HW95K Mooch

Tuesday 17th July 2012

Weather, cloudy but warm, time, 17:00 hours.

I decided to try and get a green flag from Mrs Mawders to go for a mooch at one of my permissions. She agreed so I placed the newly acquired HW95K in the boot of the car and drove the 10 or so miles to airgun heaven.

I arrived at the perm and went about checking the zero in the barn. The range was 30 yards. So after using PCP's to date and getting lazy with my hold technique a return to springer heaven has meant that I need to loose my habits and start learning all over again. I kept telling myself, "dont hold it to tight, stop gripping it like that". After a few minutes I was pleased to see that the zero was still bang on and after 30 or so shots getting back into the swing of things I then went about producing 5p piece eshots through a piece of ply wood. every time I fired a marker shot and then sat with my mouth open when I was banging further pellets through the same hole. A really satisfying feeling as anyone that has done this will know. Whats more I was using a springer!!!! yeah that type of rifle that cant hit a barn door at 20 yards if not held correctly. But this time I was in the zone. Then towards the end of the zeroing shot I got complacent and the springer kicked me in the backside and woke me up. Its so easy to not give the rifle the correct hold and BAM, shots flying everywhere. But this is whats great about the simple springer, you win some you lose some.

I will say though that the accuracy on this rifle is nothing short of amazing provided I do my part.



So, I thought I would have a quick mooch around the fields. I crossed the gate into the field and could immediately see rabbits everywhere but no where near me, the closest I guestimated at 200 yards. The mooch was on, I stalked up the field and aimed for the nearest rabbit, I walked crouched down for what felt like an eternity and managed to get within 40 yards, "hmm" I thought. Do I take the shot or do I wait to see if bugsy comes closer. Well Bugsy made his mind up first and flippantly hopped away to safety completely unaware of my presence.

"grrr", by this time the local cows and 2 Bulls on the field had taken a shine to my ninja like appearance and decided to come over, I was hanging around. The big bull is exactly that and ive seen him tossing other cows around when the get to close so I decided to walk slowly towards the barbed wire fence and hop through into the next field to stalk further up towards the hedgerow. Knowing the cows would leave me alone if I walked on the other side of the barbed wire fence.

I got approximately 60 yards towards the hedges and spotted two rabbits out munching the grass. "perfect" I could use the long grass and barbed wire fence in my field to block their view as I mooched towards them on my belly dragging myself and the HW95K towards my prize.

I reached a small shrub and could see the rabbits still feeding in the field to my left but needed to get closer so put my head down, hood up on my Jack Pyke smock and belly crawled further forward.

This is my view looking back, you can see the small shrub about 10 yards away that I first stopped at but continued on my way.



This next picture shows the view from my position. The rabbits sat munching at what I thought was about 30 yards away.





I raised my head, aimed the rifle and steadied my breath, the wind had picked up by this point and changed direction gusting from behind me towards their direction. Both of them sat up on their back legs looking around, noses twitching. They knew I was near but couldnt see me as I lay covered by the Jack Pyke clothing and tall grass around me. They started hopping around towards the hedgerow moving slightly further away from me and not wishing to stay still for to long. One of the pair, a fully grown, stopped, I had been tracking her in my scope. She turned side on and sat upright sniffing the air. I took steady aim just below the ear with the Hawke Panorama, crystal clear optics in the fading light. I held my breath, took up stage 1 of the trigger and then squeezed stage 2 maintaining my view down the scope.

A dull thud from the HW and the pellet made its impact with a crack. The bunny bowled over onto its side and with an outstretched back leg waved goodbye to this life. the other rabbits ran for cover. I sat and waited for a few minutes but nothing came back. 

I walked towards my prize and paced out the distance which I thought was 30 yards. I got to 30 yards and kept on counting. "oh no" I thought. I got to 45 yards and realised my head shot was in fact a clean heart and lung shot through one shoulder and out the other, blood trickling from the rabbits nose and mouth signifying the heart shot. I felt angry with myself. It could have gone so horribly wrong but as luck would have it on this occasion the pellet did its thing and the vital organs had been hit. 



We all want those perfect kills and we owe it to our chosen target to dispatch them as humane as possible. On this occasion it had been but what made me angry was the fact I didn't aim for that region and it could have gone as stated wrong.

