Redditch

That's WHAT I thought until I was proven wrong. cyl in the USA IS NOT true cyl, and IC isn't IC but 1/4 after which they have modified (our half)And then they have a skeet choke either side of their cyl too. So trying to equate anything under modified / 1/2 gets very difficult, especially when different makes start changing the names too. I ordered a beretta 1/4 choke off GMK and got delivered ICwhich they informed me is 1/4, and when I ordered IC I got told I already had it, called CYL. All very confusing to someone who was brought up on fixed chokes. Most guns in my youth were sold half full, and then bored to suit, some were sold quarter three quarter, or even three quarter full, but most were board prior to delivery according to customers wishes. Many were often bored again, when they were sold to someone else

Tried large owl decoy, small owl decoy, and even a fox decoy, all to no avail. Better is standard corvid decoys and a call

If you had read my post correctly, you would see I stated that the choke I use is a beretta cyl, that's an American choke, and their cylinder is at least our improved cylinder (their IC is our 1/4). Add that to a plastic shot cup, and you looking at probably getting around 3/8 choke. If he's using fibre wads through a "true cyl" (which I extremely doubt) then I wouldn't advise above 35-40 metres (there isn't a fat lot of difference in yards and meters, a yard is 36" and a metre is 39" (I use metres because I lived abroad for many years) However, using a plastic shot cup prevents a lot of deformation of the shot, and hence generally gives about one extra rise up in the choke scale compared to fibre wads. If he has an ACTUAL true CYL, then with plastic wads he should be getting at least IC choking. I personally think he will find he either has IC and IC (American CYL boring) or maybe even IC and 1/4 And the birds I've shot at that range have been large crowd (not small pigeon) and its dropped them dead very time, although I don't make a habit of shooting above 50 metres, it's something that often is the only choice to get birds here, as poachers have made them extremely wary of decoy patterns.

The Kenli are a bit "different" AA, as they are basically 3.7 volt 1600 mah with a built in chip that reduces output to 1.25 volt 2800 mah apparently.

I bought one when they first came out, fantastic gun, and still use it every day. Mines a 28" barrel

See if you can pick up a moderated one cheaply. Laporte are good, but expensive used (I just bought one) Hushpower are good, but not ejector I believe

Can everyone please list the sub sonic 12 gauge cartridges they KNOW are available. I.e. Make, shot size, and shot weight Trying to get some decent ones for corvid and pigeon, and need to tell my gun shops hat to get, as they have never stocked them here Thanks

Obsidian is the name of the processor that's used in the X-Sight. It's a quad core, and used in the top end smart phones, and quite fast. However, in my opinion, they would have been better using an even faster one, BUT, that would have come at the expense of yet more battery usage. A set of standard alkalises lasts about 50 minutes, a set of bog standard lead AA about 10-15 minutes. Panasonic Enloop NiMh rechargeables, 2500 mah, last quite long, and have used them 6-7 hours without depleting them, but the best (awaiting delivery) are the LiOn rechargeables from Kentli 2800 mah. These however are rarely sold in the UK (and if they do they ask £16-£20.00 EACH battery, and £25.00 for the charger). So order them via eBay from China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, or the Philipines. There they cost about £25.00 for FOUR WITH CHARGER.

One thing I will say, the laser IR supplied with the 5-18x (it sure if one is supplied with the 3-12x) is far superior to other laser IR I have seen and used (aka Photon and Pulsar) Whereas others are very "grainy" looking, this appears very clear, almost LED quality. It comes as standard with 3 power settings, but range is limited to about 100, maybe 150 metres with it. That said, I also noticed that when in the NV setting, looking through the scope, you can see farther and clearer with the screen set to green, than you can if its set to B&W. The reason ? No idea lol, but it's what happens This means that you can keep the IR power low, so as not to spook the foxes

