Small Bore / Full Bore FAC

[HWN147]

Having come into this discussion at a late stage and agreeing with what's been said already, I would add that at some point you will be having a discussion with your enquiry officer so ask him the question. Show him that you are a probatinary member with the NRA and that your course is imminent and can you add what fullbore rifle/s you want?

Heather

Hi Heather

Yes I had come to that conclusion I will just ask the FEO when I speak to him or see him. I have a lot of previous small bore experience in target shooting so I hope he will see good reason to allow me to add full bore. Worth a try anyway he can only say no.

Thanks
Henry

[huntervixen]

Having come into this discussion at a late stage and agreeing with what's been said already, I would add that at some point you will be having a discussion with your enquiry officer so ask him the question. Show him that you are a probatinary member with the NRA and that your course is imminent and can you add what fullbore rifle/s you want?

Heather

Hi Heather

Yes I had come to that conclusion I will just ask the FEO when I speak to him or see him. I have a lot of previous small bore experience in target shooting so I hope he will see good reason to allow me to add full bore. Worth a try anyway he can only say no.

Thanks
Henry

Hi Henry,

Odd thing is, I got out of shooting for years and when I got back into it 4 years ago, I re-joined my old small bore club, applied for a new FAC, asked for 1x.22 lr for target use and 1x .303, in the reason box, I just put:

"for target use on full bore approved ranges as a full shooting member of Tetbury Rifle club"

Two weeks later I got my new "fun ticket" in the post, now I know Police forces are all different, but...and I might be wrong here, but I don't think they can insist you have to be a member of different clubs for different classes of Firearm!

Seems to me, as long as you add a letter carefully setting out your (GOOD) reasons for wanting a certain class of Firearm and pop it in with your application you probably won't have a problem.

[M99]

Having come into this discussion at a late stage and agreeing with what's been said already, I would add that at some point you will be having a discussion with your enquiry officer so ask him the question. Show him that you are a probatinary member with the NRA and that your course is imminent and can you add what fullbore rifle/s you want?

Heather

Hi Heather

Yes I had come to that conclusion I will just ask the FEO when I speak to him or see him. I have a lot of previous small bore experience in target shooting so I hope he will see good reason to allow me to add full bore. Worth a try anyway he can only say no.

Thanks
Henry

Hi Henry,

Odd thing is, I got out of shooting for years and when I got back into it 4 years ago, I re-joined my old small bore club, applied for a new FAC, asked for 1x.22 lr for target use and 1x .303, in the reason box, I just put:

"for target use on full bore approved ranges as a full shooting member of Tetbury Rifle club"

Two weeks later I got my new "fun ticket" in the post, now I know Police forces are all different, but...and I might be wrong here, but I don't think they can insist you have to be a member of different clubs for different classes of Firearm!

Seems to me, as long as you add a letter carefully setting out your (GOOD) reasons for wanting a certain class of Firearm and pop it in with your application you probably won't have a problem.

Err - you need to show good reason for each firearm - being a member of a Small bore only club is not good reason to own a full-bore rifle - so technically you have committed an offence! - Might not be the best idea giving such poor advice on to a newbie.

Thankfully he has got it sorted via the NRA.

Mike

[huntervixen]

Evening Mike,

"Poor Advise"!

Very odd, this one....are you stating, you have to a member of a Rifle club with the facilities for the class of firearm you wish to possess? I can't find this anywhere in the Firearms act 1968 mate.

Now, showing good reason was clearly made by me stating : "for target use on full bore approved ranges as a full shooting member of Tetbury Rifle club".

I also wrote a letter clearly stating my reasons for wanting a fullbore rifle to back this up and gave details such as membership of the Sportmens Association to cover the necessary Insurance liabilities.....Something a lot of peope neglect to do by the way!

My local FO and the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire for that matter certainly agreed with this and had no issues either, Several different FO's later and two variations on...still no issues with my Police force!


I have now joined the Severn Side Range, but I still don't believe that I actually had a legal requirement to do so?

[M99]

Yes - I am saying you need to be able to shoot a full bore rifle to show good reason. We have several members of a small bore club who have joined us specifically to enable them to get full bore rifles on their FAC. Clearly Staffs are more aware of what each club has the facility to shoot.

So being a member of a small bore rifle club with no access to full bore ranges is not good reason for owning a full bore rifle.

[rocket-dog]

If I apply for a lever action in .357 and a lever action .45LC, get my request approved, purchase both, but rarely shoot the latter (if at all) could I loose that slot because I don't use it? Or is my shooting gallery rifle or just being regular attendee at my club still sufficient reason?

I think I am looking for nuances that aren't there, but this is a serious business. razz

[huntervixen]

Hi Mike,

I guess as with so many firearms matters, it's down to the individual Police forces to put their personal angle on "Good Reason" , I say again, nothing in the 1968 firearms act relating to membership of clubs for particular firearm types..... just good reason to be shown.

Glad I live in Gloucetershire, where a slightly more sensible outlook seems to prevail!

Cheers, John.

[IainWR]

Yes you could.

The critical bit is the advice, and it is only advice, in Firearms Law - Guidance to the Police 2002 published by the Home Office (available online - try Google), that says that target shooters may be expected to use all their firearms reasonably frequently "say at least 3 times a year". If you meet that condition your FEO can tick the "good reason" box in accordance with the Home Office guidance with no further thought. You meet the condition, he doesn't have to think and his boss has top cover from the Home Office.

If you don't use the firearm sufficiently regularly then you have to come up with an explanation that justifies your good reason, the FEO has to think about it and exercise judgment as to whether you have a valid argument and his boss has to decide that his FEOs view of you is enough to keep him out of trouble if he goes against Home Office guidelines.

If you were that boss (Chief Officer of Police) where would your bias lie? This isn't about logic, or even very much about public safety. It's mostly about human nature. We can all understand that with a little exercise of imagination.

Iain

[rocket-dog]

Yes you could.

Iain

Thanks.

EDIT: As I said in my intro thread I have very modest ambitions. I would never deliberately set out to flout or stretch the law. Since joining the forum and doing some more reading I have decided just to stick to 22lr and centre fire gallery rifle. But it would be nice to have something other than one .357 lever action to shoot. I think I will be able to stretch to a few boxes of ammunition in another calibre.

[UKYankee]

Jut round the corner from you is Worcester Norton rifle club. They've got 3 ranges (1x50m, 2x25m) all good for upto 4000ft per second. They also run great competitions every weekend from mini rifle to underlever to practical shotgun. Great club with a good bunch of people.

Dave