jim_whitson Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Hi all, I live in N. Yorkshie (York), and I'm planning on joining the NPCC soon. The only thing stopping me is that I've only got a .22 air rifle, and I'm not convinced it's accurate enough to justify spending 100 notes on the chance to miss pigeon. What I'm wondering is whether any local types would feel like taking me out one day for a shoot, so can see if it's worth it, or whether I'll just have to wait for a shotgun... I'm an experienced shooter at clays and targets (not to say I'm *good*; just experienced , but I've never dealt with live quarry. I know a lot of people will say not to even bother with my ****ty gun, but I'd like at least to try... cheers jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger_Rabbit Posted January 14, 2005 Report Share Posted January 14, 2005 Jim, your a bit vague with what you want !!!! Do you want airgun permission ?? Do you want to go decoying ?? Have you got a shotgun cert ?? Have you got transport ?? How old are you ?? What do you mean by (quote)"to see if it's worth it" ?? Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted January 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 > Jim, > your a bit vague with what you want !!!! Hehehe. I'm pretty vague in general... I'll try to elaborate: > Do you want airgun permission ?? > Do you want to go decoying ?? Yes and yes; one, both, whatever. :-D > Have you got a shotgun cert ?? Nope, 'cos I live in a rented house. Can't fit a cabinet. > Have you got transport ?? I have a girlfreind/taxi who's also interested in shooting... > How old are you ?? 21 and counting. > What do you mean by (quote)"to see if it's worth it" ?? To see if my ****ty 30 quid gun can actually kill anything... If it can't, then I'll just have to wait till I can get a SGC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 I have never seriously tried to shoot pigeons with an air rifle, by setting up a hide and decoys in a field. My advice would be to apply for your shotgun certificate, buy a reasonably priced 12 gauge and do the job properly. You can go to most Clay Grounds and try sporting clays, using their guns. This will give you gun handling experience and good practise. Of course, your young lady can accompany you. A few sessions on the clays may also tell you whether you will like the sport, or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted January 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Yeah, that's what I was expecting. Sadly, I can't get a SGC at the time being, as I can't arrange for secure storage; I live in a rented house, so there's no way I can fit any kind of cabinet. Hence the air rifle. :-( As for clays, I'd be jubilant if I could find a clay ground near me... They all seem to be miles to the East of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sniper Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Jim, Put " clay pigeon shooting association" into your search engine. It should find them and give you details of your nearest clubs at Rufforth, nr York , Upper Poppleton, nr York and Knaresborough club. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdowns hunter Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Jim How about putting a cabinet in your loft, or asking the landlord if you can fit a gun clamp into a cupboard Worth A Try Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted January 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Sniper: Nice one! I'll start phoning round. hunter: Ooh. I'm not sure what one fo those is... I'll have to have a chat with the FLO about what'd be acceptable. The other possibility is to store the gun somewhere else, e.g. a gun club. Anyone know if that's legal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Your best option is to store it at your residence. It can be chained to a joist in your attic, if necessary. But think about a cabinet , as they can be installed in such a way, that they can be removed if you relocate. I don't know anyone who stores their shotgun with a Gun Club, so I don't know if its permitted. It would certainly be inconvenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Jim-whitson Would this '30 quid gun' be the notorious B2 which you earlier posted about last week in the 'airgun forum' ; whereupon several; members including myslelf, advised that the nasty B2 shouldn be never be used for shooting any vermin. 'Just wondering'.......................if it is the same gun though, I'm just a tad bemused as to why you initially sought answers to the B2 'killing power' in the first place, if you have no intentions of listening to our members geniune advice.... I apologise if i am talking out of line, but have you really got an interest in pigeon shooting / country persuits......... or do you just want to see if you can 'kill something' with your cheap little gun? Paul in North Lincs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted January 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 (edited) :-X. Yeah, it certainly is. But, I think you have the wrong idea.. ;-) I first posted in "airgunners", and the general consensus seemed to be that it's a peice of ****, which is what I thought. However, I'd like a chance to see for myself... No offence, but I've never met any of you guys, and no-one has any reason to go out of their way to help me out; that's what the net's like. So, by posting in this section, I was trying to establish a more human relationship with more experienced folk in my area. You may have noticed that I also posted about clay shooting, and other things. I'm sorry if I've given the wrong impression; I'm new round here, and don't know how things work. I *certainly* don't "just want to kill something". Edited January 17, 2005 by jim_whitson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 (edited) With the greatest respect Jim, how do you intend to 'see for yourself'........ Go out shooting with with the trusty B2, ignoring sound advice from honest members. Shoot at a pigeon, hit and wound it, watch it fly off into a nieghbouring tree carrying lead, so that it can slowly die from its injuries?.... ............. then say "Ok fellas you were right"......"its not accurate, powerfull or consitent enough to humanely kill live quarry,, as you all said"..... "but now I Know for myself, I'll go and get a shotgun." Firstly............... I can assure you that there is some very sound advise to taken heed of on these forums, and if you dont really think that the members are going to offer good honest advice, then dont ask the question in the first place. Secondly..........As hunters we owe the quarry we seek a swift, clean and humane demise, and I personally feel that to even contemplate using a tool which may cause injury, (especially when you know the reaction of others) is wrong... Again.... I apologise if I have mis- read this situation, but the bare bones of 'where you are at', are in the content of your posts, and its only my opinion. quote To see if my ****ty 30 quid gun can actually kill anything... If it can't, then I'll just have to wait till I can get a SGC. Paul in North Lincs. Edited January 17, 2005 by ernyha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted January 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Fair enough. I don't enjoy arguing on the internet, so I won't. You've chosen how you want to interpret my words; that's up to you, and there's no point wasting banwidth trying to tell you otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebedee71 Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Jim! May i offer a suggestion? Most gun shops will carry out a chronograph test for either little money or my local shop did mine for free. Short of that you can purchase them readily that fit the end of your barrel. Once you have mastered the basics of how to set them up and calibrate the pellet weight etc try firing a few shots (around 10 first without the chrono) and then 10 with! The first 10 to warm the gun up. Take the readings from your chrono after each shot in FLB foot pound is the muzzle energy and FPS is the speed of your pellet in feet per second and find you average!. If your gun shoots below 10 FLB then i would seriously save a few extra quid to get something a little better. If however you find it is 10FLB or above then set up a target at approx 25 yards and again take a string of around 5 shots aiming directly at the centre of the target. If you miss with the first shot DONT try and compensate just fire the next shot AGAIN at the centre of the target. What you will be looking for is to see if the shots are grouping nice and tightly you should expect at least 1" groups or less for a humane weapon anything more is poor as the further your intended target is away from the 25 yard zero the larger the group will become and will in turn lead to injuries to your quarry that will cause a long and agonising death. If however you find you got a good B2 and it is shooting nice 1" groups then i salute your buy. I know there is always at least 1 in a batch of guns that can out perform the rest and who knows it may be yours but PLEASE test your gun's power AND accuracy before commiting it as a hunting tool. Also the longer the shot you take the more power your gun should have. I have quite a few Air rifles at a range of between 10.7 FLB through to the legal 12 FLB and even the 12 FLB should only be used to a max range of 40 yards in my eyes. Like i say have your gun checked over and see how it performs on paper before moving on to quarry. The info most people supply you with on this site can be seen as quite accurate information as a lot of us airgunners tend to test the cheap guns as well to see what they are like. But as i say no 2 guns are alike even if they are from the same mold so to speak. If you are in doubt of the info given to you reguarding your gun then please like i say carry out your own tests of power and accuracy on paper targets first before moving on to Hunting. If your finds are good then please share your results with us all. After all this site is here for newbies to collect info and data on what guns to Buy and what to leave on the shelf. Hope this helps. Zeb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooter2 Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Jim! May i offer a suggestion? Short of that you can purchase them readily that fit the end of your barrel. Zeb the crombo will be worth more than the gun b2's should only ever be used to bash fence posts in no seriously you should only ever use a b2 to knock over cans etc and never on live quarry :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Wildfowler Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 As for clays, I'd be jubilant if I could find a clay ground near me... They allseem to be miles to the East of me. Jim there is a Clay Club at Rufforth which is just of North ring road less than 5 miles from City centre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pointer Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 hey Jim, having just read the post's it may sound that people are giving you a hard time!! but it is purely sound advice from experienced shooters... If you are ever down in the Sleaford Lincs area PM me and I will gladly take you out for a days shooting. You can use one of my shotguns under my supervision. Someone gave me a lucky break many years ago and long may the trend continue.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_whitson Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) pointer: Heh, I'm sure it's no more than i deserve! (the hard time i mean . As for your offer, you're very kind. You're pretty close to her indoors's best mate, so you may get a PM sooner than you thought... ;-). If you ever need anything butchered in Yorkshire, I'm your man... Or, more likely, a 'puter fixed. :-D martin: Yup. Using my patented doing-things-really-slowly technique, I'm getting together a little group to go bash some clays. I reckon it'd be a good way to get some lazy students interested in something worthwhile. others: Thanks for your help; I've done extensive field tests (i.e. destroyed several hundred cans :-), and I think you're right. :-(. Please don't think I doubted your collective wisdom; I just like to see things for myself. I've found that I can only reliably hit a notional 'kill-zone' at ~10-15yds. That might be O.K. for dispatching trapped pests I suppose, but I wouldn't risk it with a live, moving target. By the way: if anyone doesn't have gmail already, I'll happily hit you up; I seem to have fifty invites! Edited February 22, 2005 by jim_whitson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.