MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
There's a long established gun club in my village, should I make enquiries? Quite like the idea of target shooting a pistol.
Used to back when full bore pistols and self loading rifles were still on a Section 1 FAC.
Apart from home security concerns and costs, the only downside I can think of is you must attend the club a certain number of times a year to keep your FAC...so if (for example) you loose your job and can't afford to shoot for a while, you might well loose your licence too!
Now I have to go abroad if I want to shoot full bore pistol, luckily other countries trust me more than my own government does. 🙄
Been reading up on sec 1, pretty restrictive. Hmmm, might learn to dive instead.
My understanding was that pistols were banned under the legislation passed post Dunblane. I had to hand everything over during the subsequent amnesty.
Diving in the UK's great 😀 There's tons of stuff to look at if you're willing to travel. Join a club. They'll have a RIB & will probably do regular trips to the local wrecks. Deep pockets will be an advantage, the gear's not cheap !
D.
should I make enquiries?
I don't know. Do you fancy target shooting a pistol?
Quite like the idea of target shooting a pistol.
Ah. Yes, then.
(-:
In seriousness, it can't hurt to make enquiries and scope them out, even if you don't decide to follow it up. My limited experience of gun clubs is that they're rifles and shotguns rather than hand guns, though.
Considered an archery club?
Pistols are prohibited in the UK.
Yep, im afraid you've had it. I too had to surrender all my stuff to the police after the ban. Im pretty sure it was across the board but i may be wrong.
After that fiasco i said i would never take up any other shooting discipline, so it took up mountain biking instead.......only slightly more expensive
Go to Bratislava. £50 gets you a minibus to a quarry, shoot a glock, a scorpion submachine gun and a AK47, and a beer afterwards
Why not? I much prefer rifles though.
I thought ownership was prohibited, but licensed gun clubs can have them kept on site?
I found 9mm target shooting to be really addictive, when I was in the states. I only did it out of curiosity (and the fact my host was a gun nut / Federal Agent), but really enjoyed it.
Timed run on weighted body targets and 'spinners':
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2650/3990565400_153db98410_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/3990565400/ ]One down, one going down and one to go...[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
licensed gun clubs can have them kept on site?
Nope, but I think the current short-listed English Olympic Pistol team are allowed to keep theirs in the UK for the duration of the Games.
Michael Ryan (Hungerford)
Thomas hamilton (Dunblane)
Derrick Bird (Cumbria)
Michael Atherton (Peterlee)
All used legally held firearms to kill. Its clear that being a license holder, being a member of a gun club etc. Is no commentary on a person's suitability to own a gun (nor of their sanity). Indeed, unless your work requires the use of a firearm, I can't understand why anyone would actually want to own one these days.
All used legally held firearms to kill.
While certainly true I'd expect that the case of legally held firearms being used pales into insignificance compared to the UK gun crime involving firearms which are not legally held.
Indeed, unless your work requires the use of a firearm, I can't understand why anyone would actually want to own one these days.
We could do this all day, but as a (multiple) shotgun owner, I'll simply say that I enjoy developing the the skill required to hit tricky clays. It's a pastime, nothing more. Sure, people can use a legally-owned firearm for illegal things, but that's the same for so many things.
BTW, Gav, if you're anywhere near to Hertfordshire and fancy some 12-bore at my club, feel free to contact me.
If you want to target shoot pistols you might want to consider air-pistols. The Umarex Boys Club arrange some fun events.
Its great fun! Tried various handguns and full auto assault rifles in Vegas a few years ago, at an indoor range. Completly obliterated a target in the shape of Osama Bin Laden, with an M16. There was a member of staff with a .44 magnum in the booth next to me, guessing he was there to stop me going on a rampage 🙁
epicsteve - Member
While certainly true I'd expect that the case of legally held firearms being used pales into insignificance compared to the UK gun crime involving firearms which are not legally held.
iirc that is incorrect. Gun crime is more common in the countryside and farmers and their families are more likely to suffer gun wounds than other groups. Murders by firearm occur more amongst richer groups than poorer groups.
The most important myth to dispel is that of gun crimes being a
key factor behind the high murder rates in poor areas. Firearms account for only 11 per cent of murders in the poorest wards of Britain compared to 29 per cent of murders in the least poor areas. The more affluent an area, the more likely it is that guns will be used when murders are committed. The simple reason for this is that there are more guns in more affluent areas. They might be legal shotguns rather than illegal handguns, but that makes them no less lethal. The use of firearms has risen in the poorest wards over the 20 years, but only by roughly an additional five murders a year (roughly one extra murder per million people living there). There has been no change in the proportion of murders committed with firearms in richer areas, despite the introduction of legislation designed to limit their use.
I used to be a member but stopped about a year before Hungerford. What stopped me was the FREAKS that used to turn up in camo gear, faces painted, to shoot .22 rounds at circular targets.
It was a tad unsettling that there were people like that in society.
cheers all. did a bit of digging and the club in the village is rifles and air pistols.
nickf, cheers for the offer but i'm in cornwall. i have shot clays once before, great fun.
think diving may get the win though, just seems easier somehow!
When I first starting going along to the gun club I currently attend I was surprised to see several folks turning up in camo gear etc. and thought it a bit strange. I later found out they were all from a nearby army base and just happened to come along in their work clothes.
Yeah, I've shot pistols. I've shot rifles, shotguns, airguns. In fact I've shot a lot of things but nothing bigger than a man....
The legal limit is on the length of the gun, you can legally own and fire a pistol if its over 24" long, I know a few people that do. That either means an extremely long barrel or, more commonly, a long piece of metal, that must be part of the main frame, extending out of the rear of the gun.
There is also no length restriction on muzzle loading revolvers, where each chamber is loaded with the powder and ball separately. That's really niche, you also need serious facial hair and a floppy leather hat.
That's really niche, you also need serious facial hair and a floppy leather hat.
The Practical Shotgun guys at my club are pretty niche; Ramboesque moves and a willingness to wear cartridge bandoliers are de rigeur.
Pistols are prohibited in the UK.
Actually, long barrelled revolvers and muzzle loaders are legal.
iirc that is incorrect. Gun crime is more common in the countryside and farmers and their families are more likely to suffer gun wounds than other groups. Murders by firearm occur more amongst richer groups than poorer groups.
Have you not thought that poor people might kill each other at a much higher rate than rich people though? And whilst the percent rate of firearm crime might be lower, it's total might be higher?