Evilv

Yeah Axe, I just got back from testing the spring tension. Check out the results here mate... LOL. http://huntingblog.blogspot.com/ I'll say this - that TX is a well made piece of kit. Obviously, the accident hasn't effected its accuracy much...

Thanks guys - and I DO know how stupid this was, but I wanted that second rabbit from the group that were still sitting after I'd just blown the brains out of one of their group. It was 30C that day and I was sweating like a pig - that's how my hand slipped. I'm lucky. The way it slammed back, I could have had my hand in plaster. I spoke to Air Arms this afternoon, and their technical people said what Karl did, that the silencer was probably slightly bent out of alignment, and as long as the rifle looked and worked ok without it, which it does, especially after I retightened the front stock screws which were mysteriously loosened by the event, it was probably OK. I took out all the innards of the silencer, and shot it just with the tube and no guts or front end. Grouped properly. Then I put on the front cover disk and pellets were missing by a foot in sixty feet. I reamed out the holein the front end slightly and it's still the same. I'm up to about 6.5mm, but I need some larger drills to do any better. The silencer is still almost as quiet - without the baffles, as long as the front end is on it. I'm going to just open it up until it works. Without the silencer, I'm getting 5p sized groups at sixty feet - 10mm in other words. Thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted, and to hell with second shots. I won't be circumventing that safety feature again in a hurry. You'd be surprised how much power that spring has when released at the peak of it's compression, though the rabbits might not be.

Do any of you chaps know about the TX200? Last week, I had a nasty slip up when trying to re-cock the rifle quietly for a scond shot at some rabbits. It was hot, and having pressed down the bear trap release button while cocking to make it silent (but also remove the anti beartrap mechanism) my hand slipped off the cocking leadr due to sweat, and the thing slammed back like a bear trap - Oh - that's what that's for, thinks stupid gunner. After wards the thing was spraying shots all over until I took off the silencer, when it returned to its usual perfect manners (tight groups). The silencer is shaving pellets as they pass through. I can see the bits inside it, but it is perfect in itself. Any time I put on the silencer, the same thing happens, and I'm thinking I must have misaligned the inner barrel and the outer shroud into which the silencer screws... Is there any amateur solution, or will it have to go back to the manufacturer for repair?

I think he would, for sure...

Thanks all for your remarks. Actually Axe, there's a lot in that comment about spending money. That B3 rifle is certainly unpretentious, but for £35 it does a damned good job. The lad can easily get a one inch group at sixty feet with iron sights. I'll bet it will do a lot better with a cheapo scope stuck on top. It's fun to shoot as well, we plink way in the garden with it and it's amply repaid its cost in fun already. I had to refinish the stock though - covered in foul brown varnish and lumps of filler, I just hacked that out, rubbed it down, stained it darker and oiled it. Looks like a slightly battered old military thing now - very quaint, and atmospheric. I bought it at Superbows. Thirty five quid delivered to the house four days after ordering on the website - ya can't complain really... Yeah - the missus will keep quiet as long as I don't try to make her cook all these rabbits. She won't go near 'em. I gave as many as I could away, but half of the ******* want 'em skinned and ready for the pot. I just say, 'Would you like me to cook it too? How much salt do you like?' LOL.

A lot of sound advice there. The land you describe may even qualify as having public access, which could make it armed trespass in a public place - or some such form of words. Getting permission is not impossible if you invest some time and effort. Approaches by a respectable looking chap, mentioning that you'd noticed rabbits / pigions / crows, on land and enquiring if the farmer would like you to dispose of them for him, will often work out with a positive response. You just have to hit on the right land, the right farmer, and make the right impression on him in those first few seconds. It's a combination of self sell and finding a guy who has a need. The TX is a fine rifle. I've got one and am very pleased with it. Shot fifteen rabbits yesterday. One tip though, don't do what I did and circumvent the anti-beartrap mechanism so as to make for quieter cocking. I've done that a lot lately, and regretted it yesterday when a sweaty hand slipped off the cocking lever at almost maximum extension... What a SMACK that was. If I'd had a thumb under the barrel, it would have been badly smashed.

Way back before the Foot and Mouth problem, I used to shoot sometimes on a farm up in the hills near Alston. It was quite a hike to get there and I haven't been back in five years. Got a call from a mate who said the place was crawling with rabbits, so I instigated contact and went up there today with my youngest son, his Chinese B3 air rifle and my TX. The place was crawling with rabbits. We'd look over a wall and there'd be half a dozen within range. Take a few shots and move on. I had a nasty experience with the TX which necessitated about two hours of re - zeroing the scope, all to find it wasn't that at all. Problem started when I was trying to be clever with the noisy anti-beartrap mechanism. I pressed the button down so I could cock the thing without the noisy click - click - click business so I could take a second shot at some naive bunies that just glanced over when their brother dropped dead beside them. The temperature was about 30c today, and I was sweating like a dog. I just got the lever to the strongest part of the pull, when my fingers slipped off it, and it returned to its stowed position with a mighty SMACK. After that I was only hitting dust and feet from where I'd aimed. - 'Ah', says I. 'I've knocked the scope out. So I zeroed away for an hour getting nowhere. Then I noticed that the silencer was wobbling like a plate on a stick at the circus..... Yeah - I know..... I looked inside and the darned thing was full of lead. I just dumped it in my bag, but now the scope was a long mile out and took ages to get back on song.... In the end we did OK - a bag of 21, and do you know what? The place is still crawling with them. We had to stop because the lad was showing signs of sun stroke. He'd be no good in the Foreign Legion that one. Still, he put six to bed with his £35 B3 with its iron sights. Sets himslelf a limit of 60 feet and knocks them down like a good 'un. I'll buy him a cheap scope and he'll do as well as me - probably. If the wife realises my kit cost eight times as much as his and he does as well, I'll never hear the end of it.

