[Uber cabs]

Have a look on twitter at the hashtag ubered - you'll find several serious accidents per week attributable to uber's amateurs, and by serious I mean resulting in death or lifechanging injuries.

 

Popular amongst uber drivers appear to be bikers and cyclists, every week I must see 5-10 of our two wheeled brethren smashed to pieces by uber's who've not looked as they've pulled out, or simply not looked at all, slave as they are to the sat nav to the detriment of watching the road.

Couple of weeks ago a lady was literally under the wheel of an uber, on a crossing. ON A CROSSING.

I've been hit twice in the last couple of months by uber minicabs, both times hit from behind as they were watching their phones for the route or the next job.

 

I've no doubt that some, even many, are pleasant folk, and manage to muddle through some of their jobs without mishap. But the figures speak for themselves, as does the fact that the law had to be changed recently to make it compulsory for minicabs to have their insurance on them so police can check whether it's proper hire and reward that covers the passenger. This because so few were getting the correct insurance before.

[Uber cabs]

The thing is that for a customer, you get a better service for a lot less money.

 

It's the same with Amazon although they are tax dodgers.

Uber are tax dodgers, they've paid as much tax as four proper cabbies, even though their profits are quite huge, as they've no overheads.

 

Wouldn't say better service, untrained drivers with no local knowledge, driving skills, or correct insurance SHOULD be cheaper than a proper cab.

[Uber cabs]

Uber the company take 25-34% of the fare BEFORE EXPENSES, which leaves the majority of drivers a) unable to pay for correct hire and reward insurance, and b) working a tremendous amount of hours to make even minimum wage.

This leads to situations where the driver, who is watching his phone sat nav not the road, tired and not paying attention, has accidents, which the customer isn't insured for, as what insurance company pays for the customer injuries when proper hire and reward insurance hasn't been paid for?

On the plus side, uber has scared some of the old, racist, reactionary drivers who've given black cabs a bad reputation, into doing their jobs properly. All now take credit card, go where you want to go, etc.

 

In the last 18 months, more than 300 reports of rape or serious sexual assaults in phv in London, many of which are uber guys - how do get access to drunk women at 3am? Have a phone and a car, work for uber. Met did roadside check a while back, of 26 cars stopped 23 were supposedly not being driven by the chap on the license /app.

Uber are generally cheap, but you pay peanuts....

[I Hate to]

This^.

Police are massively underfunded and understaffed. You don't notice any difference round parliament sq as the same amount of coppers are guarding our political elite, but if you call the emergency services, you won't get the level of service you used to, and if they need backup, at a mass brawl for example, it will be less than once it was.

 

So I don't think having no right to strike is working for them.

 

Had a chap in the cab a while ago who's job involves armed protection of politicians, and when asked if he'd intercede if one of our government was attacked, his answer was that he wouldn't jump in front of a bullet for those scum.

[Wellies]

I've got grub stalkers, which go over my 22" calves nicely, and because the top folds down easily, they're a piece of cake to get on and off.

Grippy as anything too

[The rubbish they spout in schools]

Ok, reading that back, I might be a little bitter. Seeing your loved one on the verge of a breakdown through trying to do the job with no resources, will do that to you. I know none of you were trolling about teachers, I just thought I'd get that off my chest. Have a superb day, all.

[The rubbish they spout in schools]

I wouldn't fancy being a teacher or a social worker, my wife was teaching a reception class in West London, and a little girl came in limping and in obvious pain.

My girl asked her to remove her shoes, and she had deep cuts on both soles.

Turns out they're a family of African Christians, one of these "pinch of Christianity, pinch of traditional African spirit religion, mix" type faiths. Little girl is mischievous, as is in the job description of a 5yr old. Daddy thinks she therefore has a demon in her, and the best way to drive one of THOSE out is with pain. Cue much hilarity with a Stanley knife and a small child's feet. Walk on those for a while, that'll make the demon leave.

So my wife, whose only qualifications are a good degree from a good university, then the pgce, which is a three year degree done in a year, and who only became a teacher for the holidays, has to dress this poor kid's feet, whilst explaining that she's not actually evil, and won't burn in hell, then get social services onto the case, so they can get mum and kids from the home before daddy comes back and decides to do more d.i.y with his trusty Stanley knife.

 

And all for less than half the remuneration that her uni friends get, who get to work after her, and leave before her.

 

My wife left teaching in January, after ten years working her **** off, and getting denigrated by the government for not wanting to do more than the 70 hr week she was doing, for less money.

 

Next time you see a barely literate chav with no idea of right or wrong, smashing things, think about how the teaching profession has been whittled down and made unattractive to the kind of people we want teaching our kids, and what the consequences will be in the future.

