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dadioles

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Everything posted by dadioles

  1. dadioles
    Now it is getting silly. When I come back in the next life it will be as God and there will be a few changes but until then.... As I said before, life is not fair. Farmers get subsidies, unmarried mothers get their rent paid, wealthy old age pensioners get free bus passes, the English pay 7 quid or more for every item on a prescription and the Scots get it free. I work damn hard, abide by the law (mostly) and get hammered because I am an easy target while "travellers" are all called John Smith and skip bail into the next county and are untouchable. Am I going to go to an ea
  2. dadioles
    My guess is that you will probably be ok but you will only find out by applying. I urge everyone to read the excellent article about police cautions which can be downloaded from the BASC web site, go to www.basc.org.uk and do a search for Police Cautions, it exists as a pdf.
  3. dadioles
    Amazing... well maybe not. Landowners are sick to death of people taking advantage, round here farmers have had to spend a fortune erecting huge steel gates at field entrances to block vehicles. It is like being under seige. If it isn't bolted down it will be nicked, and probably if it is bolted down as well. We have one of you (is that a marshmellow stuck on your face?) stating that he will happily shoot in the dark at night when he cannot properly identify what he is shooting at based purely on the reflection of a pair of eyes and it seems that no-one apart from myself finds that una
  4. dadioles
    Whoa... Steady on old chap... Yes, I agree with your sentiments but you do shoot yourself in the foot so think a bit before you mouth off in writing in public. The risk of eye damage is from very high intensity IR lasers that are virtually invisible and not eye safe, they are not taken seriously enough. Shine one of those into your eye (or those of an animal) and it can burn the retina. What is more likely though is that a lamper will point 500w of halogen light at an image intensifier and damage a shooters expensive night vision equipment. More seriously though... If you are telling
  5. dadioles
    I am not clear about how firearms get bought and sold and documented on the FAC. Specifically moderators - technically they seem to be classed as firearms (sometimes). If I have a SAK moderator listed on my FAC for use with an HMR and the moderator starts to get chewed up by the hot gasses how do I go about (officially) disposing of the old SAK and buying a new one or possibly another make? In reality, it is easiest to pop along to the gun shop and buy a new SAK declaring that it is for an air rifle so no hassle and no paperwork. Get home, throw the old one away, job done. What
  6. dadioles
    Seems I am back to this a bit late, but if you have to shim your scope or run out of adjustment play at .22lr distances you seriously need to throw away the scope and start again! You are spot on chickenman. Set the scope turrets to their centre position and use thin plastic shims to get close. Some scopes just don't have enough adjustment in their turrets and you can never be too sure how things will line up. A scope adjusted so that its "springs" are near centre works better. The Nikon Monarch series are pretty good scopes but you run out of clicks really quickly if it is not setup p
  7. dadioles
    The Pulsar Challenger GS addon works well with my Hawke Eclipse 4-16x and I use it at 6x as that gives the clearest image. Switching on the crosshair illumination of the Hawke would be a bad thing!! not a bad idea to take the battery out. As others have said - you do need parallax adjustment, preferably side focus unless you have long arms, and you can get the cross hairs nice and sharp as well as the target. No problems head shooting rabbits at 50-60 yards with 22LR and that is as much as you need at night. You do need extra illumination, the built in IR is only good for a few yards and c
  8. dadioles
    I think you missed my point Matt, or more likely I was not clear (and I did not even mention cleared land). A 1 day course is, I think, a good idea for people applying for their first licence, a one-off. It would be an effective "hands on" extended interview attended by the FEO and makes sure that a new shooter has got the basics covered. A bit like the CBT (compulsary basic training) that motorcyclists have to do before being let loose on the roads. At the moment you fill in the right form, smile at the right people bolt a steel box to the wall and now have a gun (or several). Possibl
  9. dadioles
    I use an Anschutz 1517 with a 14" barrel and DM80 moderator topped by a Nikon Monarch 8-32 x 50 scope. In the light of experience I suggest buy something with a short barrel as it is much more convenient and every bit as accurate. The DM80 is more expensive than SAK but having used both I would choose the DM80 for HMR every time. Do get a good scope and it must have side parallax adjustment. Something that zooms to about 24x is ideal but not less than 16x, my 32x scope is going a bit too far. I only know CZ and Anschutz, both are excellent and I have no reason to doubt the accu
  10. dadioles
