Thread: can anyone point me in the right direction!?

im after an air rifle that is almost squaddie proof

not gas powered as i have a ratcatcher and to be honest i found it pretty crap!
ive had my eye on a BSA XL Tactical what do people think and is it worth the money!
i know its not a real rifle but its all i can use legally!

im not after shooting static targets its for fluffy things on the run!

any other models and makes will be considered if they are quite robust and value for money is good!

thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by woodandy3

im after an air rifle that is almost squaddie proof

not gas powered as i have a ratcatcher and to be honest i found it pretty crap!
ive had my eye on a BSA XL Tactical what do people think and is it worth the money!
i know its not a real rifle but its all i can use legally!

im not after shooting static targets its for fluffy things on the run!

any other models and makes will be considered if they are quite robust and value for money is good!

thanks in advance!

Why? Have you got a criminal record?

no! but i dont belong to a gun club and i dont have land that warrants a gun! its a sporty little number i want to take with me on my little jollies to scotland so i can shoot and eat stuff ur honour!!

edited to add!!! can i get a real one!?? with out all the bollox above!?

Originally Posted by woodandy3

no! but i dont belong to a gun club and i dont have land that warrants a gun! its a sporty little number i want to take with me on my little jollies to scotland so i can shoot and eat stuff ur honour!!

edited to add!!! can i get a real one!?? with out all the bollox above!?

As long as you're not mad or bad you can have a shotgun - in fact you can have as many shotguns as you can provide secure storage for in your home.

If you want a rifle you need to either join a shooting club if you want it for target shooting or to have permission to shoot on some land that holds suitable quarry.

The land will usually be "examined for suitability". If it's rural and of 40 acres or more you should be fine for rimfire, you'll be looking at bigger areas for deerstalking and so on. Again, as long as you are not mad or bad you'll just get it having established this as your "good reason" to possess the firearm(s)

A letter from the landowner stating your authority to shoot there will be required.

I would recommend that it follows the form:

To whom it may concern,

Joe Blogg has permission to shoot on my land at XYZ place and may use any calibre rifle that he considers suitable in pursuit of any lawful quarry,

There's plenty of support on the site to help you through the process.

A .22 rifle does what an air rifle does with a lot less moving parts and a great deal less effort.

Originally Posted by EX_STAB

The land will usually be "examined for suitability". If it's rural and of 40 acres or more you should be fine for rimfire, you'll be looking at bigger areas for deerstalking and so on. Again, as long as you are not mad or bad you'll just get it having established this as your "good reason" to possess the firearm(s)

40 acres seems a rather arbitrary figure. Not aware of any such limit in law.
My parent's property is half that but it's suitable for .22 and HMR.

It's not how much you've got but whether the land is suitable for the calibre you've applied for. If I had permission over my parent's neigbour's land and ramped up access to a couple of hundred acres, I still wouldn't get permission for say, .308, because there are no deer or other large quarry species.

By contrast I know someone who has a .17HMR for barely an acre (large garden). He's on the grey/red squirrel borderline in Cumbria and keeps it for popping at greys from the bathroom window (he's a member of a target club has has target rifles as well though, so getting an HMR for the garden was not too difficult, just an extension of his FAC, not a whole new grant).

The FEO should bear in mind that you may acquire more permissions if your current farmer/landowner recommends you to mates for doing such a good job.

In your case, I assume you have formal permission from whoever it is in Scotland whose land you shoot over.

And yes, you could just get an SGC and go the shotgun route.

Automatically open ticket, no slots, no need to prove "good reason".

thanks for the info sir!! i will certainly look into it!

i will also have a look into local shooting clubs!round these parts!

thanks again!

Originally Posted by Hemmers

Originally Posted by EX_STAB

The land will usually be "examined for suitability". If it's rural and of 40 acres or more you should be fine for rimfire, you'll be looking at bigger areas for deerstalking and so on. Again, as long as you are not mad or bad you'll just get it having established this as your "good reason" to possess the firearm(s)

40 acres seems a rather arbitrary figure. Not aware of any such limit in law.
My parent's property is half that but it's suitable for .22 and HMR.

It's not how much you've got but whether the land is suitable for the calibre you've applied for. If I had permission over my parent's neigbour's land and ramped up access to a couple of hundred acres, I still wouldn't get permission for say, .308, because there are no deer or other large quarry species.

By contrast I know someone who has a .17HMR for barely an acre (large garden). He's on the grey/red squirrel borderline in Cumbria and keeps it for popping at greys from the bathroom window (he's a member of a target club has has target rifles as well though, so getting an HMR for the garden was not too difficult, just an extension of his FAC, not a whole new grant).

The FEO should bear in mind that you may acquire more permissions if your current farmer/landowner recommends you to mates for doing such a good job.

In your case, I assume you have formal permission from whoever it is in Scotland whose land you shoot over.

And yes, you could just get an SGC and go the shotgun route.

Automatically open ticket, no slots, no need to prove "good reason".

Agreed, there is no such requirement in law but it was provided as a rough indication of what might be expected. I'm with BASC on this one but the fact remains that many forces operate arbitrary limits - certainly all the ones I deal with do.

Head south by sou west.