Evilv

I recenty boughta CZ425 and being a cheap jack, I clagged an oldish Simmons Deerfield scope ontop of it. This scope hasn't been used too much since I got it, but when I zero the thing, I find that having got the vertical POI right, altering the horizontal left or right, the verical can go out of adjustment by quite a large margin. The other day, I changed four clicks to the left and the POI moved up an inch and a half over a 50 metre range. Is this scope just a piece of junk, or is there some accepted method of adjusting that I don't know? Another cheap scope I have, a Nikko Sterling, does nothing like this at all. Once adjusted, the vertical and horizontal wires are completely independent of adjustment in the other. Thanks for your thoughts.

I think it was mostly the jobsworths in local authorities and some in industry who interpretted the legal duty to take care of workers into a minefield of work stopping, initiative sapping ********. It's the same midset that has councils chopping down conker trees in parks in case some kid hurts himself climbing up for a conker. I'd like to see public whippings of these sort of small minded burocrats. Is this the spirit that made Britain 'great'? I don't thinks so.

When my old gun cabinet was after many satisfactory years deemed unsuitable through changing regulations, I moved my shottie to a mates house who had a certificate and the required type of cabinet. It stayed there for ten years and everyone was happy, except I had some extra inconvenience in arranging to collect and return it.

That's the one - pick some fluff off yer woolie jumper, roll it around the head of a dressmaking pin, place in empty bic biro tube, aim and blow hard. Think of it as a proto air rifle without the rifling. LOL They used to stick in doors. We didn't get expelled for it, even though we used to stick them in people's heads and faces. The teacher would just give us a clout or a few strokes of the taws. If you got expelled you either put someone's eye out or you were brought up in later more PC times - LOL Nowadays people would call in an armed response unit for such a thing.

TV? - - Ha ha ha ha - we had a wireless with valves in that glowed and took time to warm up. It smelled of hot dust and was like a magic box to me. I played in bombed out houses after the war - I mean WW2, but we just called it the war. I remember the first time I saw television, there was one in our street. I had great time making guns out of a clothes peg, a hair grip, and the thick rubber band off a returnable pop bottle. You could fire a matchstick about twenty feet if you did it right, and they were deadly. We fired darts made of pins out of blowpipes and shot at each other with 'Gat' airguns when we could get our hands on them. We made throwing sticks for flinging arrows up and down the field. If you were good, you could throw them about seventy yards and they stuck in the ground. Nobody sued each other and nobody had ever heard of health and safety. It was your responsibility to look after yourself and if someone got hurt a bit, you said sorry and it was enough. Yeah - I remember that brakes thing. I used to slow down by putting my shoe on the wheel, or by jumping off.

Hey thanks Tiercel. It was useful, I never thought of cutting the skin at the back. I have some to do today so I'll try that. Usually, I work my fingers between the skin and the belly flesh where I opened the rabbit for paunching. It's easy enough to seperate them there, on a 'youngun' at least. Some of the bigger rabbits have really tough skins. I always give them away for that reason and make my pies out of a bunch of young ones. Pieman's idea about game dealers is a good one. A Yellow pages job I think.

Aw man come of it. They've been slagged off by a disgruntled novice who can't even remember his phone. What's childish about Beasely's response? He's put his side in one post (against several from the other quarter) and told him not to bother coming back. Fair comment, I'd say. There are two sides to this and I know which I'm more persuaded by. If Dr Spin isn't happy, he should put it down to experience and make other arrangements for his future pigeon shooting. I don't know how many thousand hours I've spent hiding in ditches waiting in vain for a sight of something to shoot at. It's half of what the sport is about, I'd say, and half of that was brought on by my own inability to sit still and keep my head down. Now, like Grasshopper, I've learned some patience and a little bit of Zen. Hey ho - it's stopped raining and I'm off out for the rest of the day with the rifle.

Do you know the guy? Getting permision is 95% about the farmer trusting that he can let you lose on his property, armed and potentially dangerous, without any risk. It's quite hard to create that confidence. If you can get to know him (since you live right there on his doorstep) that would be the best introduction. One place I go have a few local lads who help out on the farm. They keep stock so they have loads of not very skilled jobs to do, which might not fit with your situation. All those lads turn up with airguns whenever they like. If you don't know him and you still want to ask him straight up, then find out his name by asking around and approach him along the lines of - 'Hello Mr ...... My name is ...... and I live just alongside one of your fields, at ..... and the thing is I've noticed quite a lot of pigeons flapping all over it and I think they may be damaging your crop. If you like, I could shoot them for you with my ......... I know you don't know me, but I am a very respectable and tustworthy lad and I'll take great care not to be any trouble to you if you do decide to let me shoot them.' If you look genuine and pleasant (a few smiles in the right place usually put people at ease) then you might stand a good chance. Best of luck. It can be a tough job.

