alanlee

Unless you intend keeping the gun for a long time, then none of the above are a good choice, as they are all 'budget' guns, and will fall dramatically in price once they have left the shop. For a similar price, you can buy a 2nd hand better quality gun from one of the big makes, Berretta, Browning or Miroku. If you are bothered about the weight of the gun, then you really need to try them out before buying, even though guns weigh roughly the same, many feel totally different when held, and then they feel different again when fired. I was after a trap gun recently, I tried 4 for size in the shop, and settled on a Berretta, then, took it outside to try it out, and found it was horrible when fired - although dry fitting was good, it didnt fit when fired, and wasnt shooting where I wanted it to.I then took out a Miroku, which didnt feel as good when mounted, but it hit every clay I tried - I then bought it. This was at Kibworth Gun Shop in Leics., where they let you try out some of the guns before you buy, and now, i dont think I'll ever buy another gun without trying it first. If you are intent on buying new, then have a look at the Bettinsoli range - they are roughly £650 new, and are lovely guns for the price. Alan.

No idea about the cost, but Uttings, Blackpool air rifles, and Ramsbottoms are usually the cheapest and do mail order. The rifle price is usually quite similar, maybe £20 up or down between sellers, but it is the scope choice that can make a big difference.£35 will buy an AGS or similar scope, quite usable, and adequate.Paying a bit more will give you a sharper image, and maybe better build quality.I've just downgraded froma £150 Bushnell scope to a £50 BSA scope, and to be honest, I can hardly tell the difference in image quality.At air rifle ranges, I dont beleive that you need to spend hundreds on a scope.Bags are £10 upwards, typically £30 for a well padded bag.(ever thought of buying a hard case? they are available for £30 upwards, and protect the gun much better than a soft bag). Pellets can be got from anywhere.£5 or £6 a tin. Dont skimp on pellets, buy the one that suits your rifle you can only test this by trying out a number of different pellet types, which you'd be able to do if you went to a Gun Club. Alan.

10 minute job to replace it, £55ish for a new barrel from BSA, £25ish for 2nd hand, though IME, the 2nd hand ones are nealry all bent slightly - I put up a wanted ad for one a few months back, stressing it must be straight, someone came back to me, and said they had one that was 'only' 2mm out of true. I passed on his offer. Be aware that most of the BSA break barrel barrels are the same, so are nearly always a straight swap. Alan.

Air rifles, which I'm pretty good at, and clay pigeons, in which I dont do as well, though I've took up DTL recently, and am getting better at it, and might be good enough to compete this year if I carry on. I'm reasonable at skeet, but wont ever win anything as I'm not consistent enough, my top score on that is 92/100. Alan.

I'm 15 miles away. Alan.

Before it goes on ebay tonight, I thought I'd try here first. An as new Richter Optik 3x9x40 mill dot scope. I bought this last weekend, as my own scope was playing up, and had to go back to the makers to be repaired - I needed a scope that afternoon to do the Clubs competition. So, this has been fired maybe 60 times total, 20 or so shots to zero it, 30 during the comp., and a few after, practicing. I've now got my scope back, so this is surplus to requirements. It is a nice clear scope - I was expecting to pay £80 for a Hawke Airmax, but the salesman said try this one, and I was surprised how good it was.5p coin style slot adjusters, 25mm body, with flip up caps on both ends, in original box/packaging etc. £35 posted via Special Delivery, or £30 collected from Leicester. I dont think you could get a better scope at the price. Follow up here, or mail me at: alan ( at ) darkroom.plus.com Thanks Alan.

Anyone over 18 can buy an airgun at less than 12ft/lbs. they can then use it in their back garden to practice. Shotguns can only be bought when you have a Shotgun Certificate, this is supplied by the Police, who come round and inspect the security of your home, and make sure you have a secure cabinet for the gun, as well as no criminal record etc.It can only be used at shooting grounds or other land where there is no risk to the general public. Rimfire and all other live-fire rifles are harder to get. You either need some land to shoot over for pest control, or are a member of a Target Club. You cannot just say you want a rifle, there must be a use for it. It can then only be used on approved land, or at a proper gun club. Hence for most people, it is far easier to just go out and buy an air rifle at 12ft/lbs, and it is quite capable of killing birds, rabbits and small vermin at up to 40 yards. Alan.

