Dave at kelton

Lovely dog!

So that’s another season picking up finished. Was the worst possible day to be out; cold and wet. The sort of day that goes right to the bones. I am tired, the dogs are tired and all of us ready for a break. Doubtless in a month’s time I will be missing it 😂 but not how it feels just now. Sadly I also now retire the old dog too (white). At eleven he is physically fit and his nose works as well as ever but he is now stone deaf. That makes him a liability to us both as unless he can see me he is likely to get lost. One of the best dogs I have had but thankfully one of the others is just as good so next season holds no challenges without him.

Would love to have this but not sure how I could collect. Do you travel north at all?

Any dog, let alone a pup can bite out if in pain and frightened I wouldn’t blame the pup and I wouldn’t assume it will happen but…My concern is the pup is being wound up and not allowed enough down time on its own. If you aren’t already I would have that pup crate trained I.e it spends most of its time in there and treats it as its safe space. Out for food, toilet and a little stimulation.

Yes I have a 3” no 3 which I took out to 1/2 choke in each barrel for more general use and steel shot. Heavy and pistol grip stock. Good for clays.

I would be locking them away! Idiots!

If I did they would be all over me and I would be at the bottom of the scrum😂

Glad you had a great time. It is certainly a fantastic experience if you haven’t done it. Just the sound of them coming in gives you goose bumps, pun intended! As for cartridges you have learned yourself how good steel 3.5” can be. I suspect your first flight was really a case of not knowing how to shoot them. Thanks for writing up, great to read.

Can’t beat being out on a day like this but it has its own challenges. Not least is making sure not going A over T on any of my 14,256 of my steps!

Did my eMail hit your desk?

Could you not remove the lead from an existing and replace with larger allowing for volume issues?

Charnley had the Post Office in my day but not sure about the gunshop.

Such an amazing place but inherently so dangerous to live there. Loved it when we cisited a few years ago.

Will pm sometime!

I can’t comment on the copper coated stuff but used bismuth in my muzzle loader this week on ducks and it was lethal when I did my bit. Would be no issue in Damascus barrels as far as I can see.

Assuming you are going to be shooting over decoys if the guide does his job and the geese come in those cartridges will be more than enough. These will be 25 to 30 yd birds so make sure you open your chokes up to no more than half and preferably a quarter. It is all about the patten! One of the best old boys I shot with over decoys used 30 gm fives but never took long shots. Anything below a 3 lead won’t give pattern in the loads you talk about. I look forward to hearing were you went and how you got on. enjoy

Fantastic. Glad to see how it has all come together. You just need to do your bit now and pull the trigger at the right time!

Really hacks me off that we are seeing the extinction of a species and doing chuff all! My river,The Nith, is dead. Predators everywhere and people think they are cool watching cormorants, herons, mergansers fishing the heart out of it in the centre of Dumfries!

Nith Inshore Rescue has just taken delivery of one to replace its defender as an emergency vehicle. Very recent but seem happy with it just now.

As there is a wildfowling section on the site which I post to from time to time why is a separate forum needed if we just use this?

I would like to be a little more charitable and say that people really have no experience of what a lightly bored gun and 28gm cartridge can do. They have never patterned a gun with little choke and a light load out at 40 yds. They have been seduced by the cartridge manufacturers hype and what they have heard. Light chokes are for skeet, which they don’t shoot, so those choke tubes stay in the box and many fixed choke guns are tightly choked and never altered.

Avoid going too light. I did that when my daughter joined me at the age of 28. Started with a light 20 bore and it just wasn’t suitable. When we found a LH silver pigeon that fitted her at a little over 7lb it was perfect and she still has it. As said above ladies guns are generally stocked to suit there physical attributes.

Makes more sense, thanks. Not sure why I didn’t think of that doooooooooh!🤔

Maximum Pressure. I don’t think you will find any U.K. cartridges approaching this pressure due to CIP rules although others may tell me I am wrong. Best speak to your gunshop so they can explain it all to you as you are going to be using 3” magnum cartridges. If they are selling you the gun they have an obligation to make sure you understand what you are buying if they are any good.

My Dickson has a leather pad. I was out today and it was wet as an otters pocket. My usual procedure is to strip and dry the gun off with kitchen roll and run a patch through the barrels. I then stand everything to one side to warm up before a second dry to remove lingering condensation before a thorough clean. Trouble is I now have a dry gun but still damp leather pad. The gun will have to go back in the cabinet tonight for security with a damp pad. I will store barrels up and check everything again tomorrow. anything else I should think of other than to check all the guns as I am introducing something damp into an otherwise dry cabinet? I will put kitchen roll under the pad to absorb moisture.