Jurrasicway

Hi Alan, Lovely spot up there.I used to be stationed at Ouston as a boy soldier and used to run from Ouston (Wall) to Ponteeland ranges to shoot SLR's. Bit far for me to come for a days shooting.. Enjoy it mate.. Great part of the country

Agree with you on the primos :good: :good:

What do they do to top dress the rape?

I am a left handed shot and thought much the same as you. I went to a browning demo day at barby sporting in rugby and told the rep i was looking for a left handed semi. He gave me a box of carts and a browning maxus saying there would be no problem. I was dubios as i had been in the forces and had always has to fire SA80 and SLR's right handed due to getting face fulls of gas and hot empty cart. I fired the whole box left handed and never saw 1 cart. The gas port on the browning is in the middle of the fore stock and expels the gasses upwards so there is no problem with debris from the cart in your face. I bought it and have never looked back. I can not vouch for other semis as I have never tried them but the maxus does the job with no problems. Hope this helps...

The guy on autumn watch last night was talking about wood pigeon and said that they would be crossing the channel when the temperature dropped in Europe. Batten down the hatches!!!!

Completely agree with the above. I had a silver pigeon 3 and never changed the chokes from half and quarter. Now I have a Browning maxus and the only choke I use is half when rough shooting and I may change it to quarter if sitting in a hide. I sold my SP3 for £1350 to a dealer who swapped it for my maxus grade 3 and 750 cartridges which I was more than happy with. If you buy from a gun shop you must keep in mind that he has to buy guns and them make some profit or his business will fail. The £1k price seems a bit steep. You should be able to get one cheaper privately but you have to weigh up the service you will get after the sale and also the warranty. Will he throw a gun fitting in and adjust the stock to suit you? Berretta are a good brand and hold their prices well. Good luck which ever way you decide to go

Went to Box Farm in Marsh Gibbon and I was really glad that I did. The lady working in the workshop was very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. She unpacked three magnets for me to look at and explained the differences. I finally went for the optima which is exactly the same as the pro motion and has a detachable base for ease of carrying. I thought that I could turn the spikes away from the base of my kit bag when carrying so the spikes would not push through the bottom. This model was on offer at £80. Magnet £79 Battery £16 (only went for the 7 amp as it will last for 6 hours and I do not really go for longer than that) Timer £20 Kit Bag £15 (went for the monster kit bag instead of rotary bag to fit the rest of my stuff in) Total £130 Discount 10% Paid £117 If you do not have a charger you will have to add £20 on to the total (£18 with discount) Excellent service and prices but really helped going to see them and to talk through the options. Now time to get out and test my new Kit... Went to Box Farm in Marsh Gibbon and I was really glad that I did. The lady working in the workshop was very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. She unpacked three magnets for me to look at and explained the differences. I finally went for the optima which is exactly the same as the pro motion and has a detachable base for ease of carrying. I thought that I could turn the spikes away from the base of my kit bag when carrying so the spikes would not push through the bottom. This model was on offer at £80. Magnet £79 Battery £16 (only went for the 7 amp as it will last for 6 hours and I do not really go for longer than that) Speed Controller £20 Kit Bag £15 (went for the monster kit bag instead of rotary bag to fit the rest of my stuff in) Total £130 Discount 10% Paid £117 If you do not have a charger you will have to add £20 on to the total (£18 with discount) Excellent service and prices but really helped going to see them and to talk through the options. Now time to get out and test my new Kit...

I am going down to UKSW today to have a look through them. I phoned them yesterday and asked about the silosocks Turbo and asked why it was on offer. I was told that they had just bought a job lot from the states and the rest of their magnets are made in the uk in Birmingham. The silosocks looks ok and has a remote speed control built in to boot , but it looks as if it only has 2 legs to pin it into the ground and the other "ultimate" decoy which is about the same price has 4 to keep it stable. I will let you know how I get on and if they give me any forum discount. :D

My wife works at an agric collage as a lecturer as says that sometimes rape can flower early. The flowers will die off with a frost and it will reflower next year.

