Hi

Would someone be able to tell me please -

The Chunnel - is this for trains only or can you drive a vehicle from London to Paris? What would be cheaper - chunnel or ferry?

I remember reading about a famous African hunters collection that can be viewed by the public - anyone know where it is?

I am hopeing to find an early (1903 - 1910) Mannlicher Schoenauer take down rifle to buy. Have been checking out Holts and Gavin Gardner but are there any other options?

Thanks very much for any info you can give.

Ta.

GG

GG375,

Give Dig Hadoke a call at vintageguns.com he will be able to look over lots at any of the auctions for you and let you know the inside track on them. He will also be able to get you trade prices on guns that are at other dealers. There are also a number of other auction houses that are more trade only that stuff like this may come up in. If you find one yourself you will have lost nothing but it is always worth haveing him keep an eye open for you.

Rgds,
FB

GG,

If you don't mind a Welshman answering

I think the collection your taking about is the Powell-Cotton Museum which is near Margate in Kent...

I've not been there myself, but its on the list of places I'd like to visit..

With regards the Chunnel, you can't drive across as such..what happens is you drive onto a special transporter train and that takes you cross with you sitting in your car or coach.

Not sure whether the ferries are cheaper as there are always deals and offers ect.

If you don't need your car, its probably as cheap these days to fly across on one of the budget airlines..

Regards,

Pete

Meanwhile.....down in the South West....

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:vLmBs6J8qGUJ:www.e...=uk&client=firefox-a

Have a browse!

Rgds Ian

GG375,

Sorry I missed the reply for the other half of your questions.

The budget airlines that fly to paris aren't a good option as they leave you a long way outside of the city. In the time between check in and take off you can get to paris on the Eurostar.

However the Drive isn't too bad if you really need a car. The train leaves from Folkstone and gets into Callais then you have about 3-4hrs I think to Paris. I've paid as little as £30 for a return ticket on the train before now, so look out for special offers.

I find the easiest thing when I travel for work, is to get on the train at waterloo and use taxis in Paris. Your car will only end up getting dented if you can find parking, as our parisienne freinds think bumpers are for just that reason!! The ferries might be a little cheaper but they take longer. The Train is 25minutes Folkstone to Callais.

What dates are you over here? There might be some auctionos on that we could meet at.

Rgds,
FB

Pete
you are right, the museum is in a place called Birchington about 4-5 miles outside of Margate. It stands right beside the main road, or at least it used to, I have not been down that way for about 20 years. Marvelous collection if you are in the area it is well worth a visit. Gives you an insight into how the early opening up of the remote plces was done. These old boys may well have been rich gentry but, they were as tough as nails and went nowhere without a gun.

John

Kiri's repsonse about parking in Paris is Spot-On!

First you have to manage to locate a "Parking Availabilty" which normally means after hours of searching finding one too small. THEN autos are wedged into the spot and those front & rear simply pushed back & forth to accomodate the appropriate auto size. Rule-of-Thumb in Paris is ALWAYS use a lightly applied Parking Brake and NEVER leave your car in Gear. Those with Automatic transmissions should be prepared for immense repair costs.

If you would like to see a good collection of taxidermy, you would not go far wrong with the a visit to the Rothschild's museum in Tring,Hertfordshire.

The Rothschild's were wealthy land owners in the area and quite eccentric.

Lord Rothschild's took to riding a buggy through the local villages at the turn of the last century, drawn by 4 zebra !!

His collection of animals from around the world, a large proportion he shot himself, is in a fine building in the village centre.

Thanks guys for all this helpful info.

FB On your recommendation I dropped dig a line so hopefully something will come out of that soon.

Ian I had a look at Empire and they had 3 Mannlichers - the best and only one I was interested in of course was already sold. Not to worry something will come up sooner or later. Got your MOB number and will give you a bell when we know exactly what we are doing - cheers.

Both museums sound good and we will try to get to both.

What we are thinking of doing was hiring a car at Heathrow when we land and using it for getting around the UK with hopefully a side trip for a week or so in Europe but not sure at this stage if the car hire firms allow travel to the continent. Wife wants to visit the Louis Vuitton factory and I'm keen to go to a few of the European gunmakers etc. No doubt it will all unfold in the fullness of time.

Once again thanks for answering my questions.

Cheers.

GG

If you go for the bigger car rental companies like Avis or Hertz and tell them you want to go across the Channel I think it would be OK.

As a rule I find the Hoverspeed fast cat service between Calais and Dover the cheapest unless the Chunnel have a deal on.

GG,

I was talking to Dig thismng and he has ffount 2-3 Take down mannlichers. Did you have a calibre in mind? I think he's founs a 6.5x54 and a couple of 7x57's. There might be a 9mm in there too somewhere.

Rgds,
Fb

FB

Thanks mate. Yes Dig has been in touch and I have asked him to see if he can get some more info on one of the 7mm's. Unfortunately the 6.5 is well out of my price range - I think !!!!!!!!!! anyway at this stage. Calibre is really secondary as long as I can find something that hasn't been tampered with on the receiver (drilled and tapped) and has a good usable bore. Also I'm not interested in a full wood carbine - it must be a rifle with 22" or longer barrel and have a single trigger.

Cheers.

GG

sewinbasher - thanks for your info - still looking into all the pros and cons.

Cheers.

GG