Vince Green

The boxlock is simpler and more robust. A cheap sidelock is more prone to problems but there is nothing better than a good sidelock. If in doubt go for a boxlock every time.

Ask a boar what he prefers and get the other one! Solid slugs are very effective at short range but don't have the distance. how close do you want to get?

You have a great action there, It should be lovely and sweet. Just get some snap caps and always take the pressure off the springs when you put it away. Ugartchea springs are a bit soft but if you look after it it will be a gun to leave to your grandchildren. Just out of interest, how much did you pay for it?

I have never been really sure whether it makes much difference but what I can tell you is that the serious match shooters do it religiously and they should know.

Get some Hoppes, that removes lead fouling. 009 is more or less the same stuff but doesn't seem as strong. Best advice if it bothers you is don't look!

Howa probably offers best quality for the price at the present time. Really speaking, if you ask a dozen different people you are going to get a dozen different opinions. There are no bad rifles on the market but my advice would be start with something straightforward like a Howa, Remington or CZ and you will not regret it.

Don't put black powder cartridges through your gun. It won't do it any harm but the cleaning requirements are entirely different and the residue gets everywhere. Black powder residue is Hydroscopic ( absorbs water) and can cause rusting if its not neutralised.

Yes, thats a Ugartchea action. I was wrong about the number of holes. They make them for sale to other makers as well as fitting to their own guns. The bright finish is a give away. Its a good action, it should be sweet and trouble free. 12-70 means 12 bore 70mm cartridge (2 3/4") as said before.

Just a long shot but look at the part of the breech where the firing pins come out to strike the back of the cartridge. Are there two discs set into the action for the firing pins to come out from, each disc will have two holes in them so they can be unscrewed with a special tool? If it has the action is a Ugarchia. They made actions like that in the white and sold them to other makers for finishing.

My Winchester came with holes for a scope mount alread drilled from the factory. The holes were blanked off with little screws. IMO although you may just want open sights at the moment the time will come when you get fed up with the limitations and want to fit a scope. Definitely go for a .44 mag because although a lot of people have them in .357 eventually you will start wanting a bit more power. You can load a .44mag up to the full power or just use a sqib load for plinking. Very versitile rifle and accurate out to over 100 yds with the right load.

Yes you get lead streaks but they come out easily enough with a phosphor bronze brush. To be honest all I do with my shotgun is give each barrel a spray with WD40 and a couple of patches to wipe out any residue. repeat a second time if they need it and then wipe over the exterior with the last clean patch. A quick once over with and old toothbrush round the extractors and put it away. I've been doing that for years. With chrome plated bores thats all you need if its used regularly. All these "witches brews" they sell in the gunshops are there to take your money. If I was going to put the gun away for any length of time I clean it and oil it properly of course. I use the same procedure for my .22 rifle but give it a good scrub every few times it goes out to remove any leading and the build up round the breech gets a going over with an old make up brush.

Years ago "when oi were a lad" foxes were always shot with a .22. Never thought of using anything else. You just have to wait for a good shot. Don't under estimate the old .22. My uncle Harry used to shoot decoyed pigeons with a .22 as well because they "weren't worth a cartridge" Its funny how times and opinions change. Now I read about people using .243s for foxes and it makes me wonder why. Mind you the ranges and the techniques are entirely different now.

The Customs are well up to speed with tricks like marking goods as presents to avoid duty. You are still liable, gifts are not exempt. However in any day they get more parcels going through than they can deal with so lower value parcels get let through on the nod, it very much depends on what else is going through on the day. Do not be tempted to put a lower value on the declaration to try and fool them. You could get it confiscated. More likely they will raise a higher valuation themselves to punish you if they think you are taking the pee.

Round our way the trick or treat kids are getting out of hand. They go round in gangs and want money, forget a few sweets. If you don't cough up they throw eggs at your windows. I have now perfected a technique for keeping them away. It works like a charm. No knocks on the door at all last year. What you do is get an old pair of wellies and paint them silver. then leave them casually by the front door like you have kicked them off as you went in. The little blighters won't knock if they think Gary Glitter lives there!

