Scully

Nothing really I suppose, though I think he would be number 1 suspect if stuff went missing from it. Let's face it, he couldn't pick it!

Yes, again, you're right. Think I let myself get too concerned about the fact it had actually been broken into, and although I did say I personally didn't think it had been compromised, thinking about it now I would have given the same advice I have been given if it had been someone else. Nevermind, it's not the first time I've made a divvy of myself; I'm sure it wont be the last.

The more I think about it I think you may be right.

He took safe with him as he is going to order and fit new locks and keys to go with it and get it all done hopefully while I'm on holiday. I'm assuming he's going to weld a patch over the hole so didn't ask, but you're right, I should ring and ask to make sure. Sorry, you replied while I was typing.

Lost my keys to the above last weekend ( have a spare set which I have hidden somewhere REALLY safe! ) so after turning the house upside down and no joy decided yesterday enough was enough and I was going to have to bite the bullet and get it opened. Phoned up a local locksmith who took one look at it and said 'that's a handgun cabinet, not your ordinary ammo cabinet'. 'You're correct' says I; 'how do you know?' 'I shoot practical pistol and used to have one just like it.' And then with the practised ease of a car mechanic he sucked in a huge lungful of air before shaking his head and telling me it wasn't going to be easy. Turns out he moved up here from Surrey where he used to shoot pistol at Bisley but now travels to somewhere in Croatia where he still does. Anyhow, after the best part of two hours, and despite having all the gear we were still looking at an undeniably locked cabinet. 'Can you drill through the back?' asks I. 'If we can get it off the wall?' 'Yep', says he. So off to work I go for reciprocator and 110 gear, and two hours and three blades later ( am not going to tell boss ) we got it off the wall. Maybe another hour later lock is unbolted from inside via keyhole surgery and hey presto door is opened. I now look forward to finding my spare set of keys! My question now is, bearing in mind how long it took a professional to get in it, and despite having a 10p sized hole in the back (which will be covered once re-affixed to wall ) has the integrity of this cabinet now been compromised? I don't consider it has, but there again I'm biased as it is me who will have to fork out for a new one, and will be contacting the NGO for their opinion but would welcome the opinions of those on PW. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Neither do I, and I'm not even aware of it being an issue to the extent that chief officers are pushing for it to be law.

I have stopped shooting near a newly built creche during the day for the same reason. It is around 100 yards across a road and a disused railway away from the boundary corner of a farm I mooch around the hedgerows with my shotgun and dog, and was formerly a derelict pub/thai restaurant. I know the owners of the creche quite well, but don't want to risk startling any of the mothers or their children by shooting so close to it so give that corner a miss during opening hours now.

My other half has done a lot of this type of work and has found it varies from place to place. Why don't you sit down and ask what they expect from you and explain what you expect from them? You sound like quite a good employer letting them mooch about when quiet so have a chat with them. Do you know any of your staff on a personal basis or were they strangers until you employed them? It's hard to set parameters based on a business footing to casual staff who are friends, and my OH has said she has seen friendships ruined by employing friends but equally has seen friendships bloom when the opposite has applied. I'm not suggesting for one moment you get rid of personal friends you employ, but talking to your staff and discussing what you both expect would go a long way to setting standards and guidelines. At the end of the day you're the boss who pays their wages and what you expect from your staff has to take precedent. You can tell which work places have an unhappy workforce as they have a high staff turnover. I see the same places (and one in particular) advertising for staff in our local rag on a very regular basis.

We move around a lot when out lamping as we cover quite large areas and as such we can't give specific times for specific areas, which was what, amongst other irrelevant information, we were asked for when I tried this. I am pretty sure the person manning the phone was a civilian (as most of the police HQ staff are in Cumbria) who was possibly reading a set of instructions from a set procedure to follow, and when it was explained to her I didn't have or couldn't supply all the information she wanted she didn't know how to respond. It was anything but straightforward. It just isn't practical. We have never felt the need and have never had any problems at night, ( though a quite humorous one during the day which I have already related on here) as we always contact the landowner first. An ex-copper who runs a shoot just down the road says with a smile 'Let 'em come, they need the practice'. And he should know.

And not a euphemism among 'em.

.....and ******* is against the law but fox hunting isn't. Wow, didn't expect that to make it!

That's inflation for you.

