markadams

Hi, I am looking to buy some decoy equipment, I want to buy all the basic equipment, Hide poles, netting, decoys, rotor ? And anything else you can suggest. I need this fairly fast and was wonder what the best place is to buy it all. I have been pigeon shooting for a while but I have always used other peoples equipment before and I thought that it is time to buy my own. Mark.

From the first time I saw a picture of this rifle on your web site I wanted it, but unfortunatly I don't think you want to wait for a variation to be processed on my FAC. It is one of the best examples I have seen and however buy it will be a lucky person, do you mind telling me how much it was new? Mark.

I noticed that sporting gun has a series of three Pigeon Shooting videos for sale, has anyone seen any of them? If so what is your opinion as I am looking to buy one or two (for when I can't get into the field). Thank you Mark.

It is also used to put out fires so completly non-explosive. Mark.

I use an edgar brother 3-9x50 excellent for low light shooting and lamping. I also have a simmons pro-air 6-12x40 I much prefer the edgar brother scope and the bigger lense make a huge difference. Mark.

Does any one know of any clubs in the Sussex\Surrey area? Mark.

I found wax jackets pretty useless for the above reasons, so I bought the Barbour endurance Trapper, it is non wax, breathable and washable. Excellent for shooting as it has a large pocket round the back for carrying the odd pheasant and large cartridge pockets with clips to hold them open. Mark.

I wear a £300 Barbour jacket, I enjoy wearing it and it looks good but alass it does not improve my shooting. Mark.

ernyha, I am 28 and yes I should know better, the UK law never stops to amaze me. I have lived here all my life and shooting laws seem to be such a hashed mess it is no wonder people hardly ever get prosecuted using them Mark.

Thank you for your reply, so let me get this straight, you are saying that I can buy any quantity of powder, primers etc without a shotgun cert but I need an SGC to buy fully loaded cartridges. This sounds a little strange to me, can anyone confirm this. Mark.

Do you have to import the powders, primers etc from the states are can you purchase them in the UK? If so can you give me contact details with maybe a web site. Can you buy them on a normal SGC? Mark.

Hi, After a great days duck shooting, I now have a couple of nice sized birds that I want to eat. My question is Do you need to hang duck, if so how long for? Is there anything I should know about plucking, drawing them etc? Mark.

Daveman, The best place to get feral pigeon shooting is to speak to warehouse managers, they always have problems with ferals messing on the products. The Pigeons roost in the rafters at night. The main companies to speak to are building and diy companies. Mark.

Daveman, At the end of the day it all comes down to the person behind the rifle, a good quality .22 or .177 will be able to kill a Pigeon, Rabbit, Crow, Rat or other vermin within a range of about 35-45 yards as long as you can consistantly hit the kill zone at this range. This does not mean just hitting the animal anywhere and expecting it to die instantly you need to hit it it the right place. Rabbit: You need to hit it either in the heart\lungs or more preferable hit it between the base of the ear and it eye (this is where the brain is). Pigeon\other birds: You can hit it in the chest for a heart hit but this can be a little hit and miss because you can't see the heart\lungs so I would go for a head shot, this will guarantee a clean kill with both .177 and .22. Whatever gun you choose (and their are lots to choose from), you must be able to hit a 1/2 inch circle (a two pence coin is good) at the range you intent to shoot them at. Due to a .22 pellet flying slower than a .177 it will have a fairly curved flight path so you will have to conpensate for this if your shot is not at the exact range you have zeroed the rifle for. Even when you are a perfect shot at all ranges (few of us are). you will need to practice range estimation so you can calculate the range to the target so that you can work out the hold under or over. Shooting is a fun sport and you always have something new to learn and improve on. I hope this helps. Mark.

Welcome DaveMan, I own a shotgun and a couple of air rifles (one in .177 (legal limit) and one in .22 (FAC)). To answer your question you could following the old golden rule: .177 for feather, .22 for Fur, but to be honest I have used both on Feather and Fur and if you hit the animal in the right place at the right range then it will be a humane kill. Birds tend to have a hard breast bone so the smaller pellet is better at penetrating it but .177 does not have the same shock energy (due to size) as the .22 so a slightly larger pellet "should" be used for Rabbits. The other point to remember is that .177 is slightly more accurate because the pellet is lighter so to acheive the same energy as .22 it can travel faster (flatter flight path). If you are going to have a legal limit air rifle and only shoot birds then I would get a .177. If it is going to be FAC then go for .22. This is just my opinion, but it has always worked for me. I hope this helps. Mark.

Are you all using a shotgun to go lamping? I much prefer a .22 rifle as I am not keen on skinning rabbits with a lot of holes in them (much better with just one head shot). Mark.

Cranfield, Thank you for your message, I looked at the web site it is very interesting. I noticed that it is an american site, do you know any english companies that supply reloading equipment? Do you know the prices for powder, wads, shot etc? Thank you Mark Adams.

The thread seems to be talking a lot about reloading, I am interested in trying this but have never seen the materials available to try it. I understand that no saving is made but I am more interested in the reusing of old cases as I feel guilty about throwing away so many used cases. Can anyone tell me how I go about starting to reload 12 Gauge cartridges in the UK. Mark.

What part of Kent do you shoot? Is their only one other person on here from the Sussex\Kent\Surrey area? Mark.

Hi, Does anyone on here live in Sussex as it would be nice to meet up maybe share some shooting land so we all get some good varied shooting. Anyone interested? Either post a reply or drop me an e-mail on: vermin_control@hotmail.com Mark. :thumbs:

I started with a .177 BSA Supersport, it was a excellent rifle, I would highly recommend a BSA Lighting (Supersports bigger brother) with a 4x40 simmons scope. this would be perfect for pigeons. I now have a Theoben Rapid 7 MKII FAC costing near £1000 and I shot just as many rabbits and Pigeons with the Supersport. I hope this helps Mark. p.s. If you want any more info e-mail me on MarkJAdams@Yahoo.com.

I was at the Welsh game show on Saturday and saw some pigeon and goose decoys on the BASC stand, these are the best I have every seen, their were floaters, landers and standards pigeons. They all had foam wings which moved in the wind and were about as realistic as they could be with excellent detail and with a feather like coating. I obtained one of the sellers business cards and all it says is "Chris Green, Master Decoy Maker". Has anyone else seen of used these as I would really like other peoples opinions on them. Thank you Mark Adams.

I have been thinking about buying the deluxe model for a while now, I fully agree that they look great. I currently have a Beretta Silver Pigeon II, and have always liked the Beretta so I think you post confirmed it for me. Does it have any bad points compared to the O/U? Mark.

I have tried the Theoben web site and can't find any mention of the fill pressure. Thank you Mark.

Does anyone know the fill presure for the Rapid 7 MK 2 (.22) FAC Rifle? I have not filled my for quite a while and could not remember what it is. Theoben do not seem to have it on there site. Thank you Mark.