day cancelled. I've seen 150 brace days go for £4500 a day but you need to be in the right place at the right time and go direct to an estate. WR.

They're now two separate companies. The shotgun cartridge side of things is part of the Maxam group. Eley's are now loaded with their components. It seems strange that other Maxam owned companies produce better ammunition with the same components. As has been said,Eley were market leaders but sadly no more. The metallic ammunition was also highly thought of. I will be a shame if it has gone the same way as the cartridges. WR.

I see many thousands of cartridges fired every year from all the manufacturers and without doubt Eley have the highest rate of faults by a country mile. This was backed up by one of our suppliers. Misfires,mishapes,wads in sideways etc. I've had several myself and no longer use Eley. Their customer service will no doubt ignore you. But your issue is down to your retailer to sort so take it up with them. If you've lost confidence in the batch you have they should swap the remaining ones. WR.

I'll certainly be making my feelings known to the Editor. They havent even attempted to cut the content down on the sly. Its blatantly been halved overnight. There's no need for it to be repetitive as I don't see it as a "how to" type magazine. Just fill it with quality photography,shoot reports,interviews and relative independant game gun reviews. Its not rocket science! Did anyone read the head to head gun tests in last months Fieldsports? Warts and all. That's how it should be done. WR.

Its sad to see its demise so rapidly. As a high end publication covering a very expensive niche market it should be able to hold its own. The Field manages and is now double the number of pages compared to the Gazette for a few pence more. I've bought the Gazette since its first issue but this will be my last renewal which is a shame. I'd allready started skipping articles without realising. How many times can you read about Will Garfitt shooting loads of pigeons?! Its like groundhog day. Adam Calvert I've seen operate and don't rate and why does Alex Flint test guns you'd never see near a peg? Commercial pressure I guess. WR.