The Shooting (Firearms) Thread
- Thread starter BUDFORCE
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Soldato
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Well volunteered that man - You are the new magger. Pass over your SLR and you can lug my Gimpy instead, since you seem to need bulking up!!I hated the SLR was such a ball ache to lug around
Soldato
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Is there an air rifle thread about?
Are you sure it wasn't because in the early days the SA80 was utterly carp and kept jamming?
Depends how serious you take it - doing experience days is usually £30-60 a pop or per month depending how you do it while having membership at a range, etc. and your own guns will quickly escalate especially if you want to shoot full bore or work towards licenses for stuff over 22LR.
In terms of licences do you know how it works?
I was under the impression that once I became a member of this rifle range, I could apply for a firearms licence with a good reason (eg being member of a rifle range) and pretty much get whatever I wanted straight away, is that not the case?
Do you need different licences or applications per gun you own, or different licences for different calibers?
I don't know the ins and outs of it completely but there is a range of stuff that you can shoot for sport and then increasingly restrictive stuff you can apply to have on your license if you can show good reason to have it i.e. a lot of people won't get a license that lets them shoot .338 Lapua or allowed to have rifles suited to that on their license especially not on day one.
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Soldato
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Any thoughts on a Walther Terrus?
Soldato
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Learning what, though?
Shooting a crossbow and shooting actual firearms are very different experiences.
Chapter and verse:
https://assets.publishing.service.g..._on_Firearms_Licensing_Law_April_2016_v20.pdf
But also speak with your local firearms officer and start making friends.
To shoot. Things like learning to aim, breath control, and the like must be much the same. Recoil is going to be different. Ditto on how far to lead a moving target. Though I note with interest that hunting with crossbows is illegal.
Thanks, blimey what a huge document. I skim read most of it and I think it is pretty much what I thgouht. I'll become a member of this rifle range first (giving me the good reason), once a member apply for a licence, give them 2 referees which is no problem. Seems you have to declare up front what you intend to own so I'll just put down a .22 rifle and a .357 rifle and try for both I guess, I mean ideally if approved I would want to get one of each anyway.
They come and visit you at your house, and run background and medical checks, all should be fine. I guess I could ask them about storage when they come but I planned on getting a decent gun safe, putting that in the garage and bolting it to the wall (attached garage to house) hopefully that should be enough, otherwise I guess I could whack the safe in the loft and bolt it to the wall, although thats more of a pain in the ass to get to. Keep the ammo in a separate safe.
Doesn't seem too bad.
Soldato
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To shoot what?
Targets? Animals? People? Trick shots?
Must they?
Why must they?
Aiming with a pistol, rifle, shotgun, bow and crossbow are vastly different, though. Within those, you also have alterations to holds and stances that, for some people, can drastically alter the experience. You rarely find one shooter skilled in multiple categories. I'm far better with a bow, machine gun or pistol than I am with a rifle or crossbow, for example.
It sounds like you want to hunt... or maybe just gun down some people in a public place... Either way, there are many factors in shooting which differ considerably between weapon types. It's not just a case of buying slots on a skill tree.
Imagine the differences in driving a car, a van, an HGV and riding a motorcycle - Same idea. Seemingly similar in principle and governed by some of the same laws, but vastly different when you come to try it!
People using bows and crossbows are much less likely to deliver a clean kill consistently. This has led to the ban, for humane reasons.
It is presumed that hunters using firearms will choose an appropriate calibre and weapon, and develop the necessary skill to kill responsibly.
That's really, really not on. Actually, I have a background in aerospace and did combat flight sims for many years. Fighter aircraft have to lead their targets and different aircraft have to lead their targets by different amounts.
They don't seem to have that problem in America. I'm aware you need a high power bow - and an even higher-power crossbow - so perhaps it's more of an issue of people not being able to hunt cleanly. Or maybe it's that we typically hunt at longer ranges than they do in America. IIRC a crossbow has to have double the draw of a bow to have the same impact.
Soldato
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OK, so you speak of leading targets and specifically note that crossbow hunting is illegal... The last time I heard anyone mention the two was in reference to the Van Damme film Hard Target, so what else am I supposed to think!
Truth is, very few people will have a legitimate need to lead a target, these days... and those that do typically use shotguns, in which case it's more of a sweeping motion than an actual lead.
Oh, well then you'll know exactly how much to lead a static paper target, in order to hit it with your 20mm cannon from 25yds, then.....
Unless you're blowing away bunnies with your shotgun, you probably won't ever need to lead anything.
You're not exactly selling it with that comment. But yes, they do have that problem in America - IIRC, something like half of all deer being hit with a bow are never found, meaning they run away and take up to several days to lie there, slowly bleeding out.
This could be interesting reading for you: https://web.archive.org/web/2013091...pdfs/ashby ours/PDF Arrow Lethality 1.wps.pdf
Fact is, the UK banned it way back in 1965, and I believe Norway, Germany and Holland banned it even earlier.
Danish bowhunters are licenced, but the tests are very demanding, and only cover out to something like 40 yards.
That is what I said - People cannot hit, and thus cannot be trusted to hit, with frequency enough to ensure sufficiently consistent clean kills. The same is true of America, but they appear somewhat less bothered, on average.
You won't get much chance in this country, unless you have legit pest control or hunting requirements to do much shooting at moving targets on rifle ranges and most aren't long enough you are particularly challenged by the trajectory of a round - the nearest range to me for instance has 25m for small stuff and a 100m range for high powered rounds above 7.62.
You have the gist of it. You put down all the firearms you will want to buy in the next 5 years and the FEO will quiz you on why you need them at the interview, they will normally start telling you that you can’t have that many so the common method is to ask for more than you need to give yourself haggle room. Same with the amounts of ammunition you are allowed to own. Outside of Scotland all the firearms departments are run at county level, some departments are relaxed and pro shooting such as Derbyshire and other departments are massively anti shooting and will be extremely stingy on what they will let you have down to the point where they just start making stuff up (pseudo law / home office guidance interpretation) - so that is just luck of the draw I am afraid.
Keeping the safe in a garage, even if it is attached to the house is rare these days unless you get really lucky with the particular force. Likewise keeping it in the loft is often not allowed as they think you might be tempted to not put the firearms away if it is tricky to get to. Tough one to balance if you have another half not keen on having a gunsafe in the back of cupboard!
Perhaps you've forgotten about shooting clays?
Cambridgeshire is my county.
I'll have to see what they say on the home interview with regards to location of the safe, I hope I can do one of the two, I guess it could go under the stairs but it'd look ugly the Mrs will moan for sure.