hide shooting with an auto

[ips]

been doing some rook off cover crop, got myself a bit of camo netting to make a hide on the corner of the wood and got me knew semi. Any tips about hide shooting in general, rook shooting (next step maybe some decoys) and most importantly safely using an auto. ??

 

[Nicko]

My two gripes about using an auto in the hide is it obviously spits cartridges everywhere. With the grass on the headland as long as it is, using a cartridge that isn't black or green really helps.

The other is the safety catch.  I just can't get used to flicking it off with my trigger finger as opposed to the thumb on an o/u and therefore just leave it off all the time which is less than ideal.  On the occasions I do put it on you can absolutely guarantee I only remember its on when I go to pull the trigger. 

 

[b725black]

oil drum for a seat, keep still, I mean still until you are going to mount the gun

 

[westley]

My two gripes about using an auto in the hide is it obviously spits cartridges everywhere. With the grass on the headland as long as it is, using a cartridge that isn't black or green really helps.

The other is the safety catch.  I just can't get used to flicking it off with my trigger finger as opposed to the thumb on an o/u and therefore just leave it off all the time which is less than ideal.  On the occasions I do put it on you can absolutely guarantee I only remember its on when I go to pull the trigger. 

The secret to safe use of an auto is repetition.  My finger is on the safe button as soon as I see something that may present a shot, the barrel is also raised to be clear of the top of the net. Once I have decided to shoot, (normally still sitting ) I push the safe off as the gun meets shoulder and face. Having made the shot, the gun is lowered so that the stock sits on my right thigh. I reload, reset the safe and drop the gun back down to between my knees with the barrel at 45 deg. away from me and the stock on the ground. Having done this EVERY time I have shot in a hide, after 55 years of practice I find it difficult to do anything else.

 

[ChrisPackham]

Don't assume safety works, always, always unload gun if moving..... assume gun is loaded until you prove it isn't...

Get a comfortable seat, try learning to shoot sitting down, as referred to any movement is a sin, keep all skin covered, start at first light for corvids

 

[chippy]

I never use the safety when hide shooting I always shoot on my own and can see no need to use it. If I have to put the gun down for picking up dead I just pull the bolt back.

 

[Nicko]

 Having done this EVERY time I have shot in a hide, after 55 years of practice I find it difficult to do anything else.

That's exactly my problem. . :wink:   After a 30 years of using an U/O and only a few seasons with the semi, my brain just wants to flick the safety off with my thumb.

 

[Hamster]

I never use the safety when hide shooting I always shoot on my own and can see no need to use it. If I have to put the gun down for picking up dead I just pull the bolt back.

Same here, I don't bother with safety on OU either just common safety and caution where the gun is pointing which is invariably upwards as it's held in my hands, if I leave the hide or pour a cuppa then just break it. 

 

[chippy]

its like cammo and tweed shooters at a clay shoot, you can guarantee at least one of the group will leave the safety on at every stand. and turn around grinning about it. makes you wonder if they ever hit a pheasant. if i was running a shoot i would charge extra for everyone with an auto safety gun.

 

[Nicko]

When I was a lad I had a butt clenching moment when pigeon shooting.  My little cocker jumped up for some fuss and as I pushed her down she hit the trigger with her claw and fired the gun.  Luckily it was pointing straight up and not at me but I absolutely s**t myself.  It still gives me goose bumps now when I think about it and that was almost 30 years ago.

 

[ips]

When I was a lad I had a butt clenching moment when pigeon shooting.  My little cocker jumped up for some fuss and as I pushed her down she hit the trigger with her claw and fired the gun.  Luckily it was pointing straight up and not at me but I absolutely s**t myself.  It still gives me goose bumps now when I think about it and that was almost 30 years ago.

brown trouser job I would imagine

blame the cocker, that's what I do ?

 

[ips]

this is interesting off basc website regarding use of semi auto (yes it includes shotgun with capacity of more than two rounds)

•Any automatic or semi-automatic weapon against any bird except the Bird Pest Species listed on the general licences ....

I seem to remember a thread not long ago discussing shooting game with a semi, seems you cant even think if you wanted to..

 

[Nicko]

Well you learn something new every day.  I never knew that.

 

[ips]

me neither, I always considered it bad etiquette but didn't know it was illegal.

 

[westley]

 if I leave the hide or pour a cuppa then just break it. 

AND I have read on here it does not take much to break an auto, it happens all the time  !   :angel:  

I just have to say that I cringe when I read about the non use of the safety on a FIELD gun. Call me 'Old Fashioned' but I was brought up on guns that all had an auto safe. As such, I learned from the start to operate the safety catch as the gun was being mounted, a bit like the trigger finger was always on the trigger guard until the gun was in your shoulder, then it moves to whichever trigger you intend to pull. For these reasons, I am able to switch from one gun to another in my collection without any hang ups. I KNOW when I am using a double trigger auto safe gun and shoot it accordingly. If I go to my gun cabinet now, I know that my clay shooting guns will all have the safety OFF.  I laugh when I read about "I can't shoot a double trigger gun, I can not shoot a gun with an auto safe"  etc. etc.  As to leaving the safe off in a pigeon hide, unless your hide is the size of Wembley football stadium, I do feel it is a recipe for disaster. I fully expect to be bombarded now with "I am as safe as houses" routine, but maybe it is just as well you do shoot alone  !

 

[AW13]

When shooting clays with my auto the safety is always on when you enter the stand along with a flag in the breech, click safety off at 1st presentation and back on when all shots completed.  Plus the bolt being back with a flag. Simple and safe proceedures  

 

[chippy]

The only time I use a safety is on my centrefire rifles and that's because its quieter to flick the safety off than chamber a round when waiting for a fox. And it feels less safe to have a loaded gun with the safety on than an unloaded one with the safety off.

 

[westley]

The only time I use a safety is on my centrefire rifles and that's because its quieter to flick the safety off than chamber a round when waiting for a fox. And it feels less safe to have a loaded gun with the safety on than an unloaded one with the safety off.

I totally agree with you, except on use in the field in company.  If someone shooting alone chooses to have the safety catch off, that is entirely down to them, in the event of any accident it is only themselves they are likely to harm. However, when in the field with others and the red mist falls, I have witnessed guns being loaded hurriedly, firing as soon as the barrels closed, due to the finger being on the trigger, guns going off 'accidentally' when bending down to get more cartridges from the opened bag on the floor, due to inadvertent trigger pulling. It is just MY view that the safety catch should only be pushed off immediately before firing. I completely accept that on most guns, especially O/U's it is only the trigger that is blocked and NOT a reliable safety feature, but it does help to stop accidental trigger pulling. 

 

[ips]

i totally agree with using safety preferably auto safety when in the field