Regards, Royce

Thanks for the reply! I had some Federal
shells a couple of years ago loaded with
a 140 grain Nosler Partition that performed
superbly on deer. Unfortunately Federal
no longer manufactures that load. Velocity
was a bit slow but accuracy was excellent.
The deer I shot with it dropped as if their
feet had been jerked from under them. I was
curious as to how well the 125 grain per-
formed by way of comparison to the 140 grain
round. I appreciate your comments.

Regards, Royce

P.S. My Ruger loves the 129 grain Light Mag-
num load by Hornady. The first two shots of
a three shot group go into less than half an
inch. The third shot is usually thrown out
slightly, opening the group to about an inch
and a quarter or a little more. Have you
ever used that load?

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Shoot straight, shoot often.
Matt

I just worked up a load for the 125 gr partition a couple of months ago. 2550 fps. So far I have shot a half dozen or so small deer (roe and muntjac) with the 125 partition. As you would expect it has worked perfectly on these small deer.

I am going after sterner stuff over the next few weeks � red fallow and sika females are all on the menu between now and February. I hope to kill something this weekend and I�ll let you know the outcome.

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Regards

Richard

I enjoyed getting your post. If you don't
mind I would like to ask a few questions
about rifle shooting in the UK. Americans
hear so much about the strict gun laws in
Britain, concerning mainly handguns, but we
seldom hear anything about restrictions on
rifle shooting. What controls are there,
if any? Are you limited to certain calibers?
There are few restrictions here because of
the wide open expanses available for shooting
and hunting. I have been to Britain a couple
of times but never left the greater London
area where things are heavily urbanized.
Space for target shooting and hunting would
appear to be quite limited there. What types
of big-game are available for hunting?

Regards,

Royce

Damn and there was me about to do some work�
Handguns. I believe it is still technically possible to own a working non-antique handgun but the circumstances make it too difficult so forget them (unless you are a criminal of course).

Pretty much anyone over 17 years can apply to hold a shotgun license � which allows the holder to own any number of shotguns, but pumps and semi autos cannot hold more than three cartridges. A Firearm license is slightly more difficult to obtain � you need to show good reason for each and every rifle you own. It simply deters the casual user. A serious target shot or hunter should have no problem unless he has a serious criminal record or suffers from psychological problems. Semi auto larger than .22 are not normally permitted. You can apply for everything from a .17 to a .700, however you are not likely to be given a permit for a 375H&H or up unless you can demonstrate that a trip to Africa is on the cards.

All wild game belongs to the land owner who controls the numbers of game shot. There are statutory close seasons.

Bird shooting Grouse Partridge Pheasant, Woodcock, waterfowl etc generally goes from mid August - �The Glorious Twelfth� to end of January. In fact I�ll be shooting some pheasants on Saturday which should be good as we have had a bit of frost this past week.

Deer:- We have Red, Fallow, Sika, Roe, Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer. The close seasons work so that the females are in season from November- February, and the Males are in season from April through to October (this is for roe it differs for Red and Fallow and Sika). Generally speaking, there is always deer on the menu wherever and whenever. There are some feral wild boar in some areas.

Some area of south east England around London are pretty much concrete, but the further away from the capital the more countryside is found. All of non-upland land is farmed but there is a good number of forests and smaller pockets of woodland. Some of the smaller species roe and muntjac are colonising the semi urban fringes of large towns. I once shot a roe buck in my back garden � he had a leg hanging off as a result of a traffic accident some weeks before. That was when we lived 20 miles from the centre of London.

The country is awash with deer � some expert recently said that there were now more deer here now than at anytime since Norman times (11th Century). The extra good thing about this is that although quite a lot of people shoot birds, only a small number shoot deer. If it were not for this pesky job I reckon I could go out and kill a deer every day of the week if I was inclined to do so. I am in a privileged position as I have permission to hunt on 27,000 acres in total but mainly one large block of Defence land.

There are various voluntary hunting qualifications and it is likely that in future these may become mandatory.

Hope this dispels the myth that there is no hunting in the UK!

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Regards

Richard

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike in SC:
Richard, are you a wealthy man? Do you have some sort of advantage by way of relationship (i.e. friends) or connections that give you access to hunt? Just a curious yank, Mike.

---

No, I am far from wealthy. Both me and the wife work full time and we each do a 65 hour week (door to door). We have no children. We do not smoke and do not drink (much). She has her horse and I have my shooting.

I stalk deer on Defence land by virtue of being an ex servicemen and now reservist. My 8 days/ year on the pheasants cost me �100/day, 5 days on Grouse cost �50/day (deal of the century), I have a lease on some Forestry commission woodland @ �500/year. I am in a wildfowling club @ �50/ year = unlimited wildfowl in season.

I wish I owned Scottish sporting estate but I don't. Maybe one day I'll win the lottery.

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Regards

Richard

Happy shooting.

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blaming guns for crime is like blaming silverware for rosie o'donnell being fat