    If the FEO does not have confidence in your judgment and does not think that you have common sense and the ability and knowledge to decide what is both safe and legal then he should not be allowing you to have a firearm. On the other hand if he considers that you are a fit and proper person who can be trusted then he should let you get on with it as when push comes to shove it is you that makes the decision whether to fire, not him. By all means have a long conversation with you about what is safe and pass on his knowledge and advice, such as don't shoot prone on flat land as it creates a gre
  11. dadioles
    When you get your actual licence please post the exact wording of your "condition" as what I have read so far seems a bit odd. Have they really made it a condition that you cannot use your gun within 50 feet of the road or was it just in conversation? Similarly with shooting prone, is it verbal advice or a written condition. Why, for example, should you be prohibited from shooting prone when practicing on targets at a range? Such conditions applied specifically to named permissions may not be unreasonable but surely not as a blanket condition. What happens if you get another permission in
  12. dadioles
    Yet another case of inconsistency between police forces making them look stupid and putting us, the licence fee paying shooter, in an uncertain position regarding the law. Unfortunately some FEO's just do not know their subject, how many of them get out and shoot with the range of weapons they are expected to have knowledge of? I would not mind betting that most are, for example, shotgun shooters who seldom, if ever, fire .22 or HMR or heavier calibres - I am sure they do their best, and the job is a lot harder than some might think, but are the FEO's given enough consistent support and gu
  13. dadioles
    Put in for 600 to hold and 500 to buy, same as .22 I may have misread your post but rather than hmr instead of .22 try and keep a .22 slot and have the hmr as well as the .22, that way you keep your options open. The police are ok with you having both as they do different jobs. Your argument will be along the lines of .22 for shorter ranges and quiet at night, the hmr for longer ranges particularly during the day. You also have the option of dedicated night vision on the .22. Obviously don't forget moderator and expanding ammo.
  14. dadioles
    Interesting choice, probably goes against all the advice given here. Do you really want to mess around swapping barrels? It will be interesting to hear what your FEO has to say, please let us know.
  15. dadioles
    An HMR would be a bit silly on a plot that size where there is so much cover enabling you to hide behind trees and bushes. If it has not been shot before the rabbits will not be spooked so getting within 50 yards or so should be easy. Moderated .22LR is ideal as the police will be happy with it and no-one will even hear that you are there. Have a word with the farmer who owns the adjoining field as you could then walk his boundary and you could shoot towards the hedge without worrying about bullets entering his property, which without his permission would be illegal, armed trespass is not a
  16. dadioles
    One more thing to add - get a good scope. It sounds stupid but a good scope can cost as much (or a whole lot more) as the gun. Side focus (parallax) is not something I would ever be without but a lot of scopes will only focus down to about 50 yards, not too much of a problem if you reduce the zoom. For head shots on rabbits it helps to have quite a bit of magnification and 16x is ok but no need to go above 24x, my 32x Nikon Monarch is nice but less may have been better. It is at dusk that you really appreciate a good scope especially if looking slightly into sun. For a .22LR most moderat
  17. dadioles
    I agree with all that has been said, different tools for different jobs. I too use both. Looking at it from a slightly different angle. If I had to choose between my .22 and the HMR and was only allowed to keep one of them which one would I keep. That is really quite tough. I guess I would, maybe, scratches head... choose (long pause for effect - been watching tv game shows..... ).22LR If push came to shove the .22LR does everything the HMR does but cheaper and a lot quieter, only sacrificing range, and you can get closer with good fieldcraft. The HMR allows me to be a bit lazy by sh
  18. dadioles
    Hello Harry Please don't read this the wrong way, it is sincerely meant. I am nowhere near Kent and cannot help you but can I give you one tip. Your short note read extremely well and I warmed to you, the only bit that let you down was the bit where you said that you are not some f*****g idiot.... That rather made you out to be what you say you are not. When you are writing "blind" to people you have never met you can only be judged by what you write and how you write it. I thought that some of the follow up comments were rather harsh, demoralising and unhelpful, so ignore them. Stick at
  19. dadioles
    Why do you say "Don't use it for bunnies"? The HMR is an excellent gun for shooting rabbits between about 50 - 150 yards. No need for holdover between 50 - 110 as it is pretty much flat over that distance when zeroed at 100 yards. Obviously if you take a body shot it will be very dead but inedible. Just take head shots and you have an excellent meal for the table. The .22LR is more suitable for rabbits at night or out to a little less than 100 yards, again head shots please unless just killing as pest control rather than the table. Do get a good scope, zoom to 24 x mag is really useful.
