neil smith

In my experience that would be difficult as the stores require you to buzz the door & they look you over before allowing you in, (electronic door lock) on one occasion the owner actually had his hand on his holstered gun as we entered, (florida) only removing it after we spoke to him & he obviously felt happy that we had no ill intent. N

It wouldn't be much use if it wasn't cocked & locked now would it Its usual in the states for gunshop & shooting range owners & workers to be carrying at all times, just in case bad guys come through the door after guns, I have visited a few shops & also ranges & all were the same. land of the free & all that...... N

Not so easy with a semi-auto or a pump gun as the mag tube tends to stick out unless its a really big bag But a good solution for the more traditional guns. N

In 2009 I was in the CZ republic for a shotgun competition held over multiple days, there were shooters from all over europe, & some guys from Greece were followed back to where they were staying & robbed of their guns. So it can happen, but factors like having a foreign registration plate & leaving guns in cars is just asking for trouble, when abroad its best to rent a local car when transporting guns. I expect it happens infrequently over here but the chances that crooks surf on forums in order to steal guns is unlikely but you never know. I try to keep staying in hotels down to a minimum, but if you have to then don't carry your gun in a gun slip from the car as its obvious what you have with you, better to use a hard case like a pelican or storm as they are also used by photographers & surveyors, then chain & lock the whole thing to something solid in the room, the old large cast radiators are ideal for that. N

Hi Mark Good to hear from you, sorry to hear you can't make the April match but family always comes first mate The Rossendale match in August should be a good one, look forward to seeing you there. N

Well the new action shooting season is almost upon us, I personally can't wait. For any of you PSG fans out there the Hardy match is a brilliant start to the new season, the match can be shot on the Saturday or the Sunday your choice, everyone at four4islands is keen to get the ball rolling so if your interested in attending this brilliant match get your entries in now. Important details..... Shield Hardy Action Shotgun Match, 10th or 11th of March, 140+ rds of birdshot 10/12 rds slug. Match costs £25. Ammo on site Muzzle restrictions as usual, hot & cold refreshments etc etc. Entries to Shield Shooting Center, Looke Farm, Litton Cheney, Dorset, DT2 9BA. or email steve@shieldshootingcentre.co.uk or call 01308 482 626 to book a place & pay on the day NO SHOWS WILL BE CHARGED WITH YOUR FEE GOING TO HELP FOR HEROES. Looking forward to seeing you all. N For info on our other match series dates see our Calendar page on the four4islands website. www.four4islands.org

I voted for Different Strokes. My father lost two brothers, one at the age of 39 & another who was 54 to this, so you could say I have a vested interest in this cause, just in case its hereditary :o N

Mark You make a very good point, our driver did a similar thing, they know a lot about the island & its creatures & plants, they will give you a lot of information that you will otherwise miss out on trying to do it yourself.

Some pictures, we went in late April as well, sorry I don't have any of the terrible tracks, we were too busy hanging on tight to take any pics On the ferry from Hervey Bay approaching the landing point on fraser. Heading off the ferry 75 mile beach from the air, you can get a ride in a small plane that takes off & lands back on the beach, which was good fun, you can see Eli creek on this image, its located a couple of hundred yards past the shipwreck on the beach, just were the sand goes further inland, towards the top of the picture. Butterfly Lake from the air, as you can see the forrest is dense & there are no roads, in places the tree's are only inches from the windows as your vehicle slides in the sand. Shipwreck on the beach close to Eli creek. My favorite place on our Oz trip was further north in the Whitsunday Islands, we took a trip from a town called Airlie Beach on a small boat called the Mantaray, it was a one day trip out to the reef & Hill inlet overlooking Whitehaven Beach, again its a conservation area & no tourist buildings are allowed, we then spent a few hours swimming with the fish & lying on the beach a brilliant day. Have a good trip, wish I was going back this year. N

If you drive yourself be sure to be well equipped, with lots of water & a winch, some of the tracks are deep sand & its easy to get stuck if your not an experienced off roader. Also its easy to get lost, all the sand tracks look alike & there are no signs & nobody around in the forest, it is a wilderness area. The island is very large & the tracks across the centre through the forest make for some extreme driving in places, we hit our heads on the roof of the vehicle several times, so be prepared On our return to catch the ferry we had to rescue another party who had got themselves stuck in the sand & had broken a driveshaft, in true Oz style our driver hooked up a tow line & dragged them all the way back too the ferry, the thing is if we had not come along they could easily have been stranded in the forest all night & missed the ferry ride back. Oh & don't feed the dingo's N

I had a Gold Hunter which was new back in 2006, it had the speed load feature & it works very well providing you don't need the gun to hold more than 5 rounds. I wanted it for PSG however & the speed loading feature seemed like it would give an advantage. The problem is when you try to increase the capacity you come into a problem which you cannot overcome. The small tab on the bottom of the bolt keeps the cartridges pushed forward into the magazine tube, as you increase the capacity the pressure pushing back from the magazine spring combined with the increased number of shells held in the tube can push back enough to prevent the bolt going back into battery after its been fired & so the gun won't fire a second shot. You can change the recoil spring (the one housed in the stock) for a stronger one, & that will help, but it is a balancing act between varying spring pressures & will always be unreliable & that is unacceptable in a timed sport I sold it & got a Benelli instead. Providing you only need a S2 gun they are great. N

