sterling

No flash hole? Flippin' heck that's worrying! I tried out my first reloads this morning and whilst I didn't think it was neccessary to tie a long piece of string to the trigger, I did make sure to wear safety glasses. I've got them shooting .25" at 100m (which is realistically my limit anyway) and they're only costing £8/box, so I'm happy with my set up. It'll take a while to cover the cost of the equipment but I find rifle reloading enjoyable and thankfully it's not the dark art I thought it would be. Thanks for the advice chaps - without it, I might still be hammering away with a bullet puller. Edited to add; In case you're reading this thread and wondering if it's financially worth you getting into reloading, going from Privi .243 to my own reloads will take 660 rounds to break even...

All now sold - thanks lads and have a Merry Christmas!

As I say, I'm not actively involved in politics but your response was interesting nonetheless. I think folks are generally disillusioned with the current system as a whole rather than UKIP as a party. In short; you've got my vote for whatever that's worth. That's a bit fierce pal. I think you'll find few people have the time in their lives to memorise party manifestos and instead, rely on what they see of the leadership in the media. I've heard a lot from Nigel Farage piping on about immigration but he seems a bit timid when pressed on concrete issues to do with the economic situation and possible remediation and yes I know there's a tenuous connection (in my opinion). Prejudice or opinion, it's a fine line. On that note, that's me out of this thread because I'm probably out of my depth and more importantly; I've got venison to marinade. Have a good Christmas

Yeah they were a cracking shop with good prices too - I hope they keep producing the wildcat moderators if the shop finally folds. My last load of PPU was bought from a friend who just couldn't get on with them but I'm running dangerously low now. I can't get the 100grain to shoot well but if that's what you use, I'd get yourself over to "shooting supplies ltd" in bromsgrove, pronto. They have 80 left and who knows when another load might appear - they haven't heard from privi since placing their last order. UK custom shop has been back-ordered for nearly a year! Personally, I've decided to go shopping today and get set up with reloading. I'm tired of relying on what odds and ends local shops have in and having to re-zero all the bleedin' time!

Now bear with me because I'm not a polititian or a very bright person in general, but....The trouble with UKIP is that they're just playing the marginal seats game. The only party to come from nowhere to take a general were labour because they had the full weight of the unions behind them. UKIP can't do that. What happens with a UKIP vote is that the tories lose seats to labour. Labour are pro-Europe and you end up with the opposite of what you wanted. I reckon we'll end up with Labour or another stinking coalition. The other point to bear in mind is that UKIP know just what buttons to push to score votes with regard to immigration but have a look at what their real policies are on direct issues like employment and the economy. I'll save you some time; they don't have any. So where's my vote going? UKIP, because they're marginally less of a joke than the UK Libertarian Party.

Only one left now... £30 posted.

Ah sod it then, it's time to get the flintlock out and head for the hills. :yp: Yeah it's becoming a pretty dire situation. I've got friends in the US who say the shelves have been virtually empty for nearly two years and what ammo they have left, they're too uncertain to use. That's obviously having a knock-on effect here and I know that US export/ UK import laws for ammo/powder have tightened too. I suppose it's a lot less hassle to remove ammunition from circulation than guns. Now, I wonder if my FEO will agree that "impending doom" is a good reason to increase my possesion allowance before it's too late.

I used to buy from them but if you've been there recently, you'll know that they are steadily heading for closure. They don't stock anything these days and rather than import in bulk, they actually buy stock from other local shops in small quantities. I don't usually deal in rumours, but I honestly think there might be an ammo/components shortage looming. That's interesting Jonathan, I hadn't even thought that case length might vary that much on new brass. I've learned a lot from this thread! I've also slept on it and decided to commit to a decent reloading set up in the new year. I might even get a few mates on board and start a little reloading syndicate.

That's probably why I'm avoiding jumping into rifle reloading with both feet - I already show signs of OCD.

Do you know, I haven't even had the calipers on them yet, I actually noticed it by the naked eye. :o On some rounds, the cannelure is way out of the neck and on others it's barely visible. These are unchambered rounds so I'm sure I haven't caused the set-back. I just figured the Serbians were a bit relaxed with their manufacturing tolerances. In light of Fister's post, I kind of think I might be going over the top for a cheap, short range hunting load but being as I enjoy fiddling about with anything remotely technical, I might do the batching even just for punching paper.

Infrared no longer available.

That was a great post thanks Fister, really informative and I don't think that Kent could add much more. That answers the question for me - just accept the PPU for what it is and enjoy affordable shooting. To be honest, most of my deer stalking is no more than 150m and foxes under 300. The fliers were appearing at 250m and beyond on paper and in reality won't affect my hunting noticeably. I kind of liked the idea of dabbling in rifle reloading without spending a bunch but I think I'll bite the bullet and do it properly when time and funds allow. Thanks again fellas!

Hi all, I've reloaded a fair bit of shotgun and pistol calibres in the past, but I've not done much reloading for rifle and don't have any kit now, so here's a quick question for you accuracy gurus out there; With the current price of reloading kit, components and most factory ammo, I'm now using almost exclusively PPU in .243 at £12/box. They group brilliantly most of the time but those occaisional serious fliers that definitely aren't my doing are a concern. The widely varying OAL and cartridge weight (case capacity and more likely powder charge?) seem to explain this. Can any of you see why it wouldn't make sense to pull the bullets, average the powder charge and reload more precisely? I figure £70 would get me a kinetic puller, simple Lee press and dies. Thanks in advance for any insight or just a reality check!

