New gun(s) day

[agentcloudyday]

Got my certificate a few months ago and finally got round to making my first purchases last Saturday. Browning B725 for me and a Silver pigeon 20b for my wife (she's waiting on her cert). Shot some clays on Sunday and we had a great time. 

[Old Boggy]

Welcome to Pigeon Watch 

[islandgun]

Good for you, the start of a long obsession which will likely cost thousands..😁...how long is the stock on the 20g

[BobbyH]

Hey and welcome to PW!

Nice gun you have there, and its also nice to know you wife is getting into it too!

Where abouts are you from?

[agentcloudyday]

48 minutes ago, islandgun said:

Good for you, the start of a long obsession which will likely cost thousands..😁...how long is the stock on the 20g

Haha yes it already has! Not sure on the stock length actually, think it is pretty standard though 

42 minutes ago, BobbyH said:

Hey and welcome to PW!

Nice gun you have there, and its also nice to know you wife is getting into it too!

Where abouts are you from?

Thanks, yes she really enjoys it too. Looking forward to being able to get out shooting more now we don't have to pay for lessons all the time. 

We are in Surrey so we shoot at Bisley pay&play.

[HantsRob]

Hi @agentcloudyday, Long Siberia is great! A little pricey, but a lot of stands to choose from. You have a few other great grounds within an hour and change!

The pig and 725 are both lovely, I am sure you'll have years of fun with them! If you fancy a few grounds in Hampshire to try out, or a fab day at Barbury, let me know and I'd always like some company to smash some clays.

[agentcloudyday]

10 hours ago, HantsRob said:

Hi @agentcloudyday, Long Siberia is great! A little pricey, but a lot of stands to choose from. You have a few other great grounds within an hour and change!

The pig and 725 are both lovely, I am sure you'll have years of fun with them! If you fancy a few grounds in Hampshire to try out, or a fab day at Barbury, let me know and I'd always like some company to smash some clays.

Very kind thanks Rob. Yes do probably need to explore some other grounds at some point!

[enfieldspares]

How nice to see a new member who is posting about guns he's bought and isn't just here to try to sell something. 

Welcome to P/W. There's all manner of advice here, some good, some bad, some in between. 

Here's my advice:

When loading your shotgun from a pocket or from a cartridge bag give the coat pocket (while you are wearing it) a good shake. Ditto the cartridge bag a good shake. That way the cartridges will, mostly, face shot end downwards and base end upwards and so be easier to take out and also orientated right way up for loading.

You have the benefit of changeable chokes and a selective trigger. With an O/U (not that I own or shoot one) for clays set the lower barrel to fire first. And mix and match the chokes accordingly. It gives better control of the gun for easier second barrel alignment on a pair of clays.

For live quarry shooting where most shots will be a series of single shots (and seldom two quick shots) set the top barrel to fire first. And mix and match the chokes accordingly. That way the gun is quicker to eject and reload when a series of fast successive single shots may be needed on either driven birds or incoming decoyed pigeon.

Also always check you chokes are in nice and snug and secure whenever changing them or before first setting out for that day's sport.

Edited Friday at 21:17 by enfieldspares

[Old Boggy]

16 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

How nice to see a new member who is posting about guns he's bought and isn't just here to try to sell something. 

Welcome to P/W. There's all manner of advice here, some good, some bad, some in between. 

Here's my advice:

When loading your shotgun from a pocket or from a cartridge bag give the coat pocket (while you are wearing it) a good shake. Ditto the cartridge bag a good shake. That way the cartridges will, mostly, face shot end downwards and base end upwards and so be easier to take out and also orientated right way up for loading.

You have the benefit of changeable chokes and a selective trigger. With an O/U (not that I own or shoot one) for clays set the lower barrel to fire first. And mix and match the chokes accordingly. It gives better control of the gun for easier second barrel alignment on a pair of clays.

For live quarry shooting where most shots will be a series of single shots (and seldom two quick shots) set the top barrel to fire first. And mix and match the chokes accordingly. That way the gun is quicker to eject and reload when a series of fast successive single shots may be needed on either driven birds or incoming decoyed pigeon.

Also always check you chokes are in nice and snug and secure whenever changing them or before first setting out for that day's sport.

I totally agree with your first sentence.

All good advice and being `relatively` new to O/Us having shot side by sides for 60 years, I`ve only just caught on to arranging the chokes and selector to fire the top barrel first for the reason that you give. As I don`t shoot clays and only pigeons now, this certainly works for me.

Also, whilst I realise that shaking up a cartridge bag or pocket will make most cartridges with their heads up, I`ve never actually done it, why, I don`t know, but will do so next time out, so thanks for the tip. All helpful stuff, so thanks @enfieldspares. See, I`ve even learnt recently how to highlight people`s usernames, so every day`s a school day.

OB

[enfieldspares]

10 minutes ago, Old Boggy said:

Also, whilst I realise that shaking up a cartridge bag or pocket will make most cartridges with their heads up, I`ve never actually done it, why, I don`t know, but will do so next time out, so thanks for the tip.

For that tip don't thank me but thank the late Robert Churchill. It's in his classic book "Game Shooting" which I first read years ago.