Chuckle chuckle. This is almost as much fun as shooting. LOL.

That was a bizzare video... What would anyone need a gun like that for? As for recoil, I once hired a reproduction post American Civil War trapdoor Springfield chambered for the .45/70 cartridge. It was a very lightweight carbine, maybe about six pounds. First I used a few black powder reloads that were nice and light, about 50 gains of ffg b powder, and then I bought a box of 25 .45/70 nitro factory loads..... What HORRIBLE experience with such a lightweight rifle. I fired six and had a headache for two days. It was like getting punched in the face. I gave free shots to other people and none would fire mor than two or three, even the headbangers.

TX sold to Trigger Happy. Hope you enjoy it mate. Thanks and nice to meet and deal with you.

You're a wise man to ask mate. I was like you last summer, a shotgun man of 30 years and I used to have an open certificate for .22WMR and .22LR, but I'd let that go because when my kids were little, I had too many committments and too much work on. So, last summer, faced with shoots that were running with conies, I realised the half hour waits after one blast from my 12 gauge cannon were a bit counter productive. I went to the local gunshop and was offered a PCP rifle and pump for £500 - I laughed that one off and after a bit of research, I bought a second hand TX200 which was surprisingly effective. In one season, I shot more rabbits than I had in five with the shottie. I also got so into this that I bought a second hand WEbley Axsor PCP with a second hand pump for £380. This is a lovely rifle and is phenomenally accurate. In the right conditions I can shoot a three shot cloverleaf with every hole touching at 42 yards. This is really deadly, because every shot hits the right spot. I'm sure you will get all kinds of recommendations, but they will likely boil down to the idea that PCP is easiest to shoot well and has some real quality offerings. Spring rifles are cheaper - much cheaper usually, but a second hand Air Arms TX200 or a weirauch (sp) are very good. Spring rifles are harder to shoot with supreme accuracy because the spring moves before the pellet leaves the gun, but a lot of chaps shoot vey well with them. A good trigger is really important that's why I think you're better off with a second hand example of the more expensive rifles, than a cheap new one. To get anywhere with a legal limit air rifle, you must be able to hit the bunny right on the head every time between the ear and the eye or he'll somersault and run away to suffer. This means you must restrict yourself to 35 yards, but I expect you knew that.

Interesting stuff. They aren't very common yet up here at around 55 degrees north, though I saw one in a park a few weeks ago. We still have some reds around here and there is good reason to stop the greys getting a hold, though I suspect it is a lost cause because they're wily little bu**ers. I used to do black powder shooting years ago and in American books about it they had .32 caliber muzzle loading squirrel rifles that were copies of old Pensylvania rifles from the eighteenth and nineteenth century. I always fancied shooting them with a muzzle loaded pill of lead, wrapped up in a cloth patch. Great fun muzzle loaders - a real ritual, a bit like smoking a pipe in comparison to lighting an Embassy or something. I did hunt with a muzzle loader for a while years ago, but the .45 cal balls used to mess up the rabbits big time if I ever hit them. The excitement of loading the damned thing when you could see your quarry used to turn my guts right over, then take aim, BANG - cloud of smoke and usually it had run away. The thing was a .45 cal smooth bore so I had it as a shot gun. I understand it used to be ok to fire one ball out of them then. Don't know about now, but it was damned inaccurate. Eventually I used it as a shotgun with half an ounce of lead, but it wasn't a lot of use even then. A bit like a .410, only slightly bigger and a lot more time taken to reload it.

Grea idea. Who did you see. I don't suppose its much use to turn up at the entry kiosk with a sack of dead rabbits. How much did they pay you? EDIT: Oh - forget it. I just looked up the only lion park I know of around here and discovered that it closed in the 1970s.

It's true. Think about how you feel when these people phone up trying to sell something. The only way to get shooting is to either turn up when the guy is desperate for someone to shoot a swarm of pests that are troubling him, or to be able to quickly establish a relationship. He has to like you - why else will he let you loose around his property and his stock with a firearm. You are a stranger - so you need to make him trust you. I can't tell you how to do that, smiling, honest, straightforward manner will probabbly be a good start. You have to sell yourself without coming across as over familiar and pushy. Above all, he has to think you won't shoot up his fence posts, poach game or worse, shoot like a cowboy and endanger the stock or his kids.

Good that you can shift them. The butcher I spoke to said £2.50 each, but I expect he's thinking of big farmed ones. He did say they used to get them from a shotgunner who brought them in full of pellets and useless for his customers though, so he may be amenable to half grown ones shot in the head. They are abundant at the moment as you know and so easy to skin.

