chris t

The 391 urika 2 will go to a 4 shot. Just a quick change of the magazine tube. Very simple. No other changes needed. Have had it done. Kept the old tube, so that it can be changed back.

I did not know this, apart from that it's generally SxS that are 2 1/2" chambered rather than other types. If that's the case, then why do we have soooo many 2 1/2" game carts these days, and so few 2 3/4" ? I find this rather annoying because semi-autos cycle 2 3/4" very reliably, but 2 1/2" can be a bit hit and miss (so to speak). It just really cuts down on what you can choose from if you try to always buy 2 3/4" game carts.

if you mean out the mag tube, then that would mean having the gun transfered to a firearms certificate. New mag tube normally the easy way. Unsure about how to remove crimp. probably not worth the hassle.

they seemed a bit low on decoys to me. Could do with buying a few more....

I found a couple here today on the ground after pulling the trigger a few times They are feeding on the rape around here at first light, then there gone (somewhere...) Chris

Interesting what people do on this one... I use hypaflaps, which can be a effected by the wind a bit. So when windy I set it lower, but when there is little wind I set it as high as it will go, so that birds further away have a greater chance of seeing it. In reality it probably makes little difference, but it makes me feel better. Also the land around here is a bit hilly so high is better for me.

For Clays or Wood Pigeons? Sorry just seen... 'Clays' It will likely be best with 70mm

only really used their special pigeon 32g fibre. Seem to work OK, not the cheapest IMO. But wow, they leave a nasty mess in the forcing cone, which is really difficult to remove. Needs loads of brushing and soak time. I think it's the wads they use in them. The wads also seem to break up and bits come out the side of the ejection port sometimes and into my eyes. Not much of a fan of them for these reasons. If this sort of thing doesn't bother you, there fine. Their other types might be fine, not tried them mainly due to the price.

for shooting over farm land, plastic wad cartridges are great for leaving a mess. In a clay grounds where there are already millions of plastic wads around, I don't think it makes any difference unless they are going to have a proper tidy up. I'd say that if you asked a land owner which he'd like you to use, he'd say fibre everytime. So that enough for me. I only use fibre, forget about patterns etc

if it's anything like my beretta urika 2 (ie gas driven): as said use 70mm carts. If new, they may take a bit of time to 'work in' Also make sure the gas piston area is clean and dry, don't put any oil around this area. Or else the oil and burnt gases get together and jam everything up. A clean and a few drops of oil around the bolt area where metal slides against metal helps alot. Good luck.

yeah, just buy a dead bird bouncer and once you've shot a few birds, but them on the bouncers. Job done and cheap.

fabarm do left handed semis, some on guntrader at the mo...

I use empty John Deere 20 litre oil drums for quite awhile. They have an almost smooth top for sitting on, are quite strong and have good capacity for carrying lots of dead birds and have a carry handle. Get them from your local John Deere dealer or any farmer that has John Deere tractors. Oh and they are black too, so blend in fairly well. I may even have a few empties knocking around if people want to try one. Chris

Just Cartridges - CSP 28g Fibre 6.5 70mm - fast, cheap, great for decoying. Rio Super game 32g Fibre 6 70mm - cycle really well, hard hitting for those longer range roost shooting shots. These are what I've settled on after trying loads of different cartridges. Many others out there which are fine as said above, these are what I like...

yeah, I think policy states once every 21 days is the max... perhaps check the T&Cs

Wow, that is bad.... I feel sorry for you. Must have been very embarrassing. If you'd not noticed and fired another cartridge afterwards you might have got a blown barrel. I have always avoided eleys myself, since just thought they weren't very good quality. But thought the VIPs were suppose to be decent. I know manufactures get bad batches occasionally, but not on their flag ship products surely.

I bet a lot of those guys have either never shot a semi or not given one a decent try. The UK seems to have this 'thing' about semis, go just about anyway else in the world and the semi is the first choice everytime. I think semis are amoung the best shooting guns available. Flying cartridges can be a bit of a pain, granted. If you find you shoot well with a particular gun, I'd stick with it.

One thing I've never understood, is people who go pigeon and pheasant shooting and say/do pick up their empties, but use plastic wad cartridges. I suppose they are removing half their mess.....

My wife loves it when the pigeon shooting guys drop her a bottle of white wine off at the house. (particularly the bubbly stuff) Doesn't have to cost much, but it's the thought and appreciation that means the most. And if the wifes happy, I'm happy.... Enough said.

Been out today for a few hours with my new Benelli Vinci. (first time properly) Fairly quiet pigeon wise First bird that came to me was fairly high to high, bang came down stone dead first shot.... Shot 7 woodies and missed a few of course. But really liked the gun, feels different to the urika 2, bit more kick, but running it in with some powerfulish cartridges at the mo. Has 26inch barrel, but nearly 2 inches longer than the urika 2 with it's 26inch barrel, making it like a 30inch barrelled O/U. Sounds so different when cycling, bit lighter to carry. Have to push the cartridges in a bit further into the magazine to click in than the urika 2, which takes a bit of getting use to (making loading the mag a bit slower for me so far) Looking forward to going out with it again. Overall liking the gun so far. Chris

Baby wipes are great for cleaning syntheic autos.

If you look back through the posts on this section of the forum, you'll find loads of opinions on this. The gas operated ones have the lowest recoil (of any shotgun), berettas brownings winchesters. Inertia ones tend to be benellis, they are the easiest to clean by far, but more recoil. But generally lighter weight. Depends what you like/ gonna use it for. New or 2nd hand. The beretta A400 models are good, in fact they are all good, just each a little different. Some of the berettas have clever recoil devices on the stock that reduce recoil even further. As do the benellis with their stock chevrons. Also lots of videos on youtube about these guns have a look.

being fairly short, I find there are almost no guns that fit me. So I try what I like and if it feels OK, then I go from there. The Benelli I bought recently has interchangeable recoil pads, so have ordered a thin one since length of pull tends to be the main issue for me. But like many autos it comes with the different shims, so I can try those out if I still feel it's not right after changing the pad. It's nice for me to have a gun I can alter the fit of without having to have it adapted by a gunsmith.

Here's our stove install. Flue exit out the back to allow the stove to come forward and convect to the room better. Although once the harder weather hits, I don't use it. Just use the central heating because it's powered by a woodchip boiler. This makes the farmhouse really hot indeed.

I generally use electronic ear muffs, but in summer these are too hot for me. So while I was at a game fair this time, I dropped on a stand that makes the molded ones for you. They squirt some silicon type stuff in your ear and then it sets (after awhile). Then they make them and post them out to you later on. I like them, fit well, don't move around, block out the sound. They do make electronic ones as well, but they are quite expensive.