PETER THEOBALD says: Pigeon shooting guns tend to get a lot of rough treatment, and no matter how careful you are, they will pick up more than their share of knocks. Because of this it makes sense to have a robust, but serviceable weapon, and a semi-auto fits the bill nicely.

Added advantages are also the extra cartridge in the magazine, should you need it, and ease of loading within the confines of a pigeon hide. If you are firing a lot of shots in a day, the reduced recoil of these guns can be a real boon too.

On the downside, they spit empty cartridge shells in a 20ft radius around the hide – making the clean-up job at the end of the day, a real back-breaker. Furthermore a lot of shells will be impossible to pick because of where they land? and that will not go down at all well with the farmer.
