New toy

[Jimmy Choo]

Alright, calm down there, Derek Bum.

Double Serafinowicz in the thread?

[DaveE]

When I got back to the UK, I went to the Prestonpans club for a try and they put me straight on the team!

This did read like Simon from The Office

"Yeah well I went down there the first day it opened right, and I did a couple of laps, I pulled over, the bloke that runs the thing comes over and said - Oi no professionals. I took my helmet off, I said I'm not a professional. He said - you're not a profesional? I said - No, he said - well you should be, if I was you I'd take up Formula One, and if you drive like that you'd probably be the best in the country! I said - I'm not interested I'm making shit loads out of computers."

[Beany]

Alright, calm down there, Derek Bum.
<snip>

Double Serafinowicz in the thread?

He's a talented chap.

[Ascender]

@Nefarious - I need to get a rifle cabinet for the house. I reckon one which can take 3 rifles (a couple of which will be scoped) with a built-in ammo safe would be good. I’m guessing the ones which are designed for 3-5 are best option as there’s definitely at least two guns in the family which we may inherit at some point.

Are there any decent sites with reviews of safes or have you got any you’d recommend? At the moment I’m just googling and not finding much in the way of reviews which are helpful.

Both of mine are Brattonsound, bought off ebay. Quite a few of the guys at the club have been getting the cheapo ones off Amazon. At the end of the day, unless you're going for a proper safe, they will all stand up equally poorly to an angle grinder, so just go with the cheapest one that keeps your FO happy.
Re. ammo/bolt safe - I went with one of the cheap digital ones out of Screwfix (Smith & Locke IIRC). I prefer this set-up as it leaves extra length in the main cabinet. My main competition Benelli now has an 11 round mag, so is quite long.
Also, if all your rifles are scoped, you will *not* fit 3 in a 3 gun cabinet. You might be better to go with one of the 6 gun designs that stack 3 and 3 on the sidewalls.
Oh, and always get at least double the capacity you *think* you need.

Thanks, that's very helpful. I'd seen Brattonsound ones mentioned and yes, had the same thoughts about how secure any of them are. Good point about the ammo safe too, thank you!

[Ascender]

Erm… you buy a croft in the middle on no where…

Then Prepping…

And now a gun store…

Do you know something you’re not telling us ??

I did have that realisation the day after posting about the prepping stuff... No need for concern! Honest.

[Nefarious]

Thought twice about posting this because people get funny about "black guns" sometimes, but my practical club has just introduced "mini rifle", so I treated myself to one of these:


It's a Tippmann Elite L Fluted, and is a lovely piece of engineering in that ruthlessly simple and efficient kinda way.
For those not in the know, Tippmann could be considered a bit like Ruf or Singer in that they take the basic mainstream AR15 design and just refine everything to their own spec. This particular one has what is known as an X barrel, which means they've taken 100 off the production line and selected the best 5.

I picked it up off a retiring SO19 guy, along with *all* the bells and whistles I wanted (optics, bi-pod, moderator etc).

The really scary thing is how quiet it is. With the moderator and sub-sonic ammo, it's about as loud as your average household lightswitch

[jamcg]

That’s a lovely thing. Didn’t realise they were legal over here. Guess there’s rules over ammunition/mag size/other stuff that has to be adhered to?

[Nefarious]

Yeah, you're allowed any calibre you like as long as you've got somewhere to shoot it - e.g. you can theoretically buy a .50cal, but nowhere will let you shoot because it tends to make rather large holes in things.
But you're not allowed semi-auto in full bore, apart, bizarrely from shotguns with slug, because of a legal quirk around smooth bore guns.
So legal things can be rifled, semi-auto or full bore - choose any 2 but not all three.

[mik]

Yeah, you're allowed any calibre you like as long as you've got somewhere to shoot it

They say you learn something new every day. That's me sorted for Tuesday 16-Jul-25.

[Nefarious]

Here's your second thing for today - it's wednesday!

[Ascender]

Very nice @Nefarious and spooky that its the same model I learned on so was planning to get.

We have a lovely elderly neighbour who is now in his 90s and has lived what seems to be an amazing life. We get little snippets each time.

Amongst other things he was working in the Vatican specialising in international law and book-keeping. But as he got into his 70s, the local constabulary suggested he no longer needed the shotgun and semi-automatic pistol that he'd been given when posted in South America and Africa.

Anyway, he insisted I take a few shotgun cartridges he had lying around as he has no need for them anymore and knew I was getting my license, not for a shotgun, but you know, "they might come in handy".



I've handed them in to the polis. They came to collect and also said "you know, you could just have kept them, you never know when you might need them..."

[mik]

Here's your second thing for today - it's wednesday!

[scotta]

Here's your second thing for today - it's wednesday!

You rang...?

[Nefarious]

I've handed them in to the polis. They came to collect and also said "you know, you could just have kept them, you never know when you might need them..."

Strictly you need a shotgun licence to possess, but they're generally a lot more laissez faire about shells that bullets.
Another example of the crazy piecemeal nature of the law - accidentally pocket one tiny 22 round from the range or have one more round than your limit, go to jail do not pass go, but one buckshot shell (which effectively contains 9 9mm bullets), silly boy, be more careful next time

I still get non-licence holders to do a pocket check when leaving the range/clay ground.

BTW - I don't know how old those shells were, but it has been a *long* time since powder weight was measured in ounces!

[V8Granite]

I've handed them in to the polis. They came to collect and also said "you know, you could just have kept them, you never know when you might need them..."

Strictly you need a shotgun licence to possess, but they're generally a lot more laissez faire about shells that bullets.
Another example of the crazy piecemeal nature of the law - accidentally pocket one tiny 22 round from the range or have one more round than your limit, go to jail do not pass go, but one buckshot shell (which effectively contains 9 9mm bullets), silly boy, be more careful next time

I still get non-licence holders to do a pocket check when leaving the range/clay ground.

BTW - I don't know how old those shells were, but it has been a *long* time since powder weight was measured in ounces!

After every range day we had to declare…

I have no live rounds, empty cases, pyrotechnics or parts there of on my possession.

You then walk out with a Shmooley in your Bergen

Dave!

[Rich B]

You then walk out with a Shmooley in your Bergen

Dave!

I once met a girl who turned out had a Schmooley in “her” Bergen…

[Mito Man]

You then walk out with a Shmooley in your Bergen

Dave!

I once met a girl who turned out had a Schmooley in “her” Bergen…

Hope you got yourself checked out after

[Rich B]

You then walk out with a Shmooley in your Bergen

Dave!

I once met a girl who turned out had a Schmooley in “her” Bergen…

Hope you got yourself checked out after

Yep, i checked - i still had a Schmooley in my Bergen.

[dinny_g]

I know all you guys are checked and cleared etc. (and largely not nuts) but I had no idea this sort of gun ownership was a thing in the UK

I knew a game keeper who had a few rifles and let me shoot his .22 at some rabbits in the middle of the estate he worked - well away from any public - but I genuinely thought you needed a legitimate reason to own any gun here.

[Nefarious]

I genuinely thought you needed a legitimate reason to own any gun here.

That's absolutely right, Dinny. You not only need a legitimate reason, but also need to be able to sell that legitimate reason to your appointed firearms officer for each individual firearm.

Partaking in sport, and being a full, post-probation member of a club that offers that particular discipline (clubs generally insist on checks, an induction, a safety course, then 6 months probation), is deemed a good reason.

My current licence is dependent of membership of two different clubs and two different competition associations, both of which require a minimum number of level 3 competitions per year. If I lose any of those memberships, or don't keep up enough competitions, I have to give up the guns to which those memberships relate.