Fellside

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Yes your personal opinion….and I shared mine. Usually thing on a chat forum. What does YOMV mean?

So you honestly think there’s no point in any of us buying a new gun then….? Perhaps a little ‘glass half empty’ BB. Worst case scenario is that we’ll all be using steel in 5 or so years - not too drastic. Chin up…🙂

If the 8K gun feels good and is a proven hitter, then why not just enjoy owning and shooting with it? If it is a contemporary design, it will be HP steel proof anyway. For me I would want to put a demo gun through its paces before purchase….or friend’s gun if they own one. As others have said though, get a semi for the salt marsh, preferably one that’s simple to strip and clean.

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There aren’t any rules yet….for any firearms. However if the HSE proposals are adopted, all shotgun cart’s for game will be lead free for ‘the pot’ or commercial supply. Same for ‘hunting’ with air rifles. If successful a phase out of 1.5 to 5 years is likely. Heavy and soft projectiles as an alternative to lead pellets is a great idea. The only trouble: available alternatives (bismuth and alloys containing tungsten powder) are fiercely expensive. It may be possible, for the humble air rifle pellet to be made from soft copper or a cheaper bismuth alloy….? Who knows? My crystal ball is a little hazy…🙂

Yes I see what you mean. However the stalkers I know say they don’t get the long shots anymore with copper - but certainly further than air rifle ranges I guess. I wouldn’t like to miss on rocky ground all the same. Lot to learn about this new technology. I think the market will start changing and adapting if demand is generated. Perhaps we will be offered a softer non-tox solution..?

Are they more unsafe than a copper rifle round…? I’m only asking as I honestly don’t know.

There are air rifles and certain lead pellets that don’t suit each other either. Perhaps its the same with non-tox types…? Certainly the grouping picture above is encouraging. I think we just need some tweaking here and there re legal limits and manufacturing quality/weight etc. Time will tell as always.

Not sure there are genuine accuracy issues with non-lead pellets. If you see above Tailoron’s target pictures, the non-lead grouping is only slightly more open than the lead example, not enough to fuss about in terms of hitting a rabbit’s skull or a jackdaw’s ‘engine room’ etc. I personally don’t care if my grouping is 1 inch or 1/2 an inch. Both sort vermin perfectly well. As for legal 12ft lbs limits, that’s an entirely different matter and it will be interesting to see what derogations or legal tweaking may be necessary to maintain the balance of ethical/lethal shooting and ft lb values. I don’t think anyone has an answer to that one yet - as officialdom isn’t really awake to the downstream consequences of banning lead air rifle pellets. For my two penneth, I would suggest that legal energy limits are increased to 15 ft lbs. This would allow for higher chrono’ results re non-lead and bring us in line with some other major European countries.

Most interesting - thanks.

The 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act was there all along and the previous GLs allowed for an exemption, as do the current GLs. What changed primarily, after the WJ attack, was that Juniper was stubbornly obstinate re the need for evidence before shooting. It was pressure from the House of Commons Committee and Gove as the DEFRA minister, which resulted in the GL ‘get out clauses’ and wording which is difficult to legally challenge….watertight as you would say. We don’t have Juniper to thank for this however. It is for these, and other anti shooting stances that Juniper has taken, which make him an odd bedfellow for BASC….very odd.

The new general licences are pages longer than the previous ones, with new clauses and additions, and minus the collared dove etc. etc. only because Mr Juniper insisted on these amendments. That is why the new licences caused so much initial confusion. Thankfully as the dust settled we realised they are also full of legal contradictions and ‘get out clauses’ primarily due to direct intervention from DEFRA (often at a ministerial level). Thus we can use them without fear of crossing legal red lines. If Mr Juniper, a close friend and associate of Mark Avery, had entirely got his way, let me assure you, we would be in a very different boat - a very leaky one. It is understandable that for these and other reasons, BASCs recent association with Juniper is surprising. This isn’t BASC bashing by the way, as in many respects the Org’s have had no choice but to ride the green wave or be swamped by it. Many of us acknowledge this. However BASC have some explaining to do re Juniper. As for the badger cull, I freely confess to knowing little about it.

He may not be a member of Wild Justice - but is so closely aligned he may as well be. He was also single handedly responsible for cancelling the General Licences when Wild Injustice challenged them. A more anti-shooting bunny hugger you could not find….!!

It shows that the practice isn’t very switched on. They can either do the admin and take your £50 or do the same for Medicert and earn precisely nothing …..?! I’m sure if this basic business reality was illustrated - they would change their policy.

Well done with the little 410…!

Apparently steel shot aren’t made like ball bearings. I have heard that for shot manufacturing - they cut sections of wire then roll them under pressure…? I’m sure that if or when we end up using steel, market demand and competition (as we have with lead shot currently) will generate more availability. We just don’t have a mass market yet as there is little demand.

I don’t think legislative manoeuvres, which would cause the demise of any caliber, would be welcome. As for the 410, many have a great affection for this little gun. For a long time they have been popular as first guns for juniors - I think hence the nostalgia factor and ownership among adults revisiting their childhood.

Challenging times - I hope you have much better season this year. Good luck!

There could be all sorts of reasons why you’re getting a poor return - but 5 birds to your own gun for a season….?! I would almost rather play golf…and I don’t even like the game…..🙂

Wheat is only one part of the equation. Depending on who’s crystal ball you’re looking in to, it could be £275/tonne or £350/tonne at UK harvest this year. That’s not a deal breaker for pheasant shooting, as it only increases overall shoot running costs by about 20% - 25%. The real problem will be the lack of poults. The UK is only 30% self sufficient in poults and the bird flu knee-jerk from DEFRA has cut off 70% of our European eggs and chicks overnight. This when bird flu is already widespread in the UK….?! Stable door closed, horse bolted etc. DEFRA should have had an army of vets random sampling a percentage of livestock - checking / screening for disease. Instead we have catastrophic damage to UK rural livelihoods. Where is the ministry of common sense in this…..??!! Rant ends.

Not quite. Canada’s are on the GLs as they are an invasive species - which competitively exclude native wildfowl. They’re very aggressive. For example, a small lake near me, with lovely mixed nesting habitat and islands etc, has just one pair of canadas on it. If it was my lake……??!!

Yes you can - but which ones are freshly laid? You could mark a dummy egg and keep taking the additional ones, but with too much disturbance she’ll clear off.

Shoot the Canadas, the eggs go cold, no second clutch, job done.

I think sadly we are all fiddling while Rome burns. And it is not changes in metal types for shot manufacturing, legal or financial threats…..or indeed any of the common woes we all discuss endlessly, which will see the demise of shooting. I’m afraid the biggest single threat to all forms of field sports is its ageing participants and lack of youth interest. While there are of course exceptions, this powerful trend can not be denied. I do a lot of fishing too - and if you look at the average trout fishing comp’ on a local lake I sometimes fish, the team photos look like an outing from an old folks home, and there aren’t many teams left either. It’s the same in a lot of shooting syndicates too of course. I know that some PW contributors have made great efforts in helping youngsters to get started. Full marks! However, we need a seriously well coordinated effort from the org’s, country estates, RFDs, clay grounds and all, to really turn this situation around!!! What I generally find, is that there are plenty of willing youngsters if you offer them a chance, but they (or more often their parents) don’t have any knowledge or confidence in gaining access …so they don’t….and that’s a great shame.