oddbob

I was young and I needed the money

2/10 for the hangover, 10/10 for the earache off our lass for being on the computer again

They will never dare venture out in the wild again, and will take up drugs, x-box and twocking for hobbies now

Ramsbottom is a hard man to track down, he needs to sort his web site out so we can order from him! I bought my first airgun from him, in 1981 Air rifles don't need an awful lot of maintenance, one of their good points I think, and it may be worth just asking at your local dealer what he has. You are unlikely to need the whole lot listed at BAR, even if you do decide to do the full tune. I had a quick look on this link to see if there was a plan for the Shadow, but it's still new so this was as near as I could see http://www.chambersgunmakers.co.uk/ASI%20p...,440%20plan.htm but have a look at the rest of the site, I have had good service from them in the past and they do web orders, though you have to type stuff into the order sheet last time I bought from them. Happy new year and happy hunting.

I'm off work but stuck at home recovering from an ankle operation. Our lass is at work so I can't do that. Can't drive so can't go to the range or up the farm. Can't go to the pub because I might fall over. And I don't like any of my friends. Just posted a link to a game, will look for more, then I think one of my guns will have to be taken apart or something. Just got a set of new Weaver mounts so that should kill some time.

http://www.richsalter.btinternet.co.uk/cks1/index.html Probably been posted before.........

You should leave those sheep alone then

They don't have to be cam'd up, but it helps. Like a few people have already pointed out, a shiny gun causes reflections and can be seen a mile away. Also, there is nothing in nature that is straight and black, so even if you are still, the gun will be obvious. Crows in particular, are very good at spotting guns. I'm sure many of us have noticed that when walking the dog, crows will fly staight overhead, but carry a gun, and they veer off sharply! I think this thread ties in nicely with another one on the forum, where members are discussing what is the best cammo. I would say, have a look at the cover of 'The Deer Stalking Handbook', by Graham Downing http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/19040...02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg Notice how the DPM blends in well against the treeline, despite the snow, yet the dog, stick, rifle, binos and gloves all stand out. I know it's a deer stalker, and not a pigeon shooter, but it's food for thought.

I would buy Japanese for reliability, everyone I know who has a Rover of some sort seems to spend every third weekend fixing something. My choice would be the Navara, probably because I work for Nissan and can get them cheap (ish) but also because they do seem to win a lot of wright-ups in the press. In the army, we used rovers, one day the one I was in cut out when the driver dipped the headlights! It was a deep puddle though

Who'd he think he was, Steve Erwin?

Hello PT, sub 1" @35 yards is good, you have no worries there m80 Tuning can be anything from just taking all the factory oils and greases out and putting aftermarket stuff in, to a full scale rebuild. In the early 80s, tuners used to strip the gun down and give everything a mirror finish inside, then slap a bit of grease in and bolt it all back together. Nowadays tuners tend to leave the compression chamber alone, as it is now recognised that piston guns need a minute amount of oil on the compression chamber walls to give full power, it's known as controlled dieselling, and is nothing like the brown smoke your barrel may have had in it for the first few shots when the rifle was new. If you want to tune the gun, strip it down and de-grease it fully. You will need to examine all the bearing surfaces, such as where the cocking link enters the main cylinder, and look for sharp or rough edges. These can be dressed with needle files and wet'n'dry paper (start polishing with 1200 grade) and then a bit of metal polish. Do the same with the link itself, not forgetting the upper face as the mainspring sometimes contacts this as the gun fires. The bearing surfaces on the piston can also be polished, as can the rear of the main cylinder. Some people like to take any internal blueing off the compression chamber itself, but don't polish it. The inside of the piston will also benefit from a polish, as will the spring guide., but these need not be a mirror finish, they need to be able to hold spring grease such as Abbey LT2. The hardest part is the mainspring itself. As the gun is cocked, the mainspring tries to coil up and twist, and as it fires, the mainspring tries to 'uncoil'. This is what causes a lot of the friction and vibration as a spring gun fires. What you need to do here is to look at the areas on the spring which contact other parts of the internals, the ends and the inside and outside of the coils. Also, many manufacturers fit bearings, usually washers, at either end of the spring. All these points benefit greatly from a good polish. Unless you know what you are doing, I would advise you to leave the trigger and sear alone. You can also give the barrel detente and pin a polish, this will make breaking the barrel smoother. Give the all the parts a good degrease again, and leave them to dry somewhere they will not be disturbed. For re-assembly, you will need a set of oils and greases from a specialist such as Abbey or Napier, and apply sparingly. Nothing needs to be thick with grease or dripping with oil. Your rifle should be smoother and easier to cock, and may have gone up in power too. If it has, you may need to take a coil or two off the mainspring. This is a bit tedious, as it can be trial and error, as many spring guns can actually go up in power when a coil is removed! You will need to grind the end of the spring, heat it up and flatten it to leave it looking like the other end each time you remove a coil. But if you are getting good groups as it is, some may say leave it alone, it's up to you. The gun will smooth itself out over thousands of rounds, but I suspect you are like many other shooters, you just take pride in owning something you have improved with your own two hands, and that is part of the pleasure of our sport.

