The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Hi all, I have introduced myself on the newby forum and would like some basic information before I approach my Police firearms unit in Glasgow. I hold both shotgun and firearm certs for my employment and have held them for fifteen years, two over and under twelve bore shotguns and a twelve bore pistol on the firearms cert, this also used to have a .22 rimfire rifle but that has been removed. All of these weapons are company owned and are shared by my colleagues and stored in the works armoury.

I have army experience of many rifles and would like to buy a 7.62 such as the SLR L1A1 or VZ-58 as well as adding a twelve bore over and under to my shotgun cert. Having no experience of personally adding anything to my certs I would like advice on the best way to approach this.

I would like to add further rifles to my collection when funds allow, what would you recommend I request in order to minimise frequent variation requests ?.

Cheers.

Hello,

The only tip I can pass on is if you choose 7.62/.308 as one of your slots, at least as far as my firearms department are concerned, it only entitles me to 7.62x51 NATO and not 7.62x39 etc...

I'm sure others will be along with other tips.

Cheers,

Craig.

Hmmm, well the VZ- 58 is 7.62 x 39 and it was high on my list, particularly as the UK seller is only five miles from my front door. As I say I have no experience of applying for variations and hope you folks can keep me on the right line before setting my mind on a purchase or contacting the firearms licencing unit.

If you want to shoot milsurp ammunition add a 7,62x54R as it readily available and relatively cheap plus everyone should own a Mosin Nagant at some point in there lives. Not all forces accept '.30 cal' or similar these days so you need to be more specific in your application. I would always suggest adding 7,62x51/.308 as it is virtually the same thing and saves confusion at a later date, same applies to the 5,56x45/.223 however if you were to ask for this slot with a view to shooting milsurp do make sure whatever you buy is capable of chambering the 5,56x45 as not all rifles will cope with it.

Thanks, that sounds like good advice, I will be joining a local club upon my return from holiday and will no doubt get further advice from them. I also don't have any firearm storage as yet as the only weapons that I keep at home ate a couple of de-acts, so I'll need advice on storage of both weapons and ammo.

The normal process for gaining your FAC will be

1- Join club as a probationary member, this is normally a three month minimum could be six months depending on the club and your attendance.
2- get your full membership.
3- some forces want a length of time (few months) as a full member before applying for you FAC.
4- get someone to help you fill in the FAC application, the hardest part is deciding what calibres you might want, this is where your time as a proby is a good time to work out what you might like. .22lr, 308/7.62, 223/5.56, .303, .357 are the usual suspects but others may take your fancy. Also if you're wanting moderators they have to be included in the application.
5- send in your forms with the cheque and wait!
6- good idea to work out where you're going to fit your cabinet(s), make sure you buy a cabinet bigger than you think you'll need, remember all cabinet sizes ie 5 gun is based on shotguns not scoped rifles which take up way more space.
7- depending on where you live they might want you to install your cabinets before they come and visit to save time coming back.
8- when the FLO comes always be yourself, most are very good and are there to offer help and advice. Tea/coffee and an assortment of bickies are essential tongueout
9- If all goes well sit back and wait for the envelope to appear on the door mat
10- go and buy your new toys
11- most importantly you have to take pictures and post them on here to show off your new acquisitions (remember no pictures no guns really exist)

Hopefully that should give you an idea, but if you're in any doubt ring your police enquiry team and have a chat they are there to help

Good luck

Alan

Many thanks Alan, I am hoping that having held both certs for fifteen years that it should help me adding personal weapons, with regards to calibre I will see what club members use as my experience is mainly in military rifles and handguns. On the face of it though I am not particularly attracted to smaller ammo such as .22, the other consideration is availability and cost of rounds, as again I have no personal experience in buying ammo.

Cheers.

For shotguns, you don't need club membership or permission over land (to hunt or control vermin).

For firearms, you'll either need to be a member of a home office approved target club (as Alan described) or written permission to shoot over land (for live quarry), which the fuzz will normally want to inspect first.

Hi again folks, I'm getting close to my three month's in my local shooting club and I'm narrowing down what I like shooting, my current thoughts on what to add to my variation is:

.22 for a Ruger 10/20 or an AR upper.
.223/5.56 for an AR15 (either Spikes, Lantac or Bradley)
7.62/.308 for a Parker Hale or such
7.62 x 54 for a Natant m38/44

I am also considering adding .300 Blackout as I may consider another AR upper and adding 9mm Lever release as I would like to try both.

If I buy an AR15 in .223/5.56 what do I request on the variation if I want .300 and .22 uppers rather than a full rifle ?

I was also considering adding suppressors for each of the above calibres?
Any advice on the above or is the FLO likely to query these in any way?

sconie wrote:
I am also considering adding .300 Blackout as I may consider another AR upper and adding 9mm Lever release as I would like to try both.

If I buy an AR15 in .223/5.56 what do I request on the variation if I want .300 and .22 uppers rather than a full rifle ?

I was also considering adding suppressors for each of the above calibres?
Any advice on the above or is the FLO likely to query these in any way?

N.B. Lever release AR's are stand alone guns and the uppers/lowers cannot be used with any other AR's.

Always add sound moderators to any increase/new firearms as if you decide not to buy them you can do 1 for 1 swaps for other stuff without having to pay for a fee