  20. dadioles
    Those videos were nice to see but the 50 yard shooting with the .22 was complete rubbish. How were they grouped so badly? At that range the .22 should have grouped just as well as the HMR without any difficulty at all. I was very enthusiastic about Digital night vision at one time and placed an order for the Pulsar Digisight N550 which I had previously trialled. Being a bit of a dab hand with computers and technology it rather appealed to me. I also own the Yukon NV Ranger digital monocular (the one that look like binoculars). I did not buy the Digisight in the end but plumped for the Pu
  21. dadioles
    I have never been ferreting and do not know anything about it. Earlier someone mentioned that they will soon stop ferreting and I got the impression that it was because the rabbits had started breeding. Can someone explain a bit more? Is there a ferreting season? Les
  22. dadioles
    I use my bipods mounted on the guns with their legs pointed forwards down the barrel when in the folded position. No problems with accuracy. I have made up an adapter for a photographic tripod which allows me to shoot standing up with a stable platform. A bit heavy to carry around but I tend to be a bit old and stationary so not a problem, with it I can reliably take standing 150 yard plus head shots on rabbits with the HMR. Laying down on the golf course grass is ok with a short bipod but not in the tall weeds at the edge of a field. I don't do stealthy crawling!! Les
  23. dadioles
    The reality is that you will spend most of your time shooting rabbits and would also be very wise to spend a lot of time shooting targets at different ranges, easy to put 100 bullets through. Noise is a major consideration especially at night when the rabbits are easiest to get. Start with a .22LR CZ, you absolutely must have one, its the law (smile). Dedicated night vision (Gen II+) is a delight and gives you tremendous rabbit bashing capability, so much better than lamping, but expensive to buy, that gives you a weapon as quiet as an air rifle, cheap to feed, lethal, and great fun. In pra
  24. dadioles
    Thanks for that information a moderator does nothing to the velocity of the round, it will only change the harmonics of the barrel, so changing the POI, I had not really given it much thought but I guess it's quite obvious really. Always learning.... There have probably been about 1000 rounds through the SAK and I am very tempted by the DM80 and it will fit my short barrel with about half inch to spare. A bigger nuisance is the scope, it will need higher mounts, more money. When I was a lad, one of the village rogues had a .22 with a home made silencer (sounds more exciting tha
  25. dadioles
    I have a few SAK moderators and on the .22LR very good, no problems. My Anschutz .17HMR has a 14 inch barrel and the SAK moderator fitted to that is being eaten away inside due to the high temperature powder burn. The sharp baffle edges are becoming "chewed". Just recently I have noticed my groups opening up very slightly, more fliers, and wondered if the moderator could be having an affect. I did try shooting a group with the moderator removed and interestingly the shots landed quite a bit higher so a moderator does reduce velocity. There was no great improvement in group size though. (
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