A simpleton's guide to guns...
- Thread starter Selectamatic
- Start date
- Location
- Carmarthenshire, West Wales
why not buy yourself a cheap double barrel and see how you like shooting, then if you find it's your thing, buy something better, if it isn't having a shotgun in the house is always handy if you suddenly have fox problems, and if you really enjoy it and buy a second gun, having something cheap means there is always a gun if you need to use it where it could get knocked about, taking it on the quad if you need to euthanase a ewe during lambing or something like that.
Y Fan Wen
Member
- Location
- N W Snowdonia
This link is a cautionary tale;Work out which end is the dangerous end.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48783455
As a young teenager I went with Dad to watch a gun pack at work on a forestry plantation. After the first drive everyone was standing about chatting and I told Dad that I didn't want to stay. The reason was there were about half a dozen shooters standing about with closed shotguns and one, using a hammer side by side, had the hammers back and cocked waving it in all directions.
- Location
- Wiltshire
The best advice is to pay for decent lessons. I have always found it bizarre that golfers will pay for lessons to improve their skill with their hobby but most of the shooters you meet have never had a lesson. Lessons certainly helped me.
As for gun you won’t go wrong with the big 3. Beretta Browning or Miroku. All well made will last for ever and plenty of choice new or second hand.
Personally I use a really nice Beretta Silver Pigeon. I just prefer them to anything else.
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As for gun you won’t go wrong with the big 3. Beretta Browning or Miroku. All well made will last for ever and plenty of choice new or second hand.
Personally I use a really nice Beretta Silver Pigeon. I just prefer them to anything else.
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- Location
- South Wales UK
Point to ground or up in the sky.
Only put cartridges in when ready.
Keep gun broke when crossing hedges etc etc etc.
Be safe.
Only put cartridges in when ready.
Keep gun broke when crossing hedges etc etc etc.
Be safe.
- Location
- East Sussex
Last edited:
- Location
- South Wales UK
Lots been shot crossing hedges,fences and ditches or passing a gun through a hedge?
davidroberts30
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
yes so keep it empty
nails
Member
- Location
- East Dorset
Get a Russian Baikal . Heavy, but Heavy is good.
- Location
- South Wales UK
And cheapGet a Russian Baikal . Heavy, but Heavy is good.
Hesston4860s
Member
- Location
- Nr Lincoln
I’ve still got the Baikal I started out with at 17, it was 100 quid second hand but it’d only had a couple boxes of shells though it. I can still hit what I point it at same as I can with a 5 grand gun, it doesn’t matter what you buy or how much it costs it’s who’s pointing it !.
- Location
- South Wales UK
Good old melted down Russian bedsteads.
Good hard hitting and hard kick guns
to a point yes but you won't see many team GB shooters using them !
like in any sport decent kit can and does make a difference, I've shot clays at quite a high level, its the law of diminishing returns however as gains are marginal / none existent after a certain price level
- Location
- South Wales UK
Don't think the poster wants to be in the GB team.
Pieces_of_Eight
Member
Have a lesson somewhere that sells guns and try a few. Lessons are always money well spent, even if you've been shooting for 20 years.
Decide on a budget and buy the best you can afford.
You would have endless choice with a £750 budget. Avoid brand new guns for £295 (Hatsan, Yildiz etc), because they are worthless once they are out of warranty. My Browning is 2 years younger than my wife.
Look at famous makers that everyone has heard of, but most importantly buy one that fits you.
a very fair point but its still not correct to say that all guns are the same if you point them in the right direction
fit, weight, balance, barrel conning / choking etc all make a difference
- Location
- South Wales UK
Could be left handed too?
A while ago, I thought about buying a gun...
I asked about it on here, and suddenly it's an indepth thread on every aspect of shooting, guns, etc etc etc All over my head!!
So, here we go again, but please can we keep it a bit more simple this time?!
I'd like to buy a shotgun, to shoot birds, rabbits, rats and possibly the occasional fox. Some Clay Pigeons too, possibly...
What should I buy, not a massive budget, it wont be used every day, just something to go out with every now and again.
What should I buy, and how do I go about it?
Of course, after you've got your licence, the VERY next thing you must do is to find out which is your master eye in order to have the stock of your chosen weapon custom bent using steam in order to have the perfect fit.
(Just as an aside - don't Google: "Extreme butt bend" ......... just my little tip)
ollie989898
Member
It's a shotgun. Physics being what they are, they all throw lead out at random in a pattern. £500 will be ample for the novice.
I had never before fired a shotgun in my life until I was about 15 when the old man took me out to shoot clays with a very vanilla over and under. Within minutes I was blatting everything to dust and I tried a range of different weapons. 90% of the job depends on the squishy thing holding the gun. 20,000 quids worth of gun is just something nice to talk about and look at.
I had never before fired a shotgun in my life until I was about 15 when the old man took me out to shoot clays with a very vanilla over and under. Within minutes I was blatting everything to dust and I tried a range of different weapons. 90% of the job depends on the squishy thing holding the gun. 20,000 quids worth of gun is just something nice to talk about and look at.