London Best

I would be interested to hear in which large (expensive) shoots BASC has made investments?

I bet that Winnie 23 feels like a gatepost compared to the others.

A free firing pin moving perhaps? See if it still does it after fired cartridges in the breech.

Yes, had that too.

Opened.

Opens fine for me. Likely to be of interest/use to many people.

My Mrs. watches Masterchef. It irritates me the way they faff on arranging food artistically and making it look pretty. So unnecessary. I agree peppers do bring more than colour.

I was once gralloching the morning’s two Muntjac when two cyclists suddenly appeared and pulled up. It went something like this: “What are you doing?” ”I’m just removing the working parts from these two deer.” ”Are you allowed to do that in here.” ”I’ll have you know I pay His Grace a great deal of money to be in here, unlike you two who have no business being in this private woodland at all, let alone riding b***** bikes!” Disgruntled cyclists exit stage left, muttering.

He likely wants to eat it, not look at the pretty colours and admire the artistic Masterchef BS presentation.

On the other hand......... My wife had (years ago) two Peugeot diesels, a 205 and a 306. Apart from the alarm malfunctioning on the 306 when first bought at 2 years old, nothing ever went wrong with either vehicle over many years and many miles. The alarm was removed! I remember a motoring magazine doing a survey to find the highest mileage car in daily use in Britain. It was won by a very old Peugeot 305 diesel with a mileage (from memory) in the half million region. Just sayin’....not making recommendations.

Now that is a proper shotgun.

I don’t like to read fiction. I always think somebody’s made it all up.

The picking-up team, circa 2010. All of those dogs are now long gone.

I don’t think I have attended a game shoot in the last twenty years or so where they have not specified ‘no plastic wads’.

I am sure many of us can empathise with your story on a ‘been there, done that’ basis.

Our local Timmons had the blanks in stock.

Timpsons. Quick and cheap.

The eggs were fine, but I only ever tried eating one Moorhen!

New one on me too!

The steel shouldn’t be rusty unless you hang your birds for weeks and weeks! Anyway, it doesn’t matter as I can’t afford the non-toxic (politically correct) cartridges let alone the grouse shooting!

I take it your little home machine shop includes a barrel boring machine and not just a lathe and mill?

I have been shooting Muntjac over the Winter, but strangely, not had a roe doe this time. I keep trying to give up shooting Fallow as the bucks have already given me two hernias and my back is not so good either these days.

Yeah, saw a couple of dozen deer over five outings, including about five confirmed bucks. Did get in to about sixty yards from a doe, a buck and an unconfirmed, but spent about forty minutes watching them. I could have shot the doe times over but never a chance at Bucky boy. No matter, I had a bit of excitement. I have been stalking over thirty five years and have taken over three hundred roe from that particular ground over the years so not bothered by the occasional blank.

I shot one place for 20 years until it was sold and became, at that time, the largest privately-owned housing estate in Europe. Nothing is forever.

Well done! Last week I did a very similar trip but stayed three days and came home deer-less. Such is stalking.