Inder,
Don't worry at all. All the stuff about bearded people being denied visas and being harassed is pure BS. You will not have any problem at all as long as your paperwork is in order. This country does not discriminate people based on appearance contrary to whatever you may have heard in the Indian media especially from journalists who are sore over not having got US visas for some reason or the other.
No one is strip searched here. They fingerprint people who come from countries that do not have biometric passports - even EUropeans with old passports are fingerprinted. And, if India introduced biometric passports (at considerably more expense to Indians, of course) then we would not have to worry about being fingerprinted as well.
Mehul
Recoil reducing devices
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kanwar76
- Eminent IFG'an
- Posts: 1861
- Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:00 pm
- Location: Bang-a-lure
- Contact:
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HSharief
- Shooting true
- Posts: 568
- Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 6:11 pm
- Location: Misriganj
Mehul looks more like a hermit/saadhu than "anything else". I'd say people will want their palms read by him than want to do a strip search 
Anyway, Mehul, I can't believe I have to say this but your guess about the recoil devices moving can't be more wrong. I've held a few of the guns with these devices and I could'nt move them AT ALL. They need the strong jolt of recoil to move ever so slightly to absorb it and not transfer it to your shoulder or cheek. I had a Browning BT-99 Plus that had a recoil reducer and I never noticed it "moving".
penpusher, like everyone said, recoil can be eliminated/reduced by a proper fitting gun, no question about it. If you don't want to alter the gun, you have cheaper and non-intrusive alternates, like changing the recoil pad (Kick-Eez,Pachmayr,etc...), have an adjustable butt plate (Morgan, Graco etc..), maybe a soft add-on comb (Cheek-Eez), I use this one on my 682:
Beartooth also has slip-on recoil pads that you should look into. Check out their other products. Don't get the ones with velcro fastners as they don't hold up good under recoil.
Anyway, Mehul, I can't believe I have to say this but your guess about the recoil devices moving can't be more wrong. I've held a few of the guns with these devices and I could'nt move them AT ALL. They need the strong jolt of recoil to move ever so slightly to absorb it and not transfer it to your shoulder or cheek. I had a Browning BT-99 Plus that had a recoil reducer and I never noticed it "moving".
penpusher, like everyone said, recoil can be eliminated/reduced by a proper fitting gun, no question about it. If you don't want to alter the gun, you have cheaper and non-intrusive alternates, like changing the recoil pad (Kick-Eez,Pachmayr,etc...), have an adjustable butt plate (Morgan, Graco etc..), maybe a soft add-on comb (Cheek-Eez), I use this one on my 682:
Beartooth also has slip-on recoil pads that you should look into. Check out their other products. Don't get the ones with velcro fastners as they don't hold up good under recoil.
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Grumpy
- Old Timer
- Posts: 2653
- Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:43 am
- Location: UK
penpusher, don`t worry that your long hair, beard and turban will cause the denial of a visa.......the USA lets me in each year AND I had a beard and moustache this last time. I shaved it off before visiting Mehul though........didn`t want him to feel inadequate ! You will be fingerprinted and photographed upon entry to the USA but this only involves putting the index finger of each hand on a glass plate - no ink involved. You probably won`t even notice being photographed.
Thousands of people enter the USA each day and you`ll look conservative compared to many ........ Sometimes waiting around airports feels like being at a freak show - there are some outrageous looking people around !
People are randomly selected for more detailed searches so don`t feel paranoid if it happens to you - I`ve been picked more than once. We made ten flights this summer, eight last year and at that rate it would be surprising if I wasn`t sometimes selected.
After breaking my knee I had to use a wheelchair which meant that I couldn`t pass through the security barriers at airports and entailed my having a pat-down search each time and swabs being wiped over the wheelchair, my brace and shoes before they were put into the sniffer machine to check for explosives. The searches were thorough but not obtrusive and security staff were always courteous and invariably friendly.
Greener GPs are notoriously hard recoiling anyway so combining that with a short stock and a solidified recoil pad is bound to exacerbate the problem. Fit a new pad but make up a spacer first to fit between the pad and butt. If the comb is very low - and the comb on most GPs is ( apart from the trap models ) - fit a foam cheek pad. They`re self adhesive and only cost a few pounds. You`ll find that the guns feel - and recoil - will be transformed. The other easy alternative is a a slip on pad and comb such as the one shown above.
A 2 1/2" shell with the same weight of shot and velocity will recoil just as much as a 2 3/4" shell. If you`re using 1 1/8 oz - or heavier - loads cut down to 1 oz. Like most UK Pigeon shooters I use 1 oz loads all the time.....except when I use my 12-Bore 2" lightweight or my 20-Bore O/U when I use 7/8 oz loads. Frankly if you miss with a 7/8 oz load you`ll almost certainly miss with a 1 1/8oz load as well.......and when you hit a bird they stay just as dead !
Thousands of people enter the USA each day and you`ll look conservative compared to many ........ Sometimes waiting around airports feels like being at a freak show - there are some outrageous looking people around !
People are randomly selected for more detailed searches so don`t feel paranoid if it happens to you - I`ve been picked more than once. We made ten flights this summer, eight last year and at that rate it would be surprising if I wasn`t sometimes selected.
