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matt_hooks

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Everything posted by matt_hooks

  1. matt_hooks
    Price now dropped to £1300, viewing welcome, come and have a haggle (bring the folding!)
  2. matt_hooks
    Please tell me you didn't accept that as a condition on your certificate? What about if you get some different ground?
  3. matt_hooks
    Looks like a nice little tool Moley, those Turkish guns seem to be improving daily! As for the S200, I seem to remember that it the gun that won the HFT trophy at the first meet. Speaking of which, has anyone seen/heard from Tony recently?
  4. matt_hooks
    Nope, it says you have to CONSIDER other methods. Doesn't mean you have to actually DO them, just show that you've thought about them, and tell them why shooting is the best method (foxes getting caught in Larsen's, scarers being ineffective etc.) It might look good in a defence if you HAVE tried something else, but it's not a necessity to benefit from the licence. Also, if you are shooting on someone elses land, then it is their responsibility to do the "other means" bit before they ask you to shoot.
  5. matt_hooks
    Chickenman, if you read my earlier post you will see that you are factually inaccurate in several things you've said. Bearing in mind this is taken verbatim from the relevant act of parliament. Also, regarding what you can and can't shoot. ALL wild birds are protected by law. It is only certain birds which you can shoot under the exemptions set out in the relevant general licences (which I also posted links to). You state that "You dont need the shooting rights to shoot a bird if you are allowed, as I am pretty sure a house unless its on a large chunk of land with access to shooti
  6. matt_hooks
    Both very nice guns. It would be worth sending them off to a competent gunsmith to get all the seals checked, and give them a good service, but either will be far more accurate than you are. The Titan was a very good rifle. Is yours the single shot? They are maybe slightly heavier than the "state of the art" and you might get a few more shots from a modern rifle, but the difference isn't as much as you'd think. As for the Daystate, well, there's a name to conjur with. Daystate are the Rolls Royce of air rifles. It might be heavy, but it'll do you proud accuracy wise, and seeing the Day
  7. matt_hooks
    £50 off eBay? You jammy ba####d! Why do I never see bargains like that?
  8. matt_hooks
    They sound quite noisy to me, is there anything you can do to cut the noise down a bit? Is it basically a pinned disc on the motor spindle, that strikes on the decoy and causes it to move? You could put pins at random distances around the disc, so that it's not just a regular motion, more of an irregular "pecking" movement, might look a bit more realistic?
  9. matt_hooks
    You got a bad ram. Send it back to the supplier and get them to replace it! A gas ram is a better power source than a spring. The recoil doesn't have the bounce that a spring rifle does, and is basically straight. They are also a lot quieter than most springers, and you can leave them cocked without too much risk. Don't write all gas rams off because you got a dodgy one! I have an old Theoben Scirocco, one of their first rifles, and it is absolute heaven to shoot. Smooth, relatively quiet and running at about 10.5 ft.lb.
  10. matt_hooks
    Pest, penetration isn't just a function of calibre. A pointed .22 will penetrate better than a "wadcutter" .177. Of course penetration isn't the be-all and end-all. Some complain that the .177 penetrates too far at short ranges. It's another one of those factors which can be a boon or a pitfall, depending on your point of view.
  11. matt_hooks
    The whole of the UK, apart from some of the square mile in London, and the IOM, is a rabbit clearance area, which means it is a duty to shoot rabbits whenever the opportunity arises. j316, why do you feel you have to question the legality of tikka's actions? What business is it of yours?
  12. matt_hooks
    Doesn't matter where the permissions are, the FEO that will deal with the application will be the one that covers the home address where you will store the firearms. The licencing department should be able to provide you with the contact details of your FEO. If not, get in touch with BASC they may be able to provide you with the details!
