SxS

Thanks guys. I’m leaning towards getting him CPSA or BASC membership before his application goes in and then explaining more about his shooting experience in a covering letter, which will then also allow them to understand more about why he’s looking for a cert. Hopefully we don’t hit any barriers, but you never know these days!

I know there are a lot on here keen to get their children/young people into shooting. My lad has been shooting for about five years, had a bit of professional tuition and (perhaps more importantly) you can tell by the way he conducts himself from the moment he gets to a ground that he knows what he’s doing and is safe. He can hit ‘em too…I want to take him to a few other grounds and a couple of sim days this year where they insist on own SGC or being accompanied by an instructor so I think it’s time to try and get him his first ticket. Really I guess the big question is whether I’m best off just putting in the standard forms or whether things like getting him his own clay club membership, giving a greater choice of references (I could give an assortment of experienced SGC holders who have shot with him), would help the application or hinder it? We live in the country so I can’t imagine it’ll be the only such application the force will have seen, but equally I know there has been some focus by the media on young license holders. Wondered if anyone has recently been through the process of applying for a ticket for a young person and could offer any tips? Thanks!

Our son seeing the world differently has also made us see it differently too. It’s easy to be intolerant, what “normal” looks like is pretty hard wired into us, and the perceptions of others are just one set of things that we have to deal with on a daily basis. Most never realise how hard it is or think to apologise for the comments or judgmental looks, so thank you. The more people who realise that not every disability is visible, and the more tolerant they are in general, the easier it becomes for everyone...

I suspect it’s more the case that most kids with some form of special needs have parents who struggle to understand/cope with them. When your child isn’t “normal” little things become a big deal and can make many parts of life seem (or actually become) chaotic. It’s not helped by how hard it is/how long it takes to get proper support for them The dog’s nuts though, I’ll give you that... 🤪

Bad parenting? Yup, that was us.. before we realised that our child was autistic. Bad parents for not realising he was wired differently, saw the world differently, and needed to be helped differently... Bad parents for being embarrassed when he couldn’t deal with situations and had meltdowns in public instead of helping him through whatever he was struggling to process... Bad parents for getting frustrated with him for not doing things for himself that “normal” kids did instead of realising that his physical and mental development meant he couldn’t... and for not realising that he probably found it more frustrating than we did. It’s easy to say it’s bad parenting when there are mental issues involved. Would you blame parenting if a child had a physical disability from birth? Thought not...

I’m in quite a fortunate position so have paid everything due for booked days. Others have been really clobbered and not sure if they’ll be able to pay. Hoping there will still be shooting but it’s more important that the keeper, his family, and others reliant on the shoot make it through this... I hope that all will be understanding if difficult decisions need to be taken about number of birds, days, or even the whole season getting impacted.

Metal key cabinet is perfect for this. Screwed to the wall it stops relay theft and provides a convenient way to know where I left the keys. It is obviously never used by MrsSxS who still manages to lose her keys on at least a daily basis... Edit: obviously not so good if you want an out and about solution!

Holmes Chapel is DTL only, no sporting (which is a shame) and MH isn't the easiest to get to. There's Cloudside too, but their website suggests they don't have a full sporting layout, just compak. Mid Cheshire is a bit of a no mans land for sporting clays so surprised to hear Owls Hoot may be looking at Chester (where there's already Sealand and Fauxdegla in easy range). Running a clay ground can't be easy. People want large, good, well maintained layouts, regularly changing presentation, and limited queuing (all of which costs) but at low prices... usually end up going to Worsley but would be great if there was somewhere more accessible from M6/M56 region.

Depends on the gun... I use 32 5s for pheasant (so not as many rounds as pigeon) through my 486 with no issues. .Same here! Generally use Comp X for clays and Imperial Game for pigeon/partridge. Sometimes treat myself to some Three Crowns (paper), especially if I'm taking out an older gun for the day. The 21g Comp X in particular are very SxS friendly.