Still waiting to "christen" the X-sight :( Hmmmm, wierd night. Setup at 21:15 to discover the IR torch batteries were dead, so quickly back home, grabbed some spares, fitted them, and back set up by 21:30 Fox was due on top field bait at 22:20, and then several on bottom field bait at 23:00, 00:00, 02:00, and 06:00 Nothing came, except a black cat (OMEN ?), which went on its way after eating some bait. It was soon getting cold and very misty, so seeing anything was getting difficult, and so I packed up at 02:30 and went home, walked the dogs, and got some zzzzz's, asleep by about 04:00 TWO reasons they didn't come I think. Last night the farmer was out and didn't return till about 00:20 so yard lights were on, (which also cover the field), until about 00:45 ALSO, the poachers were out and about, this time not using rifles but shotguns, and using the "vixen in heat" call. Every so often there would be the BOOM BOOM, of two shotgun shells being fired, and also there was the constant call going, which moved along the road network (easy to hear sat up on top of the hill) at about 500 metres every few minutes. NOT conjunctive to a good nights shooting, so will try again tomorrow. I saw their truck and car yesterday (they were in TWO vehicles, maybe THREE, as a third was parked on another similar field, also being shot), as they were shooting corvids on a field not far away (one I don't shoot, and the farmers don't like shot), as there are far too many houses about, and if it's shot complaints come into the farmers fast and furiously :( No doubt I will be getting the backlash off that, as everyone will think it was me :( (as I'm the only one with "permission" on these fields ) Ahh well, try again tonight, and hopefully better luck, but it means the cameras won't be giving me a true picture of what to expect tonight, so will have to go on the previous camera sightings, and hope they return to pattern

Yep, I now have THREE of the flappers, two with speed controller corvid, and one without for pigeon. They do the job perfectly once adapted properly

A shotgun can kill in two ways. One) a few large pellets with very high striking power, causing large damage on their way through, or Two) multiple lighter pellets causing an accumulation of minor injuries, that in their total cause shock and trauma, the shock generally being the major cause of death in that case. Both are effective in their own ways, but if you want to eat what you shoot, then it's advisable to have as few pellets as humanly possible to ensure a good kill. 90% of what I shoot is corvids (rather than the prevalence of pigeon in England, we have the opposite, more corvids than pigeon). Light pellets are fine for pigeon, and 6 or 7 shot will kill efficiently. I found though that for corvids here in my area (next to the Atlantic) the corvids have massively thick plumage, and with 6 or 7 shot, I was getting masses of pricked birds, even using tighter chokes, so I swapped to heavier shot in a heavier load, and the problem was cured

Most of the Americans I know, actually shoot 7,8, or even 9 shot for pigeon (they call them dove, as they exterminated their passenger pigeon through over shooting) and corvids (which seem to be two types of their crow), but in standard weight cartridges, which would explain the priced birds. I very rarely get a pricked bird.

If it's American "cyl" like on beretta, then it's actually our imp cyl. Add a plastic wad and your are then shooting at least 1/4 choke, probably more.

Generally, people stick to one cartridge, and for more range to compensate for pattern spread and loss of penetration, increase the choke. My solution is instead to use a larger weight of shot with a larger size of shot, so requiring less pellets for the kill, but still getting an acceptable pattern. Each increase in choke size will only give you (standard factory chokes) about 5 metres per stage of increase. And while doing that, it's concentrating the mass of shot bang in the centre 10 inch, with very little in the surrounding area of the 30" Imp cyl gives the smoothest patters of all standard chokes (due to less deformation) so less holes in the pattern. Yes, there won't be as many pellets in the pattern as a full choke at a given range, BUT, what there is, will be evenly spread in the 30", and using that heavier shot, will kill with half the pellets normally required. So basically, you can get away with half the pellets in your pattern, so long as the pattern is good, and thus increase your killing spread and range, and heavier pellets hold power better down range too. Using a lighter pellet would mean you actually need MORE pellets to strike at distance, as they lose penetrating power quicker.

Here in NI, the standard is, EVERYTHING with an ME of over 1 joule (0.635 ft/lbs) is an FAC section one. This includes ALL air rifles and shotguns, not just rifles and pistols. That said, usually within a couple of weeks of sending your forms in for variation or renewal, they have sent you a temporary cert, so you can buy ammo, hold and use your guns. It seems to be standard here, although in the bad old days, it could take 4 months to get one, now it's generally 7-10 days for it to arrive in the post. As far as sending the forms in, I always hand deliver them to my local police station, in an envelope for the attention of "explosives and firearms dept" And that then gets delivered by their internal post soupy stem the very next day Haven't had one get lost yet

