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Coypu Hunter

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Everything posted by Coypu Hunter

  1. Coypu Hunter
    I couldn't bring myself to drill into the shiny beech stock on my HW97K, so instead I use a Bisley sling swivel which clamps around the underlever at the front. The strap I use is polyester or some other man-made stuff, about an inch wide. I passed it through the swivel and back underneath itself, in a way that creates a knot that tightens the harder you tug on it. At the butt end, after measuring the length of strap I needed to pass round my left arm to brace the rifle when shooting unsupported, I melted a hole with a soldering iron in the centre of the end of the strap, and the lower but
  2. Coypu Hunter
    Yep, works for me too -- life's too short!
  3. Coypu Hunter
    If you're feeling particularly anal, you can sort your .22 rounds by weight using a grain scale. You'll normally find that the bulk of 'em come in at one weight, with a bunch of lighter and heavier bullets at differing weights. Use that "average" weight for zeroing your rifle, serious target shooting and hunting; mark and set aside the rest for plinking. This will make a difference, but takes some faffing about. Also, see the YouTube vid below about measuring the size of the rims. Apparently, you can improve accuracy by consistently using cartridges with the same rim thickness for serious
  4. Coypu Hunter
    You're attacking it from the left side of the rifle, yes? And (no offence, just checking) you're smacking the pin which is found directly underneath the calibre description? If so, wallop it!
  5. Coypu Hunter
    Yes, Remington SS rounds are lousy. You should have asked! I shoot at 65 yards, which is the length of my garden range. Lapua AKAH X-Trainers group pretty well at this range, and I'm confident taking headshots on coypus and muskrats that far out, conditions permitting. They normally group around 20mm at 65 yards, but occasionally they take a step up -- or maybe I simple shoot more consistently! See pics attached. I've just replaced the trigger spring on my Zastava with a more supple one, so hopefully my next set of groups will be more in line with the third group than the other two
  6. Coypu Hunter
    I use an oblong of leather that started life as a fancy label for something else. Drilled 5mm holes in it in a grid pattern, threaded a shoelace through the top two holes. .177 pellets fit snugly into the 5mm holes, and the leather grips them firmly. It hangs around my neck with the skirts facing out for easy extraction. Think it holds about 20 pellets.
  7. Coypu Hunter
    You should certainly not leave live ammo lying around the countryside. Ammunition isn't dangerous unless you strike the primer (centrefire) or rim (rimfire), heat up the ammo, or expose the propellant to a naked flame. In other words, don't use a blowtorch or hammer on it, and you should be OK. I use two pairs of pliers. I grab the middle of the case with a pair of needle-nose pliers, hold it horizontal and squeeze hard. I then use flat-nosed pliers to grab the bullet and twist it down and out. If it resists, twist the sucker up and down as you pull on it, and it'll eventually come ou
  8. Coypu Hunter
    I have both a 22LR and a FAC springer. Just sold another FAC springer (18 fpe Cometa). I use the air rifle for close-range stuff and smaller quarry (wabbits, magpies), where a 22 round would just pass through and keep going. For larger/tougher quarry (coypus & muskrats) and targets beyond 30-40 metres, it's the .22. Horses for courses. FAC springers over here cost slightly more than less powerful versions of the same model, but the difference isn't huge. Since I have a gun licence, I went for the extra power to give me more flexibility. PCPs are ridiculously expensive over here, th
  9. Coypu Hunter
    We're in Brittany, on a hectare of land on the edge of a hamlet in the middle of the countryside. The farmer will probably soon be asking you around to knock off some of his rats, too -- the French only obey the law when it suits them! Yup, all you need is a gun licence to get a .22 bolt-action rifle, hunting rifle (either bolt action or semi-auto up to three shots capacity) or shotgun (single-shot, double-barrelled or semi-auto up to three shots). To get a gun licence, just join your local clay shooting or gun club. You'll need proof of ID and residence (leccy or phone bill for yo
  10. Coypu Hunter
    Hi there. Whereabouts in France? No problem bringing over air rifles up to 15 fpe (20 joules). You do not need to register them with the police, Mairie or anybody else. You are free to use them on your own land without restriction, as long as you use them in a safe manner. As you already know, air rifles cannot be used for hunting or pest control by law, unless you're like the French and decide that the law doesn't apply to you. Several of my neighbours use air rifles for pest control. If you have a pest problem or wish to hunt game on your land, join a local gun club. After 2 wee
  11. Coypu Hunter
    Steady on, if you keep at it like that, the entire species will become extinct! Nice job(s).
