We’re in the throes of a heatwave at the moment so it’s timely to offer some advice on dealing with the heat mirage that occurs when rifle shooting. Heat mirage – what causes it? When rifle shooting, heat mirage caused by heat rising from the ground or coming off a…
Advice
Our magazines – Shooting Times, Sporting Gun and Shooting Gazette answer your fieldsports questions with advice from experts at the very top of their field.
Our tips include help with gundog training, gun maintenance, shooting skills, legal issues, licensing, technical gun information, ammunition advice, cooking tips, shooting etiquette.
New to shooting?
If you’ve just started shooting you’ll find answers to questions like what is the best first gun or how to buy a gun second-hand. Also what to wear shooting and the legalities you need to know about.
Or do you have a good few seasons under your belt?
If you’re a more seasoned shooter you might have questions about your shooting technique and how to improve it. Or queries about the legalities of gun cabinets and shotgun licences.
Beating and picking-up | Gundog queries | Starting shooting | Shooting etiquette | Shooting clothing | Shotgun certificates and firearms licences | Gun cabinets | Legal answers | Shooting answers|
When deer stalking what’s the collective term for roe?
My deer stalking partner recently queried the collective name for a group of roe. Personally, I would just apply the term ‘herd’.
Can I call roe deer at anytime of the year?
Deer stalking: My deer stalking friend tells me it’s possible to ‘call’ Roe deer. Is this only possible at certain times of the year or can they be called anytime?
Running a shoot: how to make the numbers add up
It has often been said that the only way to make a small fortune from shooting is to start with a big one. There are so many variables, and so many things that are forgotten and left out of a shoot’s budget, that it is easy to get it wrong.…
What makes a gun a magnum? What does the term actually mean these days?
What makes a gun a magnum? Something I am asked from time to time is whether the terms “magnum” and “3in” are synonymous. If a gun is marked “magnum” does that mean it will have a 3in chamber — and is a 3in shotgun shell the same thing as a…
Phantom pregnancy? Or could our spaniel really be pregnant?
Is it a phantom pregnancy? Q: We have a young springer spaniel bitch that had her first season about six or seven weeks ago. We made sure she kept away from other dogs, but now her milk glands are developing and her nipples are becoming more prominent. Is this normal?…
Tick prevention in dogs
Did you know dogs can get Lyme disease too? Tick prevention in dogs is crucial and removing a tick quickly will prevent the disease being passed on. (Read more on Lyme disease here.) Symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs Fever Loss of appetite Swelling of joints If your dog has…
Burning questions about the end of lead shot
Is UK REACH compliance mandatory? If the proposals were to come into law next year they would be mandatory in England, Wales and Scotland. However, there is a lengthy scrutiny process ahead before any laws are drafted. The proposals and consultation are taking place under the UK’s post-Brexit chemical regulations,…
Is it the right weather to go shooting?
Weather, 25 May West Byfleet Weather +14 High: +17° Low: +7° Humidity: 78% Wind: SW – 26 KPH London Weather +13 High: +17° Low: +9° Humidity: 78% Wind: SW – 22 KPH New York Weather +19 High: +20° Low: +14° Humidity: 44% Wind: SSE – 19 KPH Use this weather…
How to clean your PCP airgun barrel
When you shoot a pellet, a small amount of lead gets deposited in the lands and grooves of the rifling in your barrel – and that’s a good thing. That lead provides a smoother, slicker surface for subsequent pellets to travel over. But the leading will keep getting thicker –…
Why gamekeeping is a calling
There was a time when the vast majority of keepers and stalkers owed their career to an accident of birth. I remember reading something years ago stating that, much like nuns, both nurses and gamekeepers must never be attracted to their chosen profession by high financial reward; gamekeeping is a…
The .25 airgun calibre performance
Q: I often go out rabbiting and am considering getting a new .25 air rifle. Does this calibre have enough hitting power for going after long-range rabbits? (Read Bruce Potts on the Harper Classic .25 HW90 in use for rats and pigeons.) A: The .25 airgun calibre is actually not…
How to buy high-quality poults
For most lowland shoots, the cost of pheasant and partridge poults is probably the biggest single outlay in the annual budget, so you want to spend your money wisely. Shopping around is clearly sensible, but beware of going on price alone. All poults are not equal and it is an…
How effective are comb raisers on a shotgun?
I want to raise the height of my comb and see that you can buy off the shelf raisers. How effective are they?
Revoking a firearms certificate: Alasdair Mitchell comments
Like it or not, society has decided that those of us with legally held firearms should not be allowed the full rights of a free-born citizen, as first enshrined in this country by the Magna Carta in 1215. I am not a lawyer. In discussing the intricacies of firearms licensing…
Shooting permissions – how you can maintain yours
For many people getting shooting permissions is one of the hardest aspects of shooting. And even when you’ve done so it doesn’t stop there. (Want to get a shooting permission? Find out how to go about it here) It is only too easy to lose your access. Sometimes it happens…
Where am I most likely to find deer antlers?
Everyone's expressing concern at increasing deer numbers, but why do I never find cast antlers during my walks through the woods?
Do I need to keep my guns at home for a shotgun licence?
Shotgun licence: If I apply for a shotgun certificate do the guns have to be kept at my home address?
What does the law say about carrying a shotgun in public?
I'm a student living in the centre of Cambridge and quite regularly cycle to shoot on land on the outskirts of the city where I have rights, or to our local clay ground.
How to deal with issues of spent shot and neighbours
Boundaries and spent shot Q: Our shoot’s boundary is next to a rural property that has several barns with corrugated iron roofs. Sometimes spent shot falls on these roofs, which has caused the owner to become very abusive to the point of saying that he will report us to the…