Hi there Geordie. You need to be further out of town. Think how many guys in Newcastle have shotguns and air rifles. Farmers near the city will get dozens of people coming by and asking to shoot.

That's the job I hate. and I'm not quick at all. I have a freezer with about sixty rabbits in it still in their skins! This is my own freezer for my own 'nefarious activities' as the wife calls my hobby. She won't have my stuff in her freezer. I'm that knackered when I get back, the idea of skinning fifteen or twenty rabbits would make me give up, so I generally freeze them in a black bag and deal with them when convenient. It seems to work and everything is totally fresh. I expect there are damned good reasons why I shouldn't do this, but I've never had so much as a sniffle for years and can't remember my last upset stomach that wasn't caused by drinking too much beer or wine. The reason I get tired is that the shooting I have is high up on steep slopes. The best place is at 1150 feet above sea level and is sloped at around 35 degrees. Try dragging twenty rabbits and a gun around here and you'll know why I'm so lazy about the aftermath.

I put four young rabbits in two pies. Mine are quite big pies mind - enough to feed four or five amply. What size are yours? My recipe is: three or four half grown rabbits 3/4 pound of belly pork two leeks two carrots two onions sage Italian herbs methi leaves Basil Garlic cream grated cheese salt and pepper Pressure cook the rabbits for ten minutes at 125C. Allow to cool. Pressure cook chopped belly pork, sliced onions, sliced leeks, garlic and herbs and sliced carrots in a small amount of water for ten minutes. Strip rabbit from skeletons preserving meat in decent chunks and place in bowl. Ensure no bones go into bowl, especially not ribs. Decant vegetables and pork into pie dishes with suitable amount of liquor. Add rabbit meat to level of the top of pie dishes. Pour cream over the meat and a small amount of grated cheese Roll out pastry and cover pie dishes. Trim edges tidy. Decorate pies with easily made pastry rabbit heads from scraps of trimmingsand make cuts to vent steam to look like long grass around rabbit heads. Bake at 180 or 200 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes. SErve with vegetables of choice, especially peppery and creamy mashed potatoes and beer.

There's something in the pie production thing. I've a great recipe going just now. People I've given them to send good feedback. Maybe I can offset the cost of diesel and cartridges by selling some. It's an 89 mile round trip to the Rabbit Valley. I suppose all the regulations around food production would mean I'd be breaking some law or other. There isn't much you can do in this country without getting a permit from some busy-body council official. Apparently, Blair has created 300 new criminal offences since he got in in 97. :/ I'm starting to feel like becoming an anarchist, and that generally isn't the territory of yer average 55 year old.

So do I, but the places I have are over-run. The issue is either I sort them out or I lose the shooting. I've never seen anywhere like this valley. One farmer's wife said she looked out the other night from her house and estimated 300 in the front field which might be about five acres. Also, a small number have the mixi now. They need thinning out. It's been the same up there for six years that I know of. One time they had some guys take 700 with ferrets and the landowner said the next day, the place was still crawling with the *******. I'm bringing three sacks back a week at the moment. Beats the shooting I had back in the eighties - then you felt lucky if you got two shots in during a five hour stint. There are time snow when I get three in a minute.

I've shot 77 since a week Friday, and am sickened at having to leave loads in the woods, I mentioned to the local butcher that I shot a few rabbits and did he ever sell them. He offered £2.50 a head for a skinned and cleaned rabbit, but said he'd just bought sixty farmed rabbits, and so would have to wait a while yet until he sells them off. He took my number. Quite a lot of mine aren't that big - maybe half grown, so he will no doubt adjust the price, but I'm sure as hell sick of leaving half my bag for the flies to eat, and this looks like a good alternative. I'm going to visit a few old fashioned butcher's shops and see what they think. I give most of the ones I bring home away to people I know, and an inebriate guy down at the local allotments takes them by the twenty odd from time to time. I reckon he swaps them for beer down at the local working men's club but what do I care, he gives me big smiles and all the vegetables I can eat. By the way, you are right about them being a wonderful source of food. I'm having rabbit pie twice a week and giving some of them away too. I just had some cold with cabbage and mashed potatoe left overs out of a tupperware box while I was shooting this afternoon. Seventeen fell to my new Cz between the rain showers.

My son went to Aberdeen University and I can confirm this. I saw men in suits crawling along Union Street on their hands and knees and then subsiding into the gutter. Having lived a long time in Newcastle, I thought I'd seen the worst of this kind of behaviour - I was wrong. [sniffs in a snobbish Geordie kind of way]

It isn't that hard to get banned there as I understand it.

That's right. They were untreated hides sourced from abroad. It still makes sense though to take precautions when butchering meat and handling animal parts. There are some things we can catch from animals, though humans are far more dangerous to us.