What do you want then? One that does 11.9ft/lbs? A Lightning is far better at 10ft/lbs than 12, as it is a lightweight gun, hence has little weight to absorb the recoil. It is a 10 minute job to get it up 1 or 2 ft/lbs. Just add a couple of washers behind the spring, then chrono it again. I'm currently running a Longbow at 10ft/lbs, and am very pleased with it - I can hot any target at the Club, and usually come in the top 5 or higher in the competitions. Alan.

No, you can have a gun sent through the post to you, but it must be to a Registered Firearms Dealer, who will check your ID when you collect it. Finding a RFD close to you, who will accept a posted gun will be difficult, plus they will charge an admin fee for their services, typically £25, thus making the mail-order gun a lot more expensive, and less convenient. All sales by Trade sellers have to be face to face, or via another RFD. You can then walk out of the shop, and sell it to whoever you want (aged 18+) without any paperwork at all, and no ID check. So it is a very poor law that will only hit the legitimate gun trade, and do nothing to stop hooligans using their 20 year old BSA Meteor to take pot-shots at passing people. Alan.

I rang up Uttings today to order a scope, and asked him what they were doing when the new 'no mail-order' rules come into effect in October. Basically, they are going to cut back, and keep a very limited range of guns in stock, if someone does want a gun, then it will likely have to be ordered in, as they will not be able to afford to keep stock in any more, as their main market (mail order) will have gone. It is rumoured that Ramsbottoms are no longer ordering in any guns,and they'll be doing the same. The thought is that gun shops will now be getting the extra trade, but according to the man at Uttings, that will not happen, as the manufacturers need to get decent orders in before they make a batch of guns, and 1 shop ordering a gun is not likely to get it until another 50 or so guns have been ordered,and 1 shop is very unlikely to sell a large amount of guns without the mail order side of their business, so it may be a long wait to get a certain gun. When a big mail order shop currently orders guns from, say, BSA, they order 150-200, which they can sell in a couple of months. The Uttings man thinks there will be a number of casualties amongst the makers. Daystate and Theoben may be safe, as they are very small, and dont usually go in for bulk orders. Air Arms and AGS are likely to be suffering when the ban starts,and, to a lesser extent, so are BSA, but they export a lot, so will be insulated a little more. Now is not the time to buy gun makers shares. Alan.

Yes, well done, I'm pleased too today, got my first 25/75 on DTL. The next one is going to be a bit harder though - 100/300 may be out of my reach for a while. Do you get a badge from Doveridge for getting the 25? I got one for doing my first and only 25 skeet from Kibworth SG. Alan.

I got some of these just after Christmas: http://www.earplugsthatfit.com/ Total cost £9.98 inc. post. They are **** hot - comfortable, and very quiet. Easy to make, though it does help to have someone with you to tidy up the outer moulding. I did this mini-review on another forum: I ordered them on the 4th, and they arrived on the 21st - the post mark was the 6th, so the delay was due to the postal service. Anyway, it comes in a tiny bag, inside are the instructions, a small black velvet bag to store the plugs in, and 2 pots of silicon/rubber mix. I divided both pots into 2, then mixed half of mix - it is a bit like blutack, but softer.The 2 halves are mixed together, and once they are a uniform colour, the mixture is inserted into the ear, moulded and smoothed over as you see fit, and left in position for 15 minutes - it really is simple, but to get a smooth finish, you need someone else to help you. Once I'd mixed up half of the mixture, it was obvious that it would be enough for both ears - so thats a bonus, you can easily get 4 earplugs from the kit. I did the first 2 myself, and tried to fit a sound valve from another pair of plugs when it was moulded, to try to get a better quality plug that can hear talking, but filters out the bangs.They went in fairly well, but upon testing, they do not work half as well as I'd expected - they were very much like passive plugs, I think the deepness of the moulding filters out nearly all noise. So plan 1 was dumped, and plan 2 started to make a plain pair of passive plugs. I got someone to give me a hand making these, and it was worth it, they came out a lot smoother. I tried these then, and they were very good when shooting the gun, but block out almost all noise, which, really, isnt too much of a problem. They were very comfortable - once they were in, you could soon forget that they were there, no irritation at all in a hour of shooting - much better than my previous plugs which were always coming out to let me itch my ear holes (lovely!)

