adam f

Just wondered if anyone can recommend a few good shooting books? Amazon is a minefield, so some personal recommendations would be good. Either tuition based or preferably just yarns or stories. I currently shoot clays and game and an air rifle for rabbits etc so not that interested in deer stalking or high powered rifles. Thanks in advance!

That's a Dragonet I think?

Thanks all, I'll get looking on the web tonight and order a pair.

Just reading Archie Coats book and was interested that he advocates clapping birds off the field or even firing a wild shot to stop them from landing away from your pattern and getting comfy. The logic sounds good just wondered if anyone else does this?

Having only been shooting since the start of this year Ive not seen a full year of shooting. Now seems to be the main pigeon 'season' with cut rape and barley etc - but what comes next? I'm still actively seeking permissons of my own, but just wondered when the harvest finishes and what comes after?

Thanks guys. I just want them for reccying pigeon flightlines and fields, not stalking etc. 7 Day shop are out of stock at the mo, butn I'll keep and eye on them.

I feel that a set of binolculars would be handy in my ever growing kit bag? What do you recommend? Can I get away with a cheapy set or do I need to invest a bit? Adam

I'm very new to shooting Pigeon. In fact when I got my shotgun cert all I planned to do was smash a few clays, I was happy shooting live game with a rifle.... until a got an invite out decoying! :blink: OMG! I am SOOO hooked! When that first pigeon came into the deeks the adrenaline rush was huge. In fact Ive hardly been out fishing this year as all I want to do is go pigeon shooting! I'm finding it hard going getting a permission at the moment, the farmers all seem so hectic with the harvest. So Ive had to be content with invites from a couple of kind friends. It's frustrating though as I cant just go when I want! Anyway went out last night for my 4th trip so far and l'm learning everytime. Last night wasnt like the trips Ive had previous. It was raining when we arrived and no pigeons anywhere - we spent over an hour with the bino's looking for a few birds - this was all new to me, but I now see why it pays off - lesson 1. We picked a field with a few birds showing and put up about 50 when we drove the field. My 1st mistake was to do what I should have learnt from my last trip - I went straight to where thebiggest mass of birds were.... but it was tight up against a fence and hedge with the wind in my face. The birds started coming in straight away to the deeks but it was very windy last night and they couldnt get down quick enough between me and the pattern... instead they landed pass the deeks about 100yds out.. After an hour of no shots watching them a long way off I made the decision to move to the opposite end of the field with the wind off my back. Bingo! Despite the birds being a away off the wind direction was better and they came in well to the pattern. Lesson 2. Lesson 3 was how well natural cover this time of year works! In previous trips Ive just plonked my hide down near the hedge, this trip I tucked in behind the standing grass and crop around the margin of the field... it was so good I struggled to find the hide after picking up a few times! Final lesson 4 is that Ive been getting too excited when birds approach often not letting them commit and trying hard fast shots whilst they are a way off. Now I leave the gun propped against the hide which gives me a few extra seconds and Ive found that aften they come right in and present a much easier shot! Mind you even then I still miss a few! Anyway that's my ramblings as a newbie to pigeon shooting. I ended up with just an hour's shooting before they went to roost last night. I shot just 4, lost on in the field behind and missed 4 so not the huge bags you guys make but It's great fun though!

Thanks for all the kind comments chaps!

I need to get some cleaning kit for my shotgun. Ive been making do with a bit of acetone, 3-in-1 and some cotton rags and a piece of dowl. So what do I need? A cleaning kit with mops and copper brush etc? Also what fuilds or oils etc do people recommend? Thanks Adam

Firstly thanks for all the help and advice on here, it was a mine field choosing my first shotgun. After a couple of months of looking, trying out I had everything from rude and ignorant gun shop owners to very helpful ones - and the help from Pigeon Watch was invaluable. The budget wasnt a huge issue, I just wanted a good starter gun but didnt know what to look for. I very, very nearly bought a lovely 687 Silver Pigeon, but when the shop owner picked up a ringing phone just as we were about to shake hands I had second thoughts on spending £1000 on my first gun which may or may not have been right for me. In the end I took a bit of a gamble and had a deal with a guy in here for a Rizzini. He knocked off £50 for me collecting it and it was a low risk way to get started at just £200. The gamble paid off and it fitted very well - just needed another 1" on the stock. Comb height was perfect. It was in average condition - mostly superficial. The day after I collected it I had an invite out Pigeon shooting - my first ever attempt and I shot 6! I'm now well and truely hooked! I then took the gun apart gave it a good clean (the bores were filthly but came up like new) cleaned and oiled the action, polished the small amount of surface rust off the sideplates and started on the final big task - stripping the horrible laquer off the stock. Again with advice from here it came off easily. A quick rub down revleaved what I think is a reasonable piece of wood for a cheap gun. Half a dozen coats of Walnut oil and voila! What a transformation! I bought a new stock end pad and profiled it to size and I now have a lovely gun for £200 to get me started - and you know what it feels just as good as many of the more expensive ones Ive tried over the past few weeks. Here's how she turned out:

