Townie

Mine gets loose in my 686 so eagerly awaiting a solution. I'm told it's important to keep tight as the forend can crack without it.

For about 5 seconds I actually did decide that the cost of refitting and a lifetime of bismuth wasn't that much to use such a beautiful thing, but I should be grateful that I thought there were more important (not better) things to spend £5k on.

Played with an 1880s Purdey in a gunshop yesterday. Gorgeous wood, immaculate bores, no obvious wear on anything. All for £4000 and something. Thank God it was nowhere near fitting me, otherwise the credit card may have appeared. How cheap can these gorgeous guns become?

I bought the BR550 last year and felt slightly guilty about ignoring all the English guns I could have had for the same money. Delighted to say I've got on better with it than any traditional s/s I've had. Makes my Silver Pigeon feel like a fence post too.

I think it used to be marketed as Barbour thornproof when I was a young lad.

Make sure your cleaning kit includes a chimney sweep's brush for the muck they create!

Don't think I've ever met a lefty shooter but considering some of the conversations I've heard and been involved in, they'd probably keep quiet.

Not just me then! But only 50 years in my case. I think it's down to there being 3 sorts of cartridges readily available when I was a youth: the gun shop's own brand (worked very well on pretty much everything), Grand Prix (expensive) and Impax (also expensive and seemed identical to Grand Prix to my youthful self).

During a 15 mile drive last week I passed three gushing water leaks. Two have been the subject of roadworks for what seems like months and the other was gushing unattended. And that's just in one tiny bit of the country, so heaven knows how much gets lost nationally.

Mrs T is a recently retired primary teacher and, to be fair, she thinks the fronted adverbial stuff is utter nonsense, foisted on them by a Tory government. She had to explain it to me, which she did very well. And she's a lefty, unfortunately.

Ha ha yes. Never had a V6 unfortunately. My 156 only had a new rad (common fault apparently) and new coil packs - Bosch, with 'Made in Germany' stamped all over them. Grrrr.

I think with cars, you either get it or you don't. I know nothing about 4WDs, but I expect there are others out there that are more practical and better value, but it's a Maserati... I'm on my third Alfa Romeo and while I'm sure there's many Euroboxes better on paper, there's nothing that beats the feeling of walking up to it, admiring the gorgeous Italian design, sliding onto that leather seat and pressing the start button.

Not adding much, but I was in just this position. Made redundant at 59, which left me 5 years short. I did the sums and I need to receive state pension for 4 years to make the voluntary payments worth it. I'm 64 now. It's a simple calculation (total additional payments compared to annual pension increase) and will probably be worth doing.

Enjoyed that. Thank you for posting.

I've had several emails from a very attractive woman suggesting I become her stallion. And several others of the same sort. I wonder if she knows that I'm an unattractive bald bloke in my 60s?

Mrs T often calls me a bald **** and I've told her I'm calling the police if she continues to do so.

That's a beauty. They were to be found in Hertfordshire 50 years ago, but probably not these days. I saw a lizard today while clay bashing in Kent, which I suppose is down to today's temperature.

Saw somewhere that the original dialogue on board was inaudible because of the machinery noise, so the actors had to redo it all. Then, because the main actors were bilingual, they re dubbed the whole thing again in English for the international market. Not sure if true though!

Ha ha yes. Kept mine in a jam jar. And, not something I admit freely, but I used to take paper cartridges out of the box and sniff them. Youngsters don't know what they're missing.

Me too! 'Acquoil' I think it was described as in the instructions in my Parker Hale cleaning kit. The resulting liquid turned white I think. I tried to describe it to someone recently who thought I was nuts, so thank you.

I used the green Baikal ones in the 70s. Horrible, but cheap. The 9mm garden gun cartridge with the green and white chequering - is that paper? My dad bought a box of similar ones and the paper burnt, creating an impressive muzzle flash and ashes in the barrel.

Had this conversation the other day. How long will billionaire oligarchs allow Putin to make their lives difficult?

I read a piece a while ago about capercaillie hunting in Sweden. Forgotten most of the details but they stalk them and shoot while sitting, which is a very difficult thing to do as you can only move while the birds are calling, or something of the sort. It takes great skill and judgement apparently.

Thank you chaps. I'd better start looking down the back of the sofa for some change!

Having struggled with passive over ear defenders (effective, but can't hear instructions or anything else for that matter) and in-ear plugs (fiddly and easily lost) I'm thinking of buying some Peltor SporTacs, on the grounds that they're what many people seem to use. Any thoughts please?