Can Brits shoot BP in England?

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ChasMack

ChasMack

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Pretty much what the subject line is...just wondering. I read of air gun use over there and was wondering if anyone knew if they could use BP, or is the powder illegal too?
 
In Scotland, certificates for BP guns (rifles and pistols) must be applied for before you may buy one. They are registered. You must have a safe to store them in. Your home is inspected annually.

They may also get certificates for rifles & shotguns, my friend has a Ruger 10-22 a 308 and 3 shotguns. You must have certificates for ammo too. Typically are allowed to buy up to 500 rounds of non-expanding ammo. Must have special permit for expanding ammo.

Odd thing is suppressors are recommended! And much cheaper than here. My friend bought a nice one for his 308 for under $400, and a 22 caliber can starts at $75.

No one may own a centerfire or rimfire pistol. Banned after a mass shooting many years ago.

There are also limits to the power of air guns, both pistol and rifle. Several of ours are illegal there.
 
Not illegal SSyoumans, they just register the over 12ft lb airguns as firearms... Wouldn't you love to have their laws regarding silencers???
 
Wouldn't you love to have their laws regarding silencers???
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Yeah, and we'd love to have your laws regarding firearms. What ssyoumans says is pretty much right. BP guns are classed as firearms. A licence is required for the purchase, transportation, storage and use of BP but it's easily obtainable if you already have BP firearms on your firearms certificate. This has to be renewed every 5 years but after the initial grant it's no big deal. This is the only time my guns have been inspected but in theory the police can demand to inspect whenever they wish. All convictions, even parking offences have to be declared. Any conviction for violence or anything resulting in a prison sentence of more than 3 years and you can forget it.
 
We are allowed handguns. We can have muzzle loaders and also cap and ball revolvers which are legally classed as muzzle loaders and we'll thank you not to challenge that! There have been one or two smokeless conversions for the revolvers (tiny chambers to restrict the charge) and they are legal, but centre fire conversions are not.
For fixed ammo we can use a "long barrelled revolver" - barrel 12" minimum, overall length 24" minimum courtesy of an extension bar sticking out the back end cunningly disguised as a counterbalance. Unfortunately you have to buy your own as it is illegal to lend or borrow them.
We aren't allowed self loading centre fire rifles. However we can have straight pull versions of centre fire assault rifles, we can have .22 semi auto rifles, and we can have high capacity magazines for all of these...
 
Not bad at all :D There's always some sort of restriction no matter where you are, but as long as a guy can go and shoot his guns he wont go crazy ! :p
 
Under FDR's administration both gold ownership and machine guns were made illegal or highly restricted. The current administration is determined to out-do FDR's "accomplishments." They want all gun laws worldwide to be consistent .. meaning like the UK's.
 
DaveP (UK) said:
For fixed ammo we can use a "long barrelled revolver" - barrel 12" minimum, overall length 24" minimum courtesy of an extension bar sticking out the back end cunningly disguised as a counterbalance. Unfortunately you have to buy your own as it is illegal to lend or borrow them.
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I've never understood that strange rule about not lending such firearms. Is there any particular reason given for it?

Personally, I have some BP stuff (revolvers and a musket) and a couple of bolt-action magazine rifles. It's fortunate that these happen to be things I'd have wanted to buy anyway, even if our laws were more liberal.
 
knirirr

The authorities in the UK treat "Long Barreled Pistols and Revolvers" as a distinct class of firearm with additional restrictions. There is no logical reason for it - I guess that's what you get when politicians make laws................. :banghead:

Even crazier when you consider that long barreled pistols like mine are actually short barreled rifles - they start off as Browning Buckmark rifles and have a 12" barrel installed and the stock removed. You can't add a long barrel to a pistol to bring it up to the required length - once a pistol, always a pistol in the eyes of the law.

All that said, they are actually pretty enjoyable to shoot. No - not as much as the pistols we used to have but not bad. With a carbon fibre barrel they handle much better than you might think and are capable of good accuracy. Off to the Scottish borders to take part in a competition with mine tomorrow :D

Here's a pic of mine - this should convince all the Yanks on here that we Brits really are crazy.................. :rolleyes:

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And just to keep the thread reasonably on topic here's my Old Army.

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Phil
 
philuk44 said:
knirirr

The authorities in the UK treat "Long Barreled Pistols and Revolvers" as a distinct class of firearm with additional restrictions. There is no logical reason for it - I guess that's what you get when politicians make laws................. :banghead:


Phil
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As you say, it's not logical. They must have imagined that there was some reasonable justification for it, though.

Nice revolver, by the way!
 
Oh, it's logical enough - if you wear a uniform and hold to the belief that civilians really shouldn't possess firearms!
Repeating handguns are going to be near the top of your list of concerns because they represent easily concealable fire power.
If you dont already hand load then getting into LBR is likely to cost you the best part of £1000, buying new. A lot of cash to lay down for something that might not suit you after all.
Buy to try is a powerful disincentive...
 
They still do shoot traditional creedmoor/wimbleton/dollymount matches there, and they have an international team that competes with other teams from around the world in the long range blackpowder matches.
 
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