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Lamping tips please

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Lamping tips please

Postby R P McMurphy » Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:03 pm

Any tips on the lamping of wabbits with sub 12ftlbs air rifles please???
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Steve P. » Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:20 pm

Do it when its dark Dave. ;)



Only joking mate. :grin:

A few things I always try to remember are:

*Quarry always appears to be further away than it actually is when viewed through either an NV scope or in lamplight, so double check your range estimation.

*Keep actually switching the lamp on to an absolute minimum. A quick scan for rabbit eye reflections - then off with it until you're more or less in range and/or want to take the shot.

When you're about to switch the lamp onto a rabbit, aim over its head and then sweep the beam downwards onto it - this avoids having the beam visibly travelling along the ground towards it which may cause it to bolt before you can slip the shot.

*Remember to take a torch with you.

Have fun lad...... ;) :razz: 8-)
"What we have here.........is a failure to communicate"
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Linegeist » Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:21 pm

Good stuff Steve.

If I may add one or two minor points ....... assuming you're going down the lamp-on-rifle route..........

When setting up your lamping rig, make sure that the pool of light from the lamp actually illuminates the area visible through your scope. :roll: Don't ask me how I know this to be necessary. :roll:

Test the rig in the dark - you want the quarry to be lit up - not your barrel or scope end (it screws up your night vision and ability to see clearly through the scope beyond the light pool)

Make sure you can easily reach and operate the light switch in the dark! Don't ask me how ..... etc :roll:

In short, do a dummy run with your rig before going out for real. Yould be surprised how many minor mods you make to the setup.

Finally, I had great success with backlighting rabbits when I lived up in Aberdeen, an idea I got from watching a bunch of them playing under a street lamp. I built a lamp system with a radio controlled switch (cheap from Maplins) which I prepositioned before darkness so as to illuminate behind the quarry. When switched on, it outlined the rabbits in a soft glow and enabled me to quietly pick them off with a well-silenced 12fpe PCP from about 40m out, and without spooking them with flashing.

HTH and good luck Dave. It's excellent fun night shooting, and my favourite. ;)
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby R P McMurphy » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:43 pm

Thanks for the tips Steve,Mr Git. Iam looking forward to this :) I plan on fine tuning my kit and getting some practice on paper targets till I feel confident that I can hit my mark and untill I feel confident in My ability before I go wacking Roger! :)
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby stillair1 » Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:32 am

Always handy to take a small hand torch with you for when things go pear shaped as they do in the dark. ;) :grin:
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Linegeist » Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:38 am

stillair1 wrote:Always handy to take a small hand torch with you for when things go pear shaped as they do in the dark. ;) :grin:

:grin: :grin: Benn there .... several times. :hmm: :grin:

Welcome aboard moosh! :thup: :thup: :thup:
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Judge Ali » Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:33 pm

lamping rabbits with my air rifle is my main shooting discipline - great fun, demanding without being impossible and you can do it anywhere you have permission (and rabbits!)

some good advice here and as always the trial and error routine is what will ultimately improve your lamping.

as stated the main thing is keeping it off more than on, keep it on for the bare minimum which will not only stop spooking your quarry but will also save your battery life (nothing worse than having to walk out of a field full of bunnies because your lamp dies - trust me on this one!) on that note take a spare bulb and fuse and learn how to replace them in the dark

one other note i would add - make 100% sure you are shooting at a rabbit. i know this sounds obvious but i have lit up cats, dogs, badgers, foxes, horses and deer whilst i have been out lamping before and if they are in undergrowth or at distance the eye reflection can look the same. its obviously unethical to shoot at certain species with an air rifle and nothing is going to get your permission revoked quicker than putting a .22 between tiddles eyes........ it has happenned!

good luck and enjoy it
cheers
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Gary C » Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:33 pm

Hi Dave

The best way is simple common sense.

Don't come down on the rabbit, if it spooks it will bolt for it's hole. Come slowly from the hedge out to the rabbit, it will tend NOT to run through the beam

Don't kick the ass out of it, if you go often they will get wise

If you can, go out with a friend and let the non shooter hold the lamp. You can then stalk down the edge of the beam, invisible to the rabbit but you can get close.

Use a filter to diffuse the light

Take a strong torch and an LED headlamp, the headlamp for loading etc and the strong torch for finding dead things and your way home.

atb

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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby R P McMurphy » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:12 pm

Thanks Alex,Mr C,most appreciated! Iam looking forward to having a crack at it I must say! :)
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby stillair1 » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:26 am

[/quote]
:grin: :grin: Benn there .... several times. :hmm: :grin:

Welcome aboard moosh! :thup: :thup: :thup:[/quote]
Thanks I crept in under cover of darkness. :grin: Final tip from experience :oops: take your time don't rush, and finish before you get to knackered as that's when mistakes occur like loosing your car keys on a golf course 60 miles from home at midnight. :worried:
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Judge Ali » Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:07 pm

[/quote]
Final tip from experience :oops: take your time don't rush, and finish before you get to knackered as that's when mistakes occur like loosing your car keys on a golf course 60 miles from home at midnight. :worried:[/quote]


ha ha - or nearly taking your finger off at the knuckle by getting it caught in a sliding breech because you are not paying attention and are watching rabbits when reloading :cry:
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Andy.I » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:33 pm

Pick a dark night, with as much wind as you can bear without being blown around off target. If there's no wind and it's not dark, it's better not to go because the rabbits will (i) see you, (ii) readily run back to safety and (iii) thus become lamp-shy. Save yourself for a better night, you won't regret it.

If a rabbit does bolt for home, dab the light off just before they get there; they will often pause to see where they're going giving you enough time to turn the lamp back on for a shot before they have time to move.

A red filter and a dimmer switch are both desirable, especially as the bigger the fields you're shooting, the more powerful the lamp you'll need to spot where they are when you first scan around. Generally speaking, a larger diameter lamp gives a better quality of light for a given power than a smaller diameter lamp.

Don't overdo it on battery size. I've found that a 12v 7AH battery can be carried in a pocket, on a belt or in a cartridge bag and will last several hours--enough for a night's lamping. It's better to use a larger lamp with a good quality beam and a lower powered bulb than it is to use a smaller lamp with a poor quality beam and to try to make it up with a higher powered bulb.

Try to find the balance between keeping downwind of the rabbit and placing yourself between the rabbit and where he will want to run.

Don't wear clothes that "swish" as you walk.
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby Linegeist » Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:43 pm

Andy.I wrote:Don't wear clothes that "swish" as you walk.
That's Cooper stuffed then! :grin: :grin: :grin: 8-)
.........und die power wird mit dir sein.........

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I get this urge to conquer parts of Europe and, sometimes, large men
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby R P McMurphy » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:58 am

Right chaps,Iam all fully kitted out now,Logun Lamp,the coloured filters the whole kit and I got it for a bargain price too :) .Going to have a bit of a practice during the afternoon/early evenings this week and launch a raid on Bugs and his pals towards the end of the week/end.I'll get back to you on how I get on :)
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Re: Lamping tips please

Postby R P McMurphy » Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:38 pm

By the way chaps,what kit you use/prefered lamps and filters ect???
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