Give and old girl a new home.

[enfieldspares]

49 minutes ago, Minky said:

The above is correct and I agree BUT this is not what I was told by a FEO..  "they make it up as they go along"  the feo told me directly that he needed to see that I had a USE FOR AND ACTIVELY USED THE GUNS ON MY CERT FOR HIM TO PASS THEM .

FAC, yes, use it or lose it is the law. The gun club you are a member of have to keep a record of your attendance and the gun that you used on that visit. So s1 held on an FAC you are right that no use = no good reason (within commonsense acceptance that a rifle held for shooting big game in Africa might not be used every other week). Correct.

40 minutes ago, Scully said:

Then get on with it instead of consigning it to the furnace! 🤷‍♂️

I’m assuming that as one who has berated others for posting misinformation, you can provide proof of your claims regarding guns ‘going off face’ when fed a constant diet of steel shot? 

It is what I was told by a gunsmith who is a Proof House Guardian. It is not the barrels, as such, that the owner needs to worry about but the gun going off the face. I have no reason to doubt his knowledge of the matter. Many old guns also sometimes are iron actions and not steel actions.

[Scully]

13 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

 

It is what I was told by a gunsmith who is a Proof House Guardian. It is not the barrels, as such, that the owner needs to worry about but the gun going off the face. I have no reason to doubt his knowledge of the matter. Many old guns also sometimes are iron actions and not steel actions.

Can’t find any mention of it online. 

[enfieldspares]

5 minutes ago, Scully said:

Can’t find any mention of it online. 

It is out there but, yes, most of the threads are about the barrels. Logically of course a plastic wad with steel shot will have less "give" than a fibre wad with lead shot. So the initial "oomph" will be greater. But all I can suggest is ask any good gunsmith that does gun re-jointing and see what they say.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=515148

[enfieldspares]

This also mentions the issue of the gun action being relevant not just its barrels.

https://www.williampowellsporting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Steel-Shot-Lead-Alternatives-Document-Low.pdf

"However, we worry that SOME of these guns, whilst still in proof for Nitro, may not have either strong enough actions or barrels for even standard steel shot cartridge use."

Edited Friday at 19:53 by enfieldspares

[Scully]

5 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

It is out there but, yes, most of the threads are about the barrels. Logically of course a plastic wad with steel shot will have less "give" than a fibre wad with lead shot. So the initial "oomph" will be greater. But all I can suggest is ask any good gunsmith that does gun re-jointing and see what they say.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=515148

I’m pretty sure wildfowlers who have been shooting steel for a long time now could or would have commented if it were a ‘thing’. 

[enfieldspares]

2 minutes ago, Scully said:

I’m pretty sure wildfowlers who have been shooting steel for a long time now could or would have commented if it were a ‘thing’. 

Did you get a reply from your New Year email to the Proof House?

[Scully]

9 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

This also mentions the issue of the gun action being relevant not just its barrels.

https://www.williampowellsporting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Steel-Shot-Lead-Alternatives-Document-Low.pdf

Contains no reference that I can see, to guns going off the face.
Not only that, it has to be one of the most vague non assertive catalogues of a backside covering exercise of contradictory non-information I’ve ever read! Full of ‘maybes’ and ‘possibles’ that flies in the face of everything commonly known regarding steel shot! 

 

14 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

Did you get a reply from your New Year email to the Proof House?

No. It would appear they’re as secretive as the NCA. Can’t think why. 🤔

[ryle]

On 06/02/2025 at 14:59, Minky said:

A few pictures of the AyA #4 that I retrieved from the scrap pile headed for the chopper.  This has got to be some sort of crime to scrap stuff like this.  I did chop in an a very clattery AyA in place of this one to keep the guns on ticket the same amount.  I hated to do that but hey Ho.

edit.  I forgot,  the stocks go in the wood burner.

And this is what I was originally getting at. Ive not cast my eye other this thread for a day or two but rescuing perfectly good guns like this was my original point. I'd love a good look through a pile of these old scrappers

[enfieldspares]

4 minutes ago, Scully said:

No. It would appear they’re as secretive as the NCA. Can’t think why. 🤔

🤣

[Gas seal]

Hi Ryle , a lot of guns would have been taken in part exchange and left for years in stock. They could have just gone out of fashion. Over the years we have offered good shotguns to any youngsters starting out. Not many starting shooting or they didn’t want them. 
There are a lot of new guns for sale with steel proof and screw in chokes and a warranty. Why adjust a 12 bore for a youngster when there are factory made junior small gauge shotguns new and second hand. 
l wonder how many shotguns are in gun safes in the country and never used.

[London Best]

Half (most?) of the problem is that virtually everyone who takes up shooting today comes into the sport via clay pigeons/lessons. They are taught using an OU and told that is what they need, complete with ‘must have’ removable chokes. Practically nobody any more starts shooting by being given an old gun, walking round a piece of land or sitting in hedges.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

28 minutes ago, London Best said:

Half (most?) of the problem is that virtually everyone who takes up shooting today comes into the sport via clay pigeons/lessons. They are taught using an OU and told that is what they need, complete with ‘must have’ removable chokes. Practically nobody any more starts shooting by being given an old gun, walking round a piece of land or sitting in hedges.

Amen to that, but I would place it far higher than half.

[Scully]

5 hours ago, London Best said:

Half (most?) of the problem is that virtually everyone who takes up shooting today comes into the sport via clay pigeons/lessons. They are taught using an OU and told that is what they need, complete with ‘must have’ removable chokes. Practically nobody any more starts shooting by being given an old gun, walking round a piece of land or sitting in hedges.

Would have to agree with much of that.
I would think increased wages play a major part in it really. 
When I started out I used to slink around in hedgerows and farm buildings popping off any pests with an old Webley and Scott ‘Ranger’ in .177 ( I still have it although there is a split pin allowing the action to still break 🙂 ) and both my kids and their cousins plus friends used it to plink in the back garden as kids. 

A nephew who blames me for getting him into one of the most expensive sports known, and my son, often used to spend days sat in hedgerows waiting to ambush the odd pigeon or whatever.
That nephew at the age of 20 was making much more money that in was at that age, even with relative circumstances taken into consideration, and now at the age of 30 is earning upwards of 50k a year. 
My nephew and those mates had a good grounding in shooting sports, and all would come ferreting with me as kids, as well as my son and daughter, and all came beating when small. 
Not all have stayed with it, but at my nephews wedding maybe three years ago, the vast majority of the lads there ( with a sizeable number of girls now I think about it ) were all shooters who had similar upbringings consisting of old springers and cheap Belgian sxs’s. 

Good to see. 

[holloway]

19 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

This also mentions the issue of the gun action being relevant not just its barrels.

https://www.williampowellsporting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Steel-Shot-Lead-Alternatives-Document-Low.pdf

"However, we worry that SOME of these guns, whilst still in proof for Nitro, may not have either strong enough actions or barrels for even standard steel shot cartridge use."

That document is full of non specific speculative comments ,i remember reading it 3 years ago when it was published hoping for fact based information i was disappointed that one of our leading gunmakers had spent so little time researching a subject they should be experts on .