If you have ever fired a flintlock, you will know that it feels as if the world has suddenly slipped into slow motion when you compare the experience to that of firing your modern shotgun. When you pull the trigger on the flintlock, you are very aware of a sort of “click – fizz – bang”…
Guns
What if I load airgun pellets backwards?
Q: I’ve heard that loading airgun pellets backwards is a great way to achieve a dum-dum e ffect when controlling pests such as rats. Does it work and could it damage the barrel of my airgun? A: Loading airgun pellets backwards is unlikely to harm your barrel but it is not conducive to accurate…
What gun for a novice shooter – who’s also a big, rugby playing lad?
Q: I have recently taken a real interest in shooting through my girlfriend’s family. I will be looking to get myself a gun for next season and was wondering what to get. I am 6ft 2in and 104kg, so a relatively big, rugby-playing lad. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.…
Can I break my gun down into parts to store it?
Q: I need to buy a gun safe for my house, but I don’t have room for a full-size cabinet. I will therefore need to break my gun down into its parts to store it. Will this cause any problems with the gun? A: None whatsoever. Shotguns are designed to be broken…
We test the Webley & Scott 1012 Sporter
Tester: Doug Florent Occupation: Owner of Oxford Gun Company Age: 72 Years shooting: 40 Type of shooting: Competition clay shooting Having shot at competitive level for many years, Doug knows his way round a Sporter. As he assembles the gun he notes the deep, polished blacking and the quality of the gun’s components. “This looks a good gun for the money.…
Do I have to tell police when I move my gun cabinet?
A: Firearm security is the responsibility of the certificate holder not the police. Read condition 4(a) on your certificate. Police involvement is limited to advice only. You don’t need to tell police when you move your gun cabinet There is no statutory duty or need to tell the police that you have moved your cabinet. If you do…
Wanted – a bargain claybuster to replace old Browning B325
This reader’s Browning B325 could date back to 1995 when the model was introduced, and I am guessing it is around 25 years old. These guns keep their value, and a reasonable example is worth at least £500 on the secondhand market. However, this gun’s owner tells me it has definitely seen better days. The woodwork is scratched,…
First gun advice for my son. A 20-bore or a .410? What’s best?
A: Mike says: It depends on the sort of shooting your son is going to be doing. If his first gun is just for a bit of general vermin control around a farm, then the .410 might be okay. However, if he’s going to do clay, game or pigeons over decoys, then I’d go for the 20-bore and…
Our 10 most-read gun reviews
1. Favourite .22lr rifles Which rimfire rifle should you choose? Should you go for a heavy varmint barrel? Will you choose a synthetic or more traditional wood stock? Opt for the ability to change barrels and calibres? Most gun cabinets will have at least one rimfire in residence for pest control and…
Guns to buy before the price goes up
If I was thinking of buying a new gun I would be tempted to do it right now, as prices could well go up quite steeply in the not-too distant future. It’s because of the decline in value of Sterling, which is bound to affect all imports soon. At the time of writing, £1 was worth only…
Lincoln Vogue over-and-under 20-bore
Is appearance important? Of course it is, especially when it is your shotgun, your pride and joy, whether family heirloom, sought-after second-hand model or brand new “just out of the box”. But beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and what suits one owner may not appeal to another. There are certain basics that most shooters…
Don’t discount second-hand side-by-side shotguns
A: English boxlock shotguns represent fantastic value for money because they are rather unfashionable at the moment. The Italian over-and-under carries all before it. A boxlock made between the wars or just after World War II is a classic handmade sporting gun. So is a hammergun. Both represent very good value for money in the current market. Assessing a…
Cohabiting? What’s the law on shotgun licences and gunsafes?
A: It always makes practical sense for cohabitees to have each other’s shotguns listed on both their individual certificates. If that is done, there never can be any question about either party having access to the other’s shotguns. The same holds true for Section 1 Firearms but then both parties will have to satisfy the “good reason” test…
The gun I always wish I had – the Perazzi MX12 Pro Sport
In Italy in 1946 life must have been tough for a young lad with an ambition. In recent years the country, under Mussolini, had gone to war on the German side, but had surrendered and joined the Allies in 1943. Then came the struggle to throw out Hitler’s forces, and the eventual capture and execution of Mussolini by a…
BSA Mercury airsporter reviewed
In the 1970s, when I was a teenager and mad keen on air rifles, there were two camps you fell into. You were either a British BSA or Webley shooter or a German Weihrauch or Feinwerkbau user. I was defi nitely in the Teutonic camp as my Weihrauch HW35 went everywhere I did. However, as pocket…
Three second-hand game guns worth looking at
ATA Arms Lightweight Field The late and much respected shooting writer Gough Thomas expressed the opinion that the ideal weight for a game gun to shoot 1oz of shot was 6lb, while 6lb 6oz was right for 1 1/16oz loads. The book in question – Shotguns & Cartridges for game and clays – was first published…
The rise of the over-and-under
On a shoot day in October I had a fascinating conversation with a fellow gun about his switch from a side-by-side to an over-under. After more than 30 extremely successful years of game shooting with the former, he decided the time had come to seek out even greater consistency, particularly on the high birds, and make the switch.…
Second-hand guns for gamekeepers and clayshooters
Winchester Model 23 Side-by-side classes in major sporting contests don’t seem to be as popular as they were, which is a pity because they formed a friendly link between clay and gameshooting. Nevertheless, using a side-by-side for club Sporting targets can be great fun, as well as sharpening up the reflexes ready for the autumn. Of course,…
The super cheap gun in my fantasy gunroom
To me the Baikal is in the same league as a 1940s prefab or a 1950s Ford Popular. The prefab gave ordinary folks a taste of living in a dry, well-designed, warm house with an indoor toilet, a bathroom and a fridge, while the dear old Popular, with its crude side-valve engine and cart-spring suspension, gave working…
My first gun – a Baikal single-barrel 12-bore
Strictly speaking my Baikal single-barrel 12-bore was not my first shotgun. That honour goes to a BSA Snipe, a single-barrel shotgun given to me by my cousin Geoff Hoyle. He was a target pistol shooter of some renown, an editor of a target-shooting magazine and really wasn’t that interested in shotguns. He generously passed the Snipe on to me as…