Yes, I have one in 20 Bore. I sold my Yildiz 20b on here a year ago, and regretted it soon after, so bought the Bettinsoli, and have been very pleased with it. The 12b version is the same but bigger.I think mine is the 'Silver' vesion, though apart from the different engraved scenes, I think are the different models are much the same.I paid £600, it includes a good quality case, and 6 chokes. It looks far better than its price suggests, with a really smart varnished finish, and the engraving makes it look like a £1500 gun. Recommended. Alan.

I'd be wary of buying a hammer gun now. It is likely to be very old, with consequent worn internals. They are not the safest things when new - some clay grounds wont allow their use. To use them, you load up, shut the gun, then cock the hammers.I've never had to 'de-cock' one, so dont know if it is possible at all. £50 is too much unless it is a good quality gun. It would be better to get a newer SbS gun, and many are available for £50. Alan.

Unfortunately they are worth little. The .410 sells for around £75-£100 in shops. I've never heard of the SbS, but wouldnt have thought it was worth £100 - non-ejector and double trigger usually means they are std. models, hence not worth a lot now. Maybe £50 if you can find a buyer. I asked a dealer if he could sell my 12b SbS last year - he said he could destroy it free of charge, but there is no market for them, so it wasnt worth his while taking them in. I'd expect a 16b to be harder to sell than a 12b. Alan.

A cheap compromise would be an airgun case, it wouldnt be fitted to shape for the gun inside, but they usually have the 'egg-box' type padding inside, which holds the gun fairly securely when being transported. My local shop has them in from £30, one here is £40: http://www.daileisure.co.uk/product.aspx?id=297&cid=17 Alan.

My advice would be to not buy any gun without trying it first. The majority of £150+ springers are reasonable, but some are better than others.I had a HW80, but I hated it after a while, it was just too heavy with poor recoil. I think the BSA range are too lightweight. The HW97 and Air Arms TX200 are too front heavy. The Prosport is excellent,though heavy, and the one that suits me the best is the Webley Longbow. I bought my first one for £150 secondhand, and couldnt believe how good it was. I've since bought another. They are far better than the similarly spec'd BSA Lightnings, and on a par with the Air Arms range for firing ability and feel. Dont buy one without trying it. Go to a Club, and ask to try a few other peoples guns, and see which one suits you the best. Alan.

It all depends on what gun it is. I have no idea if the Silver Pigeon comes in various different types, but some makers supply a gun in various guises, with the game gun being the cheapest, the heavy stocked, multi-choked, good wood finish guns being the most expensive. The game gun tends to be a bit lighter in weight, and may have fixed chokes, and may well have an automatic safety catch.For clay usage, none of those attributes are recommended, though none of them stop you shooting clays with it. Also, the stock can be supplied in different woods and wood finishes, usually described as between grade 1 and 5. I think 5 is the best, though I dont tend to bother too much what it looks like - when you are firing, the only thing you see is the rib! Before you commit yourself, make sure it fits you. If, in a months time you find it doesnt fit as well as you thought, then you are either going to have a bill to shape the stock for you, or you'll want to trade it in. A £300 gun that fits is far better than a £2000 one that doesnt fit. Alan.

5's are available, no idea if bigger is available. See here: http://www.justcartridges.com/price.html Download the price lists (takes seconds), and see which manufacturer makes what, and the price of them. Alan.

Basically, Sporting is when you stand at one point, usually an open 'cage', and the clays can come from any direction at any speed. You are told where they come from before you shoot, and can usually see a pair - there is usually 2 different targets on each stand.There are typically 6 or 8 different shooting points for each 50 or so targets, with a different type of flight for each clay on each stand.The idea is that the clays simulate different birds in flight, hence the sporting name. They can be incoming,overhead going away, straight up and down, and any combination of crossers at different heights/speeds. Skeet is shot in a semi circle, facing 2 trap houses. There are 7 stands spread around the semi circle, if you stand at stand 4, the mid stand, the traps are at your extreme right and left.You take various shots as singles and pairs at each stand, to make up 25 shots.The clays are usually a maximum of 35-40 yards away, though it is not easy to hit them. Trap disciplines are basically a trap, or multiple traps set around 15 yards in front of you, with all of the clays going away from you.They can go left or right or straight on, but all start from the same point, and going away fast. 'Down The Line' clays come out at a regular height, but they can go in any direction in a 45 degree arc from the trap. Universal trap and ABT have differing heights with each clay as well to make it harder.There are a number of variations of trap shooting. Alan.

No, the brass wont damage the steel of the barrels - it is a lot softer than the steel, or maybe chrome coated barrel wall. Is it definitely scored? or maybe hasnt been cleaned properly? Sometimes I look at mine and see marks down it, thinking it is getting pitted, but it is just bits of muck/dust/oil sticking to the wall.Cheap cartridges can also cause a coating of lead to stick to the internal wall - I've had that on a .410 before, and it was a real pain to get it off. It is hard to score a barrel, possibilities are grit stuck on cartridges, or maybe some 'dodgy' steel shells have been used, though the 686's are steel proofed anyway I think. Alan.

Firstly, I'd go and buy some proper cleaner/oil, and some 'shotgun patches'(these are just bits of rag, around 3"x1"), the oil spray is around £3, and the patches £2 for 25. Spray the cleaner down the barrels, leave it for 5 minutes, then rub the brass brush up and down a few times.If you can see any residues still stuck on, repeat the process, though you may not be able to see as there is usually a black mess all over the barrel walls. Now wrap a patch around the brass brush and rub that up and down (I've actually got a nylon brush for this - wrap the patch round it, and it goes up and down easier than the brass brush) . The barrels should now be spotless and shiny. If not, start again. Once they are clean, spray some oil down the barrels and rub the wool brush up and down a couple of times to give the internals a fine coating of oil. If you have a multichoke, take out the chokes, give them a wipe, and wipe the internal thread, put on a drop of oil on the thread, then refit them. Finally get a lightly oiled rag, and wipe over the exterior of the barrels. A wipe over of the action metalwork with a lightly oiled rag is also a good thing, but try to keep the oil off of the wood, and dont overdo the oil. Others do it differently, though the above works for me. HTH Alan.

Most sizes are available. Typical are 6's, as they are popular for game shooters. Eley do the best range for .410s, I always found that fibre wads were the best in my .410, plastic wads used to badly foul the barrel. Hull cartridge do a No. 9 size for skeet shooters. There are numerous different weights as well. Be warned though, what the manufacturers make is not what you can always buy, .410 cartridges have a limited market, so Gun Shops wont have much of a choice, you'll either have to ring around to get what you want, or put an order in for a 1000 or so. Alan.

I've shot around 6000 Clay busters in the last year and not had one misfire or jammed spent cartridge. They have been the cheapest cartridge at my Club (Kibworth SG) for over a year now, and they are definitiely the best seller, currently £96 per 1000. A judge at the 100 ESP events says somewhere in the W.Mids is doing them at £92.They are very clean - last week I did 100 shots, and only had to wipe the barrel internals with an oiled patch, then the oiled wool brush.I use them on all disciplines. There was a review of them in the CPSA magazine a couple of months back, they too said they were very good. I cannot fault them. HTH Alan.

I've been doing a bit of DTL shooting recently, and am now finding that my Browning Sporter gun is not really suited to the demands of DTL, so I'm on the lookout for a Trap gun. Is there anything that I should specifically look for, or reject on such a gun? Obviously I'd be after a heavier gun, with a raised rib and comb compared to the Sporter. I tried a few in the shop today, and one did fit me reasonably, but everyone at the ground dsicounted it, and said dont buy it as it is a Lincoln, and, apparently, Lincolns have a bad name for not lasting long. This one is 2nd hand, feels nice and tight, with the stock in good condition at £400. The next prices up are Mirokus at around £550 - £650, then the next step up is around £800. There was 1 Miroku Mk38 there at £425, but it was a mess - dented/scratched stock, felt quite loose, but also it didnt feel much different from my current Browning sporter. The Lincoln did feel totally different, but in a good way. So, is it a definite no to the Lincoln? Or is it just name snobbery? Thanks for any thoughts. Alan.