The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I also have an old hammer gun and went with bismuth shot just looked at the clay and game site and they are sold out….it is very expensive but tungsten is even more so and has the warning
“WARNING - Any Tungsten based shot can damage the barrels of your gun.”

I can see lots of the older SxS guns being scrapped unfortunately if the lead ban does go through. I don’t mind the few cartridges with bismuth on wildfowl but a full days shooting no chance can’t burn that sort of money!

You might be in the wrong sport.
Have you tried golf?

Mattnall wrote: ↑Fri Jan 20, 2023 12:57 pm You might be in the wrong sport.
Have you tried golf?

Feeding all the older rifles is a labour of love and can be very expensive………. golf no experience but we are all different

I will keep using lead for my shooting until I am prevented by law from so doing. I don't shoot game with a shotgun, only clays. I have no alternative to lead for my muzzle loading revolver and rifle. Hopefully, reason will prevail and lead will not be banned altogether. We should have a few years yet, hopefully.
Regards
Peter.

Yes I wholeheartedly agree I also have no alternative but wildfowling has to be unleaded as shooting over wetlands.
Out of interest are your muzzleloaders modern reproduction or originals?

I know from experience that the older types of iron steel can become crystalline and brittle. Had a martini Henry in 577/450 break one of the cocking ears on the long lever a mark 4. Amazed at seeing the internal structure of the metal.
One of the other shooters was a specialist welder and he said it’s very common in older metals due to age and quality of the actual alloy. He repaired it for me and I struggled to see the repair. Genius at his craft.

Another shooter said and I choke on the words “why do you bother with those old junky smoke poles? you could get a modern gun and ammo off the shelf”……………..

My muzzle loaders are modern reproductions. A Pietta .44 Remington 1858 revolver and a Parker Hale .577 two band Enfield. I have a Mk IV Martini Henry rifle that I used to shoot, but I have retired that for now. I look at it and sometimes think I should put it back on the FAC and shoot it again. The trigger spring on my Martini broke once and a friend, who is into metalwork, made a replacement for me that is still in it and it still works.
Regards
Peter.

Thanks for the reply PeterN. When I first started shooting many years ago one of the guys had a Parker hale .577 Enfield. He used black powder in it and I was fascinated by the clouds of smoke. One of the older hands said in the summer get downwind of it as it keeps the midges away. He unfortunately managed to hit a sheep that had wandered onto the ranges with a round from it. Left a big exit hole! One dead sheep! Shooting suspended whilst the local farmer removed his sheep.

Many years ago I used to shoot on the military ranges at Tyddesley Wood at Pershore; the ranges went out to 600 yds. There were farmer's fields either side of it and we used to shoot without much notice and the farmer would sometimes be moving around in one of the adjoining fields. Then the army started to get bolshi and they had to clad out the bridge that crossed over a little steam in timber, to stop any ricochets. Then they started to moan that we weren't safe enough (yeh right, the cadets used to spray bullets all over the place) and we were stopped from shooting there. There was always the urban myth that someone had shot one of the farmer's cows with a 7.62, but how true it was I never knew.

was always the urban myth that someone had shot one of the farmer's cows with a 7.62, but how true it was I never knew.

Yes there are always stories but I saw this at Sealand ranges, I can only hazard a guess at late 1980’s early 1990’s but it’s a small world and somebody who was there may confirm it.
It’s the same as bullets ricocheting after hitting something in the sand and taking a lump of concrete out of the internal side of the butts/ mantle right by where the markers sit…………..”mmmmm tell that to the kids of today and they won’t believe you!”
But as in the sheep when it happens you certainly will not forget it!

Rookandrabbit wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2023 1:19 pm was always the urban myth that someone had shot one of the farmer's cows with a 7.62, but how true it was I never knew.

Yes there are always stories but I saw this at Sealand ranges, I can only hazard a guess at late 1980’s early 1990’s but it’s a small world and somebody who was there may confirm it.
It’s the same as bullets ricocheting after hitting something in the sand and taking a lump of concrete out of the internal side of the butts/ mantle right by where the markers sit…………..”mmmmm tell that to the kids of today and they won’t believe you!”
But as in the sheep when it happens you certainly will not forget it!

Oh I'm not disputing you at all, just that your story brought up some memories.