Stonepark

Closest available are Eley Magnum no 7 18g.

Sp3 seems a bit high, maybe 0.97 grams?

For animals which see in black and white, that orange/red and green appear the same shade, even though different colours, for those of us who can see in colour, it stands out a mile. However in the dark most colour vision becomes less effective and you revert to a black and white type vision where shade and outline are more important.

What ever the colour, camo still breaks up any outline, which is normally the recognition signal, light or dark.

If it is for sharpening/fine work something like a Buck Canoe is quite traditional, if it is for digging arrows out of targets, something with a fixed blade might be better. I think you should do a bit more investigating to find out what the proposed use is.

Looks more like a new freelander rather than new defender as not much wheel to arch clearance.

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First of all, pattern the gun at 40 yards with your prefered cartridge and see what it can do. You might be pleasantly surprised. Once you have a good idea of what it can do, you can then consider if it is worth getting aftermarket chokes retrofitted.

Franchoke is franchis own and not compatible, from about 2000 onwards they swapped to beretta mobil choke and as beretta/benelli have upgraded to optima/crio they seem to have stuck with mobil.

I reckon to get the uk shooter going, really need to step up to a railgun using du rounds at mach 5 (5600 ft/sec) to give that instant kill feeling for those close up shots under 1000 yards but to give a bit of stopping power. Personally, a nice 100kw pulse laser (giving that cooked in the air approach) might be the next step forward....

Fox

Just wait, they are undertaking a review of the small business bonus scheme this year (rateable values under £15k are currently excempt), if this is removed every small business (including shooting) will be hit. There is so interest to adding all land to the list, but this would have a few more hurdles to clear.

Something which we need to consider and which is easy to fall into is 'group think' i.e. the fact you surround yourself with people who think like you and before you know it the 'group' loses contact with planet earth. I have no issues with the amount of birds an individual shoots (personally i like to hunt, rather than driven and don't look for big bags unless protecting crops) but i think we are on very shaky ground when it comes to the disposal of perfectly edible birds when they are not being directed into the food chain in some way. Similarly, I can see government bodies (NE, SNH, SEPA, EA etc) as they always are, looking to pay more attention to shooting should a large part of the sustainability argument fall with the destruction of the end product as waste which is incinerated or buried and i fear that any expansion of regulatory burden will not only affect commercial shoots but all shooting. Whilst we all stand together to protect shooting, you have to consider what are you defending and in the case of large commercial shoots shooting often multiple times per week they have the moral responsibilty to dispose of their birds in a responsible manner, in my opinion into the food chain, even at a cost (which is a small price to pay compared to the cost of the day) , to maintain the moral high ground and if they fail to do so should not be supported.

Gents, I think (and perhaps risking alienating everyone) perhaps the point being missed is that at 20 yards, whether 12 bore or 410 the pattern spread is 21 inches in diameter with half choke, therefore we need to look at the density of the pattern at this range. and consider that whether, at 20yds range the 410 will kill with an adequate pattern with 11g of No6 versus the 12 will 'mince' the target (to use an inaccurate but generic misunderstanding) with 32g of No6. I would argue that at no matter the range you need to be almost equally as accurate with the point of aim whether 12 bore or 410, as whilst with half choke the range doubles from say 20 yds to 40 yds (100% increase), the pattern diameter increases from 21 to 45 (which is an increase of 115% but is not too dissimilar), however if you consider the core pattern (whether traditional 30 inches or 'hot' 20 inch core), you in reality have to be more accurate at range with the 12 than you would have to be for the 410 at close range.

As a soft lead projectile strikes flesh (which acts as both a solid and a liquid), it immediately heats up due to pressure and friction and becomes plastic, resulting in deformation. Whilst the high bc 177 wad cutter starts as a flat surface, it is carrying less energy and therefore will distort and energy dump less than the rf projectile as that energy dump is limited (probably 27 of the 35ftlbs) due to the limited energy carried by the projectile. The 22rf projectile will also distort (and therefore dump energy) however the time difference on reaching plastic deformation is simply that to which the rf projectile takes to engage the same surface area as the 177 wad cutter and to have the pressure/friction build to the point plastic deformation occurs. Whilst the 177 projectile has a lower bc, the 22rf has more energy and this is what determines the energy dump (probably 55 of 70ftlbs) duration as a 'shock wave' during penetration. Given the similar nature of the projectiles (i.e. not too dissimilar), the depth at which they undergo plastic deformation is probably in the region of 1mm or so of each other and therefore insignificant. The remaining terminal energy of both projectiles results in a wound cavity the same diameter as the projectile until they exit or stop. Youtube has some good ballistic gelatin videos demonstrating this.

The 87 at 30 yards is equivalent of half choke, but it has a core of 55. Assuming this was the pattern at 25 yards you would have 97 would have a core of 64 and 20 yards 104 and 70. Both these patterns spread similarly would be 26 inch and 21 inch. You would therefore have the pattern density equivalent of 130 and 233 in a 30 inch circle at 25 yards and 20 yards respectively. Whilst even at 25 yards the cartridge is being pushed beyond its comfort zone (though notably some people will shoot 28g no5 at 40 yards with an identical pattern) , it should perform at 20 yards. Doesn't exclude poor consistency cartridges of course.

What has BC to do with it? The biggest wound channel is a function of energy and material plasticity, which control the energy dump creating the wound cavity. Given both were 100% lead and not adulterated alloy (which is harder), the greater energy of the 22 would allow the production of more damage both through both a greater temporary and permanent cavity.

Following the logic, have you though about 25g No7 for the 20 bore?

The seals aren't the problem, it's the 300,000,000 (300 million) humans in europe that is destroying the fish stocks. There are only 300,000 grey seals worldwide, of which 150,000 live in europe. A healthy seal population is a sign of a healthy fish stock population.

I have a khan/revo ou and find the best choke for it is 0.012 to 0.015 (briley light mod and briley mod). Any tighter blows the pattern with this gun ans i suspect a lot of guns suffer from similar over choking in 410. For over the counter, eley magnum in 18g no7 (fibre) or fiocchi 18g no8 arw what i recommend to start with and both will give 30 to 35 yards range.

It is not just an individual problem with numbers shot or shooting 25 yard pheasants with large shot resulting in bruised meat but a symptom of commercialism with a limited imperfect productwith a niche market. With 8 guns, 20 beaters, you are only accounting for 28 brace (and likely to be the better looking birds), shoot previously relied on game dealer taking the remaining 47 brace of which probably half are inedible/damaged. Then there is the inceasingly tight rules on meat and game handling, requiring everything to be chilled and held below 7 degrees and if it goes above this temp or doesn't get there soon enough it is to be discarded. Biggest market out there by volume for game is probably dog food but even that has to be produced to human quality control standards.

As game dealers are now wanting payment to take birds, disposal is now a cost issue to commercial shoots, whilst less than ideal, i suspect more and more will go down that route.

Borrow, beg or steal a 410 hushpower, the pheasants will ignore it and return to their wood as long as you pack up 2 hours before sunset.

Under 25 yards, yes they will kill but due to the small number of pellets, you will have to be spot on and not shoot at longer ranges.

Analyst Jack Ryan (played by Harrison Ford) suggested just the opposite. “If they ask if you were friends,” he counseled, “say, ‘No, he was a good friend.’ If they ask if he was a good friend, say ‘We were lifelong friends.’ It would give them no place to go. Nothing to report. No story.”