Harry Callahan

You are more confident than I! The French pack will steam-roller Scotland I fear, and it won't matter much about 'playing rugby'. I really hope I'm wrong though... but it's OK, Scotland were the whipping boys in 2000 then England rocked upto Murrayfield and we won. I'll take that again ?

It's your interpretation of my post which is wrong. I never once said it should be done or is OK to do... but like I said - I'm not naive enough to think it's not happening.

England and Ireland didn't play the best team in the world in the Autumn's, though. And Scotland ran them (New Zealand) closer than anyone else could manage - including Wales... Under Cotter we would have won on Saturday... sadly it is that simple. Townsend is not good enough and is undoing all the good work he inherited. Cotter had us playing "Organised Chaos", Townsend has us in Chaos.

My example with a springer was just to remind how easy it is to get more power from a restricted air rifle... I'm guessing a restricted CO2 gun/pistol could be easier to unrestrict, as there will just be a regulator vale to adjust/remove?

I am not condoning anything. But I am not naive either. If there is a large upturn in air rifles being sold in Germany - thought to be in an attempt of the 'masses' preparing to defend themselves... well, sure as hell Itl have to be more powerful as just 6ft/lb. And if those people are buying them because of genuine concern I do believe they are buying them because sales are unrestricted - no need for licensing or screening. Walk in with money, walk out with gun - and then upgrading them is easy to do on the quiet to make them more powerful for domestic self defense. My comments are purely speculation on the subject of the OP, and what other posters are saying. I couldn't care less your argument of whether it's legal or not - and I also bet those facing civil unrest in the face won't care the legality either!

In Germany where they are limited to 6ft/lb - compared to England & Wales where it's 12ft/lb without a license... your telling me you couldn't buy a Springer in Germany and double it's power (at least!) by just buying/changing parts??

? How many spring air rifles over here were upgraded to beyond 12ft/lb after legal purchase, by just legally buying a stronger spring and fitting it at home... It is/was common practice. Those air rifles then are illegal - but nobody would ever own up!!

Oh... I quite like Richmond's sausages - especially the next day, in a buttered roll. They taste a lot better than many other brands. Sad to say I rarely use my local butcher. Living alone/cooking for one, it's a travel well out of my way to justify it. I need to get into the habit of batch buying enough for a month or 2 and then freezing it all...

^ this. I've heard some damned amazing grouping claims... But when I try I'm nowhere near what some claim. When I set up to check zero etc, If I can repeatedly group within the size of a rabbits head at 100-120 yards, off my bipod, leaning on the Defender bonnet then I am more than happy. I KNOW the rifle can do better, but I don't think I can - not without many hours practice and fettling with the gun. I may get flack from some for that, but I'm being honest. In the real world, I kill many more rabbits than I miss. I'm not looking for pretty target paper groupings to win prizes...

Surely it can't be that hard to 'open them up' and get more power once purchased?...

I wear Dunlop Puroforts for work (shepherd)... lovely when new but the insole soon wears out. They have good grip and are decent wellies for the money but if you're stood about I'd not say they are much good at keeping you warm... although good socks make all the difference regardless which brand you wear, IMO. I dislike (ALL) wellies, if I'm honest, and wear lace up boots as much as I can get away with... the Dunlops are durable and hard wearing, stand upto the job well. Think my current ones are 2-3 years old, and at this time of year I'm wearing them all day, every day.

You should have a PM.

09 Defender 110 2.4tdci (single cab pickup) £180. 05 Toyota RAV4 2.0 d-4d £265

BASC discount varies from manufacturer to manufacture. Subaru is 10% discount, Toyota is 20% for example... you have to go to applicable dealerships, too, as far as I am aware. I've tried twice to use my BASC membership to get a price, with my brother going to the same dealership a week or 2 later and getting a price for the same vehicle. Both prices both times were within a couple hundred pounds of each other. I also tried on a Suzuki ATV for my work. My local garage could beat BASC discount price by £150.

All BASC 'discounts' are on FULL list price, and DO NOT work along with any other discounts. In short - the discount is basically what any garage will knock off anyway, because nobody pays list price in the first place.

I had a 3-9x40 on my HMR for 8 years, almost always set at 9x. I upgraded to a 6-24x50 because I felt more comfortable at longer ranges with a bit extra mag on crows (plus I wanted a bigger objective lens)... After all that, Iv settled around 10x. Do still crank it up for very long range crows. 6-9x is all you reapply need for rabbits.

It's a different kettle of fish, than a 2nd hand gun. Not much can really go/be wrong with a gun. Why is a saw being sold? - did it have a problem which has been botched together for sale... How has it been used/abused... I would rather buy a dead saw than something with an unknown 'running' history - unless you are buying from a supplier/repair shop and know they've given it a full going over. I have bought 3 non runners off eBay and done them up - I get alot of pleasure in honing a cylinder and getting an otherwise dead saw running again. Just found a donor saw to get my relic PS6800i running again so I'm a bit excited

Echo are a dark horse... very good kit but not broadly known. Pro's who use them, swear by them.

All to familiar! Have a MS210 doing exact same... stripped and rebuilt. Problem shot the whole damned thing and it still farts about. Been a very reliable saw for the first 10 years, but the last 3... frustrating scrap! Will not have another one - nor Husky, which it replaced! I actually get on fine with the filler caps, though.

They certainly do, because the Dolmar/Makita are more robust. Dolmar use more metal in their pro saws in general. Dolmar also have kept away from the likes of 'auto tune' - which can give problems if not using the saw full time - choosing to keep their saws mechanical and reliable. Stihl may outsell Dolmar worldwide, but Dolmar are the #1 selling saw in Germany ?

Echo or Dolmar (Makita) for me - Husky and Stihl are not what they were... My personal choice would be best in class Dolmar PS 6100 (Makita EA6100) 61cc, or the new out Makita EA5600 55.7cc. Both are absolute bargain when priced against the Husky or Stihl equivalent - the 6100 will give less bother, too.

It was meant tongue in cheek, hence the winking emoji (but humour can be lost on forums/internet)... because the round was originally designed (specifically) for the A17 rifle. It is, ofcourse, suitable for use in any .17HMR rifle ?

Not sure really - Pigeon Shredder says he is using the A17 bullets, so they must be available already (it is the link to them I posted earlier in this thread). They come in boxes of 200!! I had actually thought the .17hmr semi-auto dream had been buried after the problems encountered in the early days.

2650fps instead of 2550fps for the 17gr V-Max. Thinner jacketing of the bullet meaning it fragments quicker/easier causing more damage. But as said above looks like a 'rebranded' A17 which was developed for the Savage Arms A17 .17hmr semi-automatic rifle... I'd personally just like the extra energy in existing rounds. That's a fair point. I'm guilty of the odd chest area shot, so the Gamepoint tended to keep meat waste to a minimum without compromising kill

If you are out on rabbits, the Gamepoint is better than poly tipped anyway IMO. Good kills with less meat waste. 20gr was certainly my round of choice when it was my main rabbit gun.