Anthony

My first magnet was from Target Sports Of Bolton £135 and it is **** 1) The battery did not last long at all, allthough they said it would last all day 2) The adjustable height for the arms don't fit due to design error, plus it looks like a radar 3) The arms were finished in green Chalk, yes green chalk, that no longer existed after being transported 1 mile, as it had ended up all over the car seat. I hope they have now changed their design!!! I have painted the arms, and they're OK but the adjustable height is useless Anyone else fallen into the same trap, I can see now why people are prepared to pay more for a reliable machine.

byhsu I have a theoben Rapid .22 @ 30ftlbs and it will kill humanely at 70yards no problem if your accurate enough. I suggest if you go for it you buy a good scope to match the cost of the rifle as the scope is equally as important, especially at longer ranges when clarity is usefull. I had an AAs410 in 12ftlbs which was an excellent gun but offered few shots per charge whereas the rapid offers 50 plus I carry a spare bottle on some days. overall and excellent gun and a lot lighter than the springers or a BSA superten, with the added bonus of magazines, offering fast pellet cycling.

I got mine from the Euroguns website

I have brought my flapper from our local gunshop For £95 including 10 free cradles valued at £35 and including an intermittent 0-10 on 0-60 off. I think most gunshops will have them in the next few weeks, the motor is gaurantee continuous run for 2 years

Digger, Where did you get your flapper from? I have heard many good comments about the electronic flappers they sound ideal for me as I have to carry my equipment miles across fields and a small battery is perfect for loosing overall weight, and considering I may also require a large number of cartridges, weight is crucial thanks Anthony

Adamo, I have not tried the Eley Magnums, yet as I am so impressed with the AA Hunters, The Eley Magnums may fit in the mags but i'm not sure you will have to try. anyway good luck with your new gun and I'm sure you will like it. Does it come with the Vortex silencer? I added it as the noise on FAC is another draw back, but the noise of the pellet striking the rabbits skull is far louder. Also I have found that the Rapid FAC performs very well on pigeons and hits hard from most angles.

Adamo, I have a Rapid MK1 tyrolean stock FAC at 30ftlbs which I found second hand and I use Air Arms .22 hunter pellets as I think they're lighter than magnums and yet strong enough to withstand the power, as a result the trajectory is flatter and the gun is very accurate. The tyrolean stocks, I believe they do not make them anymore but there are a few customised stocks occasionally for sale in the Airgun mags. As for the gun itself you have chosen the best in FAC format i reckon, I had a Superten for instance which at FAC level gave few shots and was like a brick. The theoben is lighter, more shots and the magazines are better. Having had a 12ftlbs AA S410, a great looking gun, I was not happy to have to say goodbye to it for a buddy bottle type gun, but the theoben performs very well and I have become accustomed to the ugly look and have bagged more bunnies.

It is very easy for people who shoot pigeons regularly to use freshly shot pigeons from recent outings for their magnets, but if like me you shoot less regularly, do you use frozen birds and defrost them the night before? or just chance it and hope you shoot two quickly, from passed experience waiting to shoot two can be very annoying. Also are there many pigeon shooters who only use motorised flappers and save the weight from the magnet?

It would have to be the Beretta AL391, such fun to shoot with, and you do not have to worry so much about scratching it.

For a 12bore O/U would you use a 28inch or 30inch barrel and how much more would I expect to have to pay for a gun in multichoke.

I am considering getting a new pigeon shooting gun but do not know whether a 20 or 12 bore, it will be used for mainly pigeon shooting and rough shooting as well as clays, which gauge do you prefer and why for these shooting diciplines. If i was to choose a beratta O/U which one is a good buy below 900 second hand

I need some advice on O/U in the beretta range. What is a good gun (Silver Pigeon) for pigeon shooting in a 20bore with multi chokes. i have looked at a 686 E Sporting clay gun, any opinions is it better to go for a game gun (Silver Pigeon 686 S) etc?

