sterling

That's reassuring to hear davie and a great offer too thanks! I haven't had a chance to do any wildfowling yet and duck is so tasty, so when I get myself set up with some good shooting, I'll be in touch to see if we can exchange some! I know Royboy, the lads in N.I. on this forum seem to be a fantastic bunch and I don't know what I've been so worried about. Reminds me I should really put out some more offers on the forum to take folks out shooting. I've been pretty selfish of late.

Haha, no need to be embarrassed - my joke was about the Englishness of sainsburys, not implying you were racist. I guessed you either meant the valleys or the highlands. It could have been anywhere though really, there's not many countries an Englishman can go where he doesn't have some history he could feel guilty about. Very kind offer, thanks Brisa!

Thanks a lot Dazza, will do! Brum is still 60% white christian. So if Thunderbird is right, there must be about 600,000 people shopping at your local Sainsburys! The queue might be shorter at Tesco mate. With that said, I'm not racist by any stretch and the irony of me being prejudiced in my own thread about being English in Northern Ireland would be too much! Thanks all for the input and well wishes!

That's sound advice Tam, thanks a lot. When I get over there, I'll be in touch!

Ouch, that's a heavy load! When hunting in the US, I saw a 12 gauge buckshot load used on a whitetail deer from about that distance. It was horrible. The pattern, if you can call it that, had hits anywhere but the vitals and needed a .357 to finish the poor animal. For curiousity's sake, it's fun to have a few unusual shot shells but for me, I have no use for anything smaller than #8 or bigger than BB.

I'll keep it visible in the thread and off PM for now just in case somebody else stumbles across this thread and the info helps them (unlikely though). It's subject to finalising a job offer at the moment but if I make the move I'd be looking at the Stranmillis area.

Hi all, I'm a young English man emigrating to Belfast and it goes without saying that I'm a keen sport shooter too. I lived in the Republic of Ireland for 6 months and despite steering well clear of religion and politics, I had a couple of very scary moments there. I know the areas to avoid around Belfast but my question is this; am I asking for trouble approaching rural land owners for shooting permission with my unmistakably English accent? I'd be really grateful if any folks with experience of the current situation in NI could offer advice on the level of tension remaining there. Many thanks in advance!

bedwards is spot on with 5 or more .36 cal balls being on SGC. Don't ever try to fathom the wisdom of this law though. The .410 with one .36 ball leaving the barrel is section 1. My 12 gauge throwing 9 of the same balls is SGC. I guess it comes down to legal "need". Don't let the old fuzz know that most of us outside of PSG don't have any need for a 12gauge with buckshot that big though.

To the OP: I did exactly this as a dangerously curious 12 year old with some .22 blanks which I forced the crimp open on. I, like you, poured out the powder and had a poke around inside the case with a nail to get every last bit of powder out. Same shocking result. I then *hypothetically* thought it'd be interesting to crimp a bit of lead solder in a blank and set it off in a length of brake line in a vice. The lead solder shot through both sides of a carboard box. Next was the homemade cannon (powder from the blanks), the coke can launcher, the rocket powered action man....... I can't believe you did this as an adult, but if sharing it prevents another bright spark from qualifying for a Darwin Award, it's worth doing. The fact that most of us are still here despite an interest in things that go bang, gives credence to the existence of angels.

Sounds sensible. I usually wear them but stupidly forgot them this time. Part of me wishes I had got the hushpower O/U 20g and I might part with the 410 at some point too. Anyway, I should stop rambling and let an ancient thread come to an end

At the risk of taking a two year old thread off on a tangent, just out of curiosity; Do you wear hearing protection when using your suppressed 410? After a day in the woods with 25 eley extralong subs + 50 fourlongs through a hush, my ears feel like I've been to a very loud rock concert. I also had the chance to hear some 410 slugs through a hushpower today. I would say the slugs through the hushpower were on a par with a suppressed 308 firing supersonics. LOUD!

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Well I spoke to saddlery and gun room. They wouldn't offer a concrete statement on the matter, presumably so as to avoid liability. I don't resent their reluctance; that's standard business and the staff remained friendly and helpful. However, the conversation could be summarised as; - Saddlery and gun room advise against the use of plastic wads in hushpower moderators, in favour of felt or fibre. - There is a perceived increased risk of damage or injury as a result of using plastic wads. - To date, there have been no reports of damage or injury as a result of using plastic wads in hushpower moderators. There it is, it's up to you to decide whether it's worth the risk to you. I would personally say that the risk is substantialy less with break-barrel guns where the bore can be easily checked after each shot. Pumps such as the mossberg are rather more difficult to check. Fibre wads are more expensive, but the .410 never was an economy option anyway...

