adzyvilla Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 Hoping for a repeat of last week, father and I trundled down to the farm and made our way to our new ambush point in the shelter belt between two sorry looking rape fields. Although the wind speed and direction being 20mph southerlies should have made for some entertaining shooting, the bright sunshine had other ideas and the birds were very wary, and our initial approach put 30 or so up from the Eastern edge of the field some 200 yards distant, and they made for the safety of the common to digest their lunch. We agreed to swap ends this week after claims of an unfair distribution of the shooting forced me to call out the old man as potentially needing a visit to the opticians. So off I went to the far end which was more sheltered from the wind, but cover was sparse and I felt very visible, even deep in the middle of the 30 yard wide belt. Maybe he had a point... It wasn't long before the pigeons started to return in little groups, flitting in against the wind, and dad was blatting away within minutes but I had to wait a little longer. With a little more visibility around, I could see movement behind me in the other field and it looked like something had disturbed a distant group and they were heading my way. I tracked the most likely looking pigeon as it tacked across the field in my rough direction and after what seemed like an eternity it finally passed into range so I swung through it and pulled the trigger. It flared, to my eyes hit hard but it turned on a sixpence and flitted away down wind. A second and third at its rapidly retreating silhouette failed to elicit any further response, so scrambling in my pockets for more cartridges, I turned to the dog who raised an eyebrow, before turning away in disgust. I hadn't long to wait for another chance, and a golden one it was too. A pair flew along the belt and settled into the tall poplar on the very edge of the belt. Nice clear shot, around 20 yards. I took my time and lined up the shot. They were wary enough to spot the almost imperceptible movement of my gun mount, leaving me a split second to fire. I got off two shots at the closest one as it took to the air, and despite it being hit twice, it flew a long way before diving into the rape field. A nod to the dog sent her sprinting off, and she bought back a very sorry looking but still breathing pigeon which I dispatched whilst wondering what these cartridges had been loaded with. Time went on and frustration levels began to rise as time after time I pulled the trigger and there was a bang but the birds flew on serenely. I decided I'd had enough after I reached 20 empties for one bird, so I picked up my things, and made my way down the belt to see how pops was getting on. The dog was happy to pick two of dads fallen on the way, and I was surprised to see a reasonable pile of birds at the bottom of the tree behind him. We discussed the afternoons events, and I persuaded him to try two of my cartridges in a not very scientific test of their effectiveness in a different gun. We didn't have long to wait, and he seemed to have the same luck with them that I did. He tried two more just to make sure, again with no reward. After a time we decided to call, it a day. A total bag of 13 (unlucky for some) and things to ponder in the cartridge department. Last week, my success rate was around 1 in 3 with my semi auto shooting gamebore clear pigeon 32g 6s. This week, same gun and a new slab of fiocchi PL 30g 6s. Perhaps a bad batch? I will cut some open and investigate. Used fiocchi before and never had a problem with them, any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggy74 Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 slower cartridge maybe ? or been damp ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 Well done for a great report, thanks for posting. At the end of the day did you enjoy it , that’s what it all about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 Unusual for Fiocchi which are usually a quality product but always a chance you had a bum box. Many moons ago I had the same experience with a box of shells, obviously hit birds and saw feathers fly but they flew on. Changed to another brand and different positive result. The first lot got used on clays for practise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 Great write up and one way or the other you had a very good afternoon . we were out roost shooting and saw ten times the amount we saw last week , someones loss is another persons gain so they say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted February 12, 2022 Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 When you mention Fiocchi , we have been using 32g 4s and 5s steel and myself and two other shooters have experienced cartridges swelling and sticking in the breech on O/U guns, Autos OK. Anybody else had any problems with steel??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adzyvilla Posted February 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 56 minutes ago, eggy74 said: slower cartridge maybe ? or been damp ? No signs of moisture, fresh from the gunshop last week. Could be slower but I've used dozens of different carts with this gun and never noticed a difference like this. 27 minutes ago, pigeon controller said: Well done for a great report, thanks for posting. At the end of the day did you enjoy it , that’s what it all about. well it got me out of the house for a few hours... Its always nice to be out in the fresh air. 26 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Unusual for Fiocchi which are usually a quality product but always a chance you had a bum box. Many moons ago I had the same experience with a box of shells, obviously hit birds and saw feathers fly but they flew on. Changed to another brand and different positive result. The first lot got used on clays for practise. I will try a few on clays and see if they can break them. Its only a slab so not too worried if they are duds. 14 minutes ago, marsh man said: Great write up and one way or the other you had a very good afternoon . we were out roost shooting and saw ten times the amount we saw last week , someones loss is another persons gain so they say da reckons we didn't see half of what was about last week. There were a lot of unshot woods this afternoon though for a number of reasons so they weren't being moved on as much as usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adzyvilla Posted February 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) 9 minutes ago, pigeon controller said: When you mention Fiocchi , we have been using 32g 4s and 5s steel and myself and two other shooters have experienced cartridges swelling and sticking in the breech on O/U guns, Autos OK. Anybody else had any problems with steel??? I've no experience with fiocchi steel but I've used the brand many times before and I've never had any problems. In fact, I would rate the PL32s I had a few years ago as one of the best cartridges I've ever shot, so I'm more than a little disappointed in these PL30s. Cheap for a reason? Edited February 12, 2022 by adzyvilla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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