Mostly Harmless

Much obliged!

As this question could so easily have been my own, I'm gonna hijack it! In the nicest possible sense. @guerinirocks; when you say Andrew will sort you out a squad,.what does that mean? I'm really looking to get into clay shooting this year but am flying solo, so any help in getting started would be welcome. @shadowchaser; could you now recommend any of these that have been recommended to you? Thanks all.

In terms of 'try before you buy' how does one actually go about doing that? I'm based just outside of Manchester so MCSC is closest. But I'd be going alone. I know you clay shooters are a friendly bunch, but how feasible is it for a newb to be able to to try out different shotguns? On a similar note, is it reasonable to expect a gun shop to allow me to fire a gun prior to purchase? And are they geared up to do so? It's likely I'll be visiting the Cheshire gun room in Stockport in the first instance. Anyone know it or use it? Thanks folks.

Hi all, thanks for the welcome. I hate that I gave any kind of chauvinistic impression about only taking my son shooting. Not the case at all, it's just that my son was very much front of mind at the time of posting. And yes, my name is a Hitchhiker reference. I'm a complete geek where that is concerned. First question: obviously, I'm investigating my gun options. Now, if I had the means available and they were all in an equal condition, would you recommend a Browning Cynergy our a Beretta Silver Pigeon 1? Question 2: I've heard lots of good things about Lanbers; especially as a starter gun. So would you spend £400 on a decent one and keep the rest of the money for lessons and practice? Or, does it make sense to get a Browning/Beretta shotgun that's gonna be with me for years,, right from the off? I have millions more Qs but I needn't ask them all at once. Thanks again folks, you've made me feel really welcome. And already, that's my favourite thing about this sport. Cheers, from me and the family.

Hello all, I'm new to PW and relatively new to clay breaking. I shot my first cartridges just after Christmas and fired 50 more a couple of weeks after that. Needless to say, I'm absolutely hooked and can't wait to take up clay shooting as an official hobby. My wife have birth to my second child on Friday, a baby boy, and I love the thought of us going out shooting together in a few years time. With my son arriving, it does mean that I won't have as much free time as I'd like for shooting, but it will force me to slow down and take things easy, no bad thing for me as I can be prone to spur of the moment decisions when I'm excited about things - which isn't ideal if I want to make sure I really get the right equipment for me. With that in mind, how soon is too soon for a newbie like me to start all those questions that you're all answered a hundred times before? Please say hi, speak to you soon. Cheers.