  13. matt_hooks
    Find the details of your FEO, and have a chat. "Assault" could be grabbing someone's hand, was it "common assault"? Were you convicted of anything in court? If it wasn't taken to court, then it obviously wasn't serious. If you can get good referees to confirm that you are settled and are not likely to be a danger to society, then the fact that you have a girlfriend and the four kids will go heavily in your favour. The police recognise that how you behave as a 17 year old is very different to how a 19 or 20 year old will behave. I'd say it's well worth sticking the application in,
  14. matt_hooks
    I've heard of someone who was prosecuted for shooting maggies in his garden because they were noisy. It's not a reason that's covered under the general licence. Your reason would have to be "protection of native fauna". Remember all the other possible offences. It's an offence for the pellet to leave the boundaries of the land over which you have a right to shoot, and obviously damaging other peoples property (fences, cars on the road etc.) is a big no no. Basically if the birds are damaging the local songbird population, and it's not practical to try and scare them away, or any other
  15. matt_hooks
    First point, 22-250 is one of the .22cf rounds. Secondly, Halam is right. You'll more than likely want at least two guns. A .22LR for bunnies (or a .17HMR if you can afford the pricey ammunition and don't mind the sonic crack) and a centrefire for Roe and foxes. I would recommend, as a minimum going for a .243 centrefire rather than one of the .22 calibres. This is on the grounds that you will almost certainly want to shoot some of the bigger deer species at some point. The .243 is legal for any of the British deer species, and is an extremely capable round. Loaded with a light round
  16. matt_hooks
    Hare, yum! Looks like a good few meals there, nice shooting!
  17. matt_hooks
    Catcher, BigGJ, you could probably claim shooting corvids on the grounds of protection of wildlife, because they take eggs and young of song birds. You couldn't shoot pigeons under that though. If there are a lot of pigeons then you might have a valid claim under "public health"
  18. matt_hooks
    Fifty FEET from the centre of a public HIGHWAY. A public highway is a proper, made road. A footpath, or even a bridleway, doesn't count. Also, it's not an absolute prohibition. The law says (and it's the highways act 1980, not any of the firearms acts) that it is an offence to "discharge any firearm or firework within 50 feet of the centre of a highway which is a carriageway, with the consequence that a user of the carriageway is injured, interrupted or endangered." I don't think you could rely on the licence though, as grass seed in your garden doesn't really count as agriculture
  19. matt_hooks
    Check your lease. Do you have shooting rights over the land? The general licence can be used by "occupiers" of the land, unless shooting is specifically forbidden by your rental contract. If it's council, it may well be forbidden, but worth checking. The general licence can be found HERE, click me!
  20. matt_hooks
    It's down to your eye focussing. You need to adjust the scope so that that cross hairs are in focus at the usual ranges. Nothing to do with anything physical, just the way the eye works. If your head is in the right position, and you get full picture through the scope, then moving the scope back/forward is not going to help.
  21. matt_hooks
    Also a pull through with an oily patch prevents rusting in the barrel. Just make sure to pull through again with a clean patch before firing. Pull it through three or four times, until the patch comes out totally clean. Make sure that wherever you store the rifle isn't too humid, as moisture in the air will accelerate any rusting.
  22. matt_hooks
    You an anti on a trawl? In the UK it's illegal to use a dog to hunt animals, other than rabbits and rats. You'll get no advice about using your lurcher on deer here!
  23. matt_hooks
    The answer is yes it will. How much is totally irrelevant. If it's over, it's over. Doesn't matter if it's 1 ft.lb over or 30 ft.lb over, it's still possession of a section 1 firearm without a certificate!
  24. matt_hooks
    The FAC air you will almost certainly never buy, and if you do you will almost certainly regret it. For inside outbuildings and the like, a non-FAC air rifle is by far the better option. A .22LR will do everything the FAC air will, only better. Each to their own though, if you really feel that FAC air and .17 are the best options, and can make the case to the FEO then go for it!
  25. matt_hooks
    Haha John, that's my reply whenever someone asks how accurate any of my rifles are. "More accurate than I am"
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