Why are semi-autos frowned on?

[Guest long-tail]

lot of tongue in cheek when it comes to paying for shooting,i agree lot work gone into providing sport for the guns,how much they pay chartered surveyors,electricians and plumbers now days its just not for me thats all atb in sport

Edited December 4, 2011 by long-tail

[pipcock 21]

I am surprised by this thread. I have a peg on a syndicate shoot there are ten gun (some of the chaps have taken a half gun so take it in turns with a mate) and we lay down birds each year and run the shoot between us. We always give a few days away to friends and often get invited to other shoots in return.

 

We also take a few days on other shoots.

 

We all wear traditional shooting cloths, its especially important on other peoples shoots.

 

Its about showing respect, to the birds, to the gamekeeper who has worked tirelessly all year so you can get a few days sport, to the owners of the shoot etc etc

 

As has already been said this is not a 'toffs' sport on the syndicate we are all working men, I am a chartered surveyor, there are three electrician, a plumber, a guy who owns a small plant hire company, not one of us is a toff! we are all mates and we are all mates with the beaters too, after every shoot we all go down the pub for a few beers and a meal.

 

The idea that its just toffs that shoot is totally outdated.

well said that man .............

ditto to all said above, apart from the meal bit at the end

[Nik_B 3,790]

 

 

We all wear traditional shooting cloths, its especially important on other peoples shoots.

 

Its about showing respect, to the birds, to the gamekeeper who has worked tirelessly all year so you can get a few days sport, to the owners of the shoot etc etc

 

 

Yeh respect is what it's about. Making the effort is a good sign of respect to the organisers and they deserve it really...

 

 

Someone I know that is involved in a shoot told me of a let day where a few of the guns turned up and hammered the bag before lunch which meant that the unfortunates who didn't get a bird put over them yet had to chip in to pay for the extra birds shot later on. Those same guys then didn't even bother to stick around for the meal provided at the end of the day. Completely disrespectful.

[dicehorn 38]

I am surprised by this thread. I have a peg on a syndicate shoot there are ten gun (some of the chaps have taken a half gun so take it in turns with a mate) and we lay down birds each year and run the shoot between us. We always give a few days away to friends and often get invited to other shoots in return.

 

We also take a few days on other shoots.

 

We all wear traditional shooting cloths, its especially important on other peoples shoots.

 

Its about showing respect, to the birds, to the gamekeeper who has worked tirelessly all year so you can get a few days sport, to the owners of the shoot etc etc

 

As has already been said this is not a 'toffs' sport on the syndicate we are all working men, I am a chartered surveyor, there are three electrician, a plumber, a guy who owns a small plant hire company, not one of us is a toff! we are all mates and we are all mates with the beaters too, after every shoot we all go down the pub for a few beers and a meal.

 

The idea that its just toffs that shoot is totally outdated.

 

+1 on what he said - I have also been known to wear my breeks when deer stalking, mainly because they are comfortable and also would never be seen wearing camo . camo manufacturers are conning people about camo - what pigeons/deer/rabbits see is movement, what you wear makes no difference. Dressing up on shoot days in breeks etc is a custom - long may it continue. On my syndicate a guest turning up with a semi would not be allowed to shoot - we are not stuffy - far from it. I have been on other shoots where I have had to borrow a side by side.

[brett1985 1]

my girlfriends dad runs a rough shoot over at raf portreath, and thats a formal dress code. ive just obtained a tweed flat cap, moleskin trousers, shirt, jumper, tie etc as to fit in, and at the moment, im only a beater! its more tradition than anything.

and as for semi-autos..... if i wanted to rock up with one on that shoot, it wouldnt be too much of a problem, however, it would be seen as very un-sportsmen like to be using a 3 shot gun, when everyone else only has 2 shots available.......

 

other than that though, its pretty much anything go's, lol.

[ChickenFarmer 0]

Hmm.

 

I feel that my Remington 870 pump action is not exactly the safest thing around.

 

I'm happy using it when after Mr Fox on my own land ... but I'm nervous when anyone borrows it.

 

You simply can't tell if it's safe or not.

 

However my Browning A5 semi has a clearly (?) open chamber when empty. Not perfect - but better.

 

.A local clay shoot says I can take either along ... but I'll get some of those brightly coloured dummy 'flag' cartridges to shove in the chambers first!

[Callum. 2]

Would much rather wear tweed etc; than turn up in trackies and look like a chav or whatever alternatives you may have..

I feel tradition has it's place,and a day a week dressing up in tweed can't be that bad,especially as everyone else is...

