Airguns?
- Thread starter thebrown83
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Yep got a Falcon fn19 pcp with hawkwe scope and rowan 8 shot adapter, use it for hunting, rabbits and pigeons, all kills are clean an all come home for the pot, only do plinking/target shooting when ive fiddled with the rifle and want to set my zero, although i was given a resettable target setup for crimbo so may have some fun with that.
I have a few. An Airarms under lever is my favorite in .177. A couple of German break barrels also in .177. My competition gun is a German FWB single stroke pneumatic, and my FT gun is a pre-charged Daystate. They are all scoped, except the target rifle that is iron sighted to comply with ISU rules.
Wolf
Wolf
I have a webley sport cock and a west lake .22 Webley is in Neath gun shop since 27th Sept changing the spring...taking years!!
Hammerli 850 magnum, barrel shortened and supressor fitted. co2 powered, .22 bolt action with 8 round rotary magazine, It is very good, I'm shooting 1 inch groups from 40 yards with the occasional stray which might be the pelets, i'm not sure yet.
I've been obsessing abotu camouflage recently due to the area i shoot in, the warren is in the middle of a wide open field and there is vitually no cover within range of them. Those rabbit really know where to dig a warren!. I needed some camouflage clothing and opted to try the new Multi Cam, not the UK mtp, the american version but it's the same colours just different patterns. I did my rifle as well, since being all black it was giving me away.
Turned out quite well i think
I've been obsessing abotu camouflage recently due to the area i shoot in, the warren is in the middle of a wide open field and there is vitually no cover within range of them. Those rabbit really know where to dig a warren!. I needed some camouflage clothing and opted to try the new Multi Cam, not the UK mtp, the american version but it's the same colours just different patterns. I did my rifle as well, since being all black it was giving me away.
Turned out quite well i think
I have an old BSA Airsporter, a little AirArms S200mkI with .177 & .22 bolt & barrel kit with the logun suppressor, 2 spare tanks. Also custom .22 bullpup sidelever.
It's just a shame that the current climate - especially in Scotland, has AG's so villified that the sport is definetly in decline - you cannot possibly attempt plinking or target shooting on the beach, the woods, or even your own back garden anymore. I heard a genuine story recently of a hunter who was using his PCP AG with full permission on private land well out of the town in my local area & became the focus of a helecopter & the target of an ARU after a passing do-gooder got on their mobil Phone. It does'nt really help when the media and much of officialdom refer to AG's as 'Air Weapons' - a weapon by definition is something that has been designed with hostile intent.
I joined the BASC a couple of years back & pay the airgun membership supposedly because membership gives me a valid reason to own them when the amnesty finally does come. (as it surely will in Scotland). On the subject of quarry - the odd rabbit or rat - I got the .177 conversion kit because I want a cheap field target setup.
Looking for a peice of local land to shoot on but it's not easy.
Anyone else think it's more difficult to go shooting these days?
It's just a shame that the current climate - especially in Scotland, has AG's so villified that the sport is definetly in decline - you cannot possibly attempt plinking or target shooting on the beach, the woods, or even your own back garden anymore. I heard a genuine story recently of a hunter who was using his PCP AG with full permission on private land well out of the town in my local area & became the focus of a helecopter & the target of an ARU after a passing do-gooder got on their mobil Phone. It does'nt really help when the media and much of officialdom refer to AG's as 'Air Weapons' - a weapon by definition is something that has been designed with hostile intent.
I joined the BASC a couple of years back & pay the airgun membership supposedly because membership gives me a valid reason to own them when the amnesty finally does come. (as it surely will in Scotland). On the subject of quarry - the odd rabbit or rat - I got the .177 conversion kit because I want a cheap field target setup.
Looking for a peice of local land to shoot on but it's not easy.
Anyone else think it's more difficult to go shooting these days?
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Ive got an Air arms TX200 mk3 somewhere, had it for years and used to take it out plinking. Havent been shooting for years, just cant find anywhere I can take it without fear of armed police turning up.
I have an AA S410k and a Theoben SLR 98, both in .22. Used for hunting primarily with the odd zeroing/plinking session thrown in.
