Windswept

Thanks. I am interested in birds picking up lead shot as grit. I've kept free ranging poultry and have had concerns about them picking up lead from my pest control activities. However, after several years observing then they mainly seem to pick up grit from the grit I supply with their food, so I wonder how real the threat is to wild birds. I.e. could it be reduced if clean grit is supplied? If there is a genuine problem then does that not mean areas where large amounts of game are shot need to also decontaminate their land?

There's still plenty of lead supply pipes in use. Where I used to live on the edge of a large city all the water company pipes that went down the roads to feed houses were still lead. Most houses have replaced the feed from the road to the house with plastic but I can't see that helping much. Many of the lead pipes get disturbed by road works, traffic etc so I can easily see lead getting into drinking water.

I don't drive that much although you seem to have missed my point. Many people don't listen to podcast, if you want to get your point across then a transcript is helpful, if you can't provide one then some platforms auto generate one so worth looking at.

Is there a transcript? I don't tend to have time to listen to them but would like a transcript I can search and ideally references to back up what's said.

Have you searched online for a blank? Some places sell then for £10 but I do not know the quality. It could also be worth emailing the maker of you cabinet to see if they sell or recommend anyone for key blanks.

As steel is much harder than lead most, if not all, load data and commercial cartridges will use a thick wad cup that keeps the steel away from the bore. With .410s the only wad I know of is a plastic TPS wad which was 32p each when last in stock, but haven't been available for ages and will likely cost more. That's compared to your 3p cork wad for lead loads.

No is the simple answer. From what I've read from the HSE about the proposed ban it will be a ban for all shot, including target shooting. The latest consultation I completed even suggested any transition period could be fairly short due to the 'voluntary' transition. I can't see a ban not happening but I have no idea what length of time we'll get to use lead up or how long it will take for a good, reliable, supply of steel shot .410 carts to become available.

Not really, no. I don't see how it matches up with the sustainable ammunition days or some of BASCs other work. You don't need to name the companies just give some indication that work is being done. At the moment I can't see much, if anything, has been done for .410s over the last 5 years.

You've not really answered my questions but just repeated what I already know. BASC does speak to the cartridge manufacturers does it not, if so has BASC raised anything about .410s with them? If not could you talk to them and then can come you back to us with an update?

I have and I'm currently doing the same and putting copper coated steel through a cheap muzzle loader. I've not had any problems so far but speed and pressure I expect are less that a shotgun.

Does anyone know of or have examples of shooting steel shot fibre wad loads? I.e. if you loaded up your own steel shot cartridges and just used a plain fibre wad so there was nothing to protect the barrel. If shot size, pressures and speeds were kept low would their be much damage and how long would the barrel last? Just a bit of an idle thought as looking at some of the cheaper pumps a new barrel would cost £100 so wondering if a rebarrel would be cheaper than shooting something expensive.

I dont know if it's intentional but this answer, and one in the current BASC magazine, comes across as rather dismissive of concerns about the .410. We're 5 years into a voluntary 5 year transition away from lead and nothing seems to have been done to increase lead free alternatives in the .410, if anything there's less available now that 5 years ago. So the choice is 30p for a lead cartridge or about £1.50 for Bismuth. I doubt many people would have moved away from lead in 12g if the only option was bismuth. Can BASC give an update on progress with the main cartridge manufacturers? Do any of them plan to offer anything other than bismuth as a lead free .410 offering? When are the component manufacturers going to start offering any wads suitable for lead free loads and dare I say for them to offer a .410 biodegradable wad?

We sort of stopped the herons from eating our fish. Netting on one side of the pond so the fish could have some cover, and fence around the pond to stop them wading in. The fish survived several attacks.... until an otter turned up and ate every last one.

I assume that's a .38/357? If so you should not have any problem with cartridge length chambering them and I wouldn't worry about shooting those rounds through my Marlin. Taking a step back, are you shooting at a club? If so isn't there anyone there who can help, it's good to be able to chat to other people shooting the same sort of things. Most people I know will only shoot .357 rounds through a 357/38 gun to stop the sooty ring that can form when shooting 38s in a longer 357 chamber. The downside of that is you tend to have to use 38 data. As I mentioned, TC bullets in the UK seem to have a crimp grove that will always produce a round that's too long unless you trim the cases back a few thou. This is where it's useful to speak to people running the same sort of loads as you can cross reference your loads with them. I dont run max or min loads so don't worry about the slight difference in case capacity and if I did I'd run the loads through reloading software. The Lee seating die will crimp your cases ok but I prefer to seat then crimp with the carbide die.

I would use the LSWC data as thats plain lead, the H&N SWC data is for plated bullets I think. So max 3.8gr. But thats pistol data and I wouldn't worry about using 4.2gr in a rifle. I do have old Viht data that lists max 4.6.

What questions do you have? I've loaded and shot many thousand 158gr TCs with Viht N320 without any problems. I used 357 brass, 4.0gr Viht N320 .358" GM 158gr TCs with fed small pistol primers and got a pleasant 950 fps out of a U/L rifle. There is load data out there, you may need to trawl through some European sites. https://www.wm-bullets.de/nützliches/ladedaten for example lists data for SWC and TC and you will note it is the same. As said I just use data for a certain weight of lead bullet, not shape. You could also use reloading software such as Gordons reloading tool. Your OAL is a bit long, that may not matter but it will depend what you are shooting them in. I find TC bullets need the cases trimmed down to get them to crimp in the right place. I give mine a light crimp using a Lee carbide die which also makes sure there are no slight bulges in the case.

I don't know about the escort but I know a few people with box fed shotguns and they've all had to mod and tune them. Often the mags need a bit of shaping or different ones bought. I also wonder if it's down to how the gun is being held, is it firmly in the shoulder? When people get jams with semi 22s it can often be down to them not holding the gun properly.

i would have thought it would be the other way around, good or clean teeth might make things more squeaky so perhaps a new tooth paste is being used? It could also be down to hearing, I've always been able to hear those ultrasonic animal scarers where most people can't.

I definitely have to open mine and close it rather than just press a lever and the gun opens, i.e. it is a bit stiffer and clunky than my other shotguns. It should be easy enough to find one to try but it sounds like it wouldn't be suitable.

I know what you mean. I occasionally get squeaks when eating things like runner or french beans but it tends to be fresh ones we grown ourselves and lightly cooked so not a bad sign. If you over cook veg then it doesn't squeak.

I don't think it is unusual for people to hear noises and others or sound meters not pick something up. There could be all sorts or reasons, your local airport for example do they run generators or fuel pumps? I've even heard of house roofs producing low frequency noise when the wind blows in a certain direction so it would be worth keeping a diary of when the noise is loudest and what the weather is like (wind speed, direction, general weather etc).

It was in the weekly BASC email today, which is sent out every 7 days....

Creeping comfrey, Symphytum grandiflorum, I think. We have a patch that has just started to flower and the bees love it.

Undersown radish makes sense, it's used to scavenge excess nitrogen and to improve the soil. As you say, it'll be ploughed in.

Possibly a fodder radish of some sort.