You don't put more pellets in with imp cyl than full, what you do is put a more even pattern (the tighter the choke, the more pellets in the centre of the pattern) By using the same amount of pellets, with a larger size (36gr 4, 34gr 5, 32gr 6, and 30 gr 7 all have approximately the same amount of pellets to a cartridge). The larger the size shot, the LESS pellets needed for a kill, and hence a more open pattern gives you a better kill chance if that pattern is evenly spread !! And imp cyl gives by far the best overall "evenly spread" patterns available. Using no4 shot, you need about half the pellets you need with no6 shot to get a kill, so you can have half the amount in the pattern, but being more evenly spread, you have less holes n the pattern, so a greater chance of a kill. And the extra weight, means they retain energy further down field, whereas if you have a lighter pellet, you need MORE pellets to make up for diminishing energy while the pattern is dispersing too.

Like I said, check the pattern, pattern is better (more even) the opener the choke, but a larger shot size means less pellets to kill. Half the pellets needed with 4 over 6 size

no! I'm saying that different cartridge choke combinations can have adverse or positive effects. Work it out yourself. If you have a 40" circle, and 90% of your shot is in the 10" centre, you have a 10% chance of hitting something outside that 10" and then it depends on the seamount of pellets you hit it with (taking a full choke as an example) Now, take an imp cyl, the patterns spread evenly throughout, BUT, you need far less pellets to hit the target (we are NOT talking clays here, but live birds,one pellet generally won't kill it) You can hit it with a small percentage of those pellets of you aren't exactly (aka George) on target. So those 10% you have over, out of say 300 pellets is 30 pellets, spread over the remainder. From those on no6 shot, you will need an average of at least 6 pellets to kill the bird. Now, take no4 shot, same amount of pellets, BUT, they are spread evenly through the 40" circle, and you only need 3 to hit tho kill that same bird. So, it makes sense to have a better more consistent pattern (rather than everything in the middle) and a higher killing power per pellet. I think it was Gough Thomas (if that's how you spell Gough ?) in shooting times that first brought this theory forward about 1970 !!) It's stood me in good stead, and I've been shooting since 1960 He advised using open chokes and smaller shot to improve pellet strike. I advise using a larger size and the same amount of pellets, again with open choke, to improve range with the same effect

It's on the newest firmware. Some people suggested it had a bang to the butt, but it hadn't. Only thing was I put fresh batteries in, so maybe it got a "shock" ?

because they are shooting at standard sporting ranges. And trying to get more pellets into that circle at the given range of what they are shooting. Yes, at 55 yards a full choke will generally (not always, put more pellets into the circle than a lesser cyl. but! It will generally be concentrated into the centre, and not evenly distributed.And that concentration tends to last about 5 metres per 1/4 choke up, per cartridge. then, add heavier pellets, and a better pattern, and what do you get ? Less pellets needed for a kill strike, but a much more even pattern. You concentrate the pellets at range to make up for the loss in killing power of an individual pellet. Why not instead use the same amount of pellets with a greater killing force (larger), and a better pattern, to thus increase killing chances ??

Then try different makes until you find one that suits your gun. Mine does it emulate no problem, so I'm very happy.

The only way to get good range with heavier chokes is to have specially made after market chokes, and/or choose the cartridge that works best with your chokes (or have someone like perazzi tailor them for you, ala George ). Fact is, a plastic wad gives better patterns than a fibre wad, But! It isn't environmentally friendly. But fact is, imp cyl will always give the best pattern in shotguns, because it gives less compression to the outer pellets, so not deforming them. Compress pellets, and they deform, and then the pattern expands. The more compression, the more deformation, the more expansion. An imp cyl will give almost linear expansion. A harder choke goes like a vase, holds tighter to start, then expands more,

Do the same with cyl, imp cyl, 1/4, 1/2 , 3/4, and full, and then try the same using fibre and plastic wads. You will find imp cyl has by far the best pattern for costs tench at almost all ranges, for the simple reason it doesn't deform the shot as much. Add a plastic wad (which will protect the shot from more deformation, and also improve its resistance to gas disruption, and that generally gives you at least 1/4 choke over what you are using. Simple facts lad, I've been shooting 55 years now m and I shoot almost every day LOL.

Roughly the same shot count per cartridge. 30gr 7, 32gr 6, 34 gr 5, and 36gr 4 ,then add a plastic wad, and you are adding roughly 1/4 choke to what you are choked over a fibre wad. So beretta cyl =imp cyl, plus 1/4 = almost 1/2