1st shotgun

[halamrose 24]

I had my FAC and SGC for nearly a week and needed to buy a gun so I went to a local gun shop and said 'I've seen second hand over-and-unders for £100, what sort of gun would I get for that?'. After a chat about what I want to shoot: rabit, pigeon and some clays to practice, his answer was it would be like buying a £100 car and he started talking a bundget of £800 - ouch. Now I know my car is a bit ragged but its worth more than £100 because I put new (well, part-worn) tyres on the front and filled it with petrol.

 

Any way to cut a long story short I found myself near the Barn Shop near Royston so Popped in and they had a old Baikal O/U with a repaired stock for £50 so I baught it. Took it home and cleaned it twice and tried to figgure out what all the little levers and cams around the forend/knuckle do, I tightend the screws in the forend and it instantly felt more solid.

 

So I went down the farm today to see if it would blow up in my face and a few practice shots and to let my boy, now 9, to practice his driving a bit. I paced out 30 yards and put a carboard box on the grass to pop at. I took a shot but the box didn't move so I went to look at it and found it was full of holes - nice one!

 

So to check gun fit/eye hight I put up a sheet of wallpaper between a couple of bamboo kanes, drew a cross, and took a couple of shots, and was pretty happy with the result, centre of patten was a hands width high and a smidge to the left. So I'm ready to have a go at some clays tomorrow at our village clay club: 6 to 8 men and some sheep if its a buisy as last time.

 

So I recon my car is just to good for me and I should sell it and find one for £50.

 

Thanks guys for your advice over the past months. I'm on the lookout for a budget FAC Air Rifle some time, but I guess I'll get to know the shotty before getting worked up about that.

 

Cheers,

 

H

[waidmann 105]

a good choice bud,baikal are robust.

when you have more cash you can get something else( and save this one for the lad or he will never forgive you ).

i have two baikal s/s in the safe and use them all of the time,with shotguns its not the "price of the boat,its the quality of the helmsman".

enjoy the start in shooting clays.if i may give you a tip, when you bust a clay remember that picture(barrel and clay) and just do it again

 

practice makes perfect,don't get frustrated and keep at it.