Trent

Have recently moved to Newark-on-Trent and am having trouble finding where the local clubs are, if any. So far all I've found is cockett farm clay shooting, which I like, but I'd like alternatives and places to shoot rifles etc. Does anyone know if there's any such places near Newark? Thanks, Trent.

Hi, Does anyone know what the proper procedure is for storage of firearms if you're going to be out of the country for six months? The house is still going to be occupied by relatives but I doubt it'd be allowed to take the keys and leave them locked in the safe? I heard a rumour that police will look after your guns for free, but I suspect instead you'd have to pay an RFD to keep them for you? Anyone know what should be done in this kind of scenario? Need to store a couple of section 2 shotguns, section 1 shotgun, and section 1 rifle. Thanks in advance.

nt

LOL Koz - that guys arms are almost as big as yours - where'd you find these guys

I made my first mistake in cleaning my semi-auto the other day: I always fully clean my gun after every outing, but this time I applied a drop of oil to every moving part. But being new, I didn't realise that you're not supposed to oil the gas piston, as it can combine with the soot and get stuck up, causing it to jam. And sure enough, this is exactly what hapenened. So I was wondering: What's the best way to clean the sticky oil/soot mix off the gas piston? I have some M-Pro-7 for removing the powder residue, but wasn't sure if this would also remove the oil effectively. Or would I be best just using damp cloths until no more blackness comes off and then drying it? Thanks.

OK, I did it this morning on the patio - in a thin line using a long splint... hardly even made a hiss or any smoke, just a nice bright flame. Thanks again.

Hi there, A friend's grandfather died, and since my friend knew I had a license, he gave me his old shell-reloading kit for safe keeping. I don't plan on reloading shells myself yet, but part of what I was given was an old unlabelled bottle of the explosive powder. Since I have no idea how old it is and there's only about two teaspoons of powder left in the bottle anyway, I want to render it safe for disposal, and was wondering what is the best way to do this. I was thinking of just filling the bottle with water, which would mean there would be about 50 parts water to one part explosive powder - would this render most kinds of powder inert? Many Thanks, Trent.

Yeah, I'd love to see what can be done with one. Noob question: BTW, who is DaveK?

Sweet, thanks for all the information guys. Nice. Is there a benefit to extended chokes over the internal ones, or is it just preference?

What do people say is the best make of semi-auto? I realise this will be slightly subjective, just want to get as much feedback as I can before buying my second gun. For my first gun I bought a Hatsan because it was good value for money, and it does the job fine, I have no complaints, but sooner or later I think I'd like one from a really good manufacturer, to learn what difference it makes.

Nice one Koz. Let me know if you discover that can be done with a Hatsan.

Hi people, just wondering what the name is of the grease that is best to put a drop of on the choke threads - I know apparently you're not supposed to use gun oil there, and I was wondering, when I clean the barrel with the patches saturated with powder solvent, is it best to clean it with the choke in or out? Perhaps there's a tutorial somewhere online that you know about that would help me? Cheers.

That works perfectly, thanks!

In the manual for my Hatsan it suggests dry firing the gun after use to drop the hammer back (presumably so the spring doesn't lose it's strength) but a friend tells me dry firing can be bad for some guns, I suppose because the hammer would be designed to be stopped by the resistance of hitting the primer, but in dry firing it might over shoot, what with their being nothing to stop it. I also know that for these reasons some people use snap caps, and I was thinking of buying some, although not sure whether brass or the plastic+spring type was better, but I also am soon to buy one of those orange flags to put in the breach (not sure of the correct name for those yet) so that people can see the gun is unloaded/safe, and someone at the range suggested I wouldn't need a snap cap if I had this, as I could just fire the firing pin against the plastic of the flag, but I wouldn't want little bits of plastic getting into any of the workings... So, am I ok to use the plastic backing of a safety flag as a subsitute for a snap cap, or do I not even need to worry about it with this particular model of shotgun? Many Thanks

So far I've mainly been shooting at Lowe's Lane, since it's closest to me, but I've also been to Cockett farm and some ranges as far afield as Kent whilst on my travels. Lowe's lane is pretty much my "local" - although sadly my off-work days are mon-tue and it's closed those days (D'oh) which is why I went to Cockett farm (North Notts). Bargain Yeah maybe, although I must admit, so far I'm a terrible shot - DTL I find easier, but the fast crossers on skeet/sporting I am having trouble with. Yeah, I had used a friend's hatsan a few times and found it never failed me. According to the manual it's not recommended for cartridges below 24g, presumably because the manufacturer thought they might not have the power to cycle the heavy bolt spring and load the next round, but I fired a whole box of 65mm 21g carts off in quick succession once and it never missed a beat. I admit tho there is a lot of intricate engineering in a semi-auto, so it's not suprising that sometimes things will go wrong, but I imagine it's like any other machine: keep it in good nick and it should work better. :yp: Unfortunately, I'm enjoying it too much - it's taking up all my free cash LOL. But I suppose life's there for living. :yp:

Not tried the black gold yet but I like their White Gold XLR and Blue Diamond. :unsure:

Hi, I'm trying to work out exactly which model of 12 gauge Escort Semi-Auto I have. It was purchased new yesterday if that helps with the ID. This is it: It looks a little like the one on their website called an Escort PS: Like the PS it is black all over (including the bolt and synthetic stock), but it has the "trio-pad butt system" (sounds like a new offering from Pampers but it ain't :unsure: ) which on their website is from the Escort Trio. So I'm not sure exactly which it is and none of the documention I have seems to say exactly, it just lists it as an Escort 3" Magnum 12G. Can any kind hatsan fans out there give me the exact specs? Oh yes, and it has 26in barrel and comes with 5 different internal chokes. Cheers in advance.

