Rifleman01

A downloaded Satellite view of the area you are shooting over can be taken off Google Earth, then enlarge it to A4 Size. Then spend a couple of days or more just walking around your permission and draw in, using a pencil the places you see Pigeons flying and the paths they follow. You will eventually end up with quite a good idea of the 'flight lines' on the farm you are shooting over. I first did this some 40 years ago using an Ordnance Survey map but a satellite picture is far better as it shows all the field boundaries and your marking will be more accurate. Strangely I found some of these flight lines to be used by several generations and even thirty years later some were still in use. A Pigeons version of 'Ley Lines' I suppose. Shooting over a farm and getting to know the flight lines is no difference to fishing a salmon river and getting to know where the 'pools or lies' are. In both cases once you know the lie of the land from the Pigeons or Salmons point of view, the better your chances are of success. Harry

Oh For ****** sake. I am Spartacus. So there. Harry

Oops, Sorry guys. 'Justfish' have discontinued these Brolly Spikes, however they are available from many other fishing tackle suppliers at between £3.99 and £4.99 each. The 6.75" long twin spikes go into the ground far easier than one single tapered spike. They are handy to use and a single lock screw holds your hide pole tightly. A picture is attached. Harry

Boiled Linseed Oil was used as a stock dressing by the Military and civilian shooters for centuries. The BLO of today is however, different from that used in past centuries. Todays BLO is treated with chemicals rather than heat treated and filtered, and I would seriously recommend that you leave it alone. There are literally dozens of 'Oil Finishes' available to the gun owner whether he is oiling an old gun stock or finishing a new one. Be aware the modern Polyurethane and plastic spray finishes do not react well to an application of oil. A good quality Walnut stock deserved the best oil finish you can afford, sadly many of the less expensive firearms on the market today have cheap Beech Wood stocks that are just stained to look like a different timber. None of these is as good as a properly seasoned Walnut stock but they cost a lot of 'Lolly' I know I've just purchased some Walnut from the USA, just enough to stock a single shot rifle or shotgun, the wood alone cost over £200.00. Believe me when I say that was damn cheap, some of the highly figured blanks cost several thousands of pounds, and that's before a single tool has touched them. Harry

Oh dear, I got my first car at the age of 18 when I passed my driving test, a 1939 Morris 10-4. Petrol was reasonably priced. You could get four gallons of Petrol and two pints of engine oil and get tuppence change out of a pound note. Diesel was half that price, they could hardly give it away. What a change 50 years makes, now Diesel is more expensive than Petrol although it still costs less to refine. I live in the country and a car/van is vital for me. There's no regular public transport and the nearest shops apart from the village Post Office are a minimum of five miles from my home. It's all right if you live in a town, you have a choice of bus, train and possible air transport to get you to work. My local railway line was torn up in the 1960's. Even my nearest garage is five miles away, it costs me £3.00 just to go there and come back home. To be frank, we the general public are being ripped off by all political parties and the oil companies. It isn't right, but no one will do anything about it. Harry

Jaws, There are a number of butchers or restaurants and country 'pubs' that serve meals, that will gladly purchase Squirrels from you from a £1.00 to £1.50 each, if they're fresh and gutted. If you cut off the tails several fly tying companies or suppliers will buy them at.25p per tail. Heck, it pays your ammo bills and makes a contribution towards your petrol or diesel expenditure. Every little helps. Harry

A Century ago, engraving was one of the poorest paid of all the 'Gun Trades'. Today it is another matter. Indeed the Rolls Royce Syndrome applies. If you have to ask 'How Much' then you can't afford it. Engraving firearms is a skill that few possess. Firstly if the action is hardened, then it has to be annealed to soften the metal in order that it can be engraved. Once the engraving has been done, then the metal has to be re heat treated and that's something you cannot do at home. It is also a very skilled process. A local sports trophy shop may have a pantograph engraving machine, but they are only suitable for cheap soft metal trophies not firearms. If your set on having a little engraving done, then start thinking of having a spare One Thousand Pounds in order to have your action annealed, a little engraving carried out, and re-hardening. Bear in mind that annealing and re-heat treating can warp your action making it useless, unless the person doing it is thoroughly conversant with such work, and skilled in carrying it out. If they are, then the work they do, doesn't come cheap. If you must have a firearm with a lot of engraving, then sell what you have and buy one already engraved. It'll be much cheaper in the long run. Harry

