Woodland Frosty Walk

This morning I went down to a woodland area where I shoot quite regularly for an hour and bagged myself a few birds with my Midlands Gun Co over and under 12 bore/gauge. I didn't bother with decoys or getting in the hide I just used the natural cover of the wood to pick my shots. There was a stiff frost on ground and when I left it was -1C so I was layered up and had the flask on stand by.

As you can see the woodland edge where rabbits break cover

open canopy makes great for shooting

A few pheasant having a early feed 

RC Titiano Caccia game cartridges 31g 6 Shot

Midland Gun Co over and under

Overall a nice mornings work with a magpie and two crows, the landowner has a real magpie problem and I've not had the opportunity to shot them yet until today. When shooting in a wood you really have to stay vigilant and have the gun at the ready because you don't get much time to react.

Tom

Outdoor & More

My Guns

I wanted to give a small overview of the guns I use and what I use them for. At the minute I hold 3 guns. A semi Automatic shotgun, Over and Under shotgun and a Under lever Air Rifle.

Hatsan Escort 12g

The first thing i can say about my Escort is wow. I brought this gun for around £250 and it was 3 years old. Ive had it for nearly a year and never looked back. In terms of value for money its amazing. It has never let me down, easy to clean and maintain and isn't cartridge fussy which can be a problem for most semi auto shotguns. I wanted to find a semi auto that I could just take and the field and get knocked, bumped and occasionally dropped and still function fine.

I did look at getting a Berretta A300 which was priced at £850 but I'm so happy with the decision i made. A lot of people would turn there nose up at the Hatsan because it not as a sought after gun. But Hatsan have done a great job with unbelievable value for money. The gun comes with 5 chokes and choke key which are all the standard sizes.

To conclude the gun has great value for money and perfect for those rough shooting days out where reliability is essential. And just proves that cheap doesn't have to be nasty. Also new, the gun comes with a 3 years manufactures guarantee. 


Midland Gun Co Model 502

This gun was given to me by a friend and was my first Over and Under. To be fair its a nice looking gun and I'm not sure the age of it. Its Italian made and very well built. I'm looking to swapping her soon for a Browning 725 or 525. I mainly use it for clay pigeon shooting and occasionally take it pheasant shooting. 

All round not a bad gun but I am looking to upgrade it.

Air Airms Tx200

I used to be really into my Air Rifles I've had springers, pcps and co2's you name it I've fired it or owned it. The only one I've kept over the years is my Air Arms, its reliable and never skips a beat. It has a lovely stock and really pacts a punch. I mainly used it for rabbits which I never had a problem with from 35 yards. Its an under lever which is great in a air rifle because the barrel is parminatly fixed unlike a break barrel. Combined with a 3-9 x 40 Golden Antler scope it hold its zero very well. I brought the gun for £200 which in it condition i think was a very good deal. Brand new i think they are around £400.

  Overall would highly recommend this beauty of a springer, you don't have to worry about dive bottles or pumps you just go out and shoot. I recommend H&N Field Target Trophy pellets for best results.

No copyright intended

A weekend of Sporting Clays

It's been a while and I'm really excited to get in the traps! The clay shoot I will be going on is in a small village in Norfolk called Beeston. Its a 100 bird shoot with 10 traps and the pressure is on because there are 3 of us going and we are all very competetive. The Shoot is ran by a guy called Alan and he runs a really good day. It doesn't matter about ability or experience everyone is welcome.

I will be using my trusted Midlands Gun Co over and under 12 gauge, I've had the gun for years and its lovely to shoot with. Its not the cleanest gun because I take it out for rough shooting quite regularly and like most of my guns they do get a bit of a hard time.

Midland Gun Co Model 502 12g

For clays I using GAMEBORE 'Velocity' at the minute. These are a great little cartridge and they are priced very competitively. I personally believe that for clay shooting unless you're a competitive shooter the cheaper cartridge will do the job and you don't need to spend the world but you don't have to sacrifice quality for it with these.

Gamebore 'velocity'

Below is the link to the Clay shoot website. Highly recommend them and Alan does a great job.

Fair Clay Targets

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Coming soon 'Hatsan Escort' review

I am going to be doing a review of the Turkish made Hatsan Escort. Ive had this gun for over a year and online there some real mixed reviews. So I'm going to do my own and I'm really excited!

