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Brits and handguns.

zooterkin said:
And the risk of leaving an injured animal roaming in pain?
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Should be about the same as that when a gun is used. Most bow hunters I knew were very disciplined about only taking kill shots because they were so worried about this very issue. I would guess that there are more animals wounded by guns than by bows in the US.

Bow hunters know that they have to wait for the perfect shot, too many gun hunters aren't really sure what the perfect shot is.
 
Captain_Snort said:
Hunting with a bow is illegal here, and quite rightly so.

I also, like most archers over here, see compound bows as somehow cheating and ungentlemanly.
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Why is bow hunting illegal there? Why the prejudice against compound bows? Does there exist the same kind for those who use scopes on their rifles?

Ranb
 
Ranb said:
Why is bow hunting illegal there? Why the prejudice against compound bows? Does there exist the same kind for those who use scopes on their rifles?
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I agree that this is interesting and would love to hear more.

brodski said:
That's quite aside from the issues of class and snobbery tied up with shooting in the UK (England in particular), for instance in some circles using an over/under shotgun rather than a side by side shotgun is considered deeply vulgar.
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I can't imagine how they would view my old pump shotgun or the semi-auto I use for skeet shooting . . .

Seriously, can you expand on this. I always liked over/under more than side by side, but I didn't know I was crossing some class line by having such a preference. My very proper anglophile grandmother had an over/under and I think she would be appalled to know it was a vulgar choice. I wonder if that was an intentional choice by her less proper husband.
 
Ranb said:
I am referring to pistols like this one. http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/firearmDetails.php?ID=3223 Doesn't look like Billy the Kid stuff to me. While it is suitable for mammals, I wouldn't use it on birds even with shot shells. Hasn't fox hunting (with dogs) been illegal for several years in England?

Ranb
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A most interesting looking pistol. Yes I know fox hunting with dogs has been banned in England. It was banned here in Scotland too, a little before the English ban, so it is lawful nowhere in Britain I believe. However, I really don't see your pistol being accepted here as suitable for deer stalking. Rabbits, maybe.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I agree that this is interesting and would love to hear more.
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Largely personal opinion and experience, but compounds were very rarely used, except for smaller women who could not readily pull a recurve. So largely seen as a child's, or woman's bow. Along comes the film Rambo, and compounds go all Hollywood, for sale in the back of comic books and survivalist type magazines with names like RAMBOW, PREDATOR etc. Not particularly well made, but, let's say appealed to a certain type of person. Used to get people turning up to club events with them as they were a fraction the price of a starter recurve, with arrows that were only meant for someone with short arms.

Hmm, just had a wee look on Amazon, all compounds still seem to have names like BLACK SHADOW, STEALTH and invariably come in camo or black.
 
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Dr. Keith said:
I can't imagine how they would view my old pump shotgun or the semi-auto I use for skeet shooting . . .

Seriously, can you expand on this. I always liked over/under more than side by side, but I didn't know I was crossing some class line by having such a preference. My very proper anglophile grandmother had an over/under and I think she would be appalled to know it was a vulgar choice. I wonder if that was an intentional choice by her less proper husband.
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Last time I went to a clay shoot (about 20 years ago, and I was generally just trapping), there were some over-unders, and I never noticed a class distinction, but there may be one. You would certainly be viewed with some disdain with a pump-action. I think someone did turn up with one one week, but that was mostly for the novelty. Since you can (I think) only legally have three rounds in them anyway - including one in the barrel - there's not a great deal of point.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I agree that this is interesting and would love to hear more.



I can't imagine how they would view my old pump shotgun or the semi-auto I use for skeet shooting . . .

Seriously, can you expand on this. I always liked over/under more than side by side, but I didn't know I was crossing some class line by having such a preference. My very proper anglophile grandmother had an over/under and I think she would be appalled to know it was a vulgar choice. I wonder if that was an intentional choice by her less proper husband.
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I'm guessing they are not going to like the semi-auto either. They're just the thing for dove hunting, I can't see having to constantly reload a double barrel for that purpose.
 
Captain_Snort said:
Largely personal opinion and experience, but compounds were very rarely used, except for smaller women who could not readily pull a recurve. So largely seen as a child's, or woman's bow. Along comes the film Rambo, and compounds go all Hollywood, for sale in the back of comic books and survivalist type magazines with names like RAMBOW, PREDATOR etc. Not particularly well made, but, let's say appealed to a certain type of person. Used to get people turning up to club events with them as they were a fraction the price of a starter recurve, with arrows that were only meant for someone with short arms.

Hmm, just had a wee look on Amazon, all compounds still seem to have names like BLACK SHADOW, STEALTH and invariably come in camo or black.
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Recurve bows are cheaper and have shorter ranges. They are also harder to learn properly, it's not hard to see why they are still preferred by some purists. They don't make very good hunting weapons though.
 
