Been pondering the possibility of getting a .22LR pistol, but not sure that there is any way in hell of getting a licence for one here without joining a gun range (I live on the family farm).
I don't know what the regs are over there, but you can get an FAC if you have land that you own or permission to shoot on for a specific purpose. My uncle has a farm, and that allows us to have a .22LR rifle for vermin control there. You may have to get a rifle first...for vermin control, and then a pistol to keep it company
I already have a Ruger 10/22 here. Love it for target shooting. Would like to get a bullpup stock for it, but I don't think it'll be possible.
Nooooooo, don't start me on 10/22. My neighbour has one, and I am envious. I also really like the High Tower FN P90 replica conversion kit - maybe the sort of bullpup you'd be tempted with too!
I'd love to shoot again but while I have enough distance in the garden to meet legal requirements and still shoot 25 yards I still have a cat. Who's a sneaky git and turns up when least expected. Like in front of the target. I'll stick with airsoft plinking and hunting down people I know on game days for now. @Gareth: From way back you commented about soft cases suitable for airsoft players. Mostly we don't use them, drop £300 on a rifle and you treat it a little better. Hard cases only cost £60 or so, it's worth it to protect your baby
Yeah... My most expensive rifle cost double that, and I still use a soft case (mostly so it doesn't look like I'm carrying a rifle) - just not *that* soft case, which I threw in a skip!
I would absolutely love to get my hands on that stock, but it's questionable whether or not it falls under "restricted" in terms of licencing and that can be a grey area. I could try to get my local dealer shop to order it in, but the paperwork is annoying and might be prohibitively expensive. I could try to just ship it in myself, but it might not make it past customs. I could try to go to my superintendent and see if I need to change my licence, but that could go wrong and cause pointless hassle. Would still be lovely to get.
Damn, that is a nice conversion. I never would have guessed that was a 10/22 under that skin! I've got a handful of rifles, but it's been years since I shot anything and one of them is nearly impossible to find ammo for. My "armory" consists of: A non-descript .22LR semi-auto with a tube mag and a broken stock. Apparently my dad broke it over a dog's gead because he didn't want to shoot it. A "Cooey" .22LR single shot bolt action rifle. According to whart I've been able to find this was used as a training rifle by the Canadian Army during WW2 A Springfield Armory (the real one) M1898 .30-40 Krag battle rifle. These rifles were standard issue around the time of the Spanish American war, but were quickly replaced by the M1903 Springfield just as soon as Teddy Roosevelt took office.
@GH Thanks for the HW97K recommendation, I just spotted your post. I'll take a look. Cameras may be the money eater at the moment, I'm selling old high end HiFi and want to upgrade the Nikon lenses and add a pocket camera with pancake lens. Was it the Winchester you were going for? Have to go back to the gun shop this morning, as the pellets I bough last week do not work in the Gamo Compact. I was recommended flat pellets for the air pistol (as per the trial tin in the gun case), these were Remington Punch, which are longer overall and in the skirt than the others. The 2 I tried didn't 'drop' into the breech nicely, they had to be pushed in. When I fired the pistol, it spluttered and the pellet stayed where it was. I had to push both out with a plastic rod inserted into the muzzle I had some old Wasp round nosed pellets that also worked fine. I don't know much about pellet dynamics, so will see what the shop say.
It's lovely - and available in a variety of styles, from my synthetic-stock and stainless-finish to a more traditional wooden-stock and blued-finish - and with or without thumbhole. I think so, 'cos I wouldn't be able to use the Mauser on the 10m range. Best thing to do is pick up a 'sample pack' on FleaBay. You'll get ten or so of a bunch of different pellet types, and you can find which ones work best in your gun. Just shoot five of each, aiming for the bull each time; don't look for accuracy (as you'll need to adjust your sights anyway) but for grouping. Whichever pellet gives you the tightest group is the pellet you want to buy a few tins of. If you're doing it *properly* you should clean the barrel between pellet types and shoot off five to warm up then five to measure - but I never bother doing that 'cos it's so much faff.
Right, I've finally bitten the bullet and bought... Neither! Sig Sauer MCX. 30-round semi-automatic CO2 (88/90g) rifle in .177 pellet with rifled barrel, in FDE finish with official Sig flip-up iron sights. Yes, semi-automatic - pretty rare in a UK-spec pellet gun! (Apologies for the low quality - I'm supposed to be working right now so just snapped a quick shot with my phone.) I'm doubtless going to get some funny looks when I pull this baby out down at the range - and doubly so when I go back later next month to pick up a matching CO2 blowback Sig Sauer P226 pistol!
