Why do we shoot?

[Drago]

Bloodlust doesn't bother me. I only shoot proper designated vermin, and infrequently at that, it's just another target to test my marksmanship against, and makes a change from the garden or the range. I've zero interest in popping any other type of animal.

None of the rest of it is remotely relevant to the few shooters on here.

 

[Drago]

Going shooting tomorrow. Seems a gang of delinquent squirrels and some tooled up rabbits gave the local gatekeeper a bit of a kicking and he wants them taken out.

 

[ufkacbln]

Going shooting tomorrow. Seems a gang of delinquent squirrels and some tooled up rabbits gave the local gatekeeper a bit of a kicking and he wants them taken out.

Where to....

A romantic restaurant, cinema, the beach?

 

[Drago]

It's gonna be like this (Vern might want to look away at this point...)

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ-EOg38t1o

 

[Drago]

New red dot sight ordered for my pistol.

 

[slowmotion]

I had a go at clay pigeon shooting yesterday. The clay is about the size of a small side plate and flies like a frisbee having been fired out of a robotic gadget at about 100 mph. They cost 3p each. You try and shoot them to pieces with a double-barrelled shot gun. It's enormous fun. Give it a try. Contrary to the belief in some quarters, you really don't need to be a socially inadequate misogynist with anger management issues to find it enjoyable. Good Lord, there were women there having fun too.

Edit: here's the wondrous gizmo...

 

[screenman]

I had my first go at the clays last week, I must say I enjoyed the experience. I have never shot before and have never had an interest in guns, be it toys or real.

 

[numbnuts]

I had a go at clay shooting once, but I tried boiling, stewing and roasting them they still tasted crap

 

[wheresthetorch]

I had a go at clay shooting. Really enjoyed it and did quite well, so considered taking it up. Then looked into the cost and bought a Bianchi instead!

 

[wheresthetorch]

I can't do it now because of a shoulder injury.

Did you have the gun the right way round?

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 3882688, member: 9609"]did you enjoy the noise nuisance you created for every else in a 3 mile radius ?[/QUOTE]
Fair point. The place I tried it was an outdoor activity centre on a farm that was on the Speyside whisky distillery trail. It is very popular with tourists and provides employment for a good number of local people for archery,fishing, shooting and other rural pursuits. I suppose that one might attempt to justify the noise on economic grounds. Anyway, the countryside round there is surprisingly noisy what with the tractors, combines, quad bikes and forestry chainsaws. etc.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 3882688, member: 9609"]did you enjoy the noise nuisance you created for every else in a 3 mile radius ?[/QUOTE]

Last time I had a go we did it on Sunday morning, considerate I thought as we wouldn't disturb folks who were working.

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 3883352, member: 9609"]something distinctively annoying about the sound of a gun especially when it can go on for many hours on end - combines, tractors, chainsaws are all doing something necessary and certainly tractors / combines the noise is not intrusive nor particularly unpleasant.[/QUOTE]
That's true.

 

[slowmotion]

I had a go at clay shooting. Really enjoyed it and did quite well, so considered taking it up. Then looked into the cost and bought a Bianchi instead!

The problem with clay shooting is that it's been hi-jacked by the corporate types for their jolly outings and is quite expensive if you go to an outfit that feasts off their kind of budgets. Depending on where you go, it seems to work out at very,very roughly about £1-2 a shot, all up, maybe a bit more.

That's hideously expensive to me but I (very briefly) looked into the alternatives and ways of doing it on the cheap. Here's what I found. It's an entirely imperfect piece of research.

Gun cabinet £100
Shotgun Certificate £80
Ammunition safe £50
Cheap Over and Under 12G shotgun £500
Cleaning stuff £50
Cartridges £0.20 per bang
Clays 0.10 per clay
Launcher say £400

The sticking point is that you need to find a friendly farmer who will let you use an empty piece of land.
It wouldn't be a cheap hobby, but once you have the tools, it shouldn't be entirely ruinous, I hope.

 

[raleighnut]

The problem with clay shooting is that it's been hi-jacked by the corporate types for their jolly outings and is quite expensive if you go to an outfit that feasts off their kind of budgets. Depending on where you go, it seems to work out at very,very roughly about £1-2 a shot, all up, maybe a bit more.

That's hideously expensive to me but I (very briefly) looked into the alternatives and ways of doing it on the cheap. Here's what I found. It's an entirely imperfect piece of research.

Gun cabinet £100
Shotgun Certificate £80
Ammunition safe £50
Cheap Over and Under 12G shotgun £500
Cleaning stuff £50
Cartridges £0.20 per bang
Clays 0.10 per clay
Launcher say £400

The sticking point is that you need to find a friendly farmer who will let you use an empty piece of land.
It wouldn't be a cheap hobby, but once you have the tools, it shouldn't be entirely ruinous, I hope.

Sounds a bit like the (ex) golfers who ride 'sportives'