The PH Gun Cabinet - Shooting Matters

[scrw.]

Well it seems I am going to have to transfer my shotgun over to a mate as my GP is playing silly buggers with Medcert. Cheshire Police have been helpful with this, GPs attitude from the start rather woeful.

[chemistry]

Anyone know of a clay shooting ground near(ish) to Plymouth? I’m there next week and will have a bit of free time, so am wondering whether to bring my gun.

All I can find via Google are ‘stag/hen’ type places.

[Turn7]

Are we going to try and have a PH clayshoot then ?

[thismonkeyhere]

chemistry said:

Anyone know of a clay shooting ground near(ish) to Plymouth? I’m there next week and will have a bit of free time, so am wondering whether to bring my gun.

All I can find via Google are ‘stag/hen’ type places.

I used to shoot a lot at Newnham Park back in my Plymouth days, and it was a great ground. Website suggests it's still going, but is unclear on whether you can still just turn up and shoot. Only mentions 121 tuition / Stag & Hen / Corporate.

[dci]

dci said:

So I've started the whole FAC application process. Anyone fancy a pool on when it will arrive?

Application process started 03rd June 22.

The GP has already started with the 'we ain't signing nuffink' routine so I've had to employ a third party to sign the medical proforma. They have estimated a 12 week turnaround should the GP play ball in sending my medical records.

When I applied for my SGC It took them until the last hour of the last day of their (COVID extended 3 month) medical record request response deadline to call me and tell me that I had 30 mins to come and collect my records before they closed for the weekend. Despite a pre paid envelope being supplied along with my written consent they wouldn't post the records directly.

Almost 12 months to the day after that my SGC landed on the door mat. Many thanks to SWP for their efforts in expediting my application, they originally said 18 months.

A farmer friend wants everything in place to tackle his fox and crow problems for the coming lambing season. I think I'll be lucky to see it much before lambing 2024.

GP has returned my medical records in a record breaking 14 working days.

Though they did return them directly to me and not Medcert despite the requirement from Medcert and the police that they are not supplied to the third party via the applicant. They also managed to lose the supplied anti tamper strip so had to apply their own GP stamp as an anti tamper measure. It's lucky that they are only responsible for the health of around 4000 locals and not something serious..

[dci]

chemistry said:

Anyone know of a clay shooting ground near(ish) to Plymouth? I’m there next week and will have a bit of free time, so am wondering whether to bring my gun.

All I can find via Google are ‘stag/hen’ type places.

There are a few in the area.

County Gun Club
Two Counties Gun Club
North Cornwall Shooting Ground

[Geffg]

ChemicalChaos said:

Merseyside seem to be very on top of their game.

Put my application in about 3 weeks ago and had my interview this morning, the lady was exceptionally nice and gave me some really good advice on the exact orientation for my cabinet (having discovered the original idea wasn't quite going to work).

Once she's come back to inspect the fitted cabinet it should be all systems go!

They are. I applied middle of December, so Xmas to contend with etc, and had my certificate middle of march. Just on 2 weeks after my visit by the feo.
If it’s the same woman I met, yeah she’s very nice and helpful.

[chemistry]

dci said:

chemistry said:

Anyone know of a clay shooting ground near(ish) to Plymouth? I’m there next week and will have a bit of free time, so am wondering whether to bring my gun.

All I can find via Google are ‘stag/hen’ type places.

There are a few in the area.

County Gun Club
Two Counties Gun Club
North Cornwall Shooting Ground

Thanks; I’ll have a look into those.

[ChemicalChaos]

Well tonight has gone well...

Just gone to prep my cabinet for fitting. It came with 4 keys which looked universal.
The locks are the type where one turn is half unlocked, 2 turns is unlocked and openable.
Tonight I put the key in the top lock, turned and and it went to half unlocked then stopped. No amount of jiggling can get it to go back either way.
Upon close inspection the keys are different, 2 of each and the other matching key opens the other lock. Great.
So somehow it's fluked itself to open the wrong lock halfway now stuck.
How fked am I? Before I ring the supplier tomorrow and shout at them, has anyone got any helpful suggestions to cajole it out?
Thank fk it happened before I had the cabinet bolted in place with a gun in it!

[PHZero]

ChemicalChaos said:

Well tonight has gone well...