I've edited an earlier posts a bit Hawkeye - got a word from the wise. All ok... :thumbs:

Nuff said Snakebite. Take another look mate. Thanks.

This might not fit the bill for Ferret Master, but has anybody any direct experience of the Career 707? It seems a pretty powerful rifle in its FAC spec. I'm quite interested in going back to .22LR, but this might be a good halfway house at about 60ft pounds energy. Less risk of richochet. On the other hand, it's more expensive than .22 rimfire, and probably as expenisve to run, plus, a more complex piece of machinery.

It's a lot of chicken **** - yes - but the 20 fattening chickens have eaten 500 pounds (weight) of food in 14 weeks! Thirteen more to go. At least I know they have a good life running around in the sun and eating me out of house and home. It's like a chicken holiday camp here. I can't eat them all and will have to give some away or keep feeding the swines. Maybe I should buy another freezer. They've cost me a fiver each now to get them this big but even the hens will be about eight pounds live weight.

Hey - we've probably all done it. I was setting up my son's B3 with 'iron sights', and I adjusted the rear sight completely the wrong way around. I set up my TX first at 10 yards, to get it more or less right - zeroed on a spot drawn on a sheet of paper, clipped with clothes pegs to a scrap of hardboard - fired five rested shots at the spot, then adjusted the reticule towards the strike point. When it was bang on, I used Chairgun to find out the optimum zero for my weapon's power and pellet weight, and re-set the sight in the same way at that distance. You'll be fine now - Dad's eh? Who'd have 'em? He was probably thinking of iron sights from his National Service days, or something. Rear sight does go up if you're dealing with them. Hi Big Dave.

If it's a .22 at about 11.5 ft pounds, you'll probably find it should be zeroed at about 26 yards, as the optimum for the flat part of the trajectory. I got that from the Chairgun programme for my TX200 .22. As to why you can't adjust the scope to 35 yards, I'm not sure. I suppose you mounted it properly, and all that? Of course you have, but might be worth a check. I'm an air rifle newbie, so maybe I should shut up and wait for an expert. EDIT: I could be wrong, but shouldn't you be adjusting the horizontal bar lower, if the pellets are striking below its aiming point?

Ive got nearly fifty - 26 layers and 20 meat birds... Well, I've eaten six so maybe I should say I've got 40 now.... A lot more meaty than pigeons and easier to catch, as well.

Get some chickens on it Snakebite. They're the most productive thing you can do with a small bit of ground.

WEll, I'm tempted, and I certainly wouldn't try shooting them out of trees for the reason you mention, as well as the fact that pellets would leave the property.

Did someone not hang them like the monkey?

I have an allotment which is plagued by woodies. We've tried all sorts of scare tactics to little avail. I'd like to shoot them, but since it's council property in a city, (although surrounded by trees) I suspect they'd go mad if they heard we were slaughtering their avian brothers... Maybe in the interests of not creating another 'gun incident' and bringing further disrepute on air gunners, I'll just have to watch the bug*ers gobbling my produce.

Wood Pigeon the most commonly seen bird in Britain... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4646685.stm I can remember in the early eighties when people thought the prices game dealers were offering for them would cause them to become scarce.

And ain't that the truth.

Even with .22 rimfire you need hollow points to kill a hare cleanly with anything other than a good headshot. Unfortunately, I discoverd this from practical experience. That's a 40 grain bullet travelling at 1090 fps, and they'll still lope off unless it's a hollow point. Unless the creature is within ten yards and you can wack it between the eyes and ear, don't even think about it. I shoot on a farm where there are about twenty hares, but they are like pets to the farmer. Consequently, I regularly find them sitting until I'm literally right on top of them.

Don't Air Arms recommend their own brand pellets? I think they do for my TX200 which performs very well with the AA hunter type. Regards

LOL - good going there Axe. I thought I'd take a picture of the 'Lone Rabbit', I bagged, especially since the shot was so well placed, but them I thought I'd give you lot with your Edwardian Gentleman sized bags a chance to take the ****, so didn't. I got three the time before, mind... It was the weather that done for me this week... Honest.

Try superglue on small cuts. Keeps the dirt out very well and it's quite tough. They sell some expensive version called liquid bandage or something, but a doctor friend of mine says they use ordinary superglue all the time in hospitals. After applying it to the cut, give it a moment and then run it under the tap, or spit on it if you're outside. That way, you won't stick yourself to something else.