Yarp. Built in Japan by Sig itself, and designed to mimic the Real Steel so as to be used for training purposes. S'pretty solidly made, though the rear stock and KeyMod rail are both plastic - everything else is metal, though.
Exactly - you've gone from once upon a time in the West to advanced warfare in 1 quick jump! I looked at a 22lr H&K MP5 the other week, all frame as per the real one other than the. 22 bits. At 2m you wouldn't know it wasn't the real thing, same weight and feel.
Interesring. That is very much an AR pattern rifle and I suspect some of the ubiquitous AR parts and accessories on the market might fit it. I was in the sporting goods shop the other day and in their "gun" case the had a CO2 blowback P08 Luger and a late model C97 Mauser Broomhandle. I didn't ask if the toggle lock on the Luger worked, but I was curious.
Aye, it accepts AR grips (tempted by a Hogue rubberised jobber, if I can find a UK stockist) and, obviously, the KeyMod and RIS rails will take anything you like - I've got an FDE angled aluminium foregrip on order to replace the plastic one it has now. Sig's definitely cut one or two corners, though: while the charging handle is ambidextrous, the mag release button is for righties only - the one on the left is a fake. Hardly surprising, though, given the low cost. What is surprising is that the QD sling hole in the butt is fake: it's the perfect size but lacks the little indentation for the stud to lock into, so it just pops out again. Bizarre design choice there! Speaking of cost: before going to Aaron Wheelers Gunsmith, I popped into a newsagent called Barkers in the centre of Bradford. I say 'newsagent,' though the window is filled with air rifles, air pistols, crossbows, baseball bats, swords, fantasy knives, 'herbal' accessories, stab vests and the like. They had the Winchester on a shelf - for £489.99. To save you scrolling up-thread, the same gun costs £278.99 from SGC. Absolutely insane markup!
Bloody horrible, IMHO, but it's yours not mine, so hey ho. I assume you checked the status on the EU directive looking to ban semi auto's and military looking firearms before spending your cash?
There is a very good chance with that directive that the same restrictions that currently apply to "realistic imitation firearms" such as air soft would come into effect. This means that after the directive was passed, it would become illegal to buy, sell, import, or manufacture the items. It would not affect the legality of those already owned as these were obtained "pre-ban" when it was completely legal to do so. I have several soft air pistols that I bought before the VCR bill was passed and whilst I cannot sell those on anymore, they are perfectly legal for me to continue to own and use.
While UK law holds that air rifles are firearms, albeit unlicensed ones under certain power limits, EU law does not. I quote the proposed revised firearms directive, section 1b: "For the purposes of this Directive, ‘replica firearms’ shall mean objects that have the physical appearance of a firearm, but are manufactured in such a way that they cannot be converted to firing a shot or expelling a bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant." The important part there is "by the action of a combustible propellant." An air rifle uses compressed air or carbon dioxide, neither of which are combustible (CO2, in fact, being commonly used to put fires out.) Thus an air rifle is, by the EU's definition, a replica firearm - therefore not covered by a proposed ban on semi-automatics which have the appearance of an automatic (which the MCX and MPX are also not: they are based on civilian semi-automatic rifle designs, with no fully-automatic variant available.) Now, the EU directive *may* cover airsoft guns which use "green gas," because that actually is combustible - though it isn't used as such within the firearm. TL;DR: Yes, I'm well aware of the law. EDIT: Here's an interesting gun-law wrinkle: Aaron showed me two black-powder revolvers the other day, a Colt and a Ruger. One was manufactured in 1970, the other in the 1800s some time. They're functionally identical: take the same powder, take the same balls, fire at the same velocity, hold the same number of shots. The Ruger from the 1970s would require me to have a firearms certificate; the Colt from the 1800s would not, 'cos it's an antique - despite also being a fully-functional firearm. Odd one, that. And no, I didn't ask how much the Colt was! EDIT AGAIN: Did a bit more digging, and I *didn't* know that the proposal was further amended back in March (PDF warning), which includes specific reference that " The definition of the term "firearm" should continue to exclude objects which expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a non-combustible propellant, for example through the operation of compressed air or other gas, including so called airsoft guns, as well as objects which merely have the appearance of a firearm (replicas, imitations), provided in both cases that such objects cannot be converted to a firearm or do not contain an essential component which is capable of being used in a firearm." More importantly, though: "Semi-automatic firearms for civilian use which resemble weapons with automatic mechanisms" has been proposed to be switched to "Semi-automatic firearms which have been converted into automatic firearms;" which renders the whole thing moot. Rejoice, ye tacticool oper8ors: your .22LR conversions are safe!