Hi all, For sale is a brand new ultrafire 501b torch with all the quality mods done to it to throw a tight beam for solo lamping. Included: Ultrafire 501b torch Blue XMLT6 module (3W 850nm infrared on request - but only one left). Aspheric lens Black reflector w/spacer Ultrafire protected 18650 L-ion battery 18650 protected charger Tail pressure switch + standard tail switch CZ scope/lamp mount I made several of these at a request from a local air rifle syndicate, who it turns out mostly don't actually have any money. I was almost tempted to donate them to those skinflint teenagers, but then I remembered I'm not a charity. I've run identical set-ups on rimmy and c/f for years and they are astounding for their size! Sold a couple on here, a couple still left so relisted. Thanks for looking! £40 each posted.

Nice photo mate! The council have apparently started putting molasses (sugar beet treacle) in the road grit to stop it washing away in the rain. The result is animals eating the stuff and a whole load more collisions with cars. Looks like that fella is enjoying it though.

Cheers. Yeah I'm very keen on these bullets - they retain their weight even at close ranges and they're easy on the wallet too. For the smaller species, they're just what the doctor ordered. The rifle does look like a CZ but it's actually a RWS 89 with leupold 6x42 glass and a wildcat moderator. Bit heavy, but it does the job nicely! I really admire the little chaps despite the damage they do to the woods/crops, they make for some very challenging stalking and yeah they're pleasantly easy to handle too. I thought there were loads in the coppices around Sussex, try getting in touch with some woodland owners, you'll soon find out where they are.

Bleedin' heck, that's a clever idea! Make sure it's an analogue clock though

Having prematurely settled into the festive spirits last night , I decided to start the holidays early this morning and ditch work in favour of a dawn stalk. With a heavy frost still crisp on the ground, it was hard to tread quietly but it was a glorious morning for a stroll nonetheless. No sooner had I got the rifle loaded than I heard the bark of a muntjac across the hill and I inched my way through the chestnut coppice in hopes of glassing the little beast. This chap came into view browsing a hedgeline at 120 metres and fell cleanly to a 90 grain .243 PPU. For the money, I'm mightily impressed with this round but it doesn't penetrate a whole lot. On dressing the buck, the nicely mushroomed bullet appeared wedged in an off-side rib. Whilst it had done a real number on the vitals, I'd have liked it to exit an animal this size ideally. Right then, I decided not to use this for broadsides on anything larger than roe in future. All in all though, that's my part of Christmas dinner sorted!

This is the way I look at it; you can effectively use a dedicated deer bullet on fox, but you don't want to use a dedicated fox bullet on deer. Some folks will no doubt disagree but I have never witnessed a fox get back up from a well placed shot from a .243 with any bullet weight up to and including 107grain. I'd pick the cheapest bullet designed for medium game that shoots acceptably in your rifle and use it for all four that you mention. I stupidly worked my way down from the expensive Norma fodder down to PPU 90grain, which shoots like a dream for me (apart from one misfire in 400 rounds)! I'd advise you work the other way round though.

Personally I leave it pointed in a safe direction for about 30 seconds then eject the round and put it somewhere safe to take home (not in a pocket). I have also rechambered them and given them a second strike which has never failed. I've had them in shotgun, rimfire and centrefire. The last one I had was a .243 PPU 90grn while the crosshairs were steady on the neck of a nice little muntjac. The blighter heard me swearing/reloading and took off at full speed. Possibly the luckiest deer I've ever seen as there was a nice deep strike in the primer and it fired second time round. Eccles, what round was it that misfired mate?

Lamp kits sold to "new shot" and "russian sniper". Thanks a lot chaps and good luck with the lamping!

I'll leave out the "dim" pun, as Alpha Mule beat me to it. I find blue gives a hefty increase in range over red (it's at the other end of the light spectrum) and doesn't spook wildlife any extra. Green is great too, but rabbits can see it more clearly I reckon. Infrared also works a treat but you do have to match the output wavelength to your nightvision set up and it pays to know what you're doing to get the best results. The kit for sale here is the most effective set up I have put together before it starts getting expensive and too fiddly for my sausage fingers.

One kit sold to THE MEK. Cheers mate A few still available.

No problem. I meant to check back here actually and see how it worked out for you - was it as easy as it was for me?

Hi all, For sale is a brand new ultrafire 501b torch with all the quality mods done to it to throw a tight beam for solo lamping. Included: Ultrafire 501b torch Blue XMLT6 module Aspheric lens Black reflector Ultrafire protected 18650 L-ion battery 18650 protected charger Tail pressure switch + standard tail switch CZ scope/lamp mount I made several of these at a request from a local air rifle syndicate, who it turns out mostly don't actually have any money. I was almost tempted to donate them to those skinflint teenagers, but then I remembered I'm not a charity. I've run identical set-ups on rimmy and c/f for years and they are astounding for their size! £40 each posted.