chasechicken

I have an old AyA O/U which doesn't automatically switch to safe when opened .. not sure about their side-to-sides or how they've changed over the years though ..

Thanks - maybe it's worth considering then. That said - a 30 year old gun in half-decent nick is probably not worth the £125. Or maybe it is ...! I'm in North Bucks so South East but not as far as you...... I know a few smiths around here but not sure even if they do that themselves...

Novice question..... Just wondering if many of you have had your guns re-blued, and if so do you have any before/after pictures? Is it worth while in terms of looks / rust resistance / whatever else it does...?

Thanks guys - 100+ sounds amazing! I will stick to Christmas but I will be generous - I'm happy enough to spend money on cartridges which hit *****er all so a few extra bob for the farmer isn't the end of the world...!

I have two and would have a whole lot more if space / money would allow. I have "my" 12b o/u and bought a 20b "for" my girlfriend (who currently does not have a SGC) to use. I plan to get another but can't decide whether to get a more fancy 12b or go for a semi-auto 3 shot, which will no doubt make pigeon shooting easier. As many have said above, I miss everything regardless of the gun I use (not that I take the 20b out of course....) Actually, I haven't found switching between o/u too much trouble (even when using a friends) but give me a side-by-side and I really do struggle...!

I had a good friend as my reference and they didn't even get in touch with them! Not sure if it's just a backup if the doctors check brings something up or maybe...

Hi Snow White, do you know what the make / model is of your plug in recorder? Do you have any videos so I can see the quality? Thanks!

I have this scope and love it! It was however bought as a gift by someone who didn't realise it's perhaps a little overkill on a sub 12 air rifle with a range of 30-40 yards !! But it's great for ratting and rabbiting and I've used it with an add on IR torch which does give you probably close to 4-600 yards visibility! Great for identification of an animal but the lack of zoom ... at the 100-200 yard range I would worry that it's not always certain what you're looking at until you see it moving about a bit. Not sure if this helps much but it is easy to use, easy to zero and a nice bit of kit!

Could it be there's simply more recoil with the new shotgun? Are semi-autos lighter or don't use the recoil in the same way or something? Or is it the other way round ... hmm.....

I don't own one but have used the Lincoln Premiere Gold and it is a lovely gun - looks stunning, light weight, shoots nicely. About a grand new but I've seen a couple for a bit over £600 so you may find one in budget...

I got a second hand 3l tank for about £100 and am pleased I did. The pump sounds hard work (unless you do it after every 20 shots or so - so I'm told) .. but also it's not clean air and down the line can cause rusting and other problems internally due to the moisture. Or something .... again this is from my research.

Yea that's my general findings .. either cheap and dodgy or expensive and dodgy!! I was hoping to find a way of outputting wirelessly and then would have an app on my iPhone to pick up the recording - the iPhone being mounted to the scope and acting as a monitor so for example two of us could watch out for rats etc. But no joy...... Maybe worth £16 and a bit of grumbling about it not always working...

Hi all, I have a new night vision scope which has a Video Out jack... just wondering if anyone has any experience with this type of setup and what device they use for recording onto......?? Thanks

Thanks for the advice - simple solution and hardly going to upset the farmer! Last time I went the pigeons had moved to a new field far away so I could only get them on the flight lines - but I do like the bags on canes!!

I had to take a different approach the other day as it was wet they weren't coming in to the decoys, so I went for a hide at a hedge on the flight lines and get them that way. This meant walking around as their paths changed and so having the air rifle wasn't always practical. I had one which I had to do its neck - and it worked ok! But it felt horrible... I then had another and it didn't seem to work so took it to the rifle .. this is all as quick as possible of course. Don't know what I'm doing wrong - one day I'll just get it right I guess! A friend suggested just suffocating them by holding the neck tight but I don't like the idea of that.......

I think it will be a while before I bag 100 odd birds. Got 20 this weekend which is my record so far (no laughing!) I noticed a lot of them had little eggs when I was de-breasting - from flies I would assume. Just wondering what you guys do to prevent this. I was using some as fresh decoys and the rest were sitting in a pile next to me. It was a wet mild day so didn't think it would be too huge a problem........ I did think that I could de-breast in the field and seal the meat in a container but sod's law being how it is, as I was doing it a load would come into the pattern and I wouldn't be able to shoot. Probably worth a fresh post but will see if anyone reads this ....

Offered to take a look to see if any rats are about at a local farm (where we keep our horses so we know the people there). Said I'd walk on at around midnight to have a scout around... This was all fine. Except when I'm walking down the drive with my gun, the stablehand's son drives past and sh*ts himself. Tells his mum who hadn't been told I was coming on (I was under the impression she had - I guess never assume!) .. So the household is awake and husband drives up the drive to see whose car it is parked off site. They all suspected it was me... All about timing - had the lad not been coming home from work at that exact moment...... Hopefully everyone will understand and forgive me for the 1am wake up ... and I won't lose permission to shoot! (There are rabbits and pigeons to be taken!)

Cool thanks shall do! I suppose when miced the meat is small and cooks easily. Best buy a mincer first before I get excited about recipes....................

Too right! It's all about drip-feeding... Sold them to the butcher skinned for £2 a piece .. have got gutting and skinning down to about 10 mins per rabbit. So coupled with the half hour drive to my permission, the three hours shooting, best part of two hours skinning, that's about £2.60 per hour. Not quite the Living Wage........ Still feels worth it though! Burgers sound good Dougy.... for next time! How do you get them tender enough and not typically chewy..??

Hi all - I'm looking to add a .177 to my small collection... I like BSAs but open to suggestion. I don't want to spend a great deal so an older gun would be preferable.. I don't need a scuba tank or anything. PM me if you're looking to sell! Thanks!

Only concern is it scares pigeons from the area (the fields aren't enormous)... I might mention it. I was worried there is some sort of etiquette......

Hi - a friend of mine has a NiteSite (possibly the NS100.. or 400 - I can't remember). Anyway, we've used it together a number of times and it's very good for ratting / rabbits. Not sure what the range is like on the Wolf but you can probably get a long distance IR lamp to boost it - what sort of stuff do you do? One of the good things about it too is you can use your normal scope and just attach the NS at night. I've got a night vision digital scope so I have to swap over the scopes each time I change what I'm doing and then make sure they're zeroed (normally minor adjustment is needed so it's just a bit more effort).

Yes, it's great to see nature at work. I've seen the odd owl lamping but nothing 'in the dark' as yet. The most annoying thing is the odd hedgehog - you see it's eyes while scanning round and think you've got a rat or rabbit to shoot - on closer inspection no, it's just a hedgehog!

I think when I did it I had the pigeon on the floor .. maybe this stopped its head moving too far.... and stopped it working - do you hold the pigeon up (as in, you're standing) when you do it?? Yes, a head coming off doesn't look so great......

It was my first wounded and I got a bit soft about it. I've necked smaller birds but this pigeon was hardy (had been shot in the head and chest when flying in and was still alive!). I have a priest too and this didn't work either - either hit the wrong place or not hard enough (I've seen people use them on pheasants - it looks so easy!) Anyway - I'd made the poor thing suffer enough I no longer cared about preserving it for food, I just wanted it over. I sat it 2m away and aimed up top so it was just its head that took the brunt...... it wasn't as messy as you might think but ........ anyway. I use the air rifle and I'm happy with that :-\