Need some help with the ejectors on my rizzini 12g.... they are double ejecting even after just one shot. Doesnt matter whether top or bottom barrell first. Ive cleaned and lubed them as best as I can without removing them and thought I'd fixed it as the first dozen or so shots they ejected perfectly.... but now back to double ejecting. It's something I could like with but I'd like to cure the issue. Any ideas? Do they just need a better clean? If so how do I remove them? Thanks Adam

Bone the legs out, and take the saddles, discard the rest. Pop into a bowl with a couple of crushed cloves of garlic, a glug of balsamic vinegar, a glass of red wine and a handful of fresh chopped rosemary. Leave for at least 2 hours (better if 12 hours) then pop on the BBQ for a few mins - lovely and moist and full of flavour. Did these at a friends BBQ yesterday and they got demolished whilst a plate of burgers sat there! Adam

How do you guys carry your kit? At the moment Ive a game bag for dead birds, a sack for my deeks, my hide kit and then another bag for ammo, food, clothing etc - it all feels a bit messy! Anyone suggest a better way of transporting my kit?

Like the pepper sauce idea... For an even better pepper sauce though... try a good glug of double cream, half a beef oxo cube crumbled in, a teaspoon of dijon mustard, a teaspoon of cracked pappercorns and a splash or brandy... may need a splash of water to thin it out. Simmer it for a few mins... and voila! The best pepper sauce ever!

Excellent! So Wlnut oil will givbe me the finish i'm after? Anything else needed on top? How many coats would you recommend?

Ive stripped the stock and forend of my shotgun back and found a reasonale piece of timber with some nice patterns. I now want to oil it. What do you recommend? Ive read that boiled linseed is pretty good, but I'd really like a matt/satin type finish as opposed to a sheen? Will linseed make it shiney again? What about Danish oil? Suggestion please! Thanks Adam

Ive a similar issue and have ordered one of these. More 'proper' looking than a slip over boot. You sand them to fit the profile of your stock. http://www.euroguns.co.uk/acatalog/info_94505_7.html

With all the spending on new kit this month I couldnt quite justify another 40-60 odd quid on a set of bouncers so I set to work in the workshop on Sunday to see what I could make from bits squirrelled away! This was a half shell deek with the tail trimmed back. A pair of small 1.5mm holes drilled in the sides to attach the wings.... ... whch I made from a sheet of black breathable weed control membrane, with a piece of welding wire dicreatly threaded through the front edge. The secures to the deek through the holes inthe sides and Ive simply bent a loop to stop the wings falling off - but left them loose enough to flap away. I sprayed the wings up in grey and white and left the black where required. The tail was done in a similar fashion. I then used a hot glue gun to tack the wings and tail in place. The pole slots into a small piece of 2x1 timber under the deek which has a 6.5mm hole drilled into it (yes I know the rod is up it's backside in the photo - I've now moved it so it enters under the head) I havent yet sourced any 6mm fibreglass, so Ive used a pair of flexible bay tree branches for the time being. I popped them in the garden last night as we had a fair breeze and they bobbed and swayed lovely! My house backs onto a farm and large meadow and they even managed to pull in the odd pigeon to take a little look! Cost = £0.00, time = about 2 hours. I'm off out tomorrow to see if they work!

Thanks for the replies. Ive always been prepared to put in time for field or watercraft (when fishing) etc... When I'm off fishing - I'll look at the weather and pick a day that suits what I want to catch - wondered if the birdies were the same? So I guess it's good news in that any day is worth a bash at them - rain or shine!

OK - put it another way then.... what conditions do you find really bad for decoying?? Or is it just not that simple?

What do you find is the best weather conditions / time of day etc for decoying? Adam

Thanks, I'll take a look. It's a Rizzini Sporter if that helps.

How do I remove the action from the stock of a 12g shotgun? I want to strip the cack varnish and oil it, but obviously need to remove the action first? Thanks in advance!

Well, basically you cant sell what you catch unless you have a commercial license.... that means ANYTHING. You can give it away, but cant sell it or swap for commercial gain - the penalities are very big and pretty severe. The reason is twofold and both linked - it protects the stocks of fish in the sea, and protects the commercial sector. That's the basics - as you'd imagine it's a hugely political and debated subject - not that the leisure sector want to be able to sell fish, but of the damage commercial fishing does.... Unlike the 'bad' old days where the skipper would keep the catch to sell to make more profit on the trip!