Poor Shot

Not that much better in Cardiff and SWV's. I used to work in East Cardiff and commute daily from Cynon valley via the A470. Hour and a half to go 24 miles most days. Same on the way home. Public transport would have involved taking the last train the night before at 22:30, spending 8 hours in Cardiff Central station then a combination of two busses and a mile walk with the first bus being at 6:30am and then (if you're lucky) arriving at work at 8:45. Councillors are baffled as to why people still prefer taking the car into the city over public transport. 🙄

1370 BAR proof stamped clearly on the barrels. I believe 1320 BAR is the minimum proof required for high pressure 3" steel cartridges. Blast away! Providing its not fixed choke at any more than 1/2 that is. https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/ammunition/will-my-shotgun-be-safe-with-steel-shot-cartridges-25848

Yes. I've not heard anything back for any purchases I've made and notified my force about. It's good practice to scan the transfer letter, send it via email to your FAO office and include a recieved and read receipt. Print all of these out once done and store for safe keeping. You then have proof that you notified them come renewal time when the inevitable happens and they fail to record your purchase. I renewed earlier this year as a part of a FAC application and got to use the backup to prove a serial number mistake was made by the RFD and not me.

£232 for 1000 Eley Selects is a very good deal. Cheapest my local had in stock today were Fiocchi TT1s at £236 a thousand. Eley Selects would have been around the £260 mark. I will religiously shop at the cheapest shop, be it online or in store, for cartridges as they are a consumable and probably the biggest ongoing cost to shooting. I'm of the thought that cartridges should be the gunshop version of a pint of Milk. Cheap enough to keep me coming through the door. One day I may just walk out with a new slip, jumper, skeet vest, cleaning supplies or gun along with my cartridges.

I often shoot clays with an older gentleman (early 70's) who having shot game, deer and vermin for most of his life is now a vegetarian. Sees no point in shooting anything living anymore and must really like vegetables. I assume he has an allotment or something as most older folk do.

Likely doing it to help protect his investment in the birds and the shoot. At £50 + VAT per bird, If a single goss takes (or otherwise causes the death of) 1-2 birds a day for the 8 or so weeks that they're in the release pens and a further 2 birds per week when they're turned out that's about 150 birds or about £9k in turnover lost. That's only per one BOP living on the shoot as well. None of that excuses what he did though. Personally, I'd much rather invest a further £5-10k in covering the pens with netting and improving the ground for the birds than gaining a criminal conviction. I would have thought that his SGC and FAC were immediately revoked never to be granted again. Livelihood lost.

Makes no sense to me really. Maybe I've responded in past surveys in a way that supports their agenda? BTW less than 10% of all my shooting is with steel or non toxic alternatives. Probably more like 2-3% but 10 was the lowest option.

Completely unacceptable regardless of the circumstances or other pressures. We cannot continue to carry out raptor persecution if we are to have any expectation that our sport will still be here in 10 years time. Raptors take birds and raptor persecution is illegal end of story. We need to account for that in the numbers we are putting down and mitigate for it where possible. If you're a shoot that still has pens that are uncovered then you've no right to complain that BOPs are taking the poults. If you're suffering massive losses when the birds are turned out then you need be implementing measures to make the ground more hospitable for the birds, more cover, netted feeding pens etc. The idea that raptor persecution is acceptable is one of the only things that I'm glad to see (sort of) disappearing with the older generations.

No idea. Following a decrease in membership and/ or feedback showing their direction on lead being negative? Would be something for Conor to comment on.

Having fired a .50 cal from a Barret rifle with a huge muzzle break on it I can say that they aren't that bad to shoot. Certainly not as bad as say a 36g lead load from a light weight SXS and probably comparable to a heavy steel load from a semi auto. Wasn't all that pleasant for those standing either side of me though due to the muzzle break directing the gasses backwards. Would certainly rattle your cage if you were sat alongside and weren't expecting it. The round from that rifle looks big but the rifle itself probably weighs the best part of 20kg so wouldn't be too bad to shoot. Given the anti vehicle nature of the rifle though I'm not sure I'd want to be sat behind it when the vehicles you're shooting at locate you and start firing back at you.