Foxbasher, What type of 'Checkering Files are you after, those for metal or those for wood? There's a hell of a difference. Wood checkering cutters are seldom more than 1/2" long, whereas a metal checkering file could be 6" or 8" long by 1/2" wide. Neither are inexpensive and both require vastly different techniques and skill in their use. Both are available in a wide range of numbers of teeth per inch. Several companies in the UK can supply you with wood checkering tools, I get my metal checkering files from Brownell's in the USA. Sadly, you have to pay import duty etc and a handling charge by the GPO or carrier. But you'll pay that in the price of any item imported these days. Harry

My best ever Salmon, 32.5 lbs caught in 1975 on the R.Tweed from a boat, on a tube fly made from hair from my Golden Retriever 'Odin' The best damn retrieve he ever made, even if he was at home at the time. Best Wild Brownie 12lb 4oz. River Coquet 1978 on a dry fly. Best Sea Trout 6lb 1oz on the River Till in North Northumberland 1980 again on a dry fly. I still fish but they don't seem to get that big any more, or, if they do, I'm using the wrong flies.lol. Harry

Hello Foxbasher, I'm interested in collecting pellets and I don't have any specimens of these in my somewhat limited collection. Can you PM or Email me with whatever price your asking for the complete box of them. They're obviously not that old as FAC rated Air Rifles are a fairly recent inovation. Regards, Harry

Hello Peck, Virtually every Army Surplus store in the country will have a few yards of MoD Cammo netting lying around, check your local Yellow Pages for your nearest dealers. For the amount you want, they will probable give you it for free. Harry

I use the standard two piece metal clothes prop with nylon lock screws sold on my local market for £2.50 each. To hold them in the ground I use individual Coarse Fishermens Unbrella Holders at £2.75 or so each, See :- http://www.justfish.co.uk/cgi-bin/fishing/products.pl?bl1=Fladen&bl2=Miscellaneous&bl3= These have a hollow socket at one end and twin pointed spikes on the other. It's an easy excercise to push the spikes into the ground and put the clothes pole into the socket, and lock them into place Simples, and only half the price of the spiked poles sold by many agencies. £20.00 or £21.00 is a lot cheaper than £49.99 plus Vat and postage. For the difference you can get a lot of ex MoD cammo netting, so for an expenditure of £50.00 you can have both the supports, the spikes and the camo cover. As a Pensioner I have to watch what I spend, and as a wartime child I'm used to make do and mend. They still work as well as the more expensive types, and in these days of financial austerity, pennies count. Harry.

Hello Nick, I have been supplying the same company for nigh on forty years on and off. I tend to use a .22 'scoped' Weihrauch HW90k Air Rifle these days and take headshots only, so there is no damage elsewhere on the carcase. There's nothing worse than spitting out an ounce or more of lead when eating any bird, game or otherwise. That's appreciated by the Game Dealer and no doubt the customers who eventually purchase the birds. I decoy using a low level hide and shoot from the prone position using a silenced weapon. If I miss, sometimes I can get in a second shot, whereas, with a 12 bore you scare the **** out of every pigeon within hearing range. I decoy at no more than 25 yards range using Shell decoys on spring loaded sticks, so in a breeze they nod quite convincingly. I also loft two or three full body decoys into the trees under which I shoot. I don't get many birds landing up there, (until evening) but it seems to give confidence to hungry pigeons coming into feed, that it's safe to land. Dead birds are added to the decoys periodically. It works for me. Please feel free to try it yourself. Harry

I've always disposed of my surplus Wood Pigeons through a Game Dealer in a local large town, who pays me 50p per bird. He freezes them and once every couple of weeks a refrigerated lorry collects his entire stock, and that from many other Game Dealers and ships them over to Paris where they sell for a couple of quid each. At 50p a bird to me, it just about covers my ammo bills and transportation to the game dealer, although sometimes I trade them for other meat cuts. When I only have a small number to part with, they go to the Chef of a local pub that specialises in locally sourced food. It's quite surprising how popular Woodies are when they appear on the pub menu, lol. The Chef never has any left to go off, every one I supply is used that day. It helps if you can supply to either end user on a reasonably regular basis. They would like a regular supply rather than a dozen or two every six months. I'd certainly recommend you check with some of your local country 'Pubs' that provide food, maybe you can make a 'deal' as well. All you have to do is negociate a price per bird. You may get more per bird if your willing to dress and pluck them, but I wouldn't bank on that. It does certainly help though if you slit and empty the crop of its contents, especially if they have been feeding on 'Greens' Good luck, Harry