[bert69 5]

On our shoot we are all working men with such varied occupations as engineer (me), plumber, electrician, farmer, caravan repairer, fencing contractor, tree surgeon, carpenter, banker, estate agent. Hardly high tea and bum stroking at the big house is it? Yet, after all the swearing, piss taking and practical jokes of the work parties we all turn out in moleskins, breeks, flat caps, shirt and tie. It's a matter of respect and tradition, we've allowed most of our traditions to be eroded, not this though please!

[3175darren 1,100]

Safety is a concern to some, but I feel there are an awful lot of traditionalists out there who prefer to see side by sides on 'their' driven game shoots.

Hes right generally the shoot captain can see at a glance that the gun is open,hence safe side by sides were the traditional but even the modern hammerless ones,were looked at cautiously after hammer guns, over and unders same thing, but can easily be seen as open from distance by the captain,however semi autos you cant and you are never sure when looking from the side, only the gun handler knows for sure if its loaded or not,thing is the shoot captain is the guy who spends a lot of his time monitoring safety, and he has the task of speaking to people should they be any concerns, and that can be a thankless task believe me,its easier not to allow them,although I believe Berreta have one out that breaks like a side by side I have never seen one mind, But still the worst thing a shoot can be labelled with is unsafe,

[foxing machine 144]

allns sould be fround up on imo lol :laugh:

guns are for tools

[Night Hunter 109]

I think that on shoots semi autos are frowned upon ,when I use mine at clays I have the sling fitted so that the gun is carried vertical between traps and I also fit a luminous plastic clip called a "SAF-T PLUG" to show clearly that the gun is empty,this clip as fitted before I leave each trap.

 

Heres the plug I use.

Edited January 1, 2012 by Night Hunter

[matt_hooks 188]

The clay shoot I use insist on carrying semi's in a slip between stands, which is fair enough and easy to abide by. I also use a safety flag, which is basically a plastic cartridge with a long bright flag on it that shows the breech is empty. eBay link

[salop sniper 32]

I deffinately agree with the wearing of country clothing such as tweed and breeks etc. and I agree the birds should be sporting if a shot is taken at them and not on the deck.

 

However, I think the claim of semi's being unsafe is tosh to a large extent. The most unsafe practise I have seen with any gun has been by some of the old boys on the shoot I beat on and that's with sxs. The only shotgun accidents I've herd of has been with sxs's and O/U, am not saying that none have happened with semis but I Havent herd of one. With regards shot capacity the shooter should be respectfull and only load 2 at a time to keep them on a equal playing field with the sxs and O/U users.

And on clay grounds my personal feeling is all guns should be in slips when not in use on a stand, this is also beneficial in protecting your gun and hard earned spent on it from damage.

 

I for one would like to see semis on driven shoots from time to time. My new Benelli as it happens fits me better than any other over and under or side by side that I hav tried to date.

 

I think safety is a reflection on the shooter not the type of gun under his or her arm !

 

Safe shooting is no accident !

[JonathanKent 16]

Salop Sniper I agree, in part, with what your saying all guns are potentially leathal weapons. And they are only ever as safe as the persons who is holding them.

 

However, the point about a semi auto on a driven day, or at the clayfield, is that unlike a sxs or an o/u everyone around you cannot see at a glance that the gun is broken and therefore unable to discharge a cartridge.

 

Its not really about how safe you are with your gun, its about other peoples confidence in their fellow guns.

 

As has been said you can get breech flags etc but even these are not as visually obvious as a clearly broken gun.

[jackinbox99 41]

In my experience at clay grounds ive found some people are funny about semi`s, and as one of the guns I tend to use is a semi I used to get some stick for it. But this was mainly because it wasnt a o/u rather than it "not being easy to see its safe". But then I also got frowns at one clay shoot because i was wearing jeans and a hoodie rather than a wax jacket, but I soon shut those particular shooters up when I got a 47/50 which was better than they got.

 

At the end of the day any gun, regardless of whether its a semi should be pointed somewhere safe when not in use - so down at the ground or up in the air, and not waved about all over the shop. So it should be easy to see if a semi is safe or not. Some of it is snobbery, but a lot of it is about trusting your fellow shooters, but then im not sure id fancy going shooting with a bunch of guys i did not already know were safe. My local clay range knows im safe regardless of whether im shooting with a semi and wearing a hoodie. They happily let me go out and do my own thing and even happily send new inexperienced guys out with me so I can show them the ropes.

Edited January 4, 2012 by jackinbox99