Captain_Snort said:
Largely personal opinion and experience, but compounds were very rarely used, except for smaller women who could not readily pull a recurve. So largely seen as a child's, or woman's bow. Along comes the film Rambo, and compounds go all Hollywood, for sale in the back of comic books and survivalist type magazines with names like RAMBOW, PREDATOR etc. Not particularly well made, but, let's say appealed to a certain type of person. Used to get people turning up to club events with them as they were a fraction the price of a starter recurve, with arrows that were only meant for someone with short arms.
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I guess that resonated differently in the states. When I last shot all competition bows were compound, but I assume they have a recurve class for competition as well.

Hmm, just had a wee look on Amazon, all compounds still seem to have names like BLACK SHADOW, STEALTH and invariably come in camo or black.
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Well, since we get to use then for hunting, and hunting with a bow means getting far closer to the animal than hunting with a rifle, yeah those will be popular colors.

Mine was flat black, but that was just because I wasn't willing to pay extra for camo.
 
Marcus said:
I'm guessing they are not going to like the semi-auto either. They're just the thing for dove hunting, I can't see having to constantly reload a double barrel for that purpose.
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Is that what happened to the passenger pigeon?
 
Craig B said:
A most interesting looking pistol. Yes I know fox hunting with dogs has been banned in England. It was banned here in Scotland too, a little before the English ban, so it is lawful nowhere in Britain I believe. However, I really don't see your pistol being accepted here as suitable for deer stalking. Rabbits, maybe.
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There wouldn't be much left of a rabbit after nailing it with a 30-30.
 
Craig B said:
....However, I really don't see your pistol being accepted here as suitable for deer stalking. Rabbits, maybe.
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Is it a perception that pistols are not suitable for large game? I have one of these in 375 JDJ. It fires a 220 grain bullet at about 2200 fps, this is nearly as powerful as the 7.62
NATO or 30-06 and suitable for elk/deer. I have several barrels for it including one for the 22lr; suitable for rabbits. :)

Ranb
 
Marcus said:
I'm guessing they are not going to like the semi-auto either. They're just the thing for dove hunting, I can't see having to constantly reload a double barrel for that purpose.
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I've done it and it is far better than it sounds. Double barrels are far easier to load and seem better balanced in the hand, if not lighter overall. One of the reasons I commented on my grandmother's gun was that I was so sad when I outgrew it.

I actually prefer a pump over semi-auto because it makes me think at least a beat between shots. I find the double barrel has the same effect because I only have two shots instead of three. But my pump has a goose barrel that makes it a thorough beating to use on dove and quail, even if it will reach out a bit farther than everyone else. My arms are done after a day with that gun.
 
Ranb said:
Is it a perception that pistols are not suitable for large game? I have one of these in 375 JDJ. It fires a 220 grain bullet at about 2200 fps, this is nearly as powerful as the 7.62
NATO or 30-06 and suitable for elk/deer. I have several barrels for it including one for the 22lr; suitable for rabbits. :)

Ranb
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You have to remember how hard it is to conceive of a handgun that powerful. Sure, you are around them all the time, but remember the first time you loaded what looked like a rifle round into a handgun? It was pretty weird for me.

I seem to remember my brother having a single shot .357 that could also shoot .410 shells. It was over 20 years ago, so I could be off on lots, but I remember thinking it quite odd to shoot a .410 shell out of a handgun. I would ask my brother, but I don't have the time for his answer. ;)
 
I use a semi-auto for clay shooting, improved cylinder choke, mainly because it's the only shotgun I have.

I rarely need to take more than one shot at the clay, it's very good for that purpose.

I shot clays Sunday, as I was finishing up 2 other guys were starting in one of the other positions. They were using a pump-action tactical shotgun with a laser sight and were having trouble hitting the clays... not really the ideal clay gun. :p
 
Dr. Keith said:
I seem to remember my brother having a single shot .357 that could also shoot .410 shells. It was over 20 years ago, so I could be off on lots, but I remember thinking it quite odd to shoot a .410 shell out of a handgun. I would ask my brother, but I don't have the time for his answer. ;)
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Those are becoming very common, people shoot slugs out of them. A guy was shooting one at the range on Sunday, and judging from the amount of .410 casings laying around he wasn't the only one.
 
The Don said:
I would like to be able to own a handgun because I believe that an enormous shiny hand gun would signal that I can protect those near to me and make me more attractive to women offsetting my lack of physical attractiveness and poor social skills.

Also because it would be fun to shoot at things. A few days ago I had to go up a ladder to cut down a damaged tree branch it would have been more convenient, more fun and far safer if I could have just blasted at it from ground level with a high calibre hand gun.
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Friendly note: even a .460 is going to make your hand hurt for a day or two unless the limb is thin and your aim and control is very good. Of course, you will be wearing proper ear protection - or your hearing will also be somewhat negatively affected for some time.

Also, as much as shiny might be (inaccurately) assumed to make you attractive to the opposite sex, it actually leaves something to be desired in a weapon. A nice matte black finish is much preferred for a handgun that will actually be potentially in use for defense or target shooting (even stainless steel is usually matte finished for minimal reflectiveness).
 
WildCat said:
Those are becoming very common, people shoot slugs out of them. A guy was shooting one at the range on Sunday, and judging from the amount of .410 casings laying around he wasn't the only one.
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The Governor is a Me Too for S&W. The Judge was there well before it!!
 
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