CaptainBeaky

Afaik, cycling is more to do with load than cartridge length. What chamber length is your Mossberg? I have heard that some 3.5" autos are reluctant to cycle light loads, although I discovered (inadvertently) that mine will cycle 24g loads without a hiccup.

Oh yes, and you can ghost load MP153 as well, although you do need to mind your fingers!

Excellent idea! Perhaps we could call it the Pogo Stick Club, in honour of the semi-auto's greatest fan... I have a Baikal MP153, bought very cheaply as a "throw it in the back of the pickup under a straw bale" gun. As it turns out, I rather like it. Getting a bit fed up with snide comments along the lines of, "you'll never shoot well with one of those", and "why handicap yourself with one those". Yes, I could have spent four times as much and bought a nice Beretta or Benelli, but there are a couple off glaring faults with that cunning plan: a. I would cry every time it got scratched b. I couldn't afford to go and shoot it. So; expensive ornament or cheap shooting tool? Hmmmm... Ok, it makes curious mechanical noises: filling the stock with structural foam quietened that down a lot. LOP is way too short. Plastic stock, so plastic extension, made from bits out of the Box of Useful Items, plus secondhand recoil pad. Balance is very front heavy. Jeez, guys - primary school physics: remove weight from one end and add it at the other end to move the centre of mass. Net weight added 3 oz. Centre of mass moved aft 3", to under the bolt release button. Total spend on mods £5. Necessity (read poverty) is the mother of invention!

The serial number will give you the date of manufacture if it's after 1986 - first two digits are the year.

Mine lives in the cabinet with bolt forward and the barrel off - because it won't fit in otherwise!

Mick Shepherd still has one for sale...

I've used my O-light M20 as a gun light on my shotgun - Cree XP-GS2 LED, and my Solarforce with an XML drop in. The M20 gives good throw out to 100m with no black spots or beam artifacts. The Solarforce gives a bigger, brighter flood, but less throw - gets a bit dim beyond 70m. Both are very light and sit under the barrel in a figure 8 clamp. I would recommend asking on candlepowerforums, as you will find more knowledge there on torches and lights than almost anywhere on the web. hth

Programmed to record! Ta

Any furniture polish with beeswax in it seems to work well for me - apply sparingly, allow to dry, then buff up.

afaik, Spybot is anti malware, not anti virus.

I would steer well clear of Ultrafire batteries if I were you! If you want a Cree XML in a decent cheap package, try Solarforce torches. Taclight or Flashaholics are well regarded UK sites (other websites are also available). You can buy these direct from Hong Kong, but postage may be steep. Cost is about £25 - £30 hth

I've just bought a Bisley 54" shotgun slip from a company that advertises on eBay - fits my semi auto which is 52.5" oal. Savage Island, I think it was. They are in Renfrewshire.

Congratulations, and welcome to your new star

Very tidy!

Angle grinder Haven't got any decent photos to upload yet. So here is a carp photo Like I said, the extension is a bit rough, as it is my first, and was knocked up from bits out of the Box of Useful Items. The belt grinder is usually used for making stuff like this or this.

Good job :-) I like the shape of that.

Dammit! I just spat tea over my keyboard!

Doing it in sections can have a nice effect: just make sure the mating faces are as near perfect as you can get, then do the shaping when it's all glued together. Use a jig if you can - this one is made of scrap bits of Unistrut and an offcut of oak! Bolster fitted and glued Handle sections fitted together, glued and clamped. The tang goes right through the handle on this one, and protrudes through the pommel - it is soft enough to rivet over, securing the whole thing together, even if the glue fails (unlikely, I know, but hey, so I'm paranoid!) All glued up, end of tang peened over in pommel, ready for shaping. Finished!

+ lots! Do: Go to a club - more than one, even. They will be able to lend kit until she is ready to get one of her own. Until she has learned the correct form on something with a low draw weight, she won't be ready to buy one anyway, and anything you do buy will either be wildly wrong or need replacing inside a month. Don't: Go to a shop and buy one before doing a beginner's course. Do: Be prepared for her to go through several bows and sets of arrows in the first year or two: technique and muscle develop quickly, and the bow she can just manage when she starts will seem pitifully weak after not many months. Do: Regards arrows as something of a consumable, especially to start with. DAMHIK! Even more don't: Buy one off eBay! If she doesn't fancy shooting at traditional targets, try field archery - possibly the most fun you can have with a bow in this country. Try here: http://www.nfas.net HTH

OK, I'll bite... Criminal Justice Act 1988 Section 139 - Para 1: Subject to subsections 4 and 5 below, any person who has an article to which this section applies with him in a public place shall be guilty of an offence. Para 2: "this section applies to any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed except a folding pocketknife. (my italics) Para 3: This section applies to a folding pocketknife if the cutting edge of it's blade exceeds 3 inches. Para 4: It shall be a defence... (good reason or lawful authority) Para 5: (examples of good reasons: work, religious reasons, national costume) Section 2 was modified by 2 case law judgements - R vs Harris and R vs Deegan - which ruled that a locking knife i.e. one not readily folded was equivalent to a locking blade, so not covered by the section 2 exemption. The second of these was in the Appeal Court, so unless this one is reversed in the House of Lords, then we are stuck with it. So, to summarise: Non-locking folder, <3" cutting edge = legal to carry without specific reason. Non-locking folder, >3" cutting edge = need a good reason or lawful authority as above Locking folder, any length cutting edge = need a good reason or lawful authority as above Fixed blade, any length cutting edge = need a good reason or lawful authority as above Note that these are all "having with you in a public place" Oh, and anywhere where intent could be contrued, we switch into Offensive Weapon law, and all bets are off! EG your non-locking folder is fine in your pocket, but get frisked after that fight in the pub, and CJA goes out the window and the Off Weap book comes out instead, which is much heavier THEY ARE NOT ILLEGAL TO OWN! Have look here: CLICKY

Did the one on my semi auto with my belt grinder - started with a clean new 40 grit ceramic, then onto 120g zirconium, and finished on a 400 silica. Lots of masking tape to protect the stock, and took it slowly. Ok, it wasn't the neatest job I've ever done, but acceptable for a first go, and better than paying someone else half the value of the gun to do it for me! Most important bits - clean, sharp belts, making tape and patience. If in doubt, practice on a piece of scrap wood first - one a similar size and shape to your stock.

Well done, that lad

Sorry - I was a bit vague, and couldn't upload a photo from my phone. This is a quick-release rapier frog (for stage use). As I said, the strap from the frog goes through the D-ring on the scabbard, then back through the ring and over the stud. This arrangement is very robust - the scabbards are designed (and have been used) for stage combat, which can get quite, err, energetic It is also easy to release with one hand - so you don't have the scabbard flapping around your legs for the really energetic bits The cast loop (from LePrevo Leather): If it will stand up to this use, I would think it more than up to the job of securing quite a heavy rifle onto your sling B) Hope this makes more sense than my previous

You mean a Sam Browne stud. They work well, but you need to put the strap through a loop before the stud, to make sure the strain on the stud stays in line. I've used this idea on scabbard frogs before -I'll see if I can dig out a photo.

Dyeing - acrylic dyes are cheap, oil dyes are better, but fewer colours. Make sure to prep the surfaces properly before you dye - read dye manufacturer's instructions. Having the surface slightly damp before you apply the dye gives a more even colour result.