Sou'Wester

Just to clarify Lloyd90 helmet cams were pretty standard on Herrick 14 and were heavily used for post incident reporting it wasn't recorded for a jolly. In this instance it's obviously been used as the prime evidence in a prosecution. Welsh1 and Zapp, I respect your opinions. In fact Welsh1 I believe you live near me so if you ever wanted to chat feel free to get in touch. What I would suggest is that most in the public domain are unaware of the specifics of the case so beyond their personal experiences of service or what they've seen in the press are probably not in a position to make informed comments. I will reiterate that what occurred that day was wrong however it is far more nuanced than this thread reflects.

Al Blackman was tried by Courts Martial, a civilian judge sat advised by military counsel all of whom were serving, some under the same cap badge. The defence was abysmal, he was never going to get off saying he thought the taliban was dead. Some of the things that occurred during that tour, at that CP were horrendous which can't have failed to influence the way the blokes were thinking/acting. Lloyd90, I would refrain from calling them idiots. Welsh1 I agree with you on the whole and that it is a standard to aspire too but it is naive to think that good men don't make flawed decisions when under severe stress.

Just got rid of a CZ455, would echo the majority, sub 1" at 100m.... Most of the time. Probably a marmite statement because people have their own experiences but I found there was a lot of ammunition inconsistency and recently it's become harder to get hold of. 2 hang fires out of my last batch of 50 was enough for me. In answer to the OPs question though get a CZ, get the trigger sorted, and you'll have a nice, shootable rifle.

Right gents, I'm going to go away and think on all the advice I've been given and I will update this in a couple of weeks when my variation goes in!

What to do? Thanks you everybody for your advice so far. If I say it will definately be between 17 hornet/22 hornet/204 ruger what are the relative advantages disadvantages given my requirements? ( I've just ordered the Lee reloading manual so you can see the rabbit warren this is taking me on!)

I take your point Albert but my thought process is more along bullet weights. 22lr small vermin sub 70m, 243 90gn woodland stalking(smaller deer species), 308 150gn ish, larger deer and/or boar if the opportunity arises. I have and can use 58gn in the 243 which makes it deadly on foxes but ****** all use if I want anything left from a rabbit. I want to stick with one bullet weight for each calibre, that I'm familiar with for the purpose and I'd like something to fill the gap. 'Need' sometimes doesn't come into it😉 Something that will be fairly flat shooting, put foxes down with authority at 150m and leave something edible from a rabbit given correct bullet placement which I think brings me full circle lol

No fingers like sausages, at least my wife has never complimented me... Do you not have to re-size 22 hornet brass for a 17? Should add I know absolutely nothing about reloading but it would be nice to guarantee Ammo and not necessarily pay £1+ a round

So, based on the suggestions so far I was snooping around the tinterweb. There appears to be a greater availability of rifles, factory ammo, reloading bits for the 204 than the other two suggestions so I am currently erring towards that. Feel free to dissuade me! I figure as I got fairly rubbish Christmas presents I may well buy myself a Lee anniversary kit and a book? And see how I go. Regarding reloading would I be right in thinking that it is a more difficult process with the 17 hornet? Thanks again for your time gents.

Gents, thanks for all the suggestions and advice so far very much appreciated! Wymberley, unfortunately there is no large deer or boar where I live either however I will have the opportunity regularly in the not too distant future. It is a very kind offer but I'm not sure you'd really like me to "poop" a few through yours😉 Regarding the suggestions so far I will reload in the future (I promise) so unless there is anything particularly idiosyncratic about reloading any of the mentioned calibres I can disregard that for now. 222? probably not based on already owning a .243, therefore any advances on 17 hornet, 22 hornet or 204 ruger and would anybody like to suggest pros/cons? Sorry for the questions, I've chopped and changed in the past and it's a pain in the proverbial so I want this variation to be right and keep it!

I'm thinking I might be left with the same issues with a 17cf as the hmr, teeny tiny bore, teeny pill (headshot only on fox and wind effected?) I don't know a great deal about the 22 hornet or 204 really so I'd be grateful for further knowledge? Certainly my RFD said 22 hornet popularity is going back up in conjunction with his inability to source 17hmr Ammo (although I just gave him 600)

Gents, I know similar threads are running but I was after some of the PW wisdom. Just this second sold my .17hmr, I won't go into th reasons why (think they're fairly obvious). My question is what shall I replace it with? Currently have a 22lr (for bunnies/vermin) and a .243 for foxes/small deer. I will be putting in a variation shortly for a .308 for larger deer/boar but I want something to replace the .17hmr with. This will probably become my go to rifle for nighttime sessions so something that I can be confident will put down fox out to 150m but won't destroy rabbits if the round is placed correctly. I was thinking .204 ruger but I'm absolutely open minded if people have suggestions, 22 hornet maybe? Or anything else I should consider and why? I don't currently reload but would consider in the future. Cheers everyone

Just another politician trying to keep themselves in a job. Never let their principles get in the way of the gravy train...

Zeiss terra ed at £300 are pretty impressive

Argh, too tempting...

I agree using a mobile phone whilst driving is both ignorant and dangerous and should be punished accordingly but this is all getting a bit 1984.

Not sure if it will cheer you up mate but.... My parents separated when I was very young. Didn't see much of my father growing up, my step dad was good to me. Fast forward 25 years and I got married in May. I was proud to have both my Step-dad and father at the table with me. Having seen some of your posts and the effort you put in, I don't think your in danger of missing out. If I can build a relationship with my father who wasn't the best then just think how your kids will feel about you. All you can do is be there for them and while it might not be easy kids are pretty bright, they'll always know your their dad.

What a ridiculous generalisation. The majority of names in the remembance garden at my current place of work are from your 'different generation'.

Hmm, can't see the logic

Dyfed-Powys have finally got round to opening my certificate, sort of.....17hmr open, .243 open, .308 open, 22lr closed🤔Mistake?

Bargain!

I don't think it would render it unsafe, it's almost certainly fine. But the risk would be for each individual to assess.

I wouldn't wear a helmet that's been dropped and is showing external damage. Had a couple of pretty bad accidents when I was younger one of which would almost certainly have been endex for me if the helmet hadn't done its job. Not sure where you stand on getting it replaced by him though? He could argue that it should have been secured.

And again 👍

You have pm

Officers in the Royal Marines don't by tradition, I believe there is other examples as well. DM I agree with you btw, I was just being difficult. My point was even if we could I know very few that would (they'd walk away before they took strike action). That is in spite of cuts and changes not dissimilar to others working in public services including junior doctors. It might be wishful thinking but I'd like to think that's because we're aware of our intrinsic value to the people we really serve which is the public. I rather hoped junior doctors would have approached things in a similar manner. Suck it up or leave but don't take general strike action which only puts the wider public at risk.