Lamping – my take on it.

[hadaka-jimi]

Whiter - just for completeness - here is my diatribe on the lamping side of the sport

Over power the lamps output but use a dimmer - prolongs the trip but allows you to set the output to what you need - VERY LOW - just visible to the human eye to sweep and you WILL get retinal eye reflection that is easy to spot to ID position. Also can ramp it up to check backstop is safe and if you go for FAC or rimmie later you dont need new kit. Also helps to search for downed quarry

I tend to use red filter but also switch to white if things start getting twitchy. You can use other colours but not tried this myself as basically too tight to buy them.

I use a very low setting to sweep to get the eye reflection. If you dont have a dimmer which i consider to be an essential for lamping, put the beam up high and use the edge of the beam for the same purpose. You will spot without cooking their eyeballs and spooking them. Dont believe me - get a mate to shine a lamp on full beam at you and see how uncomfortable it is to our eyesight. Just dont have the lamp gun mounted when you try it :-

If you catch retinal reflection it really stands out - you wont miss it though it can be a funny thing as someone standing a couple of feet to your left ot right might not see it.

If I ID it as a rabbit, then I will put scope on it then gradually ramp up the output. Once I have confirmed my initial ID I will drop it if backstop safe

Go for gun mounted as this allows you the option of being able to run solo or lamp with a mate. Some have an optional handle if you dont want gun mounted or it is easy to improvise a handle if desired.

Be careful what you see. A rabbit will usually look at you side on as their eyes are set either side of their had so they get much wider field of view so you may only see one eye looking at you. A pigeon for example I think can see 360 degrees.

If you are seeing two eyes and much bigger reflections, it is likely to be a predator such as a fox/badger or something like a deer - their eyes are set to the front of the skull like ours and it is set up to benefit binocular vision for range finding.

Get to learn how each species tends to react to being illuminated and be sure to ID 1st. A monocular will help you look at longer targets without pointing a loaded rifle at something or someone you shouldnt.

I use a Deben Max Pro. It is a good lamp in that it has a decent output, large reflector but is very light. Overpriced and it pays to get some additional glue on the front lens. It can be adjusted for both elevation and windage although it is a little crude in the mechanics. Small low output lamps are a waste of space for me but ok for sub 12 air if you want to keep it compact but some are basically sh.i.te.

The connectors are crap on Debens and worth changing or taping together. They always seem to come undone at a critical moment and the light goes out.

I have chopped the lot off of mine and put a male ciggy attachement to the end of the lamp and a female on the battery so i can plug it in the vehicle power source when in a vehicle and then plug n play if I go on foot - takes seconds to do.

Range estimation will be your biggest challenge - it takes a while to get used to it and generally your senses will be confued and what you think is 35 yards may only be 15 !!!! A laser range finder might be a useful accessory here if you have a shooting buddy to lamp - generally however, to lamp, range find and drop takes too much time.

It pays to do a bit of homework re range so get some measurements down and if necessary, put some range markers out so you have a reference from a sniping point - it will surprise you. A well placed stone or a stick pushed into the ground will help. A decent scope with a mil dot based ret will also be a useful aid and I also have an illuminted ret which has a decent low setting. The prob with some cheaper illum rets is that they are far too bright and cause your eye to react making things worse BUT a low output illum can be a real help. I shoot an MTC Viper as I simply love the ret and the level 1 illum ret is absolutely spot on for me.

Also learn how many of your paces equal so many yards so you can pace out if you want to double check your visual estimation.

Usually better if there are 2 of you in case something happens

Use reflective tape for areas of danger such as a safe margin if a house backs onto land. it will act as a reminder and also a ref point too. An arrow shape also makes it instanly recognisable and will highlight the no shooting zone like >> and << equals unsafe zone

carry a back up torch - check out an LED torch called the Fenix P3D - very compact but superbly bright. Long range and not too expensive are the Tiablo A8 or the A9 - seriously bright and long range for an LED (so no more burnt out filament bulbs). Also handy for searching for kills if they go down in any length of grass.

Carry a mobile (and a radio) if there are more of you and you split up

A head light torch can also be handy so you can use both hands and have light such as reloading esp if it has a red light to preserve your night vision.

BE SAFE.

Dont shoot until you have positively ID'd quarry and think about where the round will go if you miss. Carry weapons muzzle down. I would rather be shot in the foot than in the face although not being shot at all is preferable !!!

Maybe worth informing the local police station before you start and when you leave and get a CAD number. I have had 2 armed response visits but I shoot under Heathrow so they are patroling regularly and HAVE to investigate even though we call in and they are aware. A 1-2-1 with a Heckler & Koch can be a brown pants experience for some.

Think about how you are going to carry and dress and dispose of any kills. If you paunch were they are shot means that you dont have to bag and dispose of 30 rabbits internals in one spot.

Have a bloody good time - I love it. It is my fav shooting at the moment

HJ

[Whitester]

I'd agree with that me old mate, especially on the deben connections, they are rubbish, if they had something closer to the logun lamp connectors then they'd be a lot better. I use a deben mini pro, although I have lamped from a 4 x 4 with one of these I find something slightly more powerful more use from a 4 x 4 such as a lightforce 140.