Morning All. Anyone who is a BASC member should have received an email this morning with a link to short survey surrounding your use of lead and non lead alternatives for your shotgun, rifle and air rifle shooting. It is intended to build a picture of ammunition used from the end users perspective. If you're a BASC sceptic who thinks BASC is steamrollering ahead with support for the lead ammunition ban against the wishes of its membership (of which I am) then this is your chance to provide BASC with accurate representation of what, you, the membership uses. BASC should then use it to help form its response to the REACH proposals. Please check your email inboxes (and Spam/ Junk inboxes) and get the survey filled out. Takes less than 5 minutes and would go along way towards helping preserve our sport. Anyone who doesn't have this can contact surveys@basc.org.uk and request that you are issued with a survey invite. I have no affiliation to BASC other than being a paying member concerned about cost effective shooting in a lead free future.

68.4% denser than lead as well. Perfect for shooting those high birds through a half choke with 9.5 shot..

That would be a ******* disaster for fieldsports.

Anyone who is remotely involved in fieldsports would do well to turn up at the poling station and put a X next to their Conservative constituent regardless of their dislike for Boris, Truss, Sunak or Thatcher. No one else remotely close to power has anything but absolute hatred for the countryside, the people who live in it and countrysports. It's all big one rewilding photo-op for them, to hell with those who live in it and have their way of life there.

Fortunately this is only a very poorly written advert paid for by TLACS but this can very easily gain traction. Only way we counter this sort of **** is from within.. Firstly, if TLACS can pay for an advert in a online RAG to garner support for their cause then so can BASC, SGA, NGO etc can to. I'm sick of seeing adverts for the organisations in shooting times and countrymans Weekley. Given that only a fieldsports enthusiast would buy these mags it's a waste of paper, ink and money. I'd love to see articles in Wales online showing the great things about fieldsports. They will advertise anything they are paid to advertise and will make it look like headline news. Wales online and their readership are greatly patriotic yet I've never seen a single article about the world beating clay shooting success that welsh shooters have had in the last few years? The BASC run scouts clay shooting program from last month would have been great for the average layperson to read. Id love to see adverts for game fairs, gundog trails, shows, scurries etc. The sort of event that someone who is otherwise ambivalent towards shooting but likes driving their range rover to countryside could attend and enjoy. Secondly, we should really be adhering to good practises for stocking release pens, bird density recommendations etc. I'm not a keeper or a farmer or really care either way but having 1000's of poults in a small pen for 6 weeks in clear view of the public can't be good for our image given most good poultry farms do well to keep this hidden out of site in concrete sheds. Not having 400 bird days and have the guns drive to the pub for a roast beef dinner empty handed while the orgs spend enormous amounts of time and money advertising the virtues of eating game. Not having release pens and fed drives next to main roads. It must be really **** for someone who doesn't understand fieldsports to see 10+ smashed pheasants on the side of the motorway within 100 yards of each other. Not having posts on giving up the game giving away "30 Teal, shot this morning. Ideal for dog or BOP food". We need to be doing everything in our power to not give these people the ammo to shoot us with.

Just when I thought Wales online (Wales premier toilet news outlet) couldn't get any worse I scrolled past this piece if trash.. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/special-features/wales-could-lead-way-banning-25060735?fbclid=IwAR16vlmV1tRjoupwCnkpG-wMN0Lbwavsz2VZiy5YbQPDTruE4mGrfnFjR8A But of course, we all know even the biggest **** has some flecks of truth In It and as a sport we need to look at it and improve. The general public will lap this **** up and the Welsh government are all too happy to go along with it if they think it's a vote winner. I'm beyond words..

Agree generally.. I'm still dumbfounded by the consensus that flinging little bits of non biodegradable plastic (with steel shot in them) about the place is preferable to a little naturally occurring metal and a fibre wad.

He is a registered RFD so I don't think he would have an issue sourcing RF and CF ammo. I'm guessing shotgun, game and clay related products are his main selling items as that's what his current client base needs. Worth a chat at least to register your interest. I know he orders a lot on customer request so could be of use if you call in your orders ahead of time.

