Vince Green

Its not BS but its not law either. Its another example of those in authority dreaming up new laws and regulations in order to make life more difficult. When expanding ammunition was banned some faceless twit in the home office decided with any consultation that target shooting would not constitute a "good reason" for a FAC holder to have expanding bullets. Since then some Police Authorities have gone beyond their remit and decided that this means expanding bullets CAN'T be used for target shooting which is complete rubbish and not what the regulations state. Most of this stuff is covered by "guidelines" which are NOT law. Other examples of guidelines that exceed the law (1) You can only buy as many expanding bullets as you have provision for live rounds on your FAC. This is a made up regulation but it now has become accepted. You can buy thousands of FMJ bullets no problem. (2) You have to keep unloaded expanding bullets in your safe. Really? where does it say so? (3) You have to show your FAC to buy primers. No you don't, they are not restricted but if you don't show the dealer your FAC he won't sell them to you because he is licenced by the Local Police Authority and if he doesn't follow their "guidelines" he could have his licence revoked so its easier to just toe the line.

Yes I reload .303 and have done for years but its not the easiest or most forgiving round to load because its a tapered case. You still have the problem of getting hold of soft point bullets, there aren't many about.

Yes but its a catch 22 because if nobody is using .303 for game you won't get the ammo very easily The only people shooting .303 in quantity are the historical rifle buffs and they use FMJ. The only people I know who keep .303 soft point are Wilson & Wilson in Ramsgate or Kynoco in Mildenhall. Thats OK if you are happy to drive miles every time you want ammo or you are prepared to pay a fortune and wait ages while your local dealer gets it for you on special order.

Ricochets are a bit of a myth, they do happen but very rarely if you take proper control. What is more likely is that the bullet just goes straight through and keep going. So shooting rabbits on the skyline of a hill etc is a no no. You always have to assess whats behind your quarry.

What usually happens is the police take them to a local gunshop to be sold. There is also a temporary executors licence which can be granted in order for the executor to dispose of the guns. Don't get the idea that guns seized by the police are destroyed. Many are sold by them at auction.

Nobody makes new rifles in .303 these days which is a shame.

could be a mink?

You have to find out why your club does not allow .44 mag. It cannot be because of the safety certification because the .44 mag is well within 1660fps which is the minimum rating for ranges. It is probably a self imposed restriction on noise (I am guessing). You need to ask your secretary. If you are going to reload .44 special is easier than .44-40 because the .44-40 has a tapered case.

By a varmit barrel you mean a heavy barrel. A heavy barrel aids accuracy because it reduces whip in the barrel when firing. It sounds amazing but when you fire a rifle the effect of the recoil causes the barrel to flex microscopically due to its own inertia. Imagine holding a long whippy fishing rod in your hand, suddenly jerk the handle up and back to simulate the recoil of a gun. Instead of coming up with the recoil the tip of the rod will dip downwards due to inertia. Not so obviously, the same thing happens with a rifle barrel. Stalking rifles are made with very light barrels to keep the weight down so the barrels are much thinner. Therefore they are more prone to whip. You hear people talking about rifles having a very whippy barrel sometimes. Varmint rifles are fired more often, often enough to get the barrels hot and a heavy barrel helps to dissipate heat. Every barrel moves its point of impact as it heats up, even the very best barrels do it. Light stalking barrels do it more and get hot quicker.

.22 Hornet is well over supersonic so a sound moderator is not really going to do much to reduce the noise. It will soften the bang from the gun but the crack from the bullet wont be reduced at all.

There used to be a gunshop in Edgeware years ago called Chubbs and the owner was a complete snob. If you went in wearing tweeds and has a posh accent he was all over you. Go in wearing jeans and a local accent and he could hardly bring himself to serve you. But what about all those really great and helpful shops that there are around? Lets hear it for them. I nominate Gunshop in Cat Hill East Barnet and its owner Joe Beatham as "best gunshop in the south" How about some others?

Chard is right its a supply and demand thing. Also, they are harder to get hold of and the choice will be limited when you can get them. Unless you have a burning desire to get a 20 think seriously about it.

Try here www.cartridgecollectors.org

The only thing the 3" has over the shorter cartridge is a bit more shot. They are not a true magnum in the sense of higher velocity or pressure. Best advice is buy some and see. The .410 cartridges are usually dearer than the cheapest 12b anyway so if you are worried about cost this is not the way to go.

Technically, its illegal to reload ammunition and give/sell it to another. Even if you both have the right calibres on your certificates. Its one of these made up rule the police have devised to make life more awkward. They say you are only allowed to buy or reload for your own use. Pedantic or what?

The best gunshop in London area IMO is Gunshop at Cat Hill East Barnet. The bloke who runs it Joe Beatham is a diamond.

You could check out some of the American suppliers, Midway for example. No restrictions on cases.

I bet that fox was thinking "I'm alright, he couldn't hit a flippin elephant at that dist..............."

Five or six times is about sensible but my mate loads his 6.5mm cases till the neck splits and some have been loaded 20+ times. You don't have to chuck your old cases, buy some cheap surplus bullets and load up some reduced loads for plinking.

Have they got Holland and Holland on them?

I didn't realise you can only buy hunting bullets in line with what your allowance is on your FAC. That certainly doesn't apply for ordinary FMJ bullets. I just bought 300 a while back. They never even ask to see your certificate.

With a .22-250 the barrel wear starts becoming noticable after about 1000 rounds and accuracy starts to gradually drop off but the wear is not visible to the eye and the barrel still looks mint. You need a bore scope to see it. Actually the term "wear" it a bit incorrect. Its "firecracking" which is the surface of the rifling starting to break up usually starting in the first 1cm. The heat and pressure from the charge causes carbon to be absorbed into the steel in the same way as if it were case hardened. This makes the steel brittle and subsequent shots cause thousands of microscopic cracks to appear in the surface. After that every time the rifle is fired microscpic bits of the surface of the rifling are broken off until the whole surface is destroyed and accuracy starts to suffer. The process happens on all rifles but on rifles like the .22-250 it happens more quickly and is more noticable. Top level match rifle shooters will replace their barrels after 1500 rounds routinely (cost of a new match barrel plus fitting about £1000).

.410 is probably the only cartridge thats cost effective to reload. That would be your cheapest option.

The scales are sold, thanks Vince

I have a set of Lee powder scales for sale. As new, still in the box with instructions. They are not being used because I inherited a set of Redding scales when my friend sold up and moved abroad Vince Green Greenvbg@aol.com