I placed my prize on the side and continued my mooch. The cows had started showing interest by this point and I decided to call it a night with just the one kill. So I headed back over to the shrub I left my rabbit at to see a poacher on my permission, I waved my arms and shouted but Mr Fox showed me his middle finger and beat a hasty retreat across the field with MY rabbit in its mouth!

Oh well, a most excellent adventure out practising my shooting and a good stalk to top of the night. My next purchase may just have to be a laser range finder!

All The Best

Mawders

The New HW95K is Here!

Wednesday 11th July 2012

The phone rings and what felt like an eternity of waiting was over, it was Tony from Sandwell Field Sports telling me my new rifle was ready for collection. I couldn't wait to get hold of her, I had placed my order 3 weeks before and was yearning to get back out into the field.

Friday 13th July 2012 

The day had arrived, the time was 10am and I had just dropped off my Mrs at work and the kids at nursery. Sat Nav set up, some smokes rolled for the journey and I set off on the 60 mile journey to meet Tony and collect the rifle. I arrived at the shop about 50 mins later and walked in, the shop was already packed and customers were all waiting for Tony's attention. The customary coffee was presented to me and I told Tony to serve the other customers whilst I had a mooch around the Aladdin's cave that is SFS. Goodies and toys everywhere, so much so I was getting a headache thinking about all the things I would have to smuggle back into the house and past the Mrs.

The time had come to unwrap my new toy, Tony presented me with my scope choice first, the Hawke 4-12 x 40 AO IR Panorama EV. I held it in my hand and marvelled at its beauty. I then looked through the lens and lowered the magnification looking out across the shop, "wow" were the words that fell out of my mouth. Tony smiled and said "thats a lovely scope that Phil, and my favourite scope at the moment". I couldn't agree more, the lens was so pure and crisp and the cross-hairs were fine and detailed etched onto the lens. I knew I had chosen well.

Tony then took my stage 1 tuned HW95K from its box and handed it over for my inspection, an instant smile came across my face. It was everything I hoped it to be. The days of PCP's had bored me and this I hope is my return to spring town heaven. Ive always loved the looks and reported accuracy of the HW95K but never got round to owning one so this was my springer of choice. The rifle felt light enough to carry on the hunt but not flimsy due to the solid German engineering. Tony mounted the scope and mounts to the rifle and we went up stairs to put some lead through the barrel on the indoor range. Tony fired about 5 shots before stating "thats bang on Phil, pellet through pellet". The time then came for me to have a go with my new gun, I sat and marvelled at its brilliance before cocking the barrel and loading a H&N FTT pellet in 5,53 head size. A quick thud and the pellet flew hitting a few mm from where Tony had shot. Practice will rectify this when I get used to how the gun reacts and mastering spring rifle technique. I smiled my little face off like a fat kid in a chocolate factory.

I cant thank Tony enough for the work he has done to the rifle, its a real delight to fire and has got me smiling again whilst using it. Something the PCP scene just doesnt do for me. The shops impressive and his prices on kit, rifles and equipment is very very competitive. I would urge anyone who lives within a reasonable distance to at least try SFS once. I know I will continue to make the 60 mile trip there and 60 mile trip home again from now on.

A few more goodies purchased in the shop and I went home to admire my purchase.





I went out yesterday and zeroed the scope for 30 yards in an open barn, this next picture shows 4 shots spread out which were zeroing shots followed by 20 shots then through that hole which the 5p piece covered.



not bad from a springer at 30 yards in the kneeling supported position from a shooter who had long forgotten the proper hold technique and principles due to shooting pcp. I must say things can only get better for me and this rifle, ill continue to learn the proper technique and the action on the rifle will continue to bed in. The rifle has only had about 150 shots through it so far.

All in all I am well happy with my purchase. I had a little stalk in the field and managed to bag a bunny at 30 yards exactly with the rifle so its been bloodied on its first outing. only a baby bunny though and forgot to take a pic of the rabbit.

Anyone considering a HW95K or using Tony's services at SFS then I cant rate either of them high enough. Pure class on both fronts.

Superten to go!

So since getting back into the sport of Airgun shooting I purchased a second hand very well looked after BSA Superten MK3 BBK in my preferred calibre of .22.