May Michael gove and his forebears and successors, all choke and die, for repeatedly cutting budgets and blaming the teaching profession for the resulting chaos.

[Which CREE/LED torch?]

Thrunite archer, 2aa torch, £31.95 from Amazon, four power settings, including 500 lumens. Powerful enough to light up my folk's garden at 25 metres, lasts ages.

[Waterproof Windproof Gloves ???]

I bought a pair of dent shooting gloves, really nice warm comfy gloves, and just squeezed a blob of snoseal onto one palm whilst wearing them, and rubbed one glove against the other so they were coated with the stuff,and the warmth of my hands made it soak into the leather.

Not completely waterproof, but I've been shooting in pretty heavy rain and had warm dry hands.

[Armsan 612 stock shim.]

Tbh at the time we bought the armsan it was a choice between the left hand benelli crio comfort at 1550 and the second hand armsan leftie at 300.

 

I wanted the benelli as it fit me like a glove, and the action is easy to clean and doesn't get full of gunk like a gas op.

 

However, 1550 vs 300 is no argument when you've got a beretta 682 you break most of your clays with, and the semi is just a rainy day, knockabout gun.

 

Once I'd got the armsan, people started talking about the franchi affinity, a benelli for 500. It comes in left hand, with a seven year warranty, and I'm struggling to love the armsan so I don't chop it in for a franchi. Hopefully the next time we shoot I'll find the 612 is a magic wand hitting everything I aim at, cos otherwise that new gun ache will really start up.

[Armsan 612 stock shim.]

Cheers figgy, thanks for the response. I do have the manual, but like many items I've misplaced it,so will just take a socket set and bits to the next shoot, and have a play with the shims. I do see more rib now, but will have a try and see if it's solved my problem.

Thanks again.

[Armsan 612 stock shim.]

My wife bought me an armsan 612 and it's a nice gun,but so flat shooting I'm struggling to get used to it, as I usually shoot with a beretta 682 which gives a 60/40 above /below spread.

 

I took the stock off today, and put a shim in between the receiver and the stock, but I'm not sure it's the right one.

 

I used the one that's fatter at the bottom towards the pistol grip, in the hope it'll let me see a little more rib, and therefore make me shoot a little higher.

Is that right, or have I used the wrong one?

 

Any help would be great, as if I can't get used to it I'll end up chopping it in for a franchi affinity, and that's expense I could do without if I can get the armsan to fit me.

[FINNS LAW...]

Signed

[David Beckham on a shoot with Guy Ritchie]

Tbh it's the drive home that's the concern for me.

I'm a shooter, and won't ever condemn other types of shooting, as United we stand, divided we fall, but to jump into your landie after a day's shooting, with a few swigs of whiskey, a sloe gin or two, and a claret or so at lunch, and then hoon off down darkened country lanes with a shotgun or two in the boot?

 

I get the "plenty of pork pie and lunch to soak it up" argument, but unless you fire up the breathalyser before you turn the key, how do you know that you're legal, and safe? The red top papers would love a story about the "privileged posh shooting toff who was done for drunk driving with a purdey in the boot, after a day spent murdering defenceless birds", and that's the positive outcome - mangling five kids in a fiat 500 is another possibility.

 

I've not shot a driven day, and so have no idea about the sobering effect of walking several miles and eating half a beef rib joint and the trimmings, but surely if you can afford to knock out 500 quid on a day shooting, a cab or a travelodge aren't beyond reach?

[£151 Million - what would you do??]

I always thought that if you had ten million to spare, could buy the tunnels under kingsway in Holborn for five million, strip out the old analogue telecom kit and put in little cubicles (bed, chair, desk), canteen, bathrooms, offices for substance abuse and mental health docs, and run the thing for a couple of years, long enough to get sponsorship from a big company - you wouldn't sort London's homeless problem completely, but could get hundreds off the streets and out of the cold, into an address so they can get into the system, and best of all it's all underground, so no-one gets all nimby about it.

Admittedly, I'd also get an estate in wyoming I've had my eye on, and begin a decent collection of handguns, but I could do most of my bucket list with less than a tenth of the euro jackpot - it'd be fun knocking out the other 135m on kids charities and such.

[sealskinz gloves]

Bought some dent leather gloves, supremely comfortable, even with my beefy mitts in them, rubbed a bit of snoseal into them and stayed dry in quite a downpour, and warm, worth the money.

Now if I could only find the bloody things...

