Shooting WW2 Guns in the UK?

[IanC]

Hi Ian, NW Leics; in that case you are very close to me. I am in South Derbyshire.


Cheers, Ade.

I noticed that too. I moved up from London 2 years ago (still putting London on everything )

[petermac]

Thanks for the reply Peter, Shooting an Enfield No4 (along with an SMLE and a K98) is exactly what I am looking to do. Can I ask you a couple questions?

Is it your rifle? or the club that you belong to? Is it an expensive hobby, I don't need an exact figure, a rough guide would be fine.

Adrian, thanks for the info on the War and Peace show, I'll be doing my best to attend. I also need to update my location info, I am now living in NW Leicestershire!

Cheers

Ian

Ian,

Yup, it's my rifle for as long as the government allows me to keep it. As for expense, the certificate cost me £50.00 plus some passport pictures, the gun safe cost about £100.00, the ammunition safe about £50.00 and there were assorted security details to be done on the house before I was granted my certificate (alarm, extra locks etc.). Club membership (you have to be a member of a club) costs me £150.00 per annum, sounds a lot but buying a newspaper every day costs about a bit more.

As hobbies go it's pretty cheap, think about buying all the kit to play golf or go fishing and I find it a LOT more fun. Rifles in excellent condition are getting a bit expensive now as sources dry up. I paid £350.00 for my No4 but it was in unissued condition, you can find one for about £200.00 that will still give good results. k98s are about the same price whilst the stocks of Russian captured examples are still coming into the country. Ammunition is also getting expensive, when I started again after the pistol ban you could find surplus 303 or 7.92mm for about £16/100, now I pay about £30/100 for newly made commercial stuff or about £25/100 for reloads which I do myself.

All in all, not too expensive compared to other sports.

Peter

[petermac]

Post Scriptum, Find yourself a local club, try the NRA at Bisley, they'll put you in touch with one in your area. Emphasise that you want to try shooting service rifles. By and large people are pretty helpful about showing newcomers how things work. Most clubs don't have the facility to shoot full bore rifles but have to travel to a range with an adequate safety area behind the targets. I shoot at both Bisley in Surrey and at an MOD range in Norfolk. Costs a bit extra but this is a crowded island and sparsely populated area are a bit tricky to find.

Peter

[IanC]

Post Scriptum, Find yourself a local club, try the NRA at Bisley, they'll put you in touch with one in your area. Emphasise that you want to try shooting service rifles. By and large people are pretty helpful about showing newcomers how things work. Most clubs don't have the facility to shoot full bore rifles but have to travel to a range with an adequate safety area behind the targets. I shoot at both Bisley in Surrey and at an MOD range in Norfolk. Costs a bit extra but this is a crowded island and sparsely populated area are a bit tricky to find.

Peter

Thanks for the info Peter, it's much appreciated.

Cheers

Ian

[Rikster]

Here you are.

http://www.nra.org.uk/

Cheers, Rik

[IanC]

Here you are.

http://www.nra.org.uk/

Cheers, Rik

Just added it to my favorites Rik.

Cheers

Ian

[milsurp]

Hi Adrian,

Ohhh noooo, the sale of deacts will be banned????? This is terrible... Do you have any more info on this? When you say the sale of them will be banned, any idea how they will enforce this? How will they stop friend to friend sales? Do you know if they are also considering a registration process? Too many questions....

Hi Ashley, the proposed new legislation is very vague in it's wording. I have read the Bill, which had just had it's second reading in the Commons. I suspect this is done by design. I have today read a written reply from an MP on another forum which says deacts will fall under these new rules. As a result the sale of them, but not possesion will be banned. They cannot afford to ban them, as the cost would be too much as no one actually knows how many there are in the UK.

Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Craig, I cannot really tell you much more than that. Bear in mind it is not Law, yet...


There are petitions being done, representations to MP's, etc. I would urge any UK members to write to your MP NOW. There is a large meeting planned at Beltring. This law would also effect the Airsoft sellers and will put many people out of work. Never mind the dealers such as Ryton who have large stocks of deacts. No talk of compo either as yet. It appears to be a very ill thoughtout peice of legislation

Living history does appear to be considered a valid case by Charles Clark MP. He is looking into it. So there might be some hope?

Now without registration, I don't know how potential "black market" sales could be prevented in the future?

Cheers, Ade.

[milsurp]

Hi Adrian,

The whole thing doesn't quite make sense to me, They are just forcing the sale of deacts on to the black market. You can imagine the situation, where you buy a cased EKI for £1,000 and get a free MG15. I can't see how they can enforce it whilst still allowing the ownership of deactivated weapons, unless they also force the registration of each deact.

Now, I have a problem, assuming this comes into law as is, do I sell all of my deacts now, knowing I will get my money back, or do I buy everything I ever wanted knowing full well I won't be able to get them for much longer. One of the nice things about collecting WWII militaria is that I know I can get my money back at any point, with maybe a little profit, now maybe that won't be the case for long... It also makes me wonder what will happen to the price of deacts in the short and long term, will they go through the roof or through the floor?