Cranfield

Whats the model name or number ? Winchester make good guns and it can,t be ancient if its a single trigger. If you have never used a side-by-side, give it a try before you buy. Some people can,t get on with them. The price will depend on the model.

We made a magpie trap many years ago. It was 7ft high, 8ft. wide and 12ft long. Just 2"x2" wooden frame, with a small hinged door set in one end. We stapled chicken wire over the whole thing, having made a hole in the "roof". In this hole we fitted a funnel made out of chicken wire and wired it to the roof. Very "rough and ready", but it worked.

Deako is being a bit subtle, but I think he would like everyone that can, to attend the March tomorrow.

Glad you both had a great time and a safe journey.

Thanks for the suggestions Dean, I have downloads "enabled" in my Security settings. The download notification came from a flashing icon on my toolbar. I couldn,t download from that and so I went to the Microsoft Update Site and got the same message when I tried to download from there, plus they mentioned the "proxy server settings". I have tried to download today and its the same. :( How do I try the "local server" option ?

Cheers Dean, I have just found out that I don,t have a proxy server either. :( I am trying to download a long "critical" update from Microsoft. When I start the download, I get a message saying that download can,t go ahead, check if I still have an internet connection or try later. I have the internet connection (I,m on broadband), I have been trying all evening with no luck. It then started asking me for details of my proxy server, to assist in the download. I have disabled Norton, so its not that. If it wasn,t a critical update, I probably wouldn,t bother What to do now ? :(

Where on my computer are the details of my "proxy server settings". I need to tell Microsoft what they are to resolve a little problem and I can,t find them. :( I,m running Microsoft ME. Thanks for any help. :(

neil, I found it. Seems like the usual brand of "Internet Warriors". Big, strong and aggressive...................at the other end of an annonymous computer link. Unfortunately, any Forum/Website that gets a concentrated attack from people like this can fold up, because all the decent people leave it and go elsewhere. Often that is the intention of these people. Some Forums call them "Trolls". They join a Forum , just to cause trouble. We have been lucky so far. The way to beat them is to ignore them. Without the fuel,their fire soon goes out.

neil, I found that website, it seems to be someones personal website. Who is he ? Did you mean the comments the writer was making about "internet stalkers" or something similar ? I must say I didn,t understand what he was going on about. Did I miss something ?

A very Happy Birthday Mate, I hope you gave the whippets a brisk walk this morning and polished your ferrets. Got to be a bit careful, I,ve noticed there are a few new posters from up your way.

Malc, remind us, what sizes you have access to and how much ?

I actually got Malcs Method to work today. I think the problem is, that I have not been pressing down hard enough. Hopefully, I will not get too many opportunities to practise.

Another potentially frustrating day, due to the close proximity of footpaths, both official and un-official,or houses, around fields with pigeons on them. I must try to find somewhere to shoot where there are no houses or footpaths. I ended up on a recently sown rape field and shot 12 pigeons, had I been able to go where the birds were, I would have done a lot better. My farmer friend is going to have to put birdscarers in those fields for the Autumn and Winter period.

The "recordings" are illegal in the UK. :( Can,t you get a "blow into" or "cord pull" type decoy call for crows, like you can for ducks and geese ? If so, do THEY work ?

Well I know they work over there. Assuming we have the same sort of crows, I would think they would work over here. It might be a bit of a nuisance dragging the stereo unit and three car batteries around the fields though. :(

PC knows some rather mature schoolboys. :(

I went for a few hours today. The pigeons were all over a small, sheltered wheat stubble field. They have shown no interest in this field since it was harvested, but the wind today probably made it the most "comfortable" field on the farm. I shot 24 pigeons and 3 magpies. We need more wind and cloud !!!!!!!!

Lee, I have tried Malc,s Method three times and I can,t get it to work. Perhaps our pigeons are a different strain than yours.

I found this.............. What's a "CLASSIC DOUBLES"? In 1987, when Olin Corp. decided to get the rest of the way out of the gun manufacturing business (after having sold the New Haven, Conn. operations to U.S. Repeating Arms), they sold their Japanese factory to a newly formed company - Classic Doubles International. This new firm continued using the same factory, machinery, people, tooling, and designs to produce their versions of the 101 and 23, mechanically near identical, but cosmetically different. Most mechanical parts of the C.D. are identical and interchangeable with the Winchester. Quality and workmanship levels are essentially the same. Due to lack of sufficient sales volume to support the operations, they went bankrupt after about 2 years. Due to limited production of Classic Doubles guns, they are becoming as sought after as the Winchester versions (some variations even more so!). I,ll poke around some more.

Welcome to the crew peter n, the other magical thing about coffee, is it attracts birds and fish. You can sit in the hide or by a river and all is quiet. Pour a cup of coffee and while you are doing it, a pigeon flies over the decoys, or your float goes under. Guaranteed, every time. I have the scars of many cups of hot coffee dropped in my lap.

Hi Game bore, welcome, Meandassey, Dead-eye-**** and myself have met up and done some clay missing at a shoot near Dartford (JJ,s, I think). Keep posting and we should be able to fix up a meet next time we go. :thumbs:

daveman, if you apply the "anti-foxhunting logic" to Angling, most of the common practices could be deemed cruel. a) forceably pulling a fish from its natural habitat by hooking it in the mouth. keeping it in a "keep net" for hours ,causing stress and then tipping it back intothe lake ,causing scale damage. c) putting maggots, worms and other creatures on hooks to attract the fish (not much different than the tethered live decoy, we can,t use). You could add to this list easily. I also fish and I fear the future for Angling, is bleaker than for Wood Pigeon shooting.

OK, confession time, I am not an Electrician, but how can the "stamina" of 12V 7AH batteries vary so much. Surely the makers of a rotary device can,t expect you to lug a Power Station around with you to fire up their products, for what could easily be an 8 hour session. Thats a product I wouldn,t buy. The N&S Pecker is not suspended, I am trying to remember the "engineering" of it, but it does stand on the ground. I imagine that Peckers provide the movement if you are not using your rotary device, or just add another dimension to the layout. I don,t subscribe to the theory that, the more decoys you set out the more pigeons will be attracted. I have had some of my best days with 4-6 decoys and no rotary device.

Tony, I asked Pinewood why they changed from the tripod style, to the new single screw in point. They said that customers had asked for this for increased stability. I have the Mk 1 with the three legs, plus centre spike and I have never had any problems with stability in any ground. There are stories of guy ropes being needed with some other brands I dare not mention. Its good to read that I am not the only one with a bionic battery. I was starting to hear the X files music every time I used it.

neil, nice gun, I have owned several Berettas and I do like them very much. Might even buy their 20 gauge,only I,m not sure wether to get an O/U or semi auto. The "tight" problem seems a bit strange. Its not the cartridges ,is it ? Some of the cheaper (sorry,not being rude) cartridges don,t always fit that well, but older guns "forgive" them. Its certainly worth mentioning to the gunshop. If you take it to show them, don,t forget to take a few of the cartridges as well. Let us know how you get on.