Thanks to all. I am not quite up to using a welder and would probably make a hash of it so a bought one is the way to go. I will take a trip to Bicester in the next couple of weeks and chat with uksw. Thanks for the PM too.

I am in the Market for a magnet. Problem is there are so many to choose from i am baffled. :hmm: Which ones are reliable and which should I stay away from? For example the site sponsor has so many types but how do they differ??? Any help appreciated

I had no luck with them. No movement in pattern. Putting them on spring sticks sounds like a good option though, that would improve them a lot but alas I flogged mine on eBay after several outings drawing blank or very few pigeons. At that time though I did not have a flapper so may work better with flapper or rotary in the pattern. Very easy to carry, look good, give it a go and if they do not work for you eBay them away. I got £18 so little cash lost.

Thanks for all comments. Re don't see the point post I suppose I should not have said committed. I have had birds shy off when they are coming toward the pattern when the flapper flaps as I think they perceive the bird on the flapper is now taking off. Also I think that it would save battery power when setting up, picking up, changing pattern, etc, etc

When buying my turbo flapper there were two options . Either the flapper was on all of the time or you buy a timer which makes the flapper flap every 10 seconds or so. I went for the timer but would like to turn it off when a pigeon has seen the pattern and is going to commit :yp: . Searching on fleabay you can buy a 12v remote control switch. There are many types but the ones that catch my eye are the ones that operate like a car key fob. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=12v+remote+switch&_sacat=See-All-Categories Has anyone tried this set up, and if yes did it work

I have just googled it so I can see what it looks like. If i saw that in a bush i would have shot it too! http://www.thesuffolkpestcontrolcompany.co.uk/pest-help/super-rats This website describes it as a "SUPER RAT" Be afraid, very afraid

I had the same problem with my lab. Close to me there are some fairly low cross country horse jumps. The sort that have a ramp up one side and are about 3ft high. I started with standing beside the fence and leading him up the ramp using the "over" command. Now he has no problem and I can make him jump a fence or log at distance by pointing directionally and shouting "over". He wont jump into the back my new mitsi truck though prefers a lift...! Just takes some getting used to. Hope this helps

Had a look on Line and looks really good. Great price too. How strong is the bag? If it was full could you lift it into the back of a 4x4 or would it rip in the process?

Thanks for your help guys, its a flapper and half a dozen shells at the game fair then. Any advice on type of flapper?

Does anyone use a pigeon flapper with a crow on it? Does it draw the crows in? Also do shell decoys for crows work as well as full bodied? I am going to buy some in a couple of weeks but can not make my mind up between shells and full bodies. Thanks

never had any luck with mine. Every time I went out with them I drew a blank. No movement in the pattern. Sold them in the end.

Agree as above

I always use flocked shells and go decoying for a couple of hours and get 15 to 30. I have been toying with buying either a flapper or a magnet for the last two years (slow starter I know) Can I ask all that view this post one question. If you only had the chance to buy one thing............. Magnet Or Floater?

My local farmer has said that he has 4 field of barley with crows on it. I have not had a chance to look yet but do you get more crows on barley than pigeon? It seems from this post that pigeon only go for barley if there is nothing else around. Has anyone shot crows over barley?

Shooting Turkeys :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Says MOD on the choke tube. Maybe the wrong one is in the box as the manual states the extended tube supplied is the Extended Extra Full Turkey choke Could be someone in the gun shop has taken a liking to the extra full and replaced it with modified?

I started to use a dummy launcher when my lab started to run in when rough shooting. I borrowed it from an old gamekeeper in the village and it cured him over a about five weeks. Over this time his awareness of distance improved immensely. I gave the launcher back about six months ago and he is still steady but his distance awareness has worsened. I am going to invest in one at the CLA game fair this month. Worth it in my view gauging how good he was with distance judging and awareness and what he has lost. Also good for teaching to be steady to the gun