The rifle was fantastic and per my posts on this very blog it proved to be a very accurate piece of kit. But there in lay the problem, it was boringly accurate. I used the rifle for many months and couldn't fault it at all. In my opinion  probably the best PCP air rifle there ever was. I grew up in the early 90's in my teens and that's when I got into using air rifles to plink and to hunt. In those days the only real viable tool for the job was a spring piston air rifle. With those comes fun and excitement, even more common, frustration! It was all about mastering the hold technique to operate and shoot the rifle accurately but with all the frustration came the most amazing enjoyment and excitement when the pellet struck the mark and where I intended it to hit.

I had a decision to make and a big one at that. Do I continue to use the superten and gradually lose enjoyment with the sport as was already happening or do I take the plunge, be brave and sell the superten using the money which is tight in today's economic times to secure a top class spring piston Air rifle again and go back to basics.

Now I had owned several spring piston rifles in the past and wondered what would suit me best or give me the best enjoyment and be used for years to come hopefully. Two of my shooting partners have TX200's made by Air Arms and I had also owned one of these in the past. Lovely rifles and very accurate to boot but to much on the heavy side for my liking. One of my permissions is 140 acres of down and up hill walking doesn't do my arms and back much good carrying the weight of the TX200. So what else could I go for?

I started looking back to my early teens and what rifles I used and owned back then. I realised the most fun I ever had was with the BSA Supersport, a simple and accurate break barrel that didn't weigh the earth and was also very accurate provided I did my part. Now don't get me wrong, I know BSA still make the supersport but decided if im selling one of the best PCP rifles ever made to fund this venture then I wanted something a little special to keep and cherish. I read lots of reviews for break barrel rifles and watched many videos when it suddenly dawned on me that the gun I may be looking for was the Weihrauch HW95K in .22

The excitement inside me grew and day after day I scoured the internet consuming as much content on the rifle as I could until I think there was nothing left to read on the whole of the internet. Time to visit my local dealer then and shoulder one to see if it fits me and feels right.

Saturday 16th June 2012

I travelled into town and went to see my chosen rifle. There she was, sat on the shelf. A quick chat with the shop owner and I was shouldering the rifle, it felt just right, like it was built for me. I smiled and thought to my self "dont get carried away, shop around and see what deal you can get, hang on you haven't even sold your old rifle yet, how am I paying for this".

So I left the shop and placed my rifle on the for sale section of a forum I frequent, within a few hours my inbox was filling with offers for the rifle. Within a few days my rifle had been collected and I was now in the position to start shopping.

Now call it fate or just good timing but somebody I know through the very forum I sold my rifle on posted a video he had taken of his journey to Sandwell Field Sports in the Midlands. The purpose of the video was to purchase a new springer and show the work that SFS do when you request a tune up on the rifle. I was so impressed by this video and the work carried out by Tony at SFS that I knew my rifle and scope package along with a tune had to come from SFS.

I picked up the phone and called Tony and placed my order. Tony then said "There will be a 3 to 4 week wait for this rifle due to the tune and the fact we are really busy at the moment". My heart sank but I remained upbeat and knew the next 3 to 4 weeks would be the longest 3 to 4 weeks of my airgunning life so far.

Time to wait and scour the internet trying to find more content relating to my new purchase. 

Link to VerminHunterstv YouTube channel, please rate and subscribe, a fantastic channel for the sport showing top class marksman enjoying the sport. 

     

Rookie Time

Monday 21st May 2012

First day back at work in what will seem a very long drawn out week till I next see some time off. But what's this, a phone call from my shooting partner asking if I fancied a few hours out after work for some bunny bashing down at a local permission. Well why not, this will give me something worth while looking forward to for the rest of the day at work.

The time soon came and 6:30pm and my shooting partners van rumbles onto the drive way. Off I go, food in my belly and well hydrated now the weather has picked up.

Pulled up on the perm about 7pm and had a quick look out over the two small fields which make up part of the perm. A few bunnies spotted out and about but disappearing fast into the hedge rows. A delicate step over the barbed wire fence and away we went, sun beating down on our backs. Now this particular permission has cows on it and some of which are bulls with very large sharp looking horns. A quick look round and we could see they were in an adjoining field so we were safe for now.