You have Mainline range supplies in Skewen? He's a one man band trading from home but should be able to get you what you need. Has a Facebook page of you want to look him up. He shoots at a few different clay grounds in the area and will happily meet you at one to deliver kit.

Most cannot (don't want to?) See beyond the first line of their argument that Meat is Murder so any effort put into trying to converse with them is wasted. Time would he better spent asking the grass not to grow.

It will more than likely be a ban on the sale of ammunition containing led rather than a ban on its use. There are rough shooters out there still making their way through slabs of cartridges they bought 10 years ago 2-3 shots at a time on the few occasions in the winter they get to go shooting. On this basis there will still be lead cartridges in use for many years to come. There are still lots of people out there with old Russian carts and they haven't been on sale for probably 30+ years. As long as home use lead shot towers and church roofs exist, so will lead cartridges. Though probably not on your average commercial shoot or clay ground.

Thanks Conor for the reply. I'm glad that you are able to correct me. Seems BASC were doing the right thing. I didn't get my certificate until summer 2021 so I wasn't really active on the forums (put shooting on the back burner to alleviate the pain of a 12 month application process) but I did have a BASC membership in place and I cannot see that I was a part of the email communications regarding that consultation. Only recently have I been receiving the newsletter and member discount monthly emails for whatever reason.

I saw the video yesterday and it seems a fair analysis of what is to come. While the poor response is disappointing I must say that I didn't see the consultation advertised anywhere. I'm a member of BASC, CPSA, active on both Pigeon watch and Hunting life forums and follow 5+ shooting and fieldsports related groups on Facebook. Not once did I see any mention of the consultation. Unless this predates my entrance into shooting and fieldsports about 18 months ago. If there's one thing that the organisations (listed above) need to do better, and admittedly I have seen a lot of BASC emails lately, is advertise these consultations better. They both have a massive membership they can email and letter bomb, a huge social media presence and an advertising budget. With a consultation as important as this we shouldn't have been able look at anything fieldsports related and not see this advertised.

I was out this morning as planned and as predicted I blanked. The high tide was at 10:50 so I was faced with the decision to either get up at 4:00 this morning for a morning flight and face the water being 200m away from any suitable shooting position or go for the tide flight. I chose the later. It was quite a high tide at 11.9m so most of the gulleys and other shooting points were under 12 inches of water by 9:30. A bit of wind but not enough to make roosting out in the channel uncomfortable for the birds with a lot being sat 200m or so out to sea. A lot of mallard flying up and down the tide line which was surprising. No geese though they are usually up and away before the sun his fully risen. There was a surprising amount of dog walkers and general public about the place which makes shooting near to the seawall or inner splashes quite uncomfortable (not that any of the splashes had water in them). Club must do more to signpost the presence of the club and deter gerry and his dalmatian from taking their morning walks on the private parts of the marsh and to stick to the coastal path where they are permitted. It wasn't a wasted trip. The dog behaved herself and didn't fidget too much though we only sat for about 40 minutes. I suspect we have more work to do if we are to sit out for 2-3 hours at a time. With it being early season and no other shooters around I took the chance to explore the marsh a bit more and scope out some future spots and I've found an area which looks to be a peach for a tide or evening flight with a backdrop to set a hide against (most of the marsh Is flat grass) so long as the tide stays below 11m. It's not always about the shooting.. Nevertheless I enjoyed my morning out and with every trip I learn a little more about the marsh, what it looks like in various states of tide and weather. This isn't something you can really do when being guided by other members as they want to be on, shoot and then get back off again as they know the spots, the tides and the weather. I look forward to the coming weeks when the weather cools and migratory birds arrive.

No chance.. The BBC is chock full of people who believe they are right and that only the opinion of themselves or other like minded people (who's opinion aligns with their own) should be heard and anything else is the devil. Its the television broadcasting equivalent of Twitter. Cwis is a poster boy for the image of the countryside that the BBC believe we should see. At this point the Xinhua news agency and China news service have more credibility than the BBC. I've signed it. Nothing would please me more than to see the guy dumped on his **** by the BBC.