After breaking my knee I had to use a wheelchair which meant that I couldn`t pass through the security barriers at airports and entailed my having a pat-down search each time and swabs being wiped over the wheelchair, my brace and shoes before they were put into the sniffer machine to check for explosives. The searches were thorough but not obtrusive and security staff were always courteous and invariably friendly.
Greener GPs are notoriously hard recoiling anyway so combining that with a short stock and a solidified recoil pad is bound to exacerbate the problem. Fit a new pad but make up a spacer first to fit between the pad and butt. If the comb is very low - and the comb on most GPs is ( apart from the trap models ) - fit a foam cheek pad. They`re self adhesive and only cost a few pounds. You`ll find that the guns feel - and recoil - will be transformed. The other easy alternative is a a slip on pad and comb such as the one shown above.
A 2 1/2" shell with the same weight of shot and velocity will recoil just as much as a 2 3/4" shell. If you`re using 1 1/8 oz - or heavier - loads cut down to 1 oz. Like most UK Pigeon shooters I use 1 oz loads all the time.....except when I use my 12-Bore 2" lightweight or my 20-Bore O/U when I use 7/8 oz loads. Frankly if you miss with a 7/8 oz load you`ll almost certainly miss with a 1 1/8oz load as well.......and when you hit a bird they stay just as dead !
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Mark
- Veteran
- Posts: 1147
- Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:37 am
- Location: Middle USA
Now it kicks about like a 308-
penpusher
Mehul & Grumpy
Will try to convince my wife about going to the US.Its not the denial of visa thats of concern its the possible boorish behaviour at the airports that bothers her and me.The newspapers here keep on printing reports of Asians being targeted for intrusive searches and being detained for questioning.Experienced something like this during terrorism in Punjab.Almost got shot by a CRPF patrol once and that too in my fathers office. Luckily the matter was sorted out by my fathers bodygaurd. Have no problem with being searched.Happens all the time if you travel to the NE of the country by air.The security at the Leh airport in J&K is something else all together.They will search you even before you enter the aeroplane and this is after being through a 2 tier security set up in the airport building.
Thanks for the info.Seems that the cost of getting a recoil pad through post would almost be double the cost of the pad itself. Can get one made here if I have any idea about what sort of material can be used to make it(High density rubber foam??)Will try to find somebody who makes Elastomeric polymer.The butt pads that are made here are generally of hard plastic or of soft rubber that solidifies in some year and looses its shape.
Was thinking of lengthening the LOP of the GP by adding a piece of wood to the stock and recoil pad( Shooters Friend) and get a recoil shield(PAST).Will have to wait untill somebody travells abroad.
Mark,
What about hearing damage from the use of a muzzle brake?
Take care,
penpusher
Will try to convince my wife about going to the US.Its not the denial of visa thats of concern its the possible boorish behaviour at the airports that bothers her and me.The newspapers here keep on printing reports of Asians being targeted for intrusive searches and being detained for questioning.Experienced something like this during terrorism in Punjab.Almost got shot by a CRPF patrol once and that too in my fathers office. Luckily the matter was sorted out by my fathers bodygaurd. Have no problem with being searched.Happens all the time if you travel to the NE of the country by air.The security at the Leh airport in J&K is something else all together.They will search you even before you enter the aeroplane and this is after being through a 2 tier security set up in the airport building.
Thanks for the info.Seems that the cost of getting a recoil pad through post would almost be double the cost of the pad itself. Can get one made here if I have any idea about what sort of material can be used to make it(High density rubber foam??)Will try to find somebody who makes Elastomeric polymer.The butt pads that are made here are generally of hard plastic or of soft rubber that solidifies in some year and looses its shape.
Was thinking of lengthening the LOP of the GP by adding a piece of wood to the stock and recoil pad( Shooters Friend) and get a recoil shield(PAST).Will have to wait untill somebody travells abroad.
Mark,
What about hearing damage from the use of a muzzle brake?
Take care,
penpusher
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mehulkamdar
penpusher,
Take it from me, at worst the behaviour of American security people is better than that of Indian policemen at their best. There are strong organisations here like the ACLU that keep these idiots in check and the courts have a way of making them pay if they overstep their limits. There is little racism as well, unless you visit the deep, interior pockets of the South.
Some people like to talk about the one Sikh who was shot dead by a white racist after 9/11. I have one thing to say to them - the killer has been sentenced to death already - and pending the appeals process will be executed like the mad dog that he is. In India, more than 20 years after 1984, the perpetrators of the crimes against Sikhs across the country have never even been given a slap on their wrists.
Take it from me - there is more crap being bandied about about the USA than there are facts. I live here and I live comfortably, without any trouble. I also wish that India, the country of my birth and whose passport I still hold, were like this to live in.
Mehul
Take it from me, at worst the behaviour of American security people is better than that of Indian policemen at their best. There are strong organisations here like the ACLU that keep these idiots in check and the courts have a way of making them pay if they overstep their limits. There is little racism as well, unless you visit the deep, interior pockets of the South.
Some people like to talk about the one Sikh who was shot dead by a white racist after 9/11. I have one thing to say to them - the killer has been sentenced to death already - and pending the appeals process will be executed like the mad dog that he is. In India, more than 20 years after 1984, the perpetrators of the crimes against Sikhs across the country have never even been given a slap on their wrists.
Take it from me - there is more crap being bandied about about the USA than there are facts. I live here and I live comfortably, without any trouble. I also wish that India, the country of my birth and whose passport I still hold, were like this to live in.
Mehul