Windswept

I picked up a cheap moisture meter from Lidl several years ago and find it useful as I fell and process all our firewood which is our main heating source. I like to check the odd fresh log and use it to check progress, ideally some firewood should be seasoned for a couple of years but I've been getting the moisture down in just a year by careful stacking. Be aware that firewood is measured on a wet basis but most moisture meters are meant for construction and measure on a dry basis. If the meter is reading 25% dry basis that'll be 20% wet basis.

I've not had any problem germinating hazel nuts. Just collect nuts fresh from the trees at this time of year and plant. To save space I put a few dozen nuts into a large pot with some free draining compost. I cover the pot with mesh to stop mice eating them and just wait until spring. When the first shoots show I knock out the pot and rummage through and pot up all the ones that are showing signs of growth.

There often is, just thinking of the South downs, plenty of room in some places, but people don't want them close by. If they were close to towns and cities perhaps it would serve as a bit of a reminder to people of the impact of their lifestyle. Many people can live very comfortably with a lot less energy consumption.

I've picked two 2nd hand cabinets, identical size but one has foam inserts for shotguns and one for rifles. I've no idea what capacity they were sold new as but the shotgun cabinet foam inserts can hold twice as many guns as the rifle. Hopefully my FEO will have some common sense.

I think we only have one type Cicada in the UK, down in the New Forest and it doesn't look like the top photo. As has been said, it's a water boatman, the back legs give it away, much thicker than a cicada.

We had a dry run earlier in the year with the storms. Power out for 24hrs which meant all the local mobile masts stopped working which was a bit of a pain as you couldn't find out what was happening. However, freezer was fine, heating and cooking is often done on our wood burner so no problem there. Plenty of candles, torches and camping stoves to last months. If the mobile masts work we should be fine as we work from home, our mobile phones can be made into routers (hotspots) and charged via a battery backup if necessary.

1st pic looks like a hazel to me.

Have you tried Hannam’s Reloading? Curious why you want one, do you expect the rifle to have problems? I know some 308s can have tight chambers that makes some brands of ammo hard to chamber as the specs allow ammo with a longer headspace than the rifle. I also gather that some problems go away once the rifle is worn in a little, I think due to the stiff firing pin.

They look like young roots.

When I contacted them several years ago with a question they replied very promptly via email. Have you tried phoning them? You may also get a better reply if you contact them via Facebook. I don't use it but increasingly companies only respond to comments via Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for that, I'm using an overshot card, then two 1/2" fibre wads to get the height right. Then shot, overshot card and RTO, that's a little tight so a small reduction in powder would be ideal. They are to be used in a single shot gun and I'm used to checking for a clean bore. Although I'm aware of small charges not burning correctly I think I'd have to dramatically reduce N320 before I would see any problems but worth knowing the risks.

I will email Vihtavuori but doubt I will get much back. It always puzzled me why powder manufacturers don't publish more data, Vihtavuori do list some shotgun data but only 3" 12 guage. Not only is .410 not as popular but 2" cases even less. N320 is still widely used today for .357 loads for LBRs and gallery rifles, often running power charges than the minimums Vihtavuori suggests. Hence my reasoning that there shouldn't be any risk in reducing a small .410 load.

I know slow burning pistol powders are usually used in a .410 but whilst looking for some 2" data I noticed Gualandi list Viht N320 data for 2" . 410s. I've loaded some up and they work well but should I be at all worried about using a fast pistol powder? Ideally I'd like to reduce the load a tad to quiet them down. As N320 can be used for running very light loads in pistol cartridges (e.g. 3 grains in a 357) would there be any risk in reducing the published load a little? There's room in the case to keep the powder load up and increase the shot but I don't really need more than 9 grams of shot.

I was just going on the photo provided of the unfired case, it appeared to be a bit longer than what I have. However, I note the Lyalvale 3" .410s are 73mm cases so I doubt length is an issue. I also note Lyalvale are still listed double base flake powder is used in their .410s which doesn't seem to match the photos.

Mine are a few years old and subsonic, never had a problem or anything more than a slightly distorted mouth in any of my 410s (in the right chamber). I certainly wouldn't be happy shooting those and appreciate you raising the issue. Hope you get it sorted.

Is that 2 3/4" or slightly over? My Lyalvale 3" 410 rto carts are bang on 70mm.

I've never had case mouths like that apart from the time I shot some 3" carts in a 2.5" gun. Are the cartridges too long at all?

I like 9 shot for rats. Does your rfd not sell 7 or 8 shot? They come in 7 - 12 by the looks of it. https://www.bornaghi.it/en/natural/extra-14/

I've had a lot of trouble finding anyone in the NFU who actually knows what their policy covers. They did remove the 2k cartridge limit but now say their explosive exclusion does not apply to the carriage of live shotgun cartridges for FIELD SPORT ACTIVITIES which they define as "Farming and organised shooting sports activities or events carried out in the open countryside e.g. hunting and target shooting" which does seem to exclude some shooting. Theirs also no mention of reloading powders or rifle ammunition..

Giant horntail, Urocerus gigas, by the looks of it. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/giant-horntail

Completely disagree. Most things are toxic if you exceed a certain amount, salt for example is essential but harmful over a certain amount and actually toxic (deadly) over another. Something like arsenic is considered toxic but isn't harmful in small amounts etc, etc. So it's not hard to see lead could be toxic in certain amounts and not others. Eg I might be more thoughtful if I ate game stewed in an acid sauce every day but not bothered if I ate game from time to time roasted. I'm also not an advocate for banning something just because someone else may break the law. What a boring world that would be. As for BASC, they are used to lobbying, something where facts play little part in but one can hope they will stop the outright ban that would happen without them and other orgs.

I bet the powder was more expensive that it was a year ago. CCI and Federal primers are around £100 / thousand at the moment, if you can get them. Main excuse seems to be the huge number of new gun owners in the US and demand for ammo. Things like covid, military demand, companies going bust etc also affect supply.

I thought this is a useful piece, very much what I intend to do. https://basc.org.uk/both-barrels-busting-the-steel-myths/

223 rounds are cheaper and there's far less recoil than a 308.

Do you honestly think whatever BASC did/does would/will change much? I've no idea if their voluntary move has hastened the HSE consultation or delayed it but it would have happened sooner or later.