[GREENER GP MK11]

I like the old stuff so this has a new forever home with me,by all accounts there becoming quite desirable now so who knows it may be a bit of a investment, but really bought it to shoot it ,like the thought of the single barrell challenge on the clays,

It's always going to draw a crowd, all of us who grew up watching zulu, plus the youngsters who have never seen one and like the mechanism.

You can shoot pairs, if they're not too quick, just takes some practice to reload that quickly. The old big game hunter's trick of a shell between two fingers makes a difference.

Lovely looking gun, mine has a lot of checkering worn away and the screws have been removed by a series of clumsy gimps, latest of which is me, as the others have said, never seen one as undamaged. Nice

[What's your job?]

Licenced London taxi driver - people are funny, drunk people are hilarious.

[First Encounetr with Sabs...horrible bunch]

Does anyone know the law on this? I mean obviously you did the right thing, disengaged and got away so no-one could accuse you of threatening with your firearms etc.

 

But say you'd not been able to drive away straight off, or if you'd been on foot...

Where would we stand if sabs were trying to take our firearms and we stopped them using force?

Sabs have used iron bars etc in recent times, and quite apart from waking up with missing teeth etc, to lose your gun to a bunch of criminals - who knows what might happen, having your pricey shotgun bashed would be the least of your worries.

When I'm shooting I have a wee lead filled priest to give peace to injured quarry, it's just like a little truncheon, not enough to crack a skull but plenty to break thieving fingers. Over the line or fair enough?

[London airport protest]

Saw a picture regarding this blacklivesmatter thing, a young black lad holding a sign reading

 

"..no mother should have to fear for her son's life every time he robs a store."

 

Got to be a spoof, but it did tickle me. Here, we're supposed to hand over the requested goods with no fuss - in the states you're supposed to hand over an ounce of buckshot with the option of several more. Our crime rate seems to be rising, theirs to be falling in direct correlation with the rising chance of meeting an armed citizen.

 

Whilst I do, obviously, think that blacklivesmatter, I seem to remember that several of the chaps whose demise sparked these protests, were engaged in some very questionable behaviour, and were perhaps given the result they'd worked for.

[BASC and the Essex International Jamboree - Boys done good!]

Some pals and I did the clay shooting at the Essex County jamboree from 1992-2004, and it's a mammoth endeavour but supremely rewarding.

 

We had to make do with our club manual traps and a sponsorship from browning one year, but still got 500 kids a day through, and they loved every second.

 

You will remember their faces long after the memory of the hard Essex ground and the poor ventilation of tents fades.

 

One lad couldn't shoot, too small, we could only afford 12bore ammo, and he was just too little. He stood watching for three days without complaint.

Robin had a Lee Enfield no4 converted to 410, and I held the weight whilst this lad wielded it like an AA gun with both hands.

Little sod only hit 5/5! He was like a dog with two appendages as he walked away with as many spent shells as his pockets would hold.

Wonderful.

Need help for next one, I'm in.

[410. Vs 9mm Garden Gun]

I have bought 9mm flobert and variously had a box of 7.5, a box of 10, and a box of 6 shot.

The 10 I'm guessing would be the one for ratty, but wouldn't break an airborne clay at about 15 yards, though stationary clays broke nicely.

The 7.5 and 6 loads will break incomers out to 20 yards, and whilst obviously they aren't holding as many shot, they have enough oomph and pattern to make me happy to take shots on bunnies out to 15-20 yards.

If your 9 is quite open choked then reduce distance, but mine seems quite tight, and at 7 yards will put most of the shot on a hand sized area.

[Shotgun with 9mm pellets ???]

The Israeli defence force bought a load of integrally suppressed ruger 10/22 to shoot stone throwers with - they would have a couple of chaps sniping at the legs etc.

Their rationale was that a thrown half brick can kill, and therefore we're entitled to use lethal force, but a 22 is less than a 223, so we're being reasonable.

[Everyday non locking pocket knife]

Petit doukdouk cost 14 quid from heinnie Haynes, legal, slim,lightweight, can sharpen on bottom of teacup or edge of car window, excellent every day carry.

 

Joker already mentioned makes a superb steak knife, and doesn't look out of place on table in decent restaurant.

 

Spyderco ukpk or urban are good, and have a choil for your trigger finger so that the blade can't fold, nice safety feature.

 

For a two blade edc, can get carbon steel stockman from case or Queen for not too much money, or really treat yourself and get a Northfield or gec from mikesknives or moonraker knives. Northfield come with 1095 steel blades, and will hold a hair whittling edge.

[Razor wire and wheeled houses..]

A few carefully placed potplants, of a climbing variety, with a bamboo cane in for the plant to climb. A good few of these would make the drop from the top of the fence a lottery, with a pierced kyber pass the prize.