piemanpete 0 Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 (edited) Hi Folks. Just a quickie to say hello. I'm 51 and have been shooting since I was a lad. My father, an Army officer, bought us a .22 air rifle (from a toyshop in Salisbury - hard to believe now) to get us started. He was a keen wildfowler and Her Majesty gave him the opportunity to shoot in some quite exotic places during his career, like marshes on the River Nile in Sudan! He also arranged for us to shoot .22 rimfire on garrison indoor range in Germany. I remember finding a bent and mangled Sterling smg on the beach below our garrison in Malaya when I was eight - never did find out how it got there! My father wouldn't let me keep it! At school in the '70s it was still possible to shoot interesting weapons in the Combined Cadet Force, which gave me the chance to fire Sterling sub-machine gun (9mm), the Army's infantry weapon, the 7.62 SLR, the 7.62 GPMG that must have replaced the Bren and Browning 9mm pistol - oh, and a 25 pounder on Salisbury Plain! In Germany I was sitting in the turret of a Chieftain on Hohne ranges when it fired its aiming machine gun (pre-laser sights - massive bullets; not sure what calibre) and the big gun (155mm?) - what a bang! Field shooting experience includes .410 and 12 bore mostly - pigeons and rabbits and the odd guest appearance on a pheasant shoot. I've kept ferrets twice and today am collecting a hob ferret looking for a new home as our garden is overrun with bunnies and they are just too smart to sit around waiting to be shot with the air rifle. Last time I had a ferret was, oh, 1997, I reckon, so it's going to be interesting. Just put a really nice cage and run kit together for him, modifying the nest box partition to be more 'ferrety'. Just shot a rabbit with a touch of myxie at the end of the garden and came on to the forum to find out if you can feed myxie rabbits to ferrets safely. Awaiting arrival of my first FAC so I can acquire my first firearm - a .22 rimfire Anschutz 525 semi-auto c/w moderator and scope, on which I think I got a pretty good deal. A friend has the same gun and I was impressed with it, so even though everyone in this part of Norfolk seems to buy CZ Brnos I thought I'd be different. We'll see whether it was a good decision. Finally, although I'm planning to try ferret + nets + terrier (and big stick), I thought a .410 might be a good idea as backup and these moderated guns seem to be pretty good, so tracked down a Pedretti and that's on its way from Northumberland. Happy days! I look forward to hearing and reading about members' adventures in the field and sharing their questions and experiences. Edited July 30, 2009 by piemanpete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest STORM CHASER Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 :welcomeani: to The Hunting Life Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mwncidur 0 Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hello and welcome. I too was lucky enough to fire a bren (army cadet force), just before it went out of commission. Then on to the 5.56 rifle and LSW. Also did some .22 indoor range and .303 (1000mtr) target shooting. I'm just waiting to get a shotgun cert Quote Link to post Share on other sites
welshdragon 6 Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Hello and welcome hope you enjoy W.D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The one 8,585 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Hello and welcome mate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tiny 7 1,694 Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Welcome to the site fella, Atb T 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
piemanpete 0 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Thanks all for the warm words of welcome - appreciated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ian21 0 Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 hi and welcome mate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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