The field we were in and started our journey contains a hand full of trees in random places, these provide great strafing cover moving in the chosen target and also great for running round when being chased by the resident bull!

I spotted my first target roughly 80 yards away near the hedge, a rabbit out munching the grass. I crept along and towards the first tree which blocked my sight and the rabbits, I then moved over to another tree and when I next looked I judged the distance to the rabbit to be roughly 40 yards. I dropped to the prone position and extended the legs of the Harris Bipod! I then took aim and allowed nearly one mildot for pellet drop using the heavy JSB exacts. squeezing the trigger gently and following through all I heard was a faint hammer strike, the superten bbk with twink silencer sent the JSB towards it target at 11.5ft/lb. whack and the bunny toppled, just rolling onto its side and sticking the leg in the air. I moved towards the bunny to claim the prize only to find my eye sight had let me down once again! A Bunny, not a rabbit laid before me. I can only use the excuse the rabbit looked alot bigger in the scope, but then most things will at 10x mag! Now the permission owner keeps cows in these fields so this rabbit would cause as much damage as any other full grown rabbit creating holes in the ground that the livestock could fall in but it still didn't make me feel any better for shooting such a young rabbit even though they are on the cards as much as the full grown.



Moving on I walked up along the hedgerow towards the top end of the field but made the mistake of letting the cows in the adjoining field see me, like bees to the honey pot they started walking towards me and the gap in the hedgerow. I knew at this point I was screwed, because as soon as daisy and heather start their walk the resident bull decides hes gonna get there first! The thing is huge and white and when it starts running towards you no amount of arm waving or rain dancing will scare it away, its a feckin beast of an animal!

I started walking with purpose towards the top of the field listening to the stampede behind me, looking nervously round every other step I made. Its at this point I then see the bull running as fast as its big fat legs can carry it across the hedgerow and into my field, now only 15 to 20 yards away and heading on a collision path towards its chosen destination - ME!

I started running but hit what my dad and I call the bog of eternal stench, its a patch of the field so churned up by the cows and full of water it stinks and sucks up anything stupid enough to stand in it. That said it was my only route away from being nothing more that a Jack Pyke cap poking up from the mud!

I ran as fast as I could into the bog with my gun held high above my head like a soldier in Vietnam crossing the streams of the jungle. Squelch, went my feet into the mud, where  got stuck! nearly knee deep in shit and mud every effort to get one leg out meant the other went deeper. No time to stop and worry or get emotional, Bully Beef was fast approaching. I managed to get my legs out as you would when instant death is fast approaching. I then managed to jump, at least I think I jumped a small barbed wire fence into another field. Phew!!!!! death avoided I continued on with my hunt a little out of breath.

But whats this, no time to stop and rest I spot a rook in the tree approximately 30 yards in front and hes getting anxious. I stood and shouldered the rifle and took aim. A gently breeze and the rook swaying on the branch. Taking aim I let loose another JSB Exact which hit the rook in the side of the neck, it tumbled from the tree but was flapping at the same time, which sent its path of descent off, landing in some tall grass in another field which I had no permission on, I could see it over the barbed wire fence approximately 40 yards into the field motionless. I dared not pick it up as the field had horses and stables in it and I wasnt sure if there was people around. Must not be the most pleasant experience seeing an armed combat dressed countryside warrior walking round your field! I left it there in the hope it would attract more rooks and wasnt disappointed as about 3 minutes later a group flew over going batshit crazy at their fallen brother. One rook made the mistake of landing on the same tree the last fell from and was quickly within my sights. This time roughly 25 yards away and at a steady angle. taking another standing shot this time the JSB hit the brain box and the rook let out its final squawk before plummeting straight down from its branch!





The time was now fast approaching 8pm and so I decided to set the rook out as a decoy but had no wire to make it stand up so instead hoped in vein that others would be stupid enough to land in the tree looking at their fallen but they didn't. I hid in the shadows of a bush waiting but they circled low and flew away knowing something wasn't quite right about their brother.

On meeting up with my shooting partner he showed me his prize of a good sized rabbit and with that we decided to call it a night.