Mick, I don't mean to question your experience for a second but for anybody with a hushpower reading this, I'd advise a quick call to saddlery & gunroom to clarify the wad situation. I've found plastic wad shrapnel in the new type 9" moderator. Could those pieces cause a bore obstruction? It seems possible to me. I'll stick to fibre wad for now or take the can off to shoot cheaper plastic wads when noise isn't an issue. I've tested a lot of carts through the hushpower (plastic and fibre), and the general consensus from the shooting position and from a distance is that subsonics don't make much difference for the added cost - supersonic crack seems very subtle in the .410. Eley extralong "subsonics" do hit with authority but I have frequently heard a suspicious crack and I'd like to run them over a chrono. Fourlongs were quietest but throw a fairly anemic 12.5g pattern. It's worth patterning the fourlongs to see just how sparse that pattern is! For what it's worth, I'll call saddlery & gunroom tomorrow and quote their response here.

You two are onto something with the .17HH. Another interesting little round I'd like to build a gun around is the .22TCM. I first saw this little zinger in a 1911 pistol - a 9x19 case necked to .22. Why? Because it's possible... Thanks dogone. I'm dual Canuck/Brit, so I'm pretty familiar with the ups and downs of Canadian firearms laws. The registry was proven to be the pointless black hole for tax payers' money that every gun owner knew it was. Next steps I'd like to see; sort out the PAL/RPAL nonsense, legalise suppressors, easier wilderness carry and armed home defence laws which don't favour the criminal. I'm still not decided on concealed carry in public yet.

I hear you Jonathan. I'm about to send my own thread into oblivion, but here goes... Public pressure isn't always enough - remember the Iraq anti-war protests? One million angry people descended on London (the largest political protest in London's history). The effect: nothing. Now in the USA, the fact that there are such overwhelming numbers of firearm owners and NRA supporters does definitely cause their government to take public opinion seriously. Their NRA is infinitely stronger than our BASC or NRA and actually manage to make a serious political impact. So much so that Obama will actually come out in support of gay marriage and lose the entire Christian vote before he takes on firearm owners! If it wasn't for English history and humour, I'd live overseas permanently where all my fun toys are. The laws are no less rediculous in other countries though - I can shoot a .308 on my land because it has a nice walnut stock. The 5.56 however has a plastic stock and is therefore too tactical to be safe!? You can carry a glock on your belt in Minnesota but if you accidentally cross an imaginary line in the woods, you've just qualified for a long-term prison stay in Ontario. If you like common sense, you've chosen the wrong hobby! I'm actually not totally sure either. The only solid fact I have in front of me is that a .22lr semi is legal. Beyond that, I'd be guessing.

Damn it, you're right - maths was never my strong point. 5mm is indeed .20 not .22 calibre. The heart wants what it can't have and living in the UK with a passion for firearms is terrible for my heart.

Maybe appeal is Italian for ugly? It's a curiously hideous little runt but if they chambered that thing in 5mm remington magnum, it'd be UK legal and I'd buy one today. I'd just squint whenever it was in direct view.

Thanks for the replies - it seems the general consensus is that in most cases zeroing/target shooting with a humane killer is not legal but apache's experience has been otherwise. One of these days I might understand our firearms laws...

I know they make rifles in .17HMR, but I haven't seen any sign that they produce another proprietary .17 round? I've pitched an email to Tangfolio so hopefully I'll get some info from the horses mouth. Obviously the semi .17 is verboten but if there's a newer light, fast, loud, expensive to feed round available - I'm game.

Hmmm, a semi .17 remington would be interesting but a whole world of overkill on rabbits and illegal in my neck of the woods to boot! You're right about its looks though - I hadn't been sick in my mouth for quite a while... :blink:

In the quest for an interesting new rimmy, I came across the Tangfolio Appeal. An ugly bullpup which looks like a Walther G22. Nice choice of calibres - but as well as .17HMR and M2, they clearly list .17h&r. Is this a new .17 I need to have? http://www.tanfoglio.it/uploads/catalog/media/pag23appealnewjpg.jpg

Sorry I was a bit unclear; I mean couriered to target shoot, not to despatch. I had heard something about sec.7 used for target shooting/research which had to be securely couriered. A lot of my "research" is actually hearsay

If they don't do well, Gov could spin it such that pistol sport is deemed unworthy of repealing the ban for. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't!

Hmmm, interesting stuff! It serves to reinforce what most of us already knew; various police forces interpret and enforce the law differently. I was under the impression sec.5 and sec.7 pistols had to be secure couriered to and from approved ranges, so I suppose the hassle of zeroing or practicing with humane killers is avoided by most forces. Maybe we'll see a change in the law if our pistol squad do well at the olympics, but I doubt it.