Ralpharama

I had a nasty feeling that I had been caught and there was no going back. I assumed, naively perhaps, that if the goods had defects that the seller would be responsible for highlighting them, as with ebay. Roy - As for the costs of carriage, as the owner of an on-line shop I buy and sell goods delivered by courier all the time and to charge £20 on top of the profit made from the sale, is very much extracting the urine. If I charged twenty pounds plus Richi's twenty percent I would not still be going ten years on with nothing but positive feedback (www.bikerstoolbox.co.uk). With the constant increase in the costs of carriage we have to accept that some of the profit we make on a sale has to be earned by packaging the products if we are to remain competitive. We re-use as much of the packaging that comes in to us as we are able to. The box the scope came in was very obviously recycled and wasn't great quality in the first place and was roughly bound up with budget 2" parcel tape. Yes there is a difference and we use the premium quality stuff. It also took them a week before sending it out. I wasn't best pleased about the time considering I was paying top dollar for carriage about the time, but when the product is all sticky and has a defect I was pretty hacked off. I have never bought anything from this type of auction before, so maybe I was expecting too much in the way of customer service. I will chalk it down to experience I suppose

A chap at Monmouth got an absolute bargain at an auction for a S & B scope so I had a look at Holts as I could do with a spotting scope for my my LE .303. I put a bid of £40 on one that was 20-60 x 60 and won it happy daze ? They emailed me to say I had won it and wanted £20 + VAT to post it to me + myriad other costs bring the £40 to £76 FFS! I remonstrated that £20 + VAT was taking the piss and they very generously dropped it to a mere £15 + 20%. I explained that I have an online shop and send stuff out on a next day service with DPD for £7.99 +VAT. After a good week a very dishevelled looking box arrived via Parcel Farce and I removed the contents. The scope has something nasty inside that is partially obscuring the view at lower magnification that moves around and the zoom control doesn't feel right. The brand is Adventuridge which is clearly not a top brand. It seems clear enough at 100 or thereabouts, but isn't very clear at all at objects further away and I'm not convinced I'll be able to see the rosettes and 600 metres at Warminster IR2 on Saturday. I've never bought anything at this type of auction before so have no idea if I have any comeback for the defects. Anyone have any idea how much I need to part with for a spotting scope suitable for up to 600metres? I am more than slightly dicky mint currently so am on a shoe string budget

That's good news.

I have a friend who lives near Hertford. He used to have an FAC for perforating animals, but has since given it up. I have suggested to him that he might enjoy long range target and wondered if there are any clubs in his area he could visit? I have contacted NRA with a view to him trying one of my rifles at Bisley, but the opportunities are few and far between. One date in April, that he can't make and then nothing until August that neither of us can make. I understand that MOD are not allowing guests currently. Anyone would think that the government were trying to discourage people from taking up target shooting.

I have quite a few old Kawasakis. Love 'em to bits. The one above will probably be the first to be beyond my physically as I get older, but it is also the most comfortable for long distance. I only have one that has to be kick started - '81 DT175. I confess I don't know how these old boys manage with their old Brit 500 singles !

My passion is classic bikes and the alcohol being added to the petrol is causing havoc with classic vehicles. Because it's hygroscopic it effectively sucks water into the fuel which rots the insides of fuel systems. It's all green washing for political gain and has no real valid environmental value. As for the insane building ... don't get me started! We haven't got enough bloody agricultural land to feed the population we have already without building yet more housing on green belt and growing fuel crops rather than food on prime agricultural land! At least on a bike I don't get stuck in traffic jams

There seem to be lots of odd rules attached to them - like fifty cal, only the person the serial number is attached to is allowed shoot them I believe. I understand that this has upset clubs as they cannot let newbies try them, even under close supervision, to see if they're for them. How can you know if you like them and get on with them to decide if you want one and thereby have a 'reason' to 'need' one? I'm buggered if I am going to spend a big bag o money for a variation and gun on the basis I 'might' like it. That's probably the answer 🤣

I suppose the well healed can shell out huge amounts for their pleasure, but sadly I don't fall into that sector of society. That said, I really enjoy rubbing shoulders with fellow paupers at rifle clubs. Whilst having loadsa money may open more doors, I remain to be convinced that it more pleasure is to be derived from great wealth. I somehow doubt that a rich person would gain as much pleasure from a rifle, however expensive, that only represents a fairly small percentage of their over wealth, as some oik like me that has sacrificed a far higher percentage of their personal GDP on a far lesser, but more highly prized toy. What really makes said oik uber happy is when he out-shoots a fabulously rich chap with some fancy rifle the grubby pleb could only dream of 🤣

I'm a recent convert to ELDs and they do seem to fly nice and straight

Monmouth and District isn't a million miles from you and is very friendly and books many of the ranges ODRC used to, though they don't shoot MOD throughout the winter. The more long range shooters join it the more ranges are likely to be booked.

