All new Ballistol products.

This week Ballistol have put together a list of products developed for Rifles, air or live fire, and shotguns. All these products have been used for many years by the German and American army's, for the maintenance and upkeep of there weapons.

These products, in my opinion, should form the key components in any cleaning kit for your rifle.



Visit their site to see the list of new products and Try it for yourself. Online ordering is simple to do and payment is taken through a secure site.

http://www.ballistoluk.co.uk/acatalog/index.html



Once you have used Ballistol you wont want to buy anything else

The D-V-S forum.

Just a quick note to inform you all that we now have a forum, where you can post,read and comment on forums. Its a place to meet and let others know what we have been up to and other topics that are of interest to us as a shooting community.

Follow this link http://dvs.freeforumit.com/index.php and become a member of the d-v-s forum.

Thanks for reading what i have posted on this blog and please continue to come back to read the new posts on Ballistol products, how Ballistol is growing in the uk and even a way to buy your Ballistol products through this blog.

Thanks again.
Richard

A new member of the D-V-S team

I would like to welcome Shaky to the blog and let everyone know that he is here to add his tips, trics and advise to this great blog. Shaky is a experianced addition to this blog and i know you will find his posts interesting and helpfull.

So "Welcome to the Home of d-v-s Shaky"

target shooting..practice makes perfect

The only way to get good with an air rifle is with practice. Lots and lots and LOTS of practice. Never fire at live quarry unless you are sure that you can produce a kill at that range and under those conditions. But- paper punching gets boring. So, what do you shoot instead?

Basically, you can shoot anything. Paper targets, bells on string, fungi, leaves, twigs, toy soldiers, yogurt pots, coke cans, old books, old posters... I mean, anything- as long as its safe, you can shoot it. A friend of mine has so many free Internet access Cd's that he uses them as targets! (There are always bright patches of colour to aim for, and if you think you're really good, you can try and get the pellet through the centre hole!). You should wear shooting glasses if plinking hard targets at short range, as ricochets can be evil. Another trick is to put a line of caps or "throw downs" along a concrete ledge, go to 10 metres or so and try and hit them. Once you get your eye in, its very satisfying! (Shooting glasses should be worn, because the explosion of the cap combines with the ricochet and sends the pellet back at you). Another satisfying target is old film canisters. (Usually available in large quantities from your nearest camera shop). Put about a teaspoon of flour into the pot, and put the lid on loosely. Laid on their sides, the base is about the same size as an airgun quarry kill zone, and its easy to tell when you hit- clouds of flour fly out. (Experiment to find out how much flour is best- a full pot is too much for most non- FAC rifles, as it will just stop the pellet).

Shooting from a hide

This involves using arranged materials to simulate a natural appearance, so enabling you to set up a comfortable and concealed shooting base within range of your targets, without arousing their suspicions.

The first factor in hide building is location. If the hide is 60 yards from the field where your quarry lurk, you aren't going to have much success. Observation is the key to a successful placement- remember that wind and weather may have an effect on where your quarry will be, and if the wind changes you don't want to send your scent to them. Prowl the area in full camouflage, but only take binoculars- watch where game congregates, then search for a suitable site there. The ideal hide has a hunting field of less that 180°, as it is tiring and awkward to turn yourself and the rifle to check if anything is behind you (not just to check for opportunities, but to check if anything is creeping up on you, it may raise a racket that will warn your intended quarry).

The best start to a hide is a natural hide, e.g. a fallen oak tree. A few pieces of suitable vegetation (preferably natural to the area) can then be woven in to cover any obvious gaps, but leaving sufficient space for a good field of fire. (Thistles are good for this- they don't take much careful arrangement, but a decent thickness will give you good camouflage). Failing this, a piece of camouflage netting is another good base. Size depends entirely on the area that you need to cover, but too large is always better than too small- you can tuck the edges under tree limbs or peg them down, making a better hide anyway. The better types of cam netting have scrim sown to the panels. Scrim is strips or leaf shapes of cammo material, and when out hunting, they blow in the wind and looks like leaves, branches etc. However, before using a scrim net, it is wise to blend the colours and get rid of any "shop" smell. To do this, leave the net out in the vegetable patch (or any other suitable patch of moist, muddy ground) for a month or 2, trampling and turning it occasionally. The colours will blend and flow, and the harsh outlines of the net panels will be softened by mud patches etc.

Two of the most important points in hide building are back lighting and removal of any hard, unnatural lines. Back lighting is one of the most important factors when hunting any creature with good eyesight (e.g. crows). No matter how good your hide, there have to be gaps in it to put your rifle through, and if the sun shines through these from the back of the hide (usually less well built), then any movements you make are as plain as though projected onto a white screen. Make sure you cover the back of the hide too, especially if hunting with the sun behind you. The hard shape of your rifle can be softened with strips of excess cammo material, or even loose bits of scrim. (Just a couple of panels around butt and barrel, and leave some bits dangling). Another use for any left over scrim is to fix it around your scope front lens with an elastic band to dull the glint when the sun catches it. If you use black stocking material, you can actually fix a couple of thicknesses over the front lens, and still see sufficient of your quarry. (Make sure you can still shoot accurately after any modifications of your kit, no matter how small- you don't want to find that you actually put the scrim too far over the lens and can't actually see anything out in the field!)

The art of stalking.

Stalking is the only thing that will really allow you to become good at hunting. No matter how accurate you are, shooting accurately with an (12 ft lbs) air rifle at ranges longer than 45 odd metres is extremely difficult/ impossible, so you must get closer to your target. How?-- by stalking. Part of the secret of stalking is camouflage- not just the clothing, but moving so that you blend in. For this reason, always walk slowly and don't make sudden movements when quarry is in the area, wear cammo clothing if you have it (including gloves and cap) and put dark bars of cammo paint on your face. Human hands and faces are pink / white- for this reason, squirrels and birds have come to associate moving patches of pink and upraised patches of pink (upturned faces) as threatening, so make sure that your hands and face are as obscured as possible, and don't hang around staring into trees! Be quiet, too- if you hunt in pairs or groups, don't talk to your companions except when essential. Be quiet when closing car doors before you enter your shoot. Rest assured that rabbits and other wild creatures will know this sound and be wary of it. Even young animals will be basically wary of any loud noises such as this.

When creeping up on your target, always approach from downwind. Even if your quarry cannot smell you, there may well be other creatures in the area that can, and will stampede, scaring off your target. Be wary of pigeons in trees, especially at night. These are hard to spot, especially in thick vegetation, and when alerted, fly off with huge noise of wings and cracking of branches. This will alert other animals in the area. Before you put all your weight down, make sure that there are no dead twigs or leaves under your feet that will crunch or crackle when you put the rest of your weight down. If stalking through dry leaves, quietly and SLOWLY brush clear patches for your feet with your feet. (Trainers are best for this, but obviously not bright coloured ones. With good camouflage and not too much movement, a bird may believe that you are a tree- if you are wearing bright orange Nike's, this is less likely!)

Again, stalking is all about practice. At first, you are bound to be disappointed- you set foot in one side of a wood, and all game leaves via the other side! (or so it will seem). Trust me, with practice and an understanding of the areas you hunt in, you will improve. In time, you will recognise the inevitable moments when your target becomes spooked, and stop moving, blending into the background. The rabbit relaxes again, and on you go, closer and closer until finally you are within a safe range, and your finger can caress the trigger...

A new place to chat

With most people having MSN/HOTMAIL or WINDOWS LIVE i have setup a new contact so you can come and chat with me live.
Add me to your MSN contacts so if you need help, advice or just a chat you can find me here.

homeofdvs@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks for reading.

Richard