A few questions from a virgin shooter lol

james4510

Hi people

just a few questions from a shooting newbie.

1) is it legal to have and use blank cartridges? also were do you get them? i want them as i have a fishing lake and im having a problem with certain birds etc and i know they are protected so just want to scare them away.

2) am i right in saying hat as a rule of thumb 28g catridges are good for clays and 32g cartridges are better for fox etc or would i be better with 34g for fox?

3) does anyone know roughly how long it takes for the shotgun licence to come bk in galway?

thanks for any input

regards

james

Rovi

[MOD]
Moved to Shooting forum.
[/MOD]

I'll leave your questions 2 and 3 to those more knowledgeable, but regarding question 1, I have a vague feeling that 'scaring' protected species could draw almost as much unfavourable attention from the authorities as shooting them would.
Anyone else know for sure?

Oh, and welcome to the Boards.ie Shooting forum!

Tackleberrywho

Rovi wrote: »

[MOD]
Moved to Shooting forum.
[/MOD]

I'll leave your questions 2 and 3 to those more knowledgeable, but regarding question 1, I have a vague feeling that 'scaring' protected species could draw almost as much unfavourable attention from the authorities as shooting them would.
Anyone else know for sure?

Oh, and welcome to the Boards.ie Shooting forum!

From Memory
DISTURBANCE OF PROTECTED WILD BIRDS OR ANIMALS IS PROHIBITED with any form of electronics lamp or dazling device of electronic or mechanical Audio device.

Welcome to Boards

firefly08

I can't answer your specific questions either...but I will say: if gun shots were any good at scaring birds off (for more than a few minutes) a lot of hunters would be out of business...they will come back sooner than you think.

james4510

thanks for the advise people i didnt know u couldnt scare them lol just as well i asked first but is it illegal 2 own / use blanks or are they perfectly legal to own.

Sparks

Legal to own if you have an appropriate licence.
One safety tip - there have been cases where allegedly sound-minded and competent individuals thought it would make for a magnificent practical joke to fire blanks at friends at fairly close range.

This is not a good idea on any level.

In at least one case, said friend was injured from the discharge from the barrel (blanks will fire a fair amount of crap from the inside of the barrel, mostly metal shavings and the like, and at close range, that's going to do a fair bit of damage). A lawsuit resulted, unsurprisingly.

In other more well-known cases, members of the ERU have been injured by other members of the ERU during training exercises in precisely the same manner.

For some reason, even trained personnel hear "blank" and think "erra, that's perfectly safe", and they really, really shouldn't.

Sparks

On the licence point, if you have a licence for the shotgun, then you can legally possess and use any form of ammunition for that shotgun save the restricted stuff (unless of course you have a restricted licence): namely slugs, tracers, armour-piercing rounds, that sort of thing.

james4510

thanks sparks. i dont intend on firing them or anything else at or near anyone!! i have a shotgun licence unrestricted i have it for vermin, a small bit of game but mainly clay shooting. im assuming most gun dealers will carry blanks?

also i know most people use 28g shells for clays but i wanted to know what people suggest for fox and rabbit etc? 32g or 34?

johngalway

36gram BB's for fox anyway.

Rovi

Can you even get shotgun cartridge 'blanks' anyway?
I don't think I've ever seen them anywhere.

The expedient solution to making noise with a shotgun in order to put the frighteners on wayward wildlife and the like is to simply discharge a regular cartridge in a safe direction, explaining to a Garda or Wildlife Ranger why you're carrying and firing ordinary cartridges in the vicinity of protected wildlife could be problematical though.

Tackleberrywho

james4510 wrote: »

Hi people

just a few questions from a shooting newbie.

1) is it legal to have and use blank cartridges? also were do you get them? i want them as i have a fishing lake and im having a problem with certain birds etc and i know they are protected so just want to scare them away.

2) am i right in saying hat as a rule of thumb 28g catridges are good for clays and 32g cartridges are better for fox etc or would i be better with 34g for fox?

3) does anyone know roughly how long it takes for the shotgun licence to come bk in galway?

thanks for any input

regards

james

http://www.powerseeds.ie/hardware/zon_crow.asp

What farmes use (don't know suitability for a lake though)
What are the birds involved?

4gun

Rovi wrote: »

Can you even get shotgun cartridge 'blanks' anyway?
I don't think I've ever seen them anywhere.

The expedient solution to making noise with a shotgun in order to put the frighteners on wayward wildlife and the like is to simply discharge a regular cartridge in a safe direction, explaining to a Garda or Wildlife Ranger why you're carrying and firing ordinary cartridges in the vicinity of protected wildlife could be problematical though.

you can get a plug for your shotgun that will allow you to fire starter pistol blanks, some use them to train gun dogs

Tackleberrywho

4gun wrote: »

you can get a plug for your shotgun that will allow you to fire starter pistol blanks, some use them to train gun dogs

http://www.hfmgroup.com/professionalsupplies/blank-ammunition.html

4gun

http://www.sportsden.ie/guns/gun-accessories/dog-training/12-bore-shotgun-blank-adaptor.html

firefly08

This is not a good idea on any level.

In at least one case, said friend was injured from the discharge from the barrel (blanks will fire a fair amount of crap from the inside of the barrel, mostly metal shavings and the like, and at close range, that's going to do a fair bit of damage).

+1...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Lee#Death

Unlikely circumstances to arise from this thread I know, but worth knowing all the same...

james4510

thanks for all the info guys you have all been very helpfull. johngalway thanks for that i will make sure i get a slab of 36g BB's while im at the gun dealer and then the rest of my allowence will be kept for 28g's for clays.
i think i wont bother with the blank cartridges but will look into other ways of achiving my goal ref. the birds (cormeran's) while at the same time staying withing the law.
again thanks people