OLD DOWNS PURSUITS HFT and Clay

Got a voucher for four free sessions at Old Down Pursuits rifle club off the Wifey Christmas just gone, so due to the fact that sessions are every second sunday and crap weather in general, i finally got to go. Its the other side of Cirencester from where i live, so 1st sunny sunday found me being dropped off by the wifey.(Two weeks later it's pissing down with rain again)

There is a lot of clay shooting going on which i ignored, but the 30 lane HFT course did take my fancy.

Some one with a HW100 using the HFT course at Old Downs Pursuits.

Though i didn't take advantage of this i did of the sighting and plinking range, with it's many spinning targets, knockdown targets out to 45 yards , and a large board for sighting with a couple of once used Shoot N C targets on it.

Two lanes and four spaces at the sighting and practice range.

Having brought a selection of rifles, a Hills pump and a small bag with some tools and pellets in it i was content to sit at the double bench and seats and plink away, next time i'll take less rifles and some target paper for fine tuning of sighting.

All set up and ready to rock and roll.

I started off using the Air Arms Shamal in .177 with 4.52 AA field diablo pellets, this rifle is heavy, incredibly accurate, but accuracy goes tits up if it's canted.

I get a boner just thinking about my Shamal.

I could not top up on air as i forgot to bring a 14 mm spanner to remove the forster fitting on the pump as the rifle dates from 1989 when diver's bottles where a screw fit, so i had no idea how much air i had in it.

It's a good job the air cylinder is this big on the .177 Air Arms Shamal,it's annoying if you forget the spanner to attach the refill hose.

Fair enough i must of got over 80 shots out of the Shamal so i could of used it, however i had topped it up on air over a year ago so it's nice to know the old girl is still air tight.

The .22 Air Arms s410 for which i did have an adaptor fitting for shot very accurately as well using H&N field target trophy pellets, I did have trouble hitting accurately past 40 yards as i had forgotten how much hold over i needed. I used clip after clip on the s410 and refilled the resevior twice, as i did have the adaptor fitted to the pump for this one.

.22 Air Arms s410 is also a bloody cool bunny basher

Later in the session i did use the ASI Sniper which has proven to be an accurate little springer shooting AA diablo's at around 7 ft/lb, annoyingly this one didn't hit a dickie bird as the sighting was out.

The ASI Sniper is not too bad for an old Gamo.

I met about three pairs using the HFT course who were very affable and friendly, they had rifles such as a BSA Ultra, a HW 100, and one of those Evanix tactical jobs. Also a father and son with a under lever and one of those 715 Dan Wesson rifled barrel co2 pistols which they kindly let me have a go with, i really was impressed with the pistol even if the trigger pull in double action was a little on the heavy side.

I was having so much fun i didn't even notice the clay shooters banging around and was saddened when the wifey informed me by phone she was on her way to pick me up, after all i would look a trifle dodgey walking through Cirencester with three gun baps on my shoulders. Any way that's it for now.

TTFN

Best wishes, Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe.   

My Hunting Set-up Cheap and chearful

When i purchaced the Air Arms Shamal for £300 last year it came with a 4-12x40 Nikko Sterling scope and a sling, now being a heavy old sporter the leather sling was a godsend. Just to top it off for now i mounted a 120 lumens SMK spot lamp on the scope with a switch taped to the forestock, but being a .177 PCP a bipod would be ideal for those long shots, but that will have to wait. I just love the flatter trajectory of a .177 over the .22, but nothing beats the knockdown power of the .22 except .25 of course.

A lot of hunters prefer multi shots on their air rifles but for me the Shamal is superbly accurate and one shot one kill always does it, though i would certainly appreciate a bipod for those 50 yard shots but until then i will make do with a shooting stick made from some old straight branch with a fork in the t. The shooting stick certainly helps when trying to get a bunny in the longer grass, as they are hard to target in a kneeling position and impossible when lying prone. Air Arms diabolo's and H and N field trophies both work best in the Shamal and both have the same POI without any adjustment to the scope, which i got to admit is a bonus.

Clothing wise i find black Dunlop steel toecap work boots, dark jeans, and an army DMP lightweight jacket over a green T shirt does me fine for general easy going hunting. But a German full length paratrooper coat with hood which was £26 off E bay, combat trousers of which i have various as i like that style, lightweight black gloves, a large camo bandana to tie around my lower face and cover my neck, and a black rucksack for odds and sods. I also have some 80's British army webbing and pouches i got for a fiver from a carboot sale which i could find a good use for (this also came with an 80's army helmet but that would be a bit overkill for hunting, but pretty handy if i took up airsoft or paintballing.), but for now i have done fine with what i'm using to date.With the German camo pattern being quite dark and mottled i have found this works well in woodlands, and the DMP of the British army works well in  almost any where.

I like the DMP Kit as a traditionalist so i went and bought a pair of River Rock combat trousers for £14, and a River Rock  temperate combat smock for £22 from my local Stove Centre. You have to understand that this is the Cotswolds so they sell all sorts of stuff, including gardening stuff, fencing, animal foods, sheds, large garden ornaments, stone, tough  quality outdoor clothes and boots, and i think stoves as well. The smock jacket is what you would expect from a decent army jacket, its loaded with deep pockets and is very tough, i slipped and grazed my elbow last week but there wasn't a mark on the jacket at all. What i discovered was most impressive was that i could fold my gun slip up and fit it into the button up poacher's pocket at the back, this both keeps it tidily stored and makes a really comfy seat as well.

For gloves i have a pair of very tin Thinsulate gloves, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a pair or thick woolen gloves in black, also a pair of fingerless mittens in different shades of autumn brown. I can choose to wear these in any combination to suit the weather, such as a black woolen glove on my left hand and a black Thinsulate glove on my right giving me the ability to handle pellets. If it's even colder i can put the brown fingerless mittens over the top.

Mind you getting realtree leafy gloves and baraclava for my birthday could sort of count as hunting kit on the cheap, but that's only because my wife paid and presented them to me. In fact the gloves were a prezzie off Rosie my three year old, and the good thing about them is that they can fit over other gloves.

The best move i have made recently is to trade smoking roll-ups for electronic cigarettes, animals have a keen sense of smell and roll-ups just make you stink. I would also say there is a marked improvement in my fitness and stamina, but then i do cycle 11 miles to work and back up and down some iffy hills so that's helped. I just have to remember that the ends of electronic cigarettes light up, so i cup it in my hand when doing a spot of lamping.

That's it for now, i'm just glad i remembered to refer to cigarettes in the correct term and not the British slang word of 'fags' so not to confuse any American readers of this blog.

TTFN

Best wishes, Wing Commander Sir Nigel Tetlington-Smythe