  12. Coypu Hunter
    Sounds like you've got your days off planned out for the foreseeable future! Nice job.
  13. Coypu Hunter
    Nice rig.
  14. Coypu Hunter
    Cheers.
  15. Coypu Hunter
    Cheers! Cheeky beggar was posing next to the path we were walking along, about 15 yards away. Close range plus bright sunshine always helps, I find!
  16. Coypu Hunter
    Took advantage of a free day a couple of weeks ago to see what was migrating around the wetlands on the south coast of Brittany. Saw a couple of new species ("lifers") as well as some favourite old ones. Avocet nesting: Spotted Redshank (lifer): Shelduck posing for the camera: Wheatear: The second new species of the day: Black-tailed Godwit: And finally, another lifer: a Whimbrel, this time seen at the Sougéal marshes, not far from where we live. This one was at extreme range, hence the slightly fluffy pic:
  17. Coypu Hunter
    Yup, spring is definitely here in sunny/windy/rainy France... All together now: aaaaaaaah!
  18. Coypu Hunter
    I have a Harris bipod, which I use for prone shooting. The legs extend from about 6" to about 12", or any length in between. It's a good, solid bipod. More often than not, though, I shoot off sticks. I have a set with two telescopic legs, like those Nordic walking sticks -- you simply turn the leg then pull it out or push it in, turn again to lock it in position. They collapse far enough to suit a kneeling or seated shooting position, and extend high enough for me to shoot comfortably freestanding (I'm 6'4") and cost 14€ (£13-ish). The poles are padded at the top, but I shoot off the strap
  19. Coypu Hunter
    Cheers. They're sneaky little critters, which is why I went after it in the water. Not ideal with a .22, but I had a good backstop of dense woodland (mine, so no ramblers to worry about!) and open country beyond. Besides, if I missed a moving target that big at 18 yards, I'd need shooting meself!
  20. Coypu Hunter
    Longridge Pinpoint as well, works like a charm, reasonably priced if you hunt around on Amazon etc.
  21. Coypu Hunter
    Agreed, but sometimes when you're stalking a pesky little blighter of a magpie that keeps moving around just out of range, the springer stays cocked to avoid scaring it away. Time flies when you're having fun! Ghillies, sounds like your springer might have had a problem already if it lost that much power so quickly.
  22. Coypu Hunter
    From what I've read and experienced, ghillies is talking bollox. You'd have to leave it cocked for weeks to feck a mainspring, unless you bought a cheap Chinese piece of crap, of course. I've kept my HW97K cocked for up to three hours and the muzzle velocity has stayed exactly the same, according to my chrony. That's a fact, not speculation. See link below for the article this extract is taken from: "So how LONG does a mainspring LAST? Tom Gaylord published the only report I know about on the subject of mainspring life. In his R1 book, there is a chapter called the Mainspring Failure Test.
  23. Coypu Hunter
    Sounds like a good move, Cedric. The 10/22's a solid gun, and you can get hold of lots of accessories to play with! The ones I've shot have been pretty accurate, too.
  24. Coypu Hunter
    Had a couple, including an 18 fpe Hunter 440 DX. I found the triggers terrible, but after modifying them, the rifles shot much better. Still had a very noisy action, but the Hunter was quite capable of taking out coypus (swamp rats).
  25. Coypu Hunter
    H&K make solid guns. Sounds like a maintenance issue (or two!). You may find that hollowpoints give you failure-to-feed problems -- I get some hang-ups in the feed ramp if I run HPs through my Walther semi-auto pistol. Clean the feed ramp, extractor holes and chamber thoroughly, and try pushing a round manually up the feed ramp -- if you feel any roughness, or the round catches on anything, polish the feed ramp with some fine wet & dry paper wrapped around a thin bit of dowel. Just be careful not to go into the chamber with it. Or switch to LRNs. I have some .22 10-round rifle mags
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