Mossberg .410 Pump Action 'American Beauty'

I've recently got my hands on a Stealth Mossberg .410 pump action shotgun and wanted to give you a insight to this great little gun. As you will probably be aware Mossberg are American made guns and have been in the business for nearly 100 years and take gun making very serious. From armed forces, personal defences weapons and what we use the for in the UK is sporting shooting. They have produced some of the most popular shotguns in the world.

This gun is a 410. pump action and has a large moderator perfect for keeping the noise down, giving the shooter the ability to dispatch multiple targets with minimal disturbance to the surround quarry. I use the gun for ratting and rabbit lamping, which is ideal for a moderated gun or if you shoot near livestock that don't like the noise of a 12 gauge.  The size of the gun gives it great handling even with a moderator and is surprisingly well balanced when handled out on the field.

The gun has a walnut stock with cross checkering on the handle, this helps with grip but really just finishes off the look quite nicely. Personally I'm not into the concept of pump actions because sometimes they come across 'loose'. By loose I mean the pump forend can have a lot of movement left and right as well as the forward and back. But the guys at Mossberg have done a fantastic job making the gun sturdy and durable.

For cartridges I use Gamebore 'Traditional hunting'. This are very low recoiling and also good for the younger shooter. Primary designed for pest control. Overall I'm really impressed with this American Beauty, I personally love shooting with a .410 and they are great for a little walk around the land where the quarry know the sound of a shotgun.

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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 Part 2

Just a quick one on the cartridges I am using with my 12g Semi-Auto and Over and Under at the minute.

GAMEBORE 'velocity'

The velocity cartridges I use for clay shooting. 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. I brought 250 of these for £40 and doing a 100 bird shoot every two weeks it isn't going to break the bank. They always perform well and work great in my semi-auto and my over and under. 

12g, Shot 7.5,Load 28gms, Length 70mm, Wad Plastic. GAMEBORE 'velocity'

GAMEBORE 'Clear Pigeon'

I do a lot of pigeon shooting and these cartridges are fantastic and just like the 'Velocity' they are a great price too. I would highly recommend these cartridges in a semi-auto, I have put nearly 1000 through mine and its never jammed once. The one downside which isn't really that bad is the colour. They are black and if you drop them on the ground sometimes they are hard to see. But other then that they are my first choice for a bit of pigeon shooting. These come at around 250 for £56.

12g, Shot 6, Load 32gms, Length 70, Wad Plastic GAMEBORE 'Clear Pigeon'

Overall very pleased with these two at the minute and would definitely recommend them to everyone out there. Gamebore have done a great job with these and have made them affordable which is also a bonus.

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'