bacchus180

Interesting one that.. I spoke with an FEO about all these urban myths.. loaded clips.. gun security and he told me there is no specific law about all of this, as long as you exhibit common sense. Its quite acceptable to have say loaded clips upon your person and the gun secure when travelling from field to field.. or shoot to shoot. As for the shooting issue.. what a great shot.. 115 yards, nice. I myself take great pleasure in dropping foxes happily trotting towards me at 150 yards.. puts a smile on my face, I love taking birds at 40 yards up.. and watching them crumple.. sometimes unfortunately they don't.. but you need those to be able to hit the ones that do. I love hitting bunnies sprinting away with my .22lr.. strafing rounds into the target. I've hit hares with a shotgun that cartwheel and get up.. to be dispatched with another round. it happens. I think the OP's point that it was a lucky shot was probably a bit of modesty creeping in.. no one confesses to being a good/crack shot, Its unlikely that any experienced shooter willingly takes a shot that they have doubt about. its probably self conscious. .17 is a cracking weapon.... well done on getting into it and seeing what it can do.

i think new glasses or a cataract operation might be money better spent....

wow.. thanks for all that info.. I think it will remain the same, its very effective at the moment, just have to put up with the length and weight. thanks

I have a 22" barrel on my .223, I regularly shoot foxes out to 250+m but not always a lot further than 300, The rifle is heavy barreled and with a can on the end it is quite a handful. I was considering changing the length down to 16".. will I lose accuracy?. or dramatically alter its POA, its currently in 1:8 twist and I use 60gn BT's. any opinions would be welcome. thx

the .223 is approx 7 7-1/2 kg most of that weight is in the barrel. its a stainless kreiger match barrel. it has been fluted to try and keep the weight off it but it is stilll heavy. its in 1 in 8 as well. the .22 is a baby at 4kgs. very versitile.. coupled with a night vision scope its fantastic.

coupled with the biggest schmit you can get.. and an impromptu shooting bench on the back of a disco... it makes a devestating combination.

I've got a 1 : 8 twist as well.. I have tried the remmy 55 gn accutips and the black hills reloaded 60 gn ballistic tips, the latter group closer.. I can get them in less than an inch at 150yds, the gamekeeper I was shooting with managed to keyhole at that range. I wanted a ballistic tip that would kill at 300 yds and I think I have found it, I was using 77gn match hpbt before.. we put 5 through the same hole at the same range.. but I wanted a ballistic tip, I find the lower weights 50 gns and below might be flatter but they wonder about in such a tight twist. infact I think you will find anything lower will fragment as the faster the round the higher the rpm and it just can't cope. I think you need to be looking at a speed below 3000 fps to remain intact. sure the drop is more but just work it out.

I'll get it out of the studio and take some pics of it in the field this week... now the weather has got a bit better.. also finally zero it up for new ammo ( i'm using 77gn seirras ) and start reducing the fox population around me.. I can't wait

here you go... bit of gun porn...

as you requseted images .. more will follow

you are all right.. how foolish of me to even consider such progressive thoughts.. :(

its interesting that the trend deems to be to encourage .17hmr over a .22lr from a safety point of view.. but not yet allow semi's.. maybe it will change

just a curiousity really... as you can have .22lr semi's will there ever be a .17hmr semi.. ?

to solve the problem of ungainly falling off the end of your stock.. you can always use a pad to extend it, or alternatively get a weaver rail to mount your scope to, then have two zero settings, one for day use, then one with the scope placed further forward for night use. I use a monocular device and to be honest.. its brillant in terms of quality .. seeing in the dark. but in terms of handling its a right pig... very unbalanced and clumsy. for choice I would rather have a dedicated night scope with decent mag on it.

I appreciate all these replys... I will go and get some 55 gn vmax and put them through and see if it groups. Its a round I'm very keen to use As for a picture.. I haven't really had time to photograph it properly but will when i get a chance this week, meanwhile heres one from the mobile phone , just the barrel and A.R.M.S. rail, now its almost bedded in I will slot on the can, also waiting for proper scope rings 34mm for the Schmidt PM2 thats going to sit on the top!

I recently took delivery of a southern guns AR15 with a krieger barrel amongst other modifications, I'm new to this calibre and wanted a 1 in 9 twist but could only get a 1 in 8 due to delays in production... it had been on order since the beginning of the year. my question is can I use ballistic tips through this, if so does anyone have any suggestions, I have currently some 77 gn serria match grade hollows.. although they don't look very hollow to me, up until now.. due to the weather i have just been bedding it in with some brazillian 5.56 loads as instructed I'm told it won't or is unlikely to settle the remmy 55 gn vmax load.. infact there is a strong possibillity they will just vapourise on exiting the barrel. I was after a fragile round for foxing with and shooting very long range rabbits, I'm more comfortable using ballistic tips.. I'm quite happyy to learn and go down the route of homeloads if I have to, but just wondered if anyone else has any experience of this rifle and or configurations with a similiar barrel twist?

