shakari

Not any longer for me! LOL! More seriously, I'd now like to convert it to LPG but it looks like I'll lose my road tax exemption if I do that....... in which case, I'll keep it as it is.

I've just downloaded the exemption certificate that proves my 1982 Jeep Cherokee is a car of historical interest to the great nation of Portugal & therefore my annual road tax bill goes from a whopping E773 a year to zero! YEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAA! My thanks to the kind people of ACP Classicos for their help, support & advice. I reckon that's a right good result!

It was a long time ago but I had 2 Rangies with LPG conversions on them & they were a pleasure to own & both were completely trouble free. I don't know but wonder if it works better on slow revving low compression engines. Perhaps Webber could advise us on that as he's in the business?

Tom, I can't tell you how much I'd like a ride on that!

Mate, that's a WONDERFUL piece of kit you've got there!

This probably isn't a lot of use to you but FWIW, I used to tow a beach buggy behind a Landie on an A frame & it used to tow beautifully, safely & it was VERY stable. I don't however know if the fact that the car you're towing has power steering but without the engine running........ Perhaps someone else can comment on that? I'd love to see a pic of your steam roller!

I've gotta say I reckon we made an excellent choice by coming here. Crime is virtually non existent, the weather is pretty good (not quite as good as Africa though) and the hunting, shooting & fishing is miles better than I could ever have possibly imagined.

I'm not in the UK I'm in Portugal and until about 18 months ago lived in South Africa for some years. Quite honestly, I seriously doubt I'd even ever consider moving back to the UK now it's the way it is.

Barney That looks good mate...... I like the idea of being able to remove it easily and it obviously doesn't need to be as rugged as one on an African hunting truck........ but I've gotta ask, don't those hand/screw adjusters vibrate loose?

Sadly no end of commercial poaching in Africa nowadays, especially for rhino and to a slightly lesser extent, elephant and I'll bet a pound to a pinch of the smelly brown stuff it won't stop anytime soon. Rule .303 has been applied to poachers for decades in many parts of Africa but as you say, there'll always be a queue of poor locals willing to take up an AK or a bottle of something or other and earn enough to feed their families for a year with one night's work........... What needs to happen is for the authorities to catch and severely punish those at the top of the pyramid but that will never, ever happen simply because most of them are in Government and many hold diplomatic immunity. For those that don't understand the term rule .303, it's sometimes known as the triple S rule which stands for shoot, shovel and shut the **** up.

There's actually several poisons or agricultural chemicals that'll cause them to drop dead in a couple of hundred yards..... they might not be legal but there is several that'll do it...... The reason I know is I've seen a couple of examples of it being used by commercial poachers in Africa........ the busstards tip the stuff into a waterhole and then come along a few hours later and take the tusks & horns....... what makes it even worse is it kills everything that drinks from the water.

Most but not all engines run quieter, better & cleaner on LPG than they do on petrol and service intervals lengthen to almost twice that of one running on petrol. There are however good and bad conversions so you need to look out for that. As a rule of thumb, the Italians make the best kits.

The messages I've had Eley and other ammo manufacturers have always been extremely unequivocal as one would expect from an ammo manufacturer. My shotguns are fairly/very good quality and I'm extremely careful what I put through them and would always ask manufacturers advice and of course follow it...... but they have on several occasions told me I can use 2 3/4 rolled in my 2 1/2 inch chambers and as I've previously said, I've never had a 2 3/4 rolled case come out with any feathering whatsoever but on the odd occasion I've used 2 3/4 crimped, they have always come out with a little feathering in the end of the case. Eley haven't replied me yet but (assuming they do reply) I'll post it asap. I've also searched for their previous communications but can't find them I'm afraid...... but quite honestly, that doesn't surprise me as I have something in the region of 25 boxes of gear that still hasn't been unpacked....... I'm still looking for something like 200 x .500 Jeffery cartridge cases and about twice that number of bullets.... I know they're there somewhere but just can't find the bolody things anywhere! LOL!