Just gone to prep my cabinet for fitting. It came with 4 keys which looked universal.
The locks are the type where one turn is half unlocked, 2 turns is unlocked and openable.
Tonight I put the key in the top lock, turned and and it went to half unlocked then stopped. No amount of jiggling can get it to go back either way.
Upon close inspection the keys are different, 2 of each and the other matching key opens the other lock. Great.
So somehow it's fluked itself to open the wrong lock halfway now stuck.
How fked am I? Before I ring the supplier tomorrow and shout at them, has anyone got any helpful suggestions to cajole it out?
Thank fk it happened before I had the cabinet bolted in place with a gun in it!

Some 3 in 1 oil and a bit of force might work. If there's two locks on a cabinet and four keys then 99% of the time two of the keys will be different to the other two. I'm not sure that shouting at the supplier will achieve much as they may just see it as user error. Best of luck anyway.

[scrw.]

Okay, anyone have any suggestions what to do if your GP won't speak to Medcert? 10 weeks now, shotgun certificate now expired. Think I will get the same hassle if I try to move GPs and start the process again.

[MB140]

scrw. said:

Okay, anyone have any suggestions what to do if your GP won't speak to Medcert? 10 weeks now, shotgun certificate now expired. Think I will get the same hassle if I try to move GPs and start the process again.

My wife had a similar issue. When she called medcert about it she was told by them to maybe remind her gp that by law they have to release the records in 28 days and that if they weren’t she would be contacting the GMC and instructing a solicitor.

They were soon ready

https://www.patients-association.org.uk/seeing-you...

Edited by MB140 on Thursday 7th July 18:03

[smithyithy]

Has anyone applied (or know someone that's applied) for a shotgun cert recently with Staffordshire police, could give an indication on lead times?

Me and father may be applying for our first soon, but may be moving house in the next 12 months or so (nothing set in stone yet) so I'm wondering if it's going to be along wait, whether it may clash with address changes...

[simo1863]

smithyithy said:

Has anyone applied (or know someone that's applied) for a shotgun cert recently with Staffordshire police, could give an indication on lead times?

Me and father may be applying for our first soon, but may be moving house in the next 12 months or so (nothing set in stone yet) so I'm wondering if it's going to be along wait, whether it may clash with address changes...

I'm in Cheshire but I've got permission to shoot in a fair few places in Staffs (so deal with them a bit) for deer, fox etc and also have a few friends there.

One got his co-term license through in December after a four month wait. Generally they seem OK for new applications but slower on variations.

[smithyithy]

Cheers. I dropped in my medical form at my GP today, didn't really give an indication of timeframes but I'll be patient and see how it goes..

[thismonkeyhere]

As per previous posts, I've been shooting with a Browning 525 for the last 22 years or so, and have no intention of changing - it's great and I shoot well with it.

I do, however, want to pick up a second gun as a 'spare' for guests, and JIC my primary gun should ever fail on a shoot.

I could pick up a new 725 or similar, with pretty much 100% confidence in the quality and longevity, but possibly expensive overkill for the requirement.

Used 525 / similar. Still possibly overkill considering it's likely to see limited use.

KOFS Sceptre / Webley 900 or similar in the £500 - £700 range. Sounds good, but I simply don't know enough about these guns, and can't find many helpful reviews.

Thoughts welcome - especially any experience on the KOFS / Webley.

[dci]

thismonkeyhere said:

As per previous posts, I've been shooting with a Browning 525 for the last 22 years or so, and have no intention of changing - it's great and I shoot well with it.

I do, however, want to pick up a second gun as a 'spare' for guests, and JIC my primary gun should ever fail on a shoot.

I could pick up a new 725 or similar, with pretty much 100% confidence in the quality and longevity, but possibly expensive overkill for the requirement.

Used 525 / similar. Still possibly overkill considering it's likely to see limited use.

KOFS Sceptre / Webley 900 or similar in the £500 - £700 range. Sounds good, but I simply don't know enough about these guns, and can't find many helpful reviews.

Thoughts welcome - especially any experience on the KOFS / Webley.

I've a KOFS Sceptre in 28 bore. It's a lovely gun and light as a feather but it will be a step down in quality compared to your Browning but also 1/3 of the cost.

The action is a bit unrefined when you strip it down and you can see obvious tool marks and lack of finishing bit then again it all looks good while the gun is assembled and doesn't have an effect on how it performs.

Trigger is a bit spongey but light enough and is a true mechanical trigger rather than an inertia block type. I don't see any need for improvement at this time. You could have a gunsmith look at it and improve the feel and lighten them further if needed.

