Shooting

[Jamie Copeland]

Any of you lot shoot?

I'm going to a clay shooting taster to see if I enjoy it.

Ideally I'd like to shoot small game and know folk who'd take me wildfowling and pest shooting.

Just interested in how folk get started. Shotguns seem bloody expensive.

 

[Harbo]

Just Rats with my air rifle

Rod

 

[t8hants]

I only put expensive holes in cardboard, ranging from just under 1/4" up to just over 1/2"

 

[mailee]

I used to be into shooting before Hungerford, full bore pistols and rifles but gave up after the aforementioned to avoid having my guns confiscated. During that time I did a little clay shooting and really enjoyed it. Only drawback was the cost compared to pistol and rifle shooting. I used to load my own cartridges so making it cheaper but never really got into shotguns other than occasional shoots. i found it strange not having a front sight when I started. :lol:

 

[Water-Mark]

Just targets and arrows.

I found firearms shooting to expensive, i get my "bullets" back.

 

[Benchwayze]

You should be able to book a day's shoot at a clay pigeon range. The guns and cartridges etc are usually supplied. You would enjoy it I'm sure. I did this a few years ago. The only targets I missed were the 'clay 'rabbits' that are rolled along the ground. My first attempt too, and I found it much easier hitting a flying target.

It was great fun, and it got me hooked. Every so often I get the urge to go again, but I can't cope with the walking these days. (hammer)

HTH

Cheers

 

[Claymore]

They are recruiting for soldiers at the moment and you even get to see the world, and best of all you don't have to buy your own gun. Better to shoot people than critters who can shoot back.

 

[Zeddedhed]

You don't need to spend a fortune to get a gun good enough for clay shooting.

I shoot on several local farms (pest control and some pheasant/partridge) and shoot clays fairly often.

None of my guns cost me more than £200 and they are all perfectly adequate for the job. Granted they are not as beautifully crafted as a Purdy or a Holland & Holland, or as well balanced as a competition grade Beretta, but they've put many 100's of kilos of food on the table and won me several £K at local clay shoots.

It's the cartridges that'll get you in the end - £250 per 1000 for an average load.

Having said that I love it. It gets me out, meet some interesting people and I do like a nice rabbit and pheasant casserole!!

 

[rafezetter]

I used to do clay pigeon in my mid teens with a 4/10 side by side. but the first time I went on an actual game shoot put me off, I guess I'm just too squeamish for the mess a shotgun can make of a small critter. I 've thought about trying clays again many a time but never really got around to it.

 

[adidat]

Oh yes. .410 - .44 magnum

Excellent hobbie but very expensive as above really.

As I don't yet reaload .44 special costs me almost 50p a bang!

Adidat

 

[sunnybob]

over 20 years of pistol and rifle shooting, 100's of 1000's of rounds fired. Used to reload 8 different calibers on a dillon 650 press.
Now I live in a country that allows only shotgun, so i do that.
As zedhead says, you dont need a multi thousand pound gun. I bought one brand new for £700, and that has won me a medal and will see me out.
Ammo here is 20 euro a 100. An afternoons shooting cost around 25 euro with all fees (but not including the beer afterwards)

 

[AJB Temple]

Yep. Have shot clays for years. Bought a second hand Beretta o/u many years ago which has served me very well after some stock mods. Not fanatical about it, but a clay shoot is a social occasion and good fun. Oddly enough I have never shot live game although currently I am tempted to deal that way with the endless rabbits that dig their way into our garden.

 

[Benchwayze]

They are recruiting for soldiers at the moment and you even get to see the world, and best of all you don't have to buy your own gun. Better to shoot people than critters who can shoot back.

I've heard of Army Veterans Clay, but I think at 77 I am finally over the hill! :lol:

 

[sunnybob]

The only thing I ever killed was a rabbit, with a shotgun. It was a vermin control thing, didnt want to eat it. I went to see if i would "enjoy" it. It did nothing for me so never went again.
i used to live next door to a hunter. He shot wood pigeon and rabbits by the hundred for farmers as vermin control, and deer for the meat.

 

[NazNomad]

Just Rats with my air rifle

Rod

Same ... and squirrels.

 

[Claymore]

Hey Naz....... try shooting our Squirrels lol
https://www.flickr.com/photos/39613787@ ... 696100555/

 

[NazNomad]

I wouldn't shoot a red one, even an unarmed red one. :-D

 

[finneyb]

I converse by email with a Vietnam vet and woodturner who makes hunting calls (duck, turkey etc) his strapline is

Old style calls for today's outdoorsman.
Combat Infantryman, the ultimate hunter where the prey shoots back.
"Illegitimus non carborundum est"

 

[Wildman]

Rats, squirrels, wabbits, and pigeon with an air rifle, don't eat the rats but do everything else.

 

[blackrodd]

22 rimfire and a 22 air rifle for pests, rats rabbits etc
Rodders