I've never fished for bonefish but would love to. The fastest I've caught are tigerfish & the most powerful by far that I've caught is crocodile.

I'd be interested to see a pic. I do know Eley have told me several times it's perfectly OK to do & I do know I've been doing it for some years in my old 12 gauges (1923 & 1934) without problems & have noted fired rolled cases come out whole & crimped (on the very odd occasion I've used 'em) come out with the ends slightly feathered. I'll also be interested to hear what Eley tell me this time.

It absolutely isn't bad advice. I was first told it by one of the directors of Eley many years ago & he had their tech dept confirm it in writing to me & they have since re-confirmed it to me twice more. IIRC the reason you can do so is the OAL of an unrolled, rolled case (if you know what I mean) is less that the OAL of a crimped case and the rolled case obviously has a disc in the end. The end of a crimped case touches the forcing cones when fired but the rolled case, being shorter, does not. I probably still have the letters somewhere but if I do, I don't know where as we moved continents not very long ago and we still haven't unpacked everything but if you doubt me, I suggest you contact Eley or other reputable manufacturer to have them confirm it. Alternatively, measure a fired rolled case against a fired crimped case (obviously of the same length case) & you'll see the latter is noticeably longer than the former. I have however emailed Eley and asked them to reconfirm.

I've gotta say I'd rather fish for trout or barbel etc than carp but that one is a real corker. We have odd fishing and hunting laws out here..... for example, no night fishing is allowed so the dedicated carpers often park a camper next to the swim so they can fish all day and then sleep in the camper at night.

The reason I added the rider of caution was for the obvious reason but if you check with any ammo manufacturer etc they'll tell you it's perfectly safe to use 2 3/4 inch rolled shells in a 2 1/2 inch chambered gun.

I was talking about this to a friend of mine this morning and we wonder if there's a badger sett nearby somewhere? It could be that some idiot has put poison out for badgers and the deer have picked it up........ the badgers may well have made it back to the sett before they croaked.

If it's a fast acting poison and in one spot then that's exactly what happens & I can't think of anything else that could cause the deaths of healthy appearing animals in such close proximity. Although one has to wonder why only deer & not also other species.

Someone said that you're far too young to be worrying about such matters but I disagree. As I see it, you're at the ideal age to start making a career plan or at least gaining experiences and training that may well prove to be useful to you later on. You're talking about working in vermin control and game keeping has also come up. Both jobs have attractions but neither give much financial return or opportunities to advance your career as you get older. My point is that at your age, nothing whatsoever is impossible. Although society will often have you believe otherwise the truth is the world is your oyster and you never know where life will lead you. As an example, I grew up in Kent, got an apprenticeship, became an electrician then got a job with an airline and then by some bizarre twist of fate ended up as a Professional hunter in Africa and worked in the safari industry for 30 odd years. I have operated in something like seven African countries and have written a book about how someone from outside Africa can work at the highest possible level of the safari business. One reviewer called it the best training manual for PHs ever written. I'm as average as they come but if I can do it then so can you so don't let anyone tell you that you're too young, too stupid or too uneducated to achieve whatever you want. If you're prepared to work hard and be single minded then nothing is impossible. In closing. Read this: http://www.blupete.c...y/KiplingIf.htm

I reckon it's not very likely that four animals should drop dead of liver fluke all within a couple of hundred yards over a four week period..........

If you're finding them all in the same spot it's unlikely they're dying of something like liver fluke or overeating any particular food. It's more probable there's a source (probably) nearby that they're eating or drinking from & then dying quite quickly afterwards. I'd suggest you take a vet to the site & try not to touch anything more than you have to.....because whatever is killing them is killing them quickly & just might be able to do the same to you.

It actually goes deeper than that. The older guns had 2 1/2 inch chambers whereas more modern ones have 2 3/4 inch chambers..... You need to check proof marks etc but as a rule of thumb, an older gun with 2 1/2 inch chambers can usually take 2 3/4 inch shells IF (note the big IF) they're rolled crimp.

Poison?