suburban shooter

Slightly dismayed that you found my rifling quip pathetic, I was only trying to lighten the conversations with a bit of diversionary sillyness. Too much anger being wasted on the unfair and ill- informed article. I thought that the editor of a newspaper was duty bound to make sure that the detail was correct before going to print. We need an organisation that lobbys effectively on behalf of shooters on a regular and pre emptive basis so that the media is educated in the way that they are in other countries; that article would not have made it into a newspaper in any European country or the USA. The ones that we have in the UK are not effective at public relations at all.

Tried to but they are no longer accepting comments on this article. BASC surely are going to officially respond on our behalf.

If you shot deer through the head people would say that you were irresponsible and that is with a centrefire rifle ! Squirrels move their heads even when their bodies are still I think that it is more responsible to shoot them through their lungs and heart. Having said that I shot one 25 mins ago through the head as that was the target presented to me. The large male has been playing hide and seek with me for the last 3 weeks. So I wrapped my rifle in my waterproof jacket rather than my gun slip, pretended that I hadn't seen him run up the oak tree and as he was peering over the fork of a large branch got him between the eyes. Blowing a bit of a gale with rain like stair rods so I and the rifle got a bit wet. Home now and about to weigh him after i dry the rifle and have a coffee. .22 Powapell 14.3 grains at 8 metres distance.

The co2 trap is it the one from New Zealand that fires a retractable dart through the squirrel's head ? It is going to be made legal in UK in about 6 months time we believe. Kills 16 before new cartride needed but will cost over £100

Wise to be cautious, Warfarin indiscriminate and the knock on effect to everything is bad. Live cage traps set Friday night and again Sat night ? Does bloke that fills the feeders get involved ?

There was a time when people didn't wear ear defence, cyclists didn't wear head protection, soldiers didn't wear body armour, no one wore seatbelts, most people smoked , women weren't scanned for breast cancer. Knowledge improves all the time so I would be very surprised if shooting doesn't cause problems other than deafness and lead ingestion (indoor ranges). The yanks are always ahead of the game on these things I was made to snort water to clean out my nostrils by American indoor range officers in the 1980's i thought that they were mad and we wern't allowed to shoot at all without ear defence on outdoor ranges.

Thank you Bruno it seems that the manager wants rid of the greys which is positive. However the red tape is no doubt enforced from elsewhere. Is trapping an option in areas not open to the public eg where machinery / plant is stored. if such a place exists then you could potentially shoot as well all year if explain reasons. Can you get permission for other responsible shooters during "season" and thus multiply your good work? You have probably thought of all this but I am frustrated at this situation that is endemic across the nation. Don't they know there is a war on ?

I miss my .177 thieves are cu#ts.

I have done 80 magpies since Jan 1 7.9 grain Accupell in .177 until it was stolen and then .22 Accupel or .22 H and N sniperlight . have used .22 Powapel , creates lethal wound but magpies don't know it til later.

why body shots and not head shots ? Why .177 and not .22 ? Why sub 12 and not FAC ? You are a man with all the choices so I am really interested to know your thinking.

My angle is always up when in the field. My quarry is either squirrel or magpie. Range is much reduced now that I am using .22 I am no good at shooting them when I rarely see them on the ground; hats off to rabbit shooters that use .22

Ha ha Ultrastu your reply was before my last but I am a very slow typist when thinking. Actually I am very slow full stop these days.

Good info thanks for your speedy reply. I do squirrels and magpies in the main and would like feedback on how they work on squirrels please. My next tin was going to be 13.4 grain Falcon Accuracy Plus from your recommendation in .22, do you recommend the .22 version of the 10.3 Diabolos or are they different ? Back to light verses heavy but i find it facinating that after generations of airgun shooting the same types of quarry that there is not a deffinitive optimum pellet for a given range or/ and quarry type.

10.3 grain not really different at 25 yds but what are they like at 30, 35 and 40 please ? I am asking not just pellet drop but killing power. Reason is that heavier .177 pellets start to mimic .22 and lose their speed quality which I believe is what makes the .177 lethal wound cavity rather than .22 wound channel. I find that nearly all pellets do the job at 25 yds fairly evenly but extra distance is what separates the best from the also ran.

I've seen the video and the squirrel was not writhing on the ground it was bouncing around as they often do after a lethal head shot. Another reason why I prefer heart/lung shots ; even if the adrenaline gets them to run off, they never make more than 12 ft before the hydraulics give in and they stop dead. Deer can make 150 m and no one moans about that.

C'mon ultrastu you know that 125mm barrels aren't rifled. It is only us British that feel the need for rifled tank barrels these days.

Confused by " first day of the season" as grey squirrel season is 52 weeks of the year in the UK Manager wants quick results why not start at the beginning of January and clear the place?

Side on shot to the engine room ........................... good man ! I obviously am referring to your post of 25th August 2017 at 07.33 and await your reply with a wry smile.

Short staffing etc just makes it more hassle for you and so eventually you end up not bothering. That is their point !! They are more happy if the system is unworkable. Dog licence got binned because it was too expensive to run this won't happen with gun licencing. Antis making lots of noise BASC making no noise .

I wish that I was in a position to compare like with like but I am using .22 at the moment and I think that .22 Acupell and Powapell are being deflected by the wind further than they were in their .177 format. Powapell less so than the Accupell in both calibres.

Nathan us suburbanites and urbanites have to put up with this on a daily basis I am surprised that you are surprised and annoyed by the article. We have lost the right to have semi auto rifles and pistols, they started targeting coarse fishing until they realised how many people did it. Air rifles next ; only when they start to ban fly fishing and shotguns will people in the countryside get involved by which time they will find out how small a minority they are and how politically irrelevant as well. I can see why the gun lobby in the USA doesn't want to give an inch. We all need to stand together rather than be loners and fragmented organisations hoping to stay under the radar, or else propper shooting we will be extinct in 20 yrs just look at the Olympics !!!

One last Saturday in the oak tree that i have had 3 each Satuurday for last couple of weeks previously Local cat had it trapped up the tree this is the second time that the cat has helped out in this way. Male about 550 grams 1342

This all started because a question was asked as to which hollowpoints work I listed 2 which were Bisley Pest Control and Crossman / Webley Destroyers they work but one is 7.9 gn and the other 8.8 gn very different. In .22 I don't recommend hollowpoints beyond 15 m as even though they dump all of their considerable energy they don't penetrate very far. We are all trying to find the optimum pellet and I am asking questions and throwing in my experiences; at the moment I am using Crossman Powapell in .22 last month it was Acupell .22 and the month before .22 H and N Sniperlight The tried and tested silver round nosed pellets I use exclusively on vampires !

Gosh Bruno you can be hard work can't you ? The cylindrical tube cut through the flesh, capiliaries,veins. arteries and organs to produce death is a really good blood canal that allows blood to reach the outside of the body and soak the fur in far greater volume than is the case when a domed or other more pointy pellet than the Crossman Destroyer is used. This is because these pellets force their way through the animal and the elasticity of the flesh closes over behind the path. I killed a squirrel last weekend with a .22 Powapell that died before it hit the floor. Pellet passed through elbow joint and then destroyed the heart but apart from a bit of a blood mark on the elbow I found it difficult to locate the entry wound as you correctly point out that bleeding stops quickly with death.

9.5 is heavy the heaviest that I have used were Bisley Pest Control at 8.8 grn They are really heavy hitters and accurate too. However not up to 40 yds.