AYA 25" XXV

[oldypigeonpopper]

On 03/09/2022 at 13:51, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, I had a similar style in a Army a Navy best boxlock, Eley impact 6s , if I ever shoot with my O/U now it's 7.5s 28g , with extra choke, there's a book by Major Ruffer showing a good way to shoot with a XXV 

Hello, I did find using one of those barrel hand things helped to keep shooting with warm barrels and get a  better sight line , the index finger under the bottom of rib, 

 

 

[enfieldspares]

On 03/09/2022 at 12:43, THEINVISIBLESCARECROW said:

I'm going to try an AYA 25" XXV as a Pigeon gun. I'm more used to 28/30" O/U's. I know the answers will include try for yourself & find out but asking here is a short cut to avoiding hassle & thankyou for that. Being short is it more likely to suffer from muzzle flip ? Will it swing faster compared  to my O/U's that I might not realise at first without practice / experience with the gun ? Is it best to use 28/29g cartridges or will 30g be OK considering also possible muzzle flip. I've used up my stock of 32g 6's. My 32g 5's with my O/U is going to be my Corvid combination. I have 28g 6's ready for my XXV but about 300 Clear Pigeon 30g left. Best to use them in the O/U or try & see in the XXV. I don't fancy a sore shoulder nor the stock kicking into my face while I'm becoming one with the gun.

Personally I'd look at a 26" barrel gun for two reasons. First as it isn't an XXV it will be cheaper as 26" is no longer a fashionable length although Holland's Brevis and Hellis sold that length as a riposte to Robert Churchill. Second (and less true) the muzzle blast is that one inch further from the left ear or a right handed shot. So less noise, less blast.

I am of an age to remember at a shoot lunch you could tell the owners of Churchill XXV guns as they'd be the ones tuning in their hearing aids! Finally what was said of the XXV was "Quick ON the bird but quick OFF the bird" and sore shoulders are gun fit NOT barrel length. I've shot a Holland .470 NE double rifle that had less felt recoil than any badly fitting 20 bore shotgun.

[Old Boggy]

37 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

 

I am of an age to remember at a shoot lunch you could tell the owners of Churchill XXV guns as they'd be the ones tuning in their hearing aids! Finally what was said of the XXV was "Quick ON the bird but quick OFF the bird" and sore shoulders are gun fit NOT barrel length. I've shot a Holland .470 NE double rifle that had less felt recoil than any badly fitting 20 bore shotgun.

I can relate to that, having shot with an AYA25 for many of my earlier years when ear defenders were not `de rigeuer` or even thought about. I shoot left handed and the hearing in my right ear is completely shot, with the left ear not much better.

`Quick to start and quick to stop`, they certainly are, but I found snap shooting was pretty effective. This was probably the nearest I got to the Churchill method and good fit was absolutely imperative.

OB

[London Best]

I have preferred, and shot better with, short barrelled guns since the 1960’s. 
I shoot right handed, but it is my right ear which has the worst hearing, by far. I don’t blame the shooting for my hearing loss, but rather the very noisy tool room in which I worked for thirty years. 
For ten years now I have used a 26 1/2 inch Holland Brevis and before that a 26 inch Wiseman for 23 years. Prior to that I used a 27 inch Rosson for 19 years and before that a 26 inch Spanish side lock. All this for game. My rough use gun since 1975 has been a 26 inch Spanish box lock. 
if I use a longer barrelled gun now it seems very slow.

[wymberley]

52 minutes ago, London Best said:

I have preferred, and shot better with, short barrelled guns since the 1960’s. 
I shoot right handed, but it is my right ear which has the worst hearing, by far. I don’t blame the shooting for my hearing loss, but rather the very noisy tool room in which I worked for thirty years. 
For ten years now I have used a 26 1/2 inch Holland Brevis and before that a 26 inch Wiseman for 23 years. Prior to that I used a 27 inch Rosson for 19 years and before that a 26 inch Spanish side lock. All this for game. My rough use gun since 1975 has been a 26 inch Spanish box lock. 
if I use a longer barrelled gun now it seems very slow.

Yep, the same as sitting on top of a couple of Spey or Adour jet engines which you've got turning and burning under you. However, it's still a matter of degree of the time you're exposed to the hazard and I imagine that anyone suffering the consequences will tell you the same - WEAR HEARING PROTECTION it's silly not to.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, wish I had been more safety conscious with my hearing back in the good old days, 🤔🙄

[London Best]

33 minutes ago, wymberley said:

WEAR HEARING PROTECTION it's silly not to.

I have been wearing hearing protection for shooting since the nineties. 
Nobody bothered in the sixties/seventies/eighties.

[THEINVISIBLESCARECROW]

3 hours ago, London Best said:

I have been wearing hearing protection for shooting since the nineties. 
Nobody bothered in the sixties/seventies/eighties.

Oh I certainly did, I worked in heavy industry mostly drop forges. The hammers was anything from 115db's upwards & struck a blow every few seconds, in a shed with about 25/30 hammers going full belt (piecework) you can say a bit noisy. After 40yrs of punishing my ears while useing industrial strength plugs & muffs both at work & noisy hobbies I can happily say my hearing is good considering, hearing loss & tinnitus yes but I still hear very well considering. Hearing loss is gradual & permanent, anything absolutely anything above 75db's the plugs go in !!

[London Best]

1 hour ago, THEINVISIBLESCARECROW said:

Oh I certainly did, I worked in heavy industry mostly drop forges. The hammers was anything from 115db's upwards & struck a blow every few seconds, in a shed with about 25/30 hammers going full belt (piecework) you can say a bit noisy. After 40yrs of punishing my ears while useing industrial strength plugs & muffs both at work & noisy hobbies I can happily say my hearing is good considering, hearing loss & tinnitus yes but I still hear very well considering. Hearing loss is gradual & permanent, anything absolutely anything above 75db's the plugs go in !!

The noisiest work environment I ever experienced was in a drop forge when I took a group of apprentices to visit a spanner/socket manufacturer.

Horrendous!