supergame

28 bore might have been a more constuctive idea

Thanks for the help. I've seen the recent articles and letters in sporting gun. We have tried both fibre wads and plastic with the same results. I had heard about the polishing out of the chambers so it looks like thats the next step. If anyone else has any idea of any further loads that would possibly work please let me know.

I would agree with Cranfield. At the moment the birds seem to feed twice during the relatively short days - First thing then arround mid day until about 2pm they seem to be at their most active. I've kept pretty accurate records of everydays shooting this winter and this seems to ring true from mid November until now. We are starting to get a few more birds feeding later in the day.

A friend I shoot with has just a acquired a Beretta 470 Silver Hawk 20 bore. Its a superb little gun to shoot with. But there is a problem when it comes to eject. The ejectors work fine but the cartridges just seem to get stuck. It would be much appreciated if anyone could advise a cartridge brand to try. So far we have tried Express HV 28 gram and gamebore 28 gram loads, both of which remain in the chambers although the ejectors seem very positive.

I've been considering shooting a stubble field for a couple of days. But I have decided to leave it until saturday when it should be windy I believe. God knows why they are using this stubble because there doesn't appear to be any wheat left on it. There is however a lot of Ivy clad trees surrounding the field which they are feeding on as well. Each day I've been to check the field more birds have arrived so by saturday it should be good.

I believe Rio have improved their cartridges considerably. From what a couple of friends have told me they have been very impressed with the performance. One of the lads thats been using them is an international clay shot with a sound knowledge of cartridges. He said he was amazed at the ranges that the birds were being killed cleanly at, at the price £120 per 1000 he thought they were superb. I had heard they were a bit pokey, but that shouldn't be a problem out of my auto. It would be much appreciated if anyone in the northwest who uses this forum could tell me where I could get some to try. I havn't as yet got hold of any because they were comming through a clayshooter who we don't see that often.

I don't tend to follow seasons as such regarding pigeon shooting. I do however leave pigeons alone if its a very hot summers day, this is due to the fact that Its very difficult to prevent what you have shot becomming fly blown before you leave the field. Its also uncomfortable shooting when its very hot. If the farmer asks me to have a do then I obviously will, but if its not really necessary then I'll leave it for a cooler day. I'm affraid I wont have seasons with wood pigeons. As you said they are a pest and if the farmers good enough to let me shoot game or pigeons on his land then when he needs my assistance then I'll be there. I have recently had this subject out with a mate who will gladly shoot pigeons on a stubble in the winter months when the pigeons are doing no harm, but when the farmer wants them shot in the spring/summer he's nowhere to be seen. I have actually considered kicking him off the shoot for this reason. I feel his argument is fuelled by the fact that he has racing pigeons and doesn't have time in the spring/summer to shoot wood pigeons yet uses the nesting and young bird excuse not to show up. What do other pigeon shooters feel about someone with that mentality.

A friend has just shown me some new loads for pigeon shooting made by Rio. He was given them by someone. Not sure where to get some from. They are apparently based on Rio fitasc loads 36 gram but with size 6 shot. They have been developed for long range pigeon shooting. Has anyone tried them and if so what do you think. Are they readily available or will we have to wait.

I use Express Super Game 32 gram through my 391 with no jams. The only cartridge I have found that didn't eject was Gamebore blue diamond (trap load). They have the gordon system and they just didn't have enough poke to eject consistently.

As a general rule crows and rooks lay eggs in early April. This will obviously vary in different parts of the country. Shooting branchers usually takes place arround the 2nd week in may. Again This will not be consistent throughout Great Britain. If your desperate to get rid of rooks roost shooting from now on is ideal and then shoot the branchers in may as often as you can. Air rifles are very effective on the branchers. For roost shooting use your shotgun.

Still very few in my area of Lancashire. Not much rape being grown in the area. Should start to get some drilled fields in the next few weeks. This usually proves to be the best shooting for me. The majority of birds I have seen of late have been feeding on Ivy berries or chopped up maize game crops.

I agree with what you say pieman and nghost. I just prefer the tight choke option. I think I mentioned in the first post that I did in the past use open choke guns. Nowadays I do find my results far better with tight chokes when it comes to clean kills. Cartridges have a lot to do with it. Todays loads are better than they were 10-15 years ago, at the moment we are spoiled for choice. One thing that put me off open chokes was when I shot a pigeon size target on paper at 30 yards and saw how few pellets hit the target, worst still was how many would of hit vital organs. I felt that cylinder just wouldn't be consistent when it came to bringing birds down dead.

Think I stuck me chin out a bit there. Ah well I can take it. It was only saturday that my mate b******ed me for leaving me barrel out of the hide. You should of seen those birds shying away. So what does tell you. Got a feeling this could go on forever. :thumbs:

Cheers pieman I'll give them a ring and find out what the script is regarding the mail order service. Could save a lot in petrol at least.

Good point Cranfield, should have mentioned that earlier. The gun I use heavy loads out of is a Al 391. The majority of shooters using the 3 1/2 inch turkey loads are using the Daddy version of the 391 the Xtrema which is an absolute brute of a gun. Think I mentioned it in an earlier post, a mate of mine had dropped geese at 80 plus yards using the 3 1/2" wildfowling loads from Remington and a Beretta Xtrema.

Just had a look at the new Remington Turkey loads, They sound devastating. They will certainly do the trick with long range foxes. www.remington.com. Available from 2 3/4" up to 3 1/2". Designed to throw very tight patterns, tim mentioned them on an earlier post.

I'm glad to here Mr P Shuter has a good technique on necking pigeons. He will certainly need it with his choice of choke. No offence meant Mr shuter, just a difference of opinion.

So it looks like we all prefer the longer barrel, especially the women. I was always told that size doesn't matter its the way we use it, but again its down to the individual. :thumbs:

One things certain I would far rather have the heavier longer barrel gun when it comes to a day in a pigeon hide with plenty of birds showing. Not sure about the slower swing from the heavier gun, once the guns swinging the heavier longer barrel will gain momentum and be quicker than the short barrel gun. The muzzle flip as cranfield mentioned with the heavier barrel is reduced. Reduced muzzle flip means straighter shooting, surely a benefit on longer targets. But when alls said and done its down to what the individual is happy with. But I will add that the top clay shots are well worth listening to.

Ernya, do you find that your game gun doesn't soak up the recoil as well as your sporter used to. This is something I feel pigeon shooters should take into account before buying a gun. During a long busy day in the hide recoil is always going to have an affect and fatigue will usually become apparant and as a consequence your shooting will normally suffer. I agree with you on barrel length, i feel 28 inch barrels are enough for hide shooting, although not as good down range. I use an automatic for all my pigeon shooting. Three reasons for this are the obvious lack of recoil, easy loading and obviously the extra shot.

Theres a big difference in the performance of your gun as regards barrel length. 26" barrels are best left for close range work such as driven partridge etc. You will also find that the chokes are usually pretty open - cylinder and and a bit more. This will seriously hinder your effective range. The short barrel gun is also harder to swing well. Longer barrels are far more effective when it comes to effective shooting especially at ranges beyond 35 yards. They are far more pointable. If you visit your local clay shoots you will notice that most of the guys except skeet shooters are using longer barrels such as 30-32 inch. The longer barrel also improves your swing, in fact the barrel will virtually swing for you. The only disadvantage to the longer barrel is as youn say they can be a bit tricky to use in the hide. But really its just a case of geytting used to it.

Yeh its looking better on the cartridge front. I've just heard Winchester are about to pull their finger out and start importing more cartridges again, and not before time, life just aint the same without westerns in my barrels. Used to go to college up your way at Myerscough, Used to drink in Owd Nells pub. I live just off junction 27 M6 at Parbold.

So the stubble field it is then. Like i mentioned earlier just pick the right day and you shouldn't have a problem. Leave some dead bunnies out on there backs with their bellies cut. I suppose your gonna tell me the fox will get them first, this may be true but not if you get the fox first. :thumbs: Good luck!

Wait until the wind is strong, just as you would for pigeons. you should do well enough then and the noise will be minimal from your shots which will prevent the birds becoming as wary as they would on a windless day. We used to shoot loads of crows up on a fell in Penrith. If the wind was strong they would just keep comming for the last hour of the day as they went to roost. Sounds like good advice from New to the Flock, I'll be trying some of his tricks myself.

Went out at first light yesterday. Shot a stubble field on a flightline. Only expected to get 10 if I was lucky. Put out a dozen dead birds and 20 plastics. I put 1 lofter right out of the top of a sycamore tree. The pigeons wouldnt't look at the decoy spread while it was white over with frost, but they pulled like mad to the lofter and in the first hour and a half I shot 20 and in a further 2 hours only three more. Considering the lack of wind I was amazed at how low they flew early on. I get the impression they were starving hungry due to the cold.