All of that rubbish 18 years ago,about there not being any need for semi-auto centrefires,is what it is.ARs due to their reliability and durability have been popular rifles,amongst pest-controllers and deer hunters.The British Deer Society certainly got it wrong back then,because at the end of the day,a rifle is a rifle and any type of rifle can be used to kill-if used for that purpose.
Maybe they should see how popular they are and how foolish,they were back then.
Exactly,but unfortunately we UK shooters are dealing with pig-ignorant people,who hate semi-auto guns.It's better that way,in that format, otherwise like the Australians,we would have gone without those straight-pulls and lever-actions-resulting in us having to use semi-customised conventional-looking bolts,with extended mags,to replace the black rifles.However these are still used and it is cheaper,to buy a black rifle variant,than to order an Armalon custom rifle.
Which genius in the UK decided that Semi Auto/Auto rifles need to be converted to single shot?
After the 1988 act was passed,in 1989,we had a few diehard,ex-black rifle shooters over here who wrote to Olympic Arms and Sturm Ruger,informing them of the change in legislation after the Hungerford Massacre.Those guys,wanted a practical rifle,like the ARs,chambered in the same ammo,but instead of an semi-auto action,they asked for a bolt-action,where the cocking-handle,would be cocked after each shot was fired-resulting in a UK-legal,get around the ban,rifle.
Sturm Ruger and Olympic Arms agreed,by writing back to those UK practical shooters,stating that they would manufacture a UK-legal version,for the UKs market and any other countries market,whose governments either banned or forbade the use of semi-autos.Rugers M-14 variant was the Ruger M-14 B.A.O.(Bolt-Action Operated.)rifle,that looks like the original,except for the action.
Saiga also agreed to make UK-legal variants,that are both cheap and reliable and they look like their semi-auto cousins,too,because they are the same rifles,but with different actions.