Coming soon

Air Arms TX200 - 'Perfect out of the box'

Air Arms have produced some impressive air rifles over the years, my two have been nothing but reliable, accurate and always pack a punch. Today I'm going to tell you about my little beauty.

The TX200 is a underlever air rifle and is packed with many good features, as far as springers go I would always recommend a TX200 under lever for several reasons. Mainly the barrel is constantly fixed in position meaning there is no movement from the loading action which over time can cause the rifle to be off target every shot. I personally think underlever will be accurate for life over break barrels (not fixed). 

The barrel houses a anti bear trap, basically a device that when loading you can't trap your finger. This has a small press to release button on the side of the gun so there is no chance of any unfortunate accidents.

Anti bear trap

Anti bear trap release button

The next is the automatic safety switch located the the end of the barrel above the trigger mechanism  this switches itself on when the gun is cocked automatically. This is a great idea to have with all fire arms whether that be air rifle to shotgun because safety is priority.

Automatic safety button

As well as these great features you have to admire the quality of material used to make this gun and the workmanship from the guys at Air Arms. In terms of looks for a springer air rifle its 10/10!

The gun retails at around £375 new but you can pick up a decent secondhand ones for £200 if you look online (GunTrader/Gunstar). I can guarantee you will be disappointed with it, I know I haven't been. In terms of pellet I always us H&N 'Field Target Trophys'. I seem to get the best results with these with a 10p sized grouping at 30 yards. These retail at around £13 for 500 pellets

As I've said the TX200 is a great springer which I highly recommend if you're thinking of getting into the sport. If you any other questions regarding the gun just leave a comment below.

My Air Arms TX200 .22 with a Golden Antler scope, great on the range and the field

H&N 'Field Target Trophys'


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Boat fishing in the North Sea

This summer i had some great days out fishing and shooting, i was also lucky enough to get the boat out (doesn't happen much). My dad and i fish out on the North Sea off the east coast where the sea can be very unforgiving so finding a window of opportunity is rare so we had to take it.

We use boat rods with feathers and worm going for what ever we can. I personally use feather and go for Mackerel. Mackerel are a delicious fish and is one of my favourites. On the BBQ with a bit of salt and pepper topped off with a splash of lemon juice. Cant beat it! The catch was decent with around 13 mackerel in the bag. Obviously a few were eaten on the evening with a cold beer but you have to enjoy it whilst its fresh. The rest are in the freezer to eat at a later date or kept for bait which i use for Pike fishing. Pike love oily fish and Mackerel is a brilliant dead bait. My dad also caught a lovely Sea Bass on Worm weighting around 7lb. A beautiful fish and another great taster. Here some photos from the trip.

Mackerel

Myself and the Old man

Sea Bass 7lb

Talk Cartridges

Shotgun cartridges have so many different varieties there are different lengths, loads, calibers,  shot and wad. I don't want to bore you by going in depth of what all of these mean but i will briefly go over them to give you an idea.

• Length -The cartridge length refers to the case length when fired. This will either be measured in millimetres or inches. This is dependent on your shotgun chamber size to find this out research the manufacturer online or visit your local gunsmith and I'm sure they can help.

• Load or Payload -This will depend on the quarry, range and chamber length of your gun. For most game shooting with a 12 gauge gun, 28g, 30g and 32g would be the most common payloads. For high birds 34g would be ideal. You must remember that the use of large payloads, particularly in smaller calibers, poses some problems, especially recoil, and can cause damage to your gun.

• Calibre - The most common size is 12 gauge, with up to 50% of the overall shotgun market in the UK. The 20 gauge shotgun is favoured by shooters uncomfortable with the weight and recoil of a 12 gauge gun. The next most popular sizes are 28 gauge and .410. Each gun can have a different purpose for example 12 gauge for pheasant and .410 for rats.

• Shot - The size of the pellet/shot in the round. It means the diameter of the pellets is approx.

• Wad – This is simple there are two types, plastic or fibre. In terms of money the plastic are (a bit) cheaper, but fibre are better for the environment and farm livestock. In terms of performance I personally can’t tell any difference and I shoot with both.

GAMEBORE 'Clear Pigeon'