I think you should look at different moderators and the way they feel to find one that suits you.. it makes me laugh when I hear all the comparisions about noise.. when the HMR emits a sonic crack. whatever you do it will sound the same down range. I used a big over the barrel PES which kept it quiet for my ears, but was ungainly and upset the balance so much I swapped it for a Ase Ultra.. its actually not as quiet.. but stops me going deaf. but its much more manoverable ... which is what counts. particualy when waving it out of the window have a look at the options

when I remove my buddy bottle from my theoben it hisses slowly and steadily.. I'm not talking about the bang on immediate removal, but the fact the bottle is sitting infront of me now gently hissing and losing all its air, I'm assuming the valve is either jammed or broken, is there an easy remedy.. or does it need to go back cos its b*ggered.? funnilly enough the bottle is quite new, I must add.. should I be adding grease or something to the valve? thanks

thanks again for all the input.. infact quite alot of input which makes interesting reading regarding shooting rifles in general I must say. the good news is.. this afternoon it shot consistant half inch groups at 100 yards. some because of the wind which was blowing.. not gusting, would be a cpl of inches to the right of where I was aiming, but would still group tightly, then when the wind dropped it would be bang on again. I then picked it up, thumped the scope, banged the rifle on the ground and on the side of the truck, then it still shot exactly where I wanted it too... I put 100 rounds through it, then went for a walk and shot half a dozen bunnies. got in the truck and shot half a dozen more from the roof. longest one today was 137 yards. according to my rangefinder. so i'm a bit relieved. My confidence is somewhat restored in this weapon, although it will have to prove consistant to be a keeper. My conclusion is the scope was obviously losing zero somehow.. I asked for a replacement, I like the scope cos of the optics and the fact it works with my NVD. I know its a cheapy. but its suprising how good it is.. ( contradiction in terms really.. cos this ones obviously ****e ) I fancy it will do for a .17 as its not needed to go out to too far a distance.. I have a HUGE S&B going on my .223...lol

thanks for the input.. I took it to the gunsmiths y-day and we checked it over, made sure the barrel was still free.. which it was. even put a shot saver from hawk optics on it.. it seemed to be ok, I have changed scopes just to see what happens and will have a go this afternoon.. it baffles me

Last summer I bought a .17 anschutz and put a nighteater 6x24x56 scope on it, everytime I use it I have to rezero it, dunno why but always have to, up to 4 clicks out, a few days ago, using a bipod I sat down and patiently grouped at 100yds on a large sighting target, 5 groups of 4 all within 1/2 an inch, two were cloverleafed, whilst doing this I never lifted the rifle from its position except to aim, then I walked 50 yards or so to a gate post where I saw some bunnies sitting aout 80 yards away, pulled the pod legs out and mounted the rifle, I put 4 shots down.. none of them close, infact I couldn't see where they went, I know they weren't high or they would have clattered in the trees behind. I returned to the same positon where I was zeroing and shoot at the same target.. not even a mark on it, walked about half way to it, shot again... not a mark. then had to go, needed to pick kids up from school.. frustrated.. doesn't come close to the feeling. the only thing I did differently was open a new batch of ammo.. I use remmie ammo, the batch i zeroed with was from the spring and the batch I missed with was from autumn after that shortage we all suffered from. Any one got any ideas?.. what the might be going on? I would be grateful of any opinions.. I have changed my scope to test to an old edgar bros one from my .22 .. I will try and get to the bottom of this today maybe later this PM the rifle is a 1717 with heavy barrel, shortened to about 18 inches and has an ase ultra on it, I have never managed to shoot this consistantly, when it was zeroed after it was new i changed the caps to zero, now the windage its 4 full moa clicks to the right, elevation is one full moa click lower, I do clean this rifle reguarly, but I'm losing confidence with it and with the impending arrival of a beast of a southern guns .223, and having a .22 anschutz that never misses, I'm seriously considering throwing it away.. or just breaking it in half!.. grrrrrrr

funnily enough I was thinking of getting one.. and had made some enquiries, I would be interested in what spec you have. including the can on the front.. I'm after a foxing rifle, the attractions for me are twofold really is its coated so doesn't rust, I can run a ARMS rail all along the foreend which means I can move my scope around when using nightvision, and put a laser on it I hear they are very very accurate, I'm thinking of a twist of 1:9 so i can shoot 55grains from it.. and a heavier round if need be. I'm curious to how you have got on with yours and how accurate you think it is and the pros and cons..

I have a recently purchased ansultz .22 rimfire, when I bought it we fitted it with a parker hale moderator.. I was expecting it to be pretty silent. I'm using winchester super x subs and it still lets out a pretty audible crack. probably something like 1/3 of normal. I was hugely disappointed. the gunsmith reckons this is normal and the best I can achieve. when I was a kid I remember a guy who worked on the farm showing me his gun working... I was convinced it was just a whisper coming from his.. does anyone know which is the best moderator around..?? thanks for your help

very valid point!. salopian, I was reffering to shot sizes and loads... not lead or tungsten, my apologies for misleading you and all others. we always use the right shot for the right birds and are very aware of abiding by the laws and protecting our sport! apologies

Eley VIP 28g/30g no6 and no7 works fine for me, I tell you what though.... was in Iceland shooting puffins and razorbill in may and they insisted on using 42g no3 I stopped halfway through the second day and just couldn't raise my gun any more.... convinced a 30g 6 shot load would have worked just as well... I shoot mallard in range with them and they crumple just fine!