Was that all with one shot? They must have been sat having x-mas dinner. Seriously though, days like that are what makes us keep going out for more

Hello PT, I can't recommend it personally, as I have never tried one, but if you look at page 144 in the January 2005 Gun Mart, on the Sportsmans Gun Centre advert, there is one called the Boonie Safari Sling, for £17.99, which needs no sling swivels. It looks like a good idea to me, I have a Butler Creek nylon sling which is always slipping off my shoulder! Many of the American made slings come with a set of Q/D swivels fitted (such as the Uncle Mikes Ultrasling on the same page), but you need to get the studs as airgun manufacturers are only just catching on to these.

I remember the very first rabbit I shot, I proudly brought it home and spent ages skinning it. I was going to keep the tail as a keepsake, and had put it up on the ledge in the outhouse to dry. When I came back out the dog was happily chewing away at something. You can guess what that was can't you?

I bought it for myself, as well as to support the CA. I don't really like the way they hunt, but each to their own I say!

Bolta is right to say that misaligned rings will damage a scope, so it is certainly worth checking for alignment by placing the bases on the rail and nipping the clamps up, minus the caps. Then place the scope in the cradle and look to see if it looks to be visibly OK. Don't wave the rifle about, or you will end up in a drawn out argument with your insurance company. But that's another story....... With two piece mounts I like to slide both of them together on the rail to see if they look OK first. Just out of interest, turn one of them round. You will see it's now out of alignment by a couple of mm.

Don't know about the Varmint II, I bought one of the first ones (Tasco Varmint) and the first one had to be replaced under warranty, the second has now developed the same fault and I only use it on my C02 rifle now, it started rattling for no reason, and then the zero went off, as if a spring had snapped. I don't know if anyone else has had that problem, that is just my experience with the 2.5-10x42. I have no dealings with the Hawke scope though, perhaps someone else can comment. As far as I know, both models you are considering have a lifetime guarantee so if they do suffer a fault you know it will be sorted. But my experience with optics at the lower end of the price range is that very few are a long term investments, but don't let that put you are off, they will do the job. Both models you are looking at have all the bells and whistles, and you will not be disappointed. You are better off buying at this level, as your experience grows you will find features you like and those you don't or even those you don't need. That's when you go out and spend a months wages on something to last a life time

I wouldn't worry too much about the rings being out on a one piece mount, it can happen but is rare with known companies such as Sportsmatch. Nick Jenkinson used a 1" aluminium bar to lap his mounts, apparently he was a pretty good shot and won a title or two, so it must have worked. But back to the alignment question. You can buy some good cheap scope alignment tools, such as this one; http://www.segway-industries.com/ available from Jackson Rifles, or this; http://www.stoneypoint.com/sight_lines_index.html from The Sportsmans Gun Centre (adverts in Gun Mart), or try this if on a budget. Get a workmate type table and get it totally level using a spirit level, somewhere suitable such as the top of your garden. You need to be able to gently clamp your rifle level in this. Get the spirit level and mount it 'downrange' of the rifle, where it can be viewed through the scope when you fit it, at around the same height. Mount the scope and mounts just loose enough to be able to move them about, then view the spirit level through the scope and see if the horizontal cross hairs are level. Gently nip the screws up, checking nothing shifts as you go round them. Does the Shadow not have a recoil arrestor block screwed to the end of the scoperails? If you are having problems with scope creep, or to prevent them, make sure you de-grease both the rails and the dovetails on the mounts before you assemble them. Some people use a little clear nail varnish or a drop of thread-lock in the grooves too. Hope that makes sense?

Perhaps, but there was a valid point there, and it did happen. By the way, her legs were like tree tunks and the face would scare a very brave drunk on a Friday night.

Use the 'continental' wasps (5.5mm), BSA use a tighter barrel now and the traditional English (size 5.6mm, blue tin lid) are a bit tight. Fnurr, fnurr.

Looks like it needs a 'shove through the fence' to me

Sorry to hear about your loss, it is sometimes hard for some people to realise what a dog means. We had to give a Springer away as he was working himself with the Akitas, we had only had him a few weeks after rescuing him from a fat lesbo who left him locked in a coal shed with no food. He has a new home now where he will be taken hunting and can run free, a bit like where Jack will be now. Even though we only had him a short while, I got quite attached to him. Off to give my Ferrets a hug now, before I get too misty eyed and our lass notices...

They don't like other dogs, that's for sure. That was Milo on the left, and his daughter Kiara (pronounced 'keera') on the right, the white one is called Skie, she's half wolf, half Akita. They are very good at keeping the chavas 'orf our land'.

That's father and daughter, here's mutha.........

Cammo is one of those 'horses for courses' things, and we are perhaps looking at it all through human eyes! There is a lot of dayglo orange gear available in America, in DPM, which is used in the deerhunting season, because people can see it and the deer can't. The late Gerald Cardew once went hunting rabbits in the worst 'Christmas present jumper' I have ever seen, and still came back with the bunnies, so the rabbits aren't bothered what you wear either. I was at a game fair earlier this year, and I spotted this woman wearing what looked like a fantastic new cammo pattern top which blended in with the spring growth on the hedgerow behind her. It looked like a pair of legs with no body and a head floating in mid air, it was that good. I had to see what this new cammo was, so went for a closer look. She was wearing a green fleece with light green flowers all over it, it wasn't realtree anything or Disruptive Prime Minister after all! :*)