The engraving is machine applied, very shallow and looks more like a printed type finish than real deep engraving but again, it doesn't have an effect on performance and looks good enough to the average person. Anyone who is a fan of best guns will spot it a mile off but its only a £500 gun so your not going to get hand improved machine engraving like you would on a game 525 or 680 series gun.

When buying ask to see a few examples and pick the one with the best wood. Wood can range from quite good to plain average on these guns. Wood will likely need additional oiling to match the finish of your Browning but it is good enough as standard.

They are quite high in the comb and felt (to me at least) similar to a Browning in how it fitted. Yildiz shotguns are similar in quality and cost but are lower in the comb and more Beretta like in their appearance.

A local clay ground has had a KOFS Sceptre in 12 bore for a while which is used as a club and corporate event gun. It must fire upwards of 750 - 1000 cartridges week with very little cleaning and maintenance and is still going strong.

Edited by dci on Tuesday 12th July 10:01

[ChemicalChaos]

PHZero said:

ChemicalChaos said:

Well tonight has gone well...

Just gone to prep my cabinet for fitting. It came with 4 keys which looked universal.
The locks are the type where one turn is half unlocked, 2 turns is unlocked and openable.
Tonight I put the key in the top lock, turned and and it went to half unlocked then stopped. No amount of jiggling can get it to go back either way.
Upon close inspection the keys are different, 2 of each and the other matching key opens the other lock. Great.
So somehow it's fluked itself to open the wrong lock halfway now stuck.
How fked am I? Before I ring the supplier tomorrow and shout at them, has anyone got any helpful suggestions to cajole it out?
Thank fk it happened before I had the cabinet bolted in place with a gun in it!

Some 3 in 1 oil and a bit of force might work. If there's two locks on a cabinet and four keys then 99% of the time two of the keys will be different to the other two. I'm not sure that shouting at the supplier will achieve much as they may just see it as user error. Best of luck anyway.

Cheers, unfortunately I've been unsuccessful in reviving it but the company have accepted fault for it and are taking it back, luckily they aren't too far away so I can deliver it back at my cost.

Have found a hopefully much better quality cabinet with someone else for a similar price, but also considering going for a "vault lock" type instead if I can find one the right size for a reasonable price

[thismonkeyhere]

dci said:

thismonkeyhere said:

As per previous posts, I've been shooting with a Browning 525 for the last 22 years or so, and have no intention of changing - it's great and I shoot well with it.

I do, however, want to pick up a second gun as a 'spare' for guests, and JIC my primary gun should ever fail on a shoot.

I could pick up a new 725 or similar, with pretty much 100% confidence in the quality and longevity, but possibly expensive overkill for the requirement.

Used 525 / similar. Still possibly overkill considering it's likely to see limited use.

KOFS Sceptre / Webley 900 or similar in the £500 - £700 range. Sounds good, but I simply don't know enough about these guns, and can't find many helpful reviews.

Thoughts welcome - especially any experience on the KOFS / Webley.

I've a KOFS Sceptre in 28 bore. It's a lovely gun and light as a feather but it will be a step down in quality compared to your Browning but also 1/3 of the cost.

The action is a bit unrefined when you strip it down and you can see obvious tool marks and lack of finishing bit then again it all looks good while the gun is assembled and doesn't have an effect on how it performs.

Trigger is a bit spongey but light enough and is a true mechanical trigger rather than an inertia block type. I don't see any need for improvement at this time. You could have a gunsmith look at it and improve the feel and lighten them further if needed.

The engraving is machine applied, very shallow and looks more like a printed type finish than real deep engraving but again, it doesn't have an effect on performance and looks good enough to the average person. Anyone who is a fan of best guns will spot it a mile off but its only a £500 gun so your not going to get hand improved machine engraving like you would on a game 525 or 680 series gun.

When buying ask to see a few examples and pick the one with the best wood. Wood can range from quite good to plain average on these guns. Wood will likely need additional oiling to match the finish of your Browning but it is good enough as standard.

They are quite high in the comb and felt (to me at least) similar to a Browning in how it fitted. Yildiz shotguns are similar in quality and cost but are lower in the comb and more Beretta like in their appearance.

A local clay ground has had a KOFS Sceptre in 12 bore for a while which is used as a club and corporate event gun. It must fire upwards of 750 - 1000 cartridges week with very little cleaning and maintenance and is still going strong.

Edited by dci on Tuesday 12th July 10:01

Useful; thanks.

[smithyithy]

£80 paid to the GP this morning to look at the forms. Cash, because they still don't have card machines