Yes we went in 2007, we drove a camper van from Sydney to Cairns over eighteen days. As im sure you know there are no surfaced roads on Fraser. The tracks are all soft sand & 4x4 is essential. We took a trip with a small group using a small 4x4 bus converted out of an old army vehicle. But you can take your own vehicle if its suitable, I think you need a permit however if you intend to camp their overnight. The ferry is like a landing craft & drops you straight onto the beach great fun. We also took a flight off the beach in a light plane, it gives you a great perspective of the whole island. We did some swimming at Eli creek but we were told to keep out of the ocean at the time of our visit because of box jellies & sharks. I really enjoyed Fraser & also the blue mountains near Sydney, don't miss the Whitsunday islands either if you get a chance they have some beautiful beaches. N

No problem at all, as there is no club local to telford, we have to travel a bit to find the best matches. Send me a phone number via a pm or im happy to give you mine & I can give you several options. The four4islands organisation run the biggest series of matches now & I recommend you join up on their forum, sign up is free & a link to the site is in my signature line below. Once you sign up you get access to their forum board that has loads of psg info. Speak soon. N

Mine was a zabala .410 SxS. I got it for my 14th birthday in 1979, & I wish I had kept it now. N

Yeah there was a guy at the first charity match at Hodnet who fitted that description, if I remember correctly N

Wow who is that handsome chap :-) California competition works now make a double stack box that holds two grabs of 4 allowing more rounds on your belt for the same space. The guys at four4islands are using them. :-) Anyone who thinks that loading & shooting a sxs or o/u can keep up with a tube fed gun using these boxes is very much mistaken & like Mark Im happy to race anyone who claims otherwise , Im even happy to start with an empty gun :-) The only things faster are the Open Division guns using speed loader tubes or the Saiga detachable magazine shotguns. Anyone interested in learning more about speed loading & psg from the guys in the video can contact me on here or via the four4islands website. N

Any room for the practically shotgunners ? :-) We are up for it again date permitting. We missed last year due to a bereavement but our ST postcode should move it a fraction back towards Hodnet again :-) N

After having several different auto's over the years the Benelli M2 is by far the easiest to clean, no gas piston & no ports on the barrel means no filthy burnt crud can get into the handguard area which means its just a case of pulling the barrel through & your done. I only strip & clean the bold head & inside the receiver after about 600 to 700 rounds, never had a problem. Would never buy a gas gun ever again. N

As a former mechanic & petrol head I always enjoy watching F1, however I simply refuse to pay for sky sports, I cant abide football & I see no reason why I should pay for this, the TV license fee is a rip off & we now get one less sport to watch. Looks like ill be spending sunday afternoons at the range instead next year. N

Hi Mark Thankfully the UKPSA are not the only option available for action shooting fans as of this year. The guys at four4islands have created a series of open practical shotgun matches as well as 2 gun events that include mini rifle stages as well as shotgun to create a fun & enjoyable experience without the expensive UKPSA membership fees or stuffiness, however safety is still the obvious main priority & matches are run to the same safety standard. The website & forum is free to join & open to everyone, & you can sign up & enter matches all on-line, now that's what I call progress. More details & to get started in action shooting visit http://four4islands.org/ Here is a stage from the recent Four4islands Help for Heroes Charity match held in Dorset. See you on the range. N

This match series is going very well after several rounds, so for anyone interested the next available match is to be held at Romsey shooting clubs PSG ground near Popham on 17th July, there are still some places left. So if any of you have S1 shotguns for PSG or Target Shotgun then details of how to enter can be found here... http://four4islands.org/ This match is open to all safe shooters & does not require UKPSA membership or safety course attendance. Hope to see some of you there... N

The On-line sign up for this match opens this friday 6th May via the http://four4islands.org/ website. You can use paypal or debit/credit card to enter, but first get yourselves registered on the website. The match has 8 Stages all shot in one day, a mixture of 12g & .22 challenges all for £30 As mentioned the match also has a free apres shoot BBQ & Scrumpy for all entrants, so its great value. Hope to see some of you there. N

Yeah be careful psg is soooooooo addictive Some of the guys over on the four4islands forum have shot there & the club is also one of their supporters, some dates of their shoots are also listed. Check it out here http://four4islands.org/ if you register with the site you also get access to the forum pages. Have fun N

The four4islands guys are bringing us another 2 gun match down at Shield, for anyone who shot the succesful Help for Heroes event this will surely be another not to be missed match Details of this 2Gun Islands match are now on the F4i website http://four4islands.org/ See you there. ETA.. There will be in excess of £1000 of free shooting kit on the prize table at this event. Also a free BBQ & free local Scrumpy apres shoot of course

Hi Mark You missed a great match, certainly one that will be remembered for a while, hopefully the four4islands gang will reach your end of the country before too long mate Why not try to get your club to support four4islands ? Being open to all shooters it's already proving a popular idea, lots of people were talking about it at the H4H match on Saturday & the guys tell me traffic to the four4islands website is really hotting up now that the forum is active on there. I support anyone who is trying to grow shooting sports at the grass roots level & good luck to them. N