I was invited to rejoin ODRC by Simon Wheeler who has selflessly come out of retirement to help out the club. I thought long and hard and decided that I would not renew and sent a civil email to Mr Wheeler formally declining the offer. He replied promptly, unusually, explaining that I had “saved him the job” of recommending to the committee the refusal of my continued membership of this club. He suggests that discussing ODRC on here is in contravention of the club rules. I neither know nor care, at this point, whether he has invented this rule as he has proved himself to be disingenuous on numerous occasions. I did reply to his email, but he hadn’t to manners to acknowledge it in the same manner as he has ignored so many of my previous communications in the past. I look forward to shooting my CZ rim fire tonight at MNTSC and tomorrow with a centre fire at Monmouth & District, both of which are well run, friendly clubs as Offas Dyke was previously.

Perhaps their day job is as post persons. I have noticed that many of the postmen in our village don shorts even in the depths of winter when all the villagers are wrapped up like eskimos. A breed apart 🤣

My comment was really just an exploration of any perceived advantages from visiting Bisley on my own or with ODRC. I have only ever been unhappy with one RCO in all my time and that was the one that was so rude to myself and my friends at ODRC and on here it has proved that we were not alone. One of my friends is a very experienced RCO and emailed ODRC offering to help given their request and didn’t even receive a reply or acknowledgment. I have no great yearning to be an RCO and other than ODRC I am not in a club crying out for RCOs. If I felt it would help a club of which I was a member I would happily do the relevant courses. As it is I am a very busy self employed fool and really can’t afford either the financial hit nor the time to do something that I am not aware is needed. I haven’t the foggiest who buggered up the field firing as I have yet to experience such a joy, other than at Buckys in Cornwall if that counts? Sadly it seems Buckys is now closed to me as they seem to require an open ticket now 😢 I have to say I’m not hearing anything on here to make me want to pay another years subs. 😥

After all the crap at ODRC I did join NRA and have enjoyed booking Stickledown 1000yards with friends and all has been good. Even though I wasn't with a club it was little different as one always meets other shooters to chat with. Obviously was scowled at by those in gimp suits with their multi coloured rifles for using a muzzle brake

It is a great sadness that it has come to this. ODRC was a fine club that I was proud to be a member of. I met some great people in it , many of whom are on here. Another club I know had a less than ideal uber macho atmosphere years ago, but has now improved and is now a very friendly welcoming club, with a club room I'd happily take my wife to ... if she didn't hate guns so much!

I have now to decide whether to renew my membership of ODRC. For my last two years of membership I have fired three rounds in biblical rain at HME testing and the RCO was so rude to myself and my friends, after completing a morning in the butts not one of us could face the likelihood of more caustic comments on the firing point, so went home. Bleddyn has always seemed to be a nice chap with a passion for shooting and a first class RCO. I'm not good with names, but the other RCOs I have shot under at ODRC have all seemed fine with one exception who considers it fine to be rude to folk. He also considers it his place to make fatuous comments criticizing others reloading which so far have been factually way off beam. eg on seeming a bit of flame from the muzzle of my 300WM in the pouring rain, he announced I was using the 'wrong powder'. I pointed out that I was using RS70 supplied by the club which is the recommended powder by the manufacturer. The latest newsletter informs us that the club has been forgiven by the NRA but is still in the black books of the MOD but is hoping to be able to negotiate a cessation of the suspension in the new year. To this end they are offering the opportunity for me to drive 111 miles in a journey of at least 3 hours to shoot paper targets for a tenner. We are further offer the opportunity for an hour and a half sharing a lane on Century range in the morning and a similar time in the afternoon on Stickledown for twenty quid. Presumably this would be under the control of a club RCO? Near the end of the newsletter it drops the bombshell that to take advantage of the above offers and be able to shoot on MOD ranges with the club you will have to pay for and complete a club reloading course, it seems regardless of experience, unless of course you are flush enough to be able to shoot high end factory ammo; we all know the nearest to affordable ready made is hardly going to score many V bulls on Stickledown. Don't think for one moment I am against safety and if anyone want to examine my ammo I happy with that; my ammo boxes are all clearly labelled with the type and quantity of propellant, the weight and type of projectile, the make of case and primer as well as recorded MVs. If I want to shoot at 100yards I can do that for nothing with a forty minute car drive to an uber friendly club in a tunnel in Newport. If I want to shoot on Stickledown (not interested in driving all the way to Bisley for 600m), I can share a lane with a friend for £10 an hour and I don't need to pass any course on reloading. I still remember the good days of ODRC with John at the helm and am loth to give up on a Pheonix Offa's RC rising from the ashes.