Last time I was in, shop local to me had a single barrelled damascus 16g that from memory was also a slide action. Can't remember the maker but it certainly classed as unusual! Wasn't cheap though. A reasonable number of hammer guns (even those with damascus) are nitro proof. If you don't shoot them often then well worth going for one with rebounding locks.

People selling by the truck load shouldn't be affected: Sales of wet wood in small units (less than 2m cube) will be phased out from February 2021. Wet wood in volumes greater than 2m cube will also have to be sold with advice on how to dry it before burning (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51581817) Not clear whether they really mean a 2 metre cube (4 cubic metres) or 2 cubic metres or but anyone using wood as a key part of their heating will probably have space for either (so I think it's more a case of stopping the small nets of logs that are often so wet as to be almost impossible to burn. Won't be long before I get our house woodpile set up ready for next winter. Moving and stacking around 10 cubic metres is definitely a spring rather than summer job!

Beretta can also supply longer screws in case you want to use more than one spacer. Mine has two spacers taking it out to approx 16". Took minutes to fit.

You can definitely use a security safe, they're explicitly mentioned in the firearms security guide. IIRC there's a video of Dave Carrie commenting on his. Not sure my floors would take one... and not sure the wife would be keen on having something that size around the house!

The Swiss airports intrigue me. You go through security and then, airside, you find the Victorinox shop! Knives on display, seemingly for sale.

You can take the kids to the range, but it’s entirely at the operator’s discretion as to whether they’ll let you. ‘My eldest has been going on and off from the age of 6 to the one I use most regularly, he may not be the best shot in the world but his safety is 100% (it’d put some “more experienced” shooters to shame) so he’s always made welcome. A few other youngsters are sometimes around and it’s great to see them getting into the sport.

That’s the combination I use for clays. Usually tighter chokes for game, quarry/range determines how tight, but still tend to choke both barrels the same.

Great - thanks!

Looks like a fabulous trip. Out of curiosity, did you take your own gun(s) or have them supplied by the agent/estate?

I have one above the skirting board, mounted on a block of wood (made from cut down railway sleeper) so that it’s flush to the wall but no gap underneath either. Ideally through-bolt to floor with long decking screws, but even if you just bolted to the wooden block you’d add about 20kgs to the overall weight that someone would need to carry if someone managed to get it off the wall and tried to nick off with it.

I unexpectedly ended up in Malmo too on Saturday morning as well, having had to take a break from something we were doing just down the road. The one day I could have got away with the wife seeing me buy another gun is the day I don’t have my ticket with me... 😪 Bought from them in the past and they’re great to deal with.

Rumour has it that a guy at work got into quite a pickle when he discovered the woman he met on holiday had a wotsit!

Agree. A felling axe needs to be sharp to go across the grain (you’re cutting!) but a splitting axe is used along the grain and instead of needing to be sharp needs the head to have a broad spread to open up the wood. Think knife vs wedge. I’d probably knock out any chips from the leading edge with a grinder, but that shouldn’t happen if you’re using a block (which you want to do anyway for safety). Had also heard about the husqvana/witterlings, but went GB as my father in law is swift to “borrow” anything with Husqvana written on it!

If you’re happy to make an investment in something traditional/craftsman made then look at Gransfor Bruks. Really enjoy using mine, but the wife still thinks I was nuts to spend that much on an axe... even though one of my kids will inherit it! The fiskars are meant to be great axes though.

Pretty sure my left handed brattonsound doesn’t have holes in the top!

I was considering that when I came close to needing to cancel a day last season. Closest person turned out to be away, so I turned up hoping to make it though... only to discover that the shoot had accidentally overbooked! Main things I look for when booking is confirmed are: 1) Clear directions/confirmation of meet up point if first time there that season. 2) Time of meeting. The above assuming that I already know about breakfast, whether we’re likely to shoot through, if there might be duck, and whether it’s own cars or gun bus. Have never been asked to sign anything...