Yes it's a nightmare for those of us that are not land owners, which is practically everyone. The land is owned by the very few and the rest of us are trespassers. I think that this is a far graver problem than air weapons can ever be.
I look to Scotland to produce more sensible and fair laws in general such as the Land Reform Act 2003, selfishly i don't want Scotland to gain independence as it leaves me with little hope for the rest of the UK. In terms of Air gun shooting in Scotland, the place is so vast and mostly uninhabited that it must surely be possible to find a quiet corner where your in no danger of hurting anyone. I respect land owners rights but i think that a balance must be found, failing that then it should become easier to 'ask permission' which is so readily quoted from the law. The person that wrote that law either had never tried to locate a land owner to ask for permission or probably is a land owner who does not care because he's alright.
You have the land registry, who, for a fee, will attempt to provide contact details of an area of land, i think it was £8 last time i checked. If you get lucky within the first few attempts then i guess thats ok but if you have to keep on asking then this could be a very expensive way to go.
The area i shoot in has a verbal agreement between me and the tenant who rents it from the land owner. While this is not exactly to the letter of the law, no money is being exchanged so the tenant is not sub-letting and therefore he is within his rights to grant access to me. I got lucky having be caught trespassing in a corner of his field whilst carving a longbow, once i explained what i was doing he was absolutely fine about me being there, on subsequent meetings where we passed each other and stooped for a chat i asked if he minded me shooting a few rabbits. He was not overly keen as a footpath runs along one side of the field but as long as i'm 100 meters away from there and shooting away into a backstop, he's fine about it. And he gets a rabbit when i see him.
If every chance encounter could be this way...
On the subject of banning air guns, I tried to buy a repeating CX4 storm recently due to the short barrel and high magazine capacity i thought it would be a good second rifle for those quick shots when stalking. It turns out that both of the semi auto air rifles on the market, the cx4 storm and the crossman nightstalker have been purposely de-tuned to less than 400fps and have smooth bore barrels so are not accurate or powerful enough to hunt with.
This is frustrating since a semi auto air rifle is not illegal. Apparently, The government have told Crossman and Umerex that if they do start selling full powered, rifled semi auto air guns in the UK then they will just go ahead and ban them with an amendment to the law. So we are left with two pretty useless guns.
And there we have it, it is virtually impossible to hunt legally without a firearms certificate and large amount of land that you either own, or know somebody that owns. But still, i very often hear shotguns going off in the woods around me and i know of a 10 acre woodland that has pheasant feeding barrels and pens in it, the birds are being reared there specifically for shooting yet there is a public footpath running all the way around it which makes shooting there illegal as you are always too close to a footpath. It still goes on though and nobody has ever been shot or threatened so i guess with an appropriate amount of common sense, courtesy and good intent, there is potential to go shooting.
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Great post BAS. It's kind of put a dampener on me looking into to getting into it though. Was taught to shoot by my grandad as a nipper and aside from a stint of lamping abroad, I haven't since. 
I've got an Air Arms SE90 - beautiful gun but very heavy & haven't used it in a while. Must get my range set up!
feinwerkbau .22 sport something or other, more accurate than me atm, good fun will take hunting soon
Great post BAS. It's kind of put a dampener on me looking into to getting into it though. Was taught to shoot by my grandad as a nipper and aside from a stint of lamping abroad, I haven't since.
Thanks mrcairney, i dont mean to be overly pessimistic, dawn and dusk are good times to be out if you know what i mean. Dont forget the many target shooting clubs out there. I'd tell you a story about those too but i dont want to further dampen your spirits!
It *is* possible to go shooting, just a few hoops to jump through first.
I completely agree with BAS about making it easier to ask permission as well as the damage popular media has had on the sport. I was also taught to shoot as a lad both by my dad and later scouts, and think that it is a crying shame that something that is a thriving sport in certain countries is vilified in this one because of a few numpties!!
just my 2cents
Dave
just my 2cents
Dave
Please do. It's no good to walk around the world with rose tinted glasses on. I might start a new thread about how to get into shooting as I don't want to de-rail this thread. But I've checked and a BASC northern office is a bus ride from me and there's a shooting club over in the next town. I should point out that game isn't my initial aim (excuse the pun) but I'm open to all aspects.
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