I think it is resuming the career of a professional football player and all the wealth and celebrity that that entails after committing such an awful crime which sticks in the craw of most right-minded people. If he melted into obscurity and took up dry stone walling for example, I doubt there'd be the same amount of resentment. It may no longer be possible for him to continue playing, but the fans may let him know one way or another I would think.

I live in an extremely rural part of the UK where shooting is very common, and gunshots in the night are anything but rare. I know of no shooters around here who have had any dealings with the police while out shooting (except for one fatality) nor do I know of any who inform the police prior to going out shooting, and some of them are serving police officers. Saying that, I don't know of any who don't inform the landowner. If you feel you should inform the police, then do so, it is entirely your choice, but shooters are under no legal obligation to do so. For some reason you seem incapable of accepting that some others opinions differ to yours, and appear intent on forcing their opinions to coincide with yours, and take it personally when that isn't forthcoming, at which point you seem to feel it necessary to then belittle others who don't share your opinions rather than simply accepting that not everyone sees it from your point of view. Like I've said, if you want to inform the police, then do so. If you don't, then don't.

i believe his daughter is shooting in the Bianchi Cup (Worlds) in Florida at the moment. Apparently she is almost as good as her Dad. I never got to Bisley and 'practical' was somewhat limited on our army range, but when we got our own in a disused quarry we had a whale of a time. Strangely enough I was introduced to clay shooting at one of our 'open' range days when a local clay club came and had a go at pistol shooting, and we in turn had a go at clays. The CZ as you'll know, came into its own as a thoroughbred race or competition gun once 9mm made major, but I never got to have a go with one. I doubt I ever will now. The Dillon was known as the rolls royce of progressives back then; I upgraded to a Lee progressive from a single stage RCBS when I started shooting comp's....single stage FAR too slow.

It'll take more than 500 quid to keep out UKIP. A bloke I work with has just donated 2 grand to UKIP.

Thanks for posting. As I've said before, when it comes to quoting anything to do with firearms, from a police point of view, the figures don't always reflect the entire truth. The media and unknowledgeable public will now be able to say to whomever cares to listen that the official figures for lost or stolen guns stands at such and such a figure, when in fact if you break down what is already a small percentage of all legitimate firearms owned, the real figure consists of many items which can't even be used as firearms such as moderators etc, for example. Included in that figure are some handguns which can't be owned by anyone other than a criminal because they were banned some years ago, so why they are included in a list of what is claimed to be legitimately owned firearms I have no idea. In recent armistices when the general public have been allowed, for a time, to surrender guns to the police, there have indeed been some genuine functional firearms handed in, but the vast majority have consisted of replicas, deacts, antiques, air pistols, air rifles and toys such as BB or air soft. But because of the way it is allowed to be reported, ALL are lumped together and reported to the world in general as firearms. If anyone wants to see a good example of how this works visit the 'guns in crime' section of the Leeds Armouries; there you will find a big collection of 'firearms' seized or surrendered following one of the armistices; the vast majority are non-functional. Agenda? What agenda?

Even more crowded than it already is?

Brilliant. Takes me back. He was on the go and sponsored by Smith & Wesson when I used to shoot handguns, and back then he already held the record for 6 shots into a playing card sized group in some ridiculous time with a S&W tuned M686. We used to have great fun shooting at bowling pins, falling plates and fruit at 25 metres ; nothing anywhere near his skill level, but great fun all the same. I used either my S&W M29 .44 Magnum, or my tuned M1911 Colt 45 ACP. Them were the days; sadly all gone now. Good to see he's still on the go.

Not sure if the second video was meant to glamourise or demonise live quarry shooting! Some birds weren't too far from coming down as soup.

Were you actually looking for toothbrushes when you found these 'alternative ends' ?

Very true; could lead to some embarrassing questions in casualty.

My morning ablutions routine often consists of me sitting on the loo while brushing my teeth with an electric toothbrush (multi-tasking see), leading my OH to ask one day while doing the laundry; "What's all those white stains in your skiddies?" I had to admit I didn't know so had a look. Turned out to be toothpaste. I doubt that'll make the telly either.

A little insight into your daily routine.

I've never felt at a disadvantage with a two and a half inch chambered gun despite shooting most things over the years, including geese, but if I was a dedicated wild fowler I think it would maybe be the way to go.