Blueflame

It depends where they are feeding; if they are heavily on a field next to a wood then you may have to set up there. In most cases though you are better of away from the wood in the open. That way they can see the decoys better, and other pigeons on the flight line. And it helps if the wind is blowing across or away from the wood (relative to your hide) so that the shots are muffled . Otherwise you can kill the flightline by blowing up the wood with your shots. If the wood is a long way from the feeding field then the shots will be more muffled, and the pigeons won’t be able to work out where the shots are coming from.

I have an M2 essential with 28” barely, which is the same as a comfortec but without the stock and case. It’s a great gun to shoot and handles really well. Use it for pigeons and it ticks all the boxes. You won’t be disappointed.

Considering replacing my ageing Freelander1 Deisel with a pickup. Looking at. Nissan Navara or similar, any recommendations?

A long time back in the 70’s I had a BSA 30” boxlock 3” Magnum. Weighed just under 8lbs and was a Wonderfull gun to shoot. The barrels on all the BSA’s were Joseph Whitworth fluid pressed steel, very high quality. If you can find a sleeper then you will have a great gun.

Gun weight is a personal thing, there are some notable shots like Tom Payne, Will Garfit and George Digweed that use heavy 8lbs guns for pigeon shooting. That’s a lot of energy lifting and moving that gun on a big day. I’m getting too old for that and prefer a gun about 7lbs in weight as the best compromise in the pigeon hide. And use an M2 and a Maxus for that job. Each to there own!

Hi, I would approach the new gun in a different way. The Perrazi and the DT 10 are both full weight guns about 8lbs , and would be hard work in a pigeon hide or for a mixed walk up day. If you are looking at a Perrazi then the MX12 models would be a better bet as they use coil springs instead of leaf springs ; these hardly ever break and are way cheaper to replace than the MX8’s leaf springs. I have a MX12 game gun and it’s not missed a beat in 7 years. The Guerini Maxum is available in a game version with narrower solid rib and an auto safety, it’s lighter than the sporter . Having had both I would look for a game version as the best compromise; a lovely gun in all respects and fleur de lye steel proof. They have chrome lined barrels as well which help with cleaning etc. The Browning B25 guns are lovely but don’t have steel proof or chrome bores. They are expensive new about £16k for a B2G, so you are not likely to find a good used one within your budget. A Miroku MK 60 is a great gun , they have chrome bores but not steel proof as they come with tighter chokes. You could buy one and have it custom Teague choked which would give you great flexibility. They are lovely guns beautifully made and will last. I have had all of these through my hands and can speak from experience.

That’s the way to go , a gun can’t be properly fitted unless the fitter/coach sees how you shoot at different targets. When you are shooting and reaching up for high driven birds and birds on your bad side( ie left to right for aright handed shot) then the fit has to be good to shoot consistently well. Shooting at a static plate can’t replicate the full range that a gun has to fit and work for you. At the very least you will be confident after the fitting and alterations ( if required) that your gun is perfect, at best you will be shooting* out of your boots!

I have 10 of these, 6 drakes & 4 ducks. The heads can be swivelled around to give a preening/feeding duck silhouette . They are in good condition and date back to the 70’s. Must be rarer than rocking horse droppings as I can’t find a reference or photo on the Webb. Any ideas of what they are worth?

Whilst I like an auto in the hide for pigeons I shoot a 20 gauge Miroku MK60 with 32” barrels for game. It’s very pointable and handles well. I have used it in the hide and it’s a great gun and very smooth to shoot. The barrel length helps the swing etc and is no problem in a hide. Whilst I have tried shorter barrel 20’s in the past they were all too light and didn’t work well for me. Hope that helps.

The Browning Maxus has back bored barrels with 3” extended chamber cones as standard. Browning claim it’s 18% less recoil than other guns. I can’t test that , but it’s certainly very soft to shoot. So works for me!

The gun has 3” /76mm chambers but was only standard proofed. You should be ok to shoot steel cartridges with up to 1/2 choke , assuming the gun/barrels are in good order.

One thing to consider is gun fit. The Winchester does not have a stock shim system to adjust drop and cast, the Franchi does. I looked at a new Winchester but the stock was far to low for me . I bought a Browning Maxus ( has shim system) and has back bored barrels . I patterned the gun at 30 yd’s with the 1/4 choke using Hull Superfast Pigeon 29grm 6’s fibre and Gamebore Clear Pigeon fibre 32grm 6’s. Both shot lovely patterns but the Hull cartridges gave tighter patterns. So I think the patterns will always depend on the cartridges used as much as the back boring. Hope that helps

I bought a Pigeon Commander seat a couple of years back , and I can’t praise it highly enough. The three adjustable legs and padded back rest ( also height adjustable ) make it adaptable and stable. The only thing I did to mine was to locktite the threads on the bolts for security. It’s too probably to heavy for a long carry , but if you can drive to your hide or have a barrow then it’s the best solution I have found.

Has anyone details of a supplier that can print custom cards with a picture of a pigeon and contact details etc?

Thanks for your replies. Just need some pigeons to get it dirty again.

Just bought a new Maxus. What solvent spray do you use to clean the gas piston and trigger assembly? It looked pretty dirty after just 75 shells.

A very good book & entertaining. He is very succesfull, perhaps the most succesfull pigeon shooter in the country.I asked myself what does he do different from me, apart from shooting 0000's more pigeon! The answers are there, clearly laid out, but I will have to retire before I can devote that much time & energy to shoot pigeons. Still, I can dream!

It's just as well that farmers think he has got wrong otherwise they would not let us on to shoot pigeons! As for John himself, well I have known him for about 35 years now and he has been a good friend.Any shooting man with a double 8 bore magnum that he uses on the geese has just got to be the real deal! Straight Powder Roger

Guess we all go through spells when our shooting is off or we knock out a few feathers and the pigeons carry on jinking like crazy! Confidence in your gun/choke/cartidge is a great asset. It is worth taking the trouble to pattern your gun at 30/40yds and see the spread width/pattern density. There is a lot of information & data available on pattern% and shot sizes for game/pigeon shooting. In a nutshell, the pigeon is a small bird but looks a lot bigger with his fesathers on if that makes sense! You need a good quality pattern to consistently hit a vital organ/smash wing bones & kill cleanly. The late Archie Coates, the most famous of all pigeon shooters used standard Ely Grand Prix no 7 shot cartidges.Will Garfit a noted pigeon expert uses Gamebore Clear pigeon 30gram no 6 shot. A good cartidge with 7, 6.5 or no6 shot will give you very good penetration and pattern density out to 40 yards with modest choke (say quarter & half) Pigeon decoying is a game of averages, 80% birds will be shot at 20-35 yds. If you use an open bored gun & cartidges as above you will have the best compromise.If you use no 5 shot the pattern will fail and get to open. Hope that helps. Good Luck & Straight Powder!

The late famous Archie Coates who probably shot more pigeon over decoys than anyone before or since ended up using Ely Grand Prix no 7 shot. The old maxim that "Pattern fails before penetration" is as true today as it was 40 years ago, i.e use too big a shot size and the pattern gets too open for consistent kills. Using modest chokes say improved cylinder up to 1/2 choke you will kill very well with 7's, 6.5s or 6's up to 40yds. Hope that helps.

Thanks Guys Roger

Does anyone know of any local game dealers that will buy woodpigeons in the Cambs area? Thanks Roger

Looks very clever; but is it? For a start you would be popping up and down and become insantly visible if you used it for pigeon shooting (no background height) and any birds approaching from high up or flying over the hide would see you straight away.