Bobba

Just a query, if I may. What do you regard as a "filling lubricant"? Not intended as a trick question. Just curious. Because over 20 years of scuba diving with air in cylinders from 232 or 300 bar we certainly do not use mineral based greases and use silicon grease. There many are reasons for this and air under high pressure is one of them. Also, when my Miroku was multi choked by Nigel Teague the two pots of choke grease he gave me were silicon grease. Based on this experience I would not use anything other than silicon based products in the situation you describe.

Adjacent to where the pheasants emerge from the woods dig a pheasant trough. Surface area / size about the size of a bar mat/ towel and six or so inches deep. Mid afternoon scatter grain and some sherry or port soaked raisins in the bottom of the pit. Next morning go to pit and pick up pheasants. They will have jumped into the hole for a feed but the walls prevent them flapping their wings to fly out and the depth prevents them jumping out. !!!!

They're a problem north of Bristol too! A common way of "casing the joint" is to wander on farm and say they're looking for their lost dog!! Yeah, right.

He was quoted £200! So if one has the patience of Jobe there is a you tube lesson "7 lever gun cabinet lock". Possibly more lessons are available with the right searches. DIY?

The barrels of my MK60 are stamped 'special steel 20 ga 2 3/4" - 3" ' and it came with fixed chokes (and in a cardboard box!!). I had it multi choked by Nigel Teague and was advised that it is ok for steel shot.

Thanks for the ribbing!! Ho ho ho, silly me. And to cap it all I once went to Cheltenham and part exed a shotgun at his shooting ground. It is, of course Ian Coley.

Just a few thoughts based on a small clay ground I shoot on from time to time which is in a wooded downhill valley. Are you able to vary where you place the trap? For example high on a bank behind you for passing overhead birds, (or rest the front of the trap on a few concrete blocks) then vary the direction of flight so the clay passes overhead going either direct ahead, or 45 degrees to left or right. Better still get a mate to press the button to catch you by surprise. Similarly, stand behind the trap for rising going away birds at different angles and then stand in front for varying angles of incoming birds. The permutations are endless. have fun

You Tube "shooting down the line trap" there is a clip by Ian Colby which helps explain what this is.

Same here. I was taught "wood to metal" with the barrels pointing down.

I use what I believe are called crocodile clips ( because their shape is like the nose of a crocodile), or similar black sprung clips, from £ stores. These clip the net to the top of the pole. They have other uses like clipping the net to the poles in windy condition to stop it flapping.

I used "CCL traditional gunstock oil finishing kit" to good effect. A three bottle kit with a cleaner and oil and hardener. I believe that if you google their product name followed by "instructions" you can view or download to see the process before buying. Even if you do not buy it the instructions contain good info on the process. I didn't use stain as the oil will darken the stock anyway. Also, I used wet and dry paper from a car bar as this can be used with water when cleaning and finishing whereas as sandpaper gets soggy and useless. Good Luck

Nothing to do with alarm or harrasment: In England and Wales it is an offence without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to discharge any firearm within fifty feet of the centre of a highway which consists of or comprises a carriageway, AND IN CONSEQUENCE A USER OF THE CARRIAGEWAY IS INJURED, INTERUPTED OR ENDANGERED [section 161(2) of the Highways Act 1980 as amended]

In the section "Pigeon Shooting Tips" above there is a post on 'distance from public paths' with a link to the BASC advice. This should help.

Good advice above. I have done two this way to good effect. The only difference in approach is that I have used a pack of new Stanley knife blades carefully until they dull; and I use car bar wet and dry paper rather than sand paper as it is extremely fine and can be be used with water to wash off the stock. If you go down this route please remember to remove all metal from the woodwork!! i.e remove stock from the action and forend locking mechanism. I then finished mine with CCL traditional stock oiling kit (the three bottle kit). Good Luck.

Just north of Bristol. My permission said there were many pigeons in a small woods behind his house and bombing the rape. Went last Thursday. There were a couple of hundred. Set up and again it was the day of the one shot wonder. I fired one shot and wondered where the little ********s went. Yes, they disappeared completely. Unable to hold them. Too much food elsewhere I suspect. That's pigeon shooting for you.

Lucky old you. It only shows how unpredictable it can be. I shoot in the Aust area. 50 miles between us. But all they're doing here is flitting from woodland to woodland. None on the rape. Getting by with a bit of crow bashing and bunnies.

Thanks for that will speak with BASC for advice

Sadly the 22lr route is not an option at the moment. I have only a SGC and it would be unlikely that an open FAC would be granted first time around.

Does anyone have any experience of laser designators and in particular Laserware products? I am thinking of using one mounted on the under barrel of my 20 bore for shooting rabbits at night but thought I would seek product reviews before investing. Many thanks Bob

I use crow FUD's to good effect. They did seem to have a sort of blue tinge in their colour so I sprayed them car bar mat black. Able to travel light with these. Once I get a crow I add it to the pattern with wings stretched out as far as possible. Seems to appeal to their curiosity

Interesting point. I've got a sticker in my car that says BASC. Now, isn't that obvious too? Perhaps I should take it down?

Last bean sprouting time one of my permissions farms took a hell of a hit with crows. So keep your eye out.

The theory, according to the Eley Shooters Diary, with a standard velocity cartridge, the forward allowance for a crossing bird at 40 mph @ 40 yds = 8' 0" lead; @ 45 yds = 9' 6"; and, @ 50 yds = 11' 1". About 1' 6" every 5 yds so, theoretically, add 3' 0" to the 50 yds then @ 60 yds = 14' 7". So says the theory!! Myself, in practice, I'm with the stick in the ground marker brigade. I set my pattern and pace out 30 yds and mark it with a stick. That's my comfort zone. Anything outside this distance I leave.

As I understand it, rule changes are agreed by Committees in Brussels at which sit representatives of every member state who vote. The Uk rep would most likely have been a civil servant from defra, a generalist who probably knows little about agriculture. As the NFU think this rule is madness then as well as lobbying the Commision it should require defra to say whether or not they voted for this change and, if so, why?

?Hope you keep your safety catch on !!