I wonder how many cartridges it would take to make the exercise cost effective. If it can process up to a tonne an hour thats fine but where are you going to get 8 tonnes of fired cartidges from every day? You cant truck them in from other grounds because that would cost more than the job is worth. Besides, I don't suppose all the shooting grounds and all the shooters in the country produces 8 tonnes of fired cases a day. The best machines made for recycling cartridges are made by Lee, Redding, Lyman and MEC. Its only a trade conspiracy that makes reloading uneconomical. Years ago I used to reload cartridges for half the price of factory loads. Why can't I still do it? Its another example of plastic cases, and plastic wads, being hoisted upon us. Did anyone ask us what we think? Paper cases are bio degradable so why not use them instead? There nothing nicer than a cartridge bag full of lovely big fat paper cartridges and nothing worse than finding a load of garish brightly coloured plastic cases stuffed in a hedge.

The term grey import is one of those expressions that main agents like to use sneeringly to describe guns that have been sourced by the dealer from another main agent somewhere in europe. This is perfectly legal and above board and wouldn't be necessary if the main agents in this country didn't rip dealers off. It no way implies they are in any way substandard. We live in a global market these days and you can choose where you buy goods from. If an agent in Holland is offering a better price than the agent in Britain then fine.

At that age the chances are it won't be nitro proof. You just need to get that checked out.

The Greener GP can be reloaded in the shoulder with a bit of practice and it makes it as fast as a pump action more or less. Slighlty slower IMO but not by much and most pumps only have 2 shots in the mag. It is said that the GP can shoot its way through a box of 25 cartridges faster than any other type of shotgun. Not much use in practical terms unless you get attacked by a flock of killer pigeons but another useless bit of information to tell somebody down the pub.

I'm glad you mentioned Peter Capstick. Everybody should read his books and I do mean everbody. Death in the long grass is particularly recommended.

All International parcels by law require a statement of content and value. Customs can open any parcel and seize the contents if they feel the statement is deliberately misleading to avoid duty. Yes you do have to declare the value on presents and still have to pay duty. They are not so dumb they didn't work that one out years ago. However, on the good side, more international selling on websites like Sinclair and e-bay means there are more parcels than they can cope with so a lot just go through unchecked. This time of year in the run up to Christmas is probably the busiest.

At that price why don't you buy some and try for yourself. I always found these "killer" pellets to be less effective than the ordinary pellets but there is nothing like trying for your self. I am suprised that they are selling those pellets on e-bay because the sale of pellets by post has been stopped. This is a real blow because all the air rifle dealers are stuck away in odd corners of the country like Cromer and hard to get to and its hard to get pellets any more. Unless you are prepared to take what you can get from your local shop.

I think St Huberts is an MOD range. They certainly would be deer legal but most police forces won't even allow .375 for deer.

The big disadvantage of a double rifle is that there is no guarantee that the two barrels will shoot to the same point of impact except (if you are lucky) at about 200yds. Even then its not guaranteed. They are made with the intention of being on at one distance but its all down to the skill of the man who puts the barrels togeather at the factory and some can be way out. The ammunition for the old rifles is still being made by Kynamco in Mildenhall Suffolk but the prices are very high. Anything from £10 to £100 per round. Henry Kranks sell the cases but dies are are problem now that NDFS has gone out of business, anyway most calibres are too big for a standard press. The other problem is where are you going to shoot it? Its well over the power allowed on most ranges, except Diggle, and they aren't going to give it to you for deer. There used to be a club for double rifle shooters at Bisley but they fell foul of the new MOD power restictrions a couple of years back. Can't even shoot .375 H&H. They and can now only shoot the older black powder calibres. Check out the auction prices on the Holts site. Most reasonable double rifles start around £5000

Yes Fister, you are so right about the barrel life on these specials. Its a rich mans game.

Unless its serious pitting its only surface rusting and not dangerous, Nearly every old gun has some pitting as its probably a throw back to the days of corrosive cartridges. However this is an indiction that the gun may be quite old (probably) and so you should satify yourself that it is nitro proofed. If the gun is black powder proofed and has laminated barrels don't use it except with black powder cartridges and only then after consulting a gunsmith.