Sweet, thanks. Headshots should be no problem, the gun is a Weihrauch like yours and has a lovely rifle scope on it - probably cost more than the gun. The only thing I'll have to get over is my own squeamishness - never intentionally killed anything larger than a fly before. :unsure: P.S., just realised this topic could go in one of the dedicated air-gunning sections. Sorry about that, mods please move if preferred.

LOL, cute. We have a couple of dogs (terrier and husky) but the terrier is really timid: runs away whenever I get the air rifle out as she doesn't like the pop. Hehe, yeah I have the same colour stock as you, and (although I can't quite be sure from that pic) it looks like I have the same rubber pad on the butt of the stock - which has a sort of swiss-cheese-holes thing going on, which seems to take some of the kick out of the bigger carts quite nicely. Wonder what the right name is for that style of stock pad... I'll have to get some pics when I can get hold of a friends digicam - mine broke recently and spent all of my spare cash on gun-related stuff. :unsure:

I was talking to a friend who keeps chickens and she says she has a problem with rats. Would an 11ft lb air rifle pellet kill a rat within about 20ft and is it legal to do so on her land or would I need a land permission? Thanks. :unsure:

Thanks Condor. Good advice. I'm in the Midlands too (East Mids, not far from the airport) And I just yesterday purchased a semi-auto 12g. I chose semi-auto because of the slight recoil dampening. After buying the cabinet and license and gun all within about a fortnight I'm a bit strapped for cash right now, but next week I plan to head over to a couple of local ranges to get a good lot of practise in to familiarise myself with my new gun. My new 12g has a rubber butt-pad on the stock that has like a swiss-cheese sort of arrangement behind the actual pad, don't know what this is called but it takes the recoil out quite nicely. I drove down to london and spent the day in a big gunshop so I could choose a gun that was right for me, and I'm pretty sure I found a good match for my first gun. Thanks again. And yeah, I smile a lot, sorry if there's any forum rules about that - I know some places don't like it but I'm a happy person. :unsure: edit: OK, I know what my guns recoil pad is called now, it's called a "Trio-pad butt system."

Aha, so that's what that little X in the box is for. Thanks guys. :blink: And yes, I will definitely check and double check that there's no cartridges anywhere near the chamber or magazine before I look down the end. I may be curious but I don't fancy learning about the afterlife just yet. Besides, I just redecorated, and splodges of red and pink would not go with my new colour scheme.

Well, if I really wanted the different cartridges to do something bad, and not because of curiosity, wouldn't I be asking for the biggest baddest cartridges I could get (like 56g magnums and SG buckshot and all that?). I was asking about the LEAST dangerous kinds of cartridges (whilst admitting that I know ALL kinds could still be deadly if misused) - I was asking about the kinds designed not even to kill but only make a nice noise or flash etc. Why would I want such things if I was up to no good? I only asked if it was true what I heard that on an SGC you could only buy ammunition containing more than 6 projectiles, because I knew that if true, this would preclude the purchasing of single piece rubber rounds. I never asked for the punchiest rounds like SG buckshot, baldrick just helpfully volunteered that information, which will probably come in useful to know one day, so I'll add it to my memory banks, thanks baldrick. Anyway, I don't suppose it matters if you trust me - The police have now shown they trust me enough to give me my shotgun certificate, so after I've been shooting a while if I still fancy collecting unusual cartridges (which I probably will, because it's a slightly cheaper hobby than collecting all the different kinds of guns ) then I'll just have to apply for an FAC for that purpose as suggested. As a person who's never been in trouble in his life (not even had a late library book, let alone a speeding or parking ticket) I'm told that shouldn't be too much of a problem. And as someone who has spent 12 years working in jobs requiring the highest levels of security vetting and trust, handling billions of pounds, dollars and euro's every day, I clearly have enough trust so I don't suppose it matters if one person who doesn't know me chooses to think I'm a liar. That said, it's beyond me why someone would assume that tho? All the people I've met in real life who shoot have been friendly, but maybe some folks online are more cautious? *shrug*

My license was sent out by the police on Friday - gotta be a record, only a week after they recieved the initial application form. So despite having little money spare at the mo I just had to buy my first gun. Since I'll mainly use it for clays I decided I would just have to accept that a big gun that fires larger loads with a large bore would make life easiest for a beginner like me, so I bought a 12 gauge with 26 inch barrels, but went for the semi-auto to reduce recoil since (as I've said) I am quite small framed and new to it, and I feel like big recoils throw my aim off a bit. Anyway, I was just wondering how easy it is to change chokes on my first gun (A hatsan escort 12 gauge). From the shop it had the 3/4 choke in, but I want to put the skeet choke in. I see there's two little slots on the end of the choke that I could perhaps use to unscrew it if I had the right tool, but I don't want to damage my new gun, so advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Trent. :blink:

Because they ARE shot from a gun, hence, part of "shooting" even if they are seemingly not the kind of shooting you like? LOL, yes, I GENUINELY have recently started shooting (about 3 months ago) and I fully intend to try whatever different kinds I can get permission and suitable locations for. But that doesn't mean I won't try what you might class as "attention grabbing ammunition" if I can find a way to safely and legally do so and I want to - why shouldn't I? Libs: I totally agree, some of the guns I like are a work of art, the engraving on them is so beautiful, so I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to fire some rounds through your guns. Not to mention some of them are examples of marvelous engineering. LOL, OK, I'll bite, why does my learning about the different kinds of ammunition by reading about it, and then wanting to try it to get a more firsthand experience, not sound scientific to you? I'm guessing you were just joking, because other wise it doesn't seem to make any sense: The word science comes from the latin word for "knowledge," so I couldn't be any more scientific than gaining knowledge through all available sources (written and firsthand experience). Steel100/Andy: Thanks for the information