MDRC have shown now uppitiness with my brakes at the various MOD shoots I have enjoyed with them. There was a bit of low level grumbling initially at the sight of my .308 STR with brake in the tunnel, but I ensured the wall was one sight and my mate the other so all was well. It does bark a bit in the tunnel though I understand from the grapevine that we'll need to be on our bets behaviour though, dotting the 'i's and crossing the 'T's, as there have been issues with other clubs not doing stuff right and all of us are under the spotlight for rule adherence by Landmarc.

Dunno why, but I thought you said you were in Bath 🤔

Yes

My local club, Midsomer Norton Target Shooting Club, has a good number of those with a passion for executing Bambie We have a fifty metre fullbore tunnel range which the killers use to zero. Much as I love a bit of wild venison I haven't the stomach for chopping up Bambie any more than cooking it or any other food! Love sea food, but think it's nasty smelling stuff until it arrives on my plate It's a fun club with good banter, but political correctness seems to have passed the club by, which in my book is a great thing. Not somewhere for the sensitive new generation that consider 'they' to be a gender and that the humble black board should be outlawed as racist. Wednesday is club night. Website is rarely disturbed - http://www.mntsc.co.uk/ You clearly like Pink Floyd and bikes .... you'll fit in- there's a good number of bikers, myself included. If you want an intro then drop me a PM

I'm not exactly in my first flush of youth ad my eyes are fine using the wonderful correction on my scopes, but seeing targets at distance with open sights is less easy. I have open sights on my .303 and want to see how I get on at 100yards in the tunnel range at Monmouth. All the targets I have made previously work really well, but i have never made up any targets for open sights before. I have attached a couple of A4 targets I have made for shooting scoped rifles which I find great as they are easy to 'read' the hits through the scope, which I found many commercial targets aren't - the holes get lost in black areas. These targets are just a white blur even at my local 50metre range sans-scope. I have an A3 printer so can print bigger targets but need a bit of advice on targets that can be seen at distance with old eyes, but the shots will still be readable with a spotting scope. MOA Targets 6 up on A4 copy.pdf Target 02 .pdf

I had a great night playing with my No4 Mk2 and started to get my head around the singer sight, it’s more accurate than I gave it credit for being. the bullets I am using are literally the cheapest I could buy, probably Sellier Beloit. What bullets do you guys use?

I have one. I love it to bits, but it is a bit of a phaff to get on and off as it won't go back in it's foam lined case with mounting bit attached. The picitinny quick release bit is also very fussy about rail sizes and cheap pic rail seems to vary in size enormously. I have made various attachments for it to fit different rifles. Overall though it wipes the floor with any other bipod I have tried for stability and ease of use once attached, so I'll have to put up with attaching the quick release bit every time I use it. The solution I suppose would be to not take it off and store the bipod in something bigger!

I have been a member of ODRC since the good days. The 'nice' man was ousted in a frankly disgusting manner and his replacement was probably the author of the unhelpful rude reply you got. He was a deeply troubled individual who was very unpleasant to many people and put a lot of noses out of joint. He is no longer at the helm and sadly the club is now rudderless, but is at least no longer running into rocks and heading for a terminally big one. That said if the club can't recruit a friendly and competent person to take on the onerous duties of membership secretary and general secretary it is likely to fold, which would be a great shame as it was a friendly and fun club to be a member of. I am now a probationary member of Monmouth and District Rifle Club which is booking military ranges including Sennybridge, Warminster and Rogiet Moor. They also have a 100yard indoor range which is great for load development. It is a very friendly club and I have enjoyed all my experiences with them. I did join the NRA and have shot on Stickledown, Bisley at 1000yards using the electronic targets - it was awesome and I will be back next week! I don't need to be a member of any club to shoot there, though having a SCC issued by a club is good as I believe that the NRA charge like a wounded rhino for the pleasure of testing and issuing one! Once my ODRC ones expires I believe that MDRC will issue one for me

All the RCOs I've met at MDRC have been great chaps and Adam is a credit to the club - very nice, friendly and efficient bloke; the antithesis of Mr W ! I have always had a love/hate relationship with Land Rover. I loved the early Range Rovers and had two (early two door and a D reg four door Vogue EFI) I also had a long wheelbase '70s 'Safari' followed by a 110 'County' - before they called them Defenders! The 110 diesel was flat out on the the level at 50mph and couldn't even manage that on a slope! In fairness it was very reliable. I think it is the newer 'discos' and 'range rovers' etc that have garnered a bad rep for reliability. They do seem to hold their money much better than the Mercs. One major contributor to my buying decision Maybe see you on Saturday?