I really enjoyed the night as to get two rooks in 5 minutes was most pleasant, they are not the easiest birds to hunt and cant recall the last time I have shot one its been that long.

Mawders

Nutkins in May.

Sunday 13th May 2012


So my main permission consists of 140 acres of fruit trees which dip into a valley, the farmer stated he wanted the tree rats dealt with as they  become a problem all year round. The land consists of small lines of trees following the borders of the fields in which the tree rats set up home. At the top of the permission is one of the biggest woodlands in the county and has an endless amount of tree rats which venture out into the fields on the permission. These woods are not shot on as they are national trust and as such the tree rat population is getting out of hand. They venture into the permission and take whatever food sources they can get their grubby mits on. The farmer also has a large patch of hazlenut trees which the little beggers love to get their teeth into. Ive even on occasion seen them running around with whole apples in the their gobs from the apple orchards on the permission. Really goes to show the strength of these little fellas.

So the time: 17:00 hours - late in the day but a family christening held things up! The view from entering the permission,





A mooch through the apple orchard constantly scanning the ground for rabbits as they are also shootable on this permission but none around as I made my way slowly to the nearest line of trees which lead down the valley and up the other side finally meeting up with the large woodland. I could hear the screeching of my first tree rat coming from approximately 100 yards to my front. I moved slowly down the line of apple trees but all had gone quiet. Then as I stood looking at a large tree directly in front of me marvelling the vibrant colours which had formed recently since my last visit a large grey tree rat scuttled around the trunk of the tree approximately 5 feet off the ground. It was one of those moments where he saw me and I saw him, i couldnt move and within half a second he scuttled around the far side of the trunk. I dropped to the kneeling position and judged the range to be 20 to 25 yards. I waited for what felt like a few minutes trained on the trunk where he previously showed himself. Then as if it was meant to be, he scuttled back around into the same position as before. I took aim, trained the crosshairs onto the side of head just below the ear and gently squeezed the trigger of the Superten, thwack, the JSB Exact stuck firmly and accurately sending the tree rat up into the air and tumbling down into some thick grass, a few thrashes around the ground from nerves and the tree rat lay still. Life expired.





The tree he stayed still to long on pictured above.

Moving on and feeling good about the accuracy of the Superten I continued up the line of trees down into the valley and then up the other side. I stood still looking into the tree tops and scanning the trunks as the tree rats on this perm spend more time on the ground due to the abundance of fruit and nuts than they do in the trees. All of a sudden a massive thud and crash directly above my head. I stood still but just looked up to see a huge male tree rat running along the branch above my head chasing a smaller and I would guess female tree rat, his huge balls swinging in the may breeze. He stopped in a V of a branch and I took aim, again 20 to 25 yards and stood side on. Thwack and the second tree rat ate his last meal of JSB Exact. However he did not jump or leap from the tree as the pellet struck but rather rolled over on the spot and was left hanging over the V in the branch, blood dripping down from its head. I could not believe it, how on earth would I get it down from there.



I left him hanging and mooched off to see where the other tree rat had gone but could not locate her so after a few mins returned to the male tree rat still hanging in the V. However the wind had picked up and I could see with every gust of wind he inched over the V becoming front heavy. I took aim on his head and fired. The force of the shot did enough to swing him further over the branch and down he fell.



I thought it only appropriate to enjoy the thrill of the hunt with a nice roll up so sat up against a tree enjoying the breeze and sunny rays. A view from my tree,



A lovely feeling knowing everything you can see when you look around is yours to shoot on, a very humbling and welcome feeling for which I am truly thankful to the land owner.

The sun was fast setting and so a gentle walk down through a new field I had previously not ventured into whereby I viewed a nice fresh warren full of rabbits. There must have been around 10 out playing in the setting sun. However they would have to wait another day as its one of those places where you cant really stalk towards them but rather get in position early and wait their arrival as they come out to play.

The walk back to the car was long over 140 acres and fatigue had set in, a few rabbits out playing which I managed to stalk within distance but completely buggered up both shots due to poor lighting and over range finding them with the naked eye, to many mildots given and kicks of earth flying up a few inches past them so they will have to wait for another day.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening out and much needed due to recent weather keeping me indoors. Hope you enjoyed the read. I enjoyed the day.
Mawders