I have been pigeon shooting now for a number of years and have been using a Beretta AL391 semi auto 12 bore, I also enjoy driven shooting with which I will always use a side-by-side 12 bore. The question is whether it is a good idea to exchange my auto for a silver pigeon Over and under in 20bore. I am obviously concerned about the weight and most importantly whether using and O/U and S/S will cause problems with accuracy. ie is it likely that using an O/U will cause my S/S accuracy to decline? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Do you need to have the pictures on the internet to upload or can you upload them from your desktop? If from the internet, is there a site the hosts pictures or what, do you all have your own websites, how does it work? Sorry I know this is probably asked all the time

Adamo I see why your concerned about the aftersale service, my rapid is in fact the MK1 version and I have never had a problem with it so far anyway and it shoots like a dream and the effective range is astonishing in the right conditions. They are incredibly light, compared to my previous Superten which was a brick and I could never hold it steady. I would say if your going for a FAC PCP the buddy bottle approach , especially if your stalking on foot, is by far the best as number of shots per charge is good and you can carry the spare bottles but if you plan to do most of your shooting from a vehicle then a AA would be ideal with a diving bottle in the boot. Having had only a 20 shot superten, after a few checks on arrival in the field to ensure the zero is correct and not knocked on the journey you soon add up shots, coupled with the fact that I fire more shots as I have a greater range of distances to shoot over, it does not take long before you run out.

I respect the gamekeeper so would never dream of shooting near the woods, anyway even if I did not know him I would never shoot near a cover, especially as I enjoy driven shooting and its a large waste of money if pheasants don't show in the drives. but lets face it, its most annoying seeing 2000 birds feeding and you can't get at them.

Hi Adamo I had the same problems with deciding my FAC, i had previously owned a AAs410 which was great but to upgrade to FAC was pointless especially as you only get a few shots per charge. I looked at springers as my mate had a BSA lightning (not FAC) but a great gun, I looked at the Theoben Eliminator but thats far too heavy and unless your super strong its not great. I looked at the AA springers and the pro elite was not ideal with its weight and consistency. Having had a pcp I am now firmly dedicated to them and I now have a Theoben rapid 7 FAC 30ftlbs, which to my mind is ideal for FAC, and i would consider anything lower than 20ftlbs to be a waste of a licence. The gun is great and I have at least 50 shots per charge and can carry spare bottles. Although I know that springers require no filling they don't have the repeater options or the consistency, light weight or power as SOME PCP's. Thats my opinion anyway, and it took a long time to reach the decision, I have no idea about the new springer but I can imagine it being rather special as AA guns are superb and I know many hunters who use PE.

Hi there Are many pigeon shooters restricted to only certain fields as the pheasants are in the woods at the moment. Its typical that now there are massive flocks on the land and there is no way I can get to them due to the pheasants.

and do any of you use them and to what effect are they usefull. I find pigeons will fly off on arrival and just concentrate on another corner of the field so I need to keep them moving.

As I often shoot myself I would like to be prepared for this coming Winter Rape shooting and so I really need some of those rope bangers but i have no idea where to get them from. Can anyone help as to where to get them mail order or any? Thanks Tony

As much as I enjoy pigeon shooting I enjoy it more thanks to my beretta AL391 which I got for 550 pounds, they are a joy to use, its really satisfying getting three from three and the gun looks great. I have a AYA side by side that I use for pheasants but as much as I like it when it comes to pigeons its not the best and i always enjoy revealing my auto from its gunslip at the start of a days decoying, pity at the moment I can't seem to find many places to use it.

Thanks for all your replies, I ended up shooting in a different field as there was some work on drainaga at present so I set up elsewhere, however the weather was not good and the birds were flying very high. I believe also the decoys were shining too much as not a single bird was interested and this has never happened to me before.

Looks like I will have to set up in the ditch lets hope that there is little rain. I believe your right regarding the footpath, a couple of months ago there were horses on it, and I was shooting miles from the path, yet these people on their horses stopped and watched us. I find it really anoying when people are suspicious, like when you partk at the gates to check the flighpaths. Do you have any tips for shooting on a slight slope so you are looking into a bank, over the top the field extends for another 70 acres, I cannot see whats coming ahead for obvious reasons, but I was wnadering if anyone has any tactics for catching their sight on the brow of the hill, a floater perhaps?!?!?!

Either that or I build my hide in a ditch that has limited space to shoot from and will probably be wet.

Hi there, I was just wandering whether it is possible to set up a hide against a hedge that has a public footpath on the other side. If you were a safe shot and only shot infront and sides for instance. Is this OK or not wise?