Air Rifles!

[kestrelx]

Back in the 70's the law's on owning and using air weapons was very lax - these days the law has been tightened up massively and carrying one without clear permission to use it in a safe place can lead to fines. Using one in a public place can lead to prison, using one in a garden can also lead to fines/prison - not so in the care free 70's!

I had a few .77 pistols and a Webley .22 rifle - anyone else had any air weapons?

 

[Boeing Guy]

Back in the 70's the law's on owning and using air weapons was very lax - these days the law has been tightened up massively and carrying one without clear permission to use it in a safe place can lead to fines. Using one in a public place can lead to prison, using one in a garden can also lead to fines/prison - not so in the care free 70's!

I had a few .77 pistols and a Webley .22 rifle - anyone else had any air weapons?

Yawn...you again.
Okay I did not have a Air Weapon, but I was nearly blinded in by one in my Right Eye back in the late 70's, another centimetre and I would look like Long John Silver, jim lad.
So would you like to explain why you have a issues with the law these days?

 

[kestrelx]

Yawn...you again.
Okay I did not have a Air Weapon, but I was nearly blinded in by one in my Right Eye back in the late 70's, another centimetre and I would look like Long John Silver, jim lad.
So would you like to explain why you have a issues with the law these days?

Yawn! Why you bother replying then?
A lot of people have stories of that kind of thing you were lucky!
I'm just commenting how things have changed - from being able to walk in a public place with one uncovered - to now the following...


Offence Penalties: Statute Law

The Penalties for breaking current UK firearms laws with Airguns are as follows:-
Carrying a loaded Air-weapon in a public place 6 months imprisonment and / or £5,000 fine.
Trespassing with an air weapon 3 months imprisonment and / or £2,500 fine.
Trespassing on private land with an air weapon 3 months imprisonment and / or £2,500 fine.
Possessing or using an air weapon if sentenced to 3 months or more in custody 3 months imprisonment and / or £2,500 fine.
In addition if original sentence up to 3 years 5 year ban on use of firearms.
Or if for 3 years or more Life ban on use of firearms.
Killing or injuring any bird or protected animal unless authorised £5,000 fine.
Firing an air weapon within 15m / 50ft of a public highway £1,000 fine.
Selling or hiring air weapon or ammunition to person under 18 6 months imprisonment and / or £5,000 fine.
Making a gift of air weapon or ammunition to person under 14 £1,000 fine.
Having air weapon or ammunition with intent to damage property 10 years imprisonment.
Having air weapon with intent to endanger life Life imprisonment and / or appropriate fine.
Using air weapon to resist or prevent arrest Life imprisonment and / or appropriate fine.
Threatening others with an air weapon (even if unloaded) to cause them to fear unlawful violence 10 years imprisonment and / or appropriate fine.
Not forgetting the chance of being shot and killed by the police should you not obey instructions when challenged by them, they cannot tell if you have just an airgun or a more lethal firearm so will treat all arms as lethal and respond accordingly.

 

[Michael1954]

My dad was shot and blinded in one eye when he was in his early teens. I have no interest in air guns or rifles.

 

[Boeing Guy]

Yawn! Why you bother replying then?
A lot of people have stories of that kind of thing you were lucky!
I'm just commenting how things have changed - from being able to walk in a public place with one uncovered - to now the following...


Offence Penalties: Statute Law

The Penalties for breaking current UK firearms laws with Airguns are as follows:-
Carrying a loaded Air-weapon in a public place 6 months imprisonment and / or £5,000 fine.
Trespassing with an air weapon 3 months imprisonment and / or £2,500 fine.
Trespassing on private land with an air weapon 3 months imprisonment and / or £2,500 fine.
Possessing or using an air weapon if sentenced to 3 months or more in custody 3 months imprisonment and / or £2,500 fine.
In addition if original sentence up to 3 years 5 year ban on use of firearms.
Or if for 3 years or more Life ban on use of firearms.
Killing or injuring any bird or protected animal unless authorised £5,000 fine.
Firing an air weapon within 15m / 50ft of a public highway £1,000 fine.
Selling or hiring air weapon or ammunition to person under 18 6 months imprisonment and / or £5,000 fine.
Making a gift of air weapon or ammunition to person under 14 £1,000 fine.
Having air weapon or ammunition with intent to damage property 10 years imprisonment.
Having air weapon with intent to endanger life Life imprisonment and / or appropriate fine.
Using air weapon to resist or prevent arrest Life imprisonment and / or appropriate fine.
Threatening others with an air weapon (even if unloaded) to cause them to fear unlawful violence 10 years imprisonment and / or appropriate fine.
Not forgetting the chance of being shot and killed by the police should you not obey instructions when challenged by them, they cannot tell if you have just an airgun or a more lethal firearm so will treat all arms as lethal and respond accordingly.

And there's good reason why you cannot walk in public with one. Good .
But due to your warped view on the world we are all wrong but your right

 

[Boeing Guy]

So let me get this right.... You miss being able to carry a Air Weapon in public, loaded or otherwise. You would like to be able to grow your own cannabis and the goverment is out to get us, anyone who challenges you is part of the 'accyweb maffya'.

If you ask me, or any right thinking person, it looks like successive Goverments have made the right decisions.
If you wish to carry a gun in public, why don't you move to the USA on of he southern states would be best.

 

[walkinman221]

Back in the 70's the law's on owning and using air weapons was very lax - these days the law has been tightened up massively and carrying one without clear permission to use it in a safe place can lead to fines. Using one in a public place can lead to prison, using one in a garden can also lead to fines/prison - not so in the care free 70's!

I had a few .77 pistols and a Webley .22 rifle - anyone else had any air weapons?

The laws have been tightened up because of planks like you,who have a total disregard for gun safety.Also todays air weapons are considerably more powerful and therefore more deadly than the" carefree 70's" models many of them being able to attain over the 12ftlb limit , which then makes them subject to firearms certification.One last point guns are not toys and should only be used by responsible adults/people so that counts you out

 

[jaysay]

The laws have been tightened up because of planks like you,who have a total disregard for gun safety.Also today's air weapons are considerably more powerful and therefore more deadly than the" carefree 70's" models many of them being able to attain over the 12 ft lb limit , which then makes them subject to firearms certification.One last point guns are not toys and should only be used by responsible adults/people so that counts you out

You can write my speeches for me Dave, can't fault anything you've said there mate

 

[Less]

You can write my speeches for me Dave, can't fault anything you've said there mate

God no,

Don't you dare change your scripts, you're simplistic views and natural typo's are what make you so popular.

Stick to what you think you know.

 

[flashy]

My dad was shot and blinded in one eye when he was in his early teens. I have no interest in air guns or rifles.

as was my cousin when her so called friend was shooting one

 

[jaysay]

God no,

Don't you dare change your scripts, you're simplistic views and natural typo's are what make you so popular.

Stick to what you think you know.

Okay then just for you Less

 

[jaysay]

God no,

Don't you dare change your scripts, you're simplistic views and natural typo's are what make you so popular.

Stick to what you think you know.

And there was me thinking it was because of my rational thinking and nous Less

 

[Neil]

The laws have been tightened up because of planks like you,who have a total disregard for gun safety.

You have no idea if he has total disregard for gun safety from what he has said.

Also todays air weapons are considerably more powerful and therefore more deadly than the" carefree 70's" models many of them being able to attain over the 12ftlb limit , which then makes them subject to firearms certification.One last point guns are not toys and should only be used by responsible adults/people so that counts you out

That is utter rubbish.
Air weapons are no more powerful now than when I had my first one at 15 ish.
They may or may not be more accurate now, that depends on how good a shot you are as pre-charged tend to require less skill to shoot with good repeatability.

The legal limit for air weapons has been 6 ft/lbs for pistols and 12 ft/lbs for air rifles since at least 1969 without a firearms certificate as you state. Why you mention many of them require a firearm certificate I dont know as that applies to other rifles, shotguns, hand guns etc

 

[Gordon Booth]

Neil, you can have an air rifle spec'd well over 12 ft/lbs, in fact if you're doing vermin control thats what you need to do the job cleanly. However you do need an FAC to have one.
No air weapon/firearm should ever be carried round without being in a secure carry case- its not the accuracy, it's not the power, its the fact that even a low powered air weapon discharged close to someone can do serious damage- see the above posts. Whether the discharge is accidental or intentional the damage is the same. Nor should any weapon ever have any load in it unless it's in controlled use-then it can't go off, even accidentally.

 

[Mancie]

Yawn...you again.
Okay I did not have a Air Weapon, but I was nearly blinded in by one in my Right Eye back in the late 70's, another centimetre and I would look like Long John Silver, jim lad.

Did it hit the parrot?

 

[Michael1954]

Neil, you had a gun at 15. What did you use it for?

 

[Retlaw]

You have no idea if he has total disregard for gun safety from what he has said.



That is utter rubbish.
Air weapons are no more powerful now than when I had my first one at 15 ish.
They may or may not be more accurate now, that depends on how good a shot you are as pre-charged tend to require less skill to shoot with good repeatability.

The legal limit for air weapons has been 6 ft/lbs for pistols and 12 ft/lbs for air rifles since at least 1969 without a firearms certificate as you state. Why you mention many of them require a firearm certificate I dont know as that applies to other rifles, shotguns, hand guns etc

I have two old air rifles, one is a 1937 BSA copy of the Lincoln Jefferies in .177 the other is a Webly & Scott, with interchangable .177 & .22, I've fired them many times over a Chronoscope, with different pellet weights, & neither of them is even 6 ftlbs.

Retlaw

 

[walkinman221]

You have no idea if he has total disregard for gun safety from what he has said.



That is utter rubbish.
Air weapons are no more powerful now than when I had my first one at 15 ish.
They may or may not be more accurate now, that depends on how good a shot you are as pre-charged tend to require less skill to shoot with good repeatability.

The legal limit for air weapons has been 6 ft/lbs for pistols and 12 ft/lbs for air rifles since at least 1969 without a firearms certificate as you state. Why you mention many of them require a firearm certificate I dont know as that applies to other rifles, shotguns, hand guns etc

I didnt say many of them require a firearms cert , i said many modern air weapons are able to attain over the 12ftlb limit therefore making them subject to a firearms cert.Also modern air weapons can be more powerful than their older counterparts , due to better technology ie more air weapons using gas spring/rams. The advantages of the gas spring include the facility to keep the rifle cocked and ready to fire for long periods of time without harming the mechanism. Also, since there is no spring (and therefore a reduction in moving mass during firing) there is less although some say slightly sharper recoil. There is also an elimination of the associated problems of long-term spring fatigue and a faster "lock time" (the time between pulling the trigger and the pellet being discharged). The improvement in lock time makes for better accuracy since there is less time for the gun to move off target. Finally, gas springs are practically maintenance free and last longer than conventional metal springs. They can be tweaked or tuned, to up their power if you know whats what.Older or conventional spring powered air weapons have a practical upper limit of 1250 ft/s (380 m/s) for .177 cal (4.5 mm) pellets. Higher velocities cause unstable pellet flight and loss of accuracy. This is due to the shock wave generated as the super sonic pellet contacts the air. Shortly after leaving the barrel, the pellet falls below the speed of sound and the shock wave overtakes the pellet, causing it to tumble. And as for his disregard for gun safety any post with the words carefree and weapons in it makes me worry sorry.

 

[Retlaw]

They can be tweaked or tuned, to up their power if you know whats what.Older or conventional spring powered air weapons have a practical upper limit of 1250 ft/s (380 m/s) for .177 cal (4.5 mm) pellets. Higher velocities cause unstable pellet flight and loss of accuracy. This is due to the shock wave generated as the super sonic pellet contacts the air. Shortly after leaving the barrel, the pellet falls below the speed of sound and the shock wave overtakes the pellet, causing it to tumble. And as for his disregard for gun safety any post with the words carefree and weapons in it makes me worry sorry.

.177 pellets could not be driven down a barrel at those speeds, the contact between the pellet, and the rifling lands is so small an area, that the pellet would strip the rifling, you would need a completely different pellet profile, and rifleing twist in an air rifle to attains those speeds, and maintain any reasonable accuracy.
Properly profiled bullets with a ballistic co-efficiency below .4, can be driven a speeds in excess of 3000 ft per sec, in a 1/10 twist, and still be acurate at well over 1200 yards, even after they've gone sub sonic
Retlaw

 

[kestrelx]

So let me get this right.... You miss being able to carry a Air Weapon in public, loaded or otherwise. You would like to be able to grow your own cannabis and the goverment is out to get us, anyone who challenges you is part of the 'accyweb maffya'.

If you ask me, or any right thinking person, it looks like successive Goverments have made the right decisions.
If you wish to carry a gun in public, why don't you move to the USA on of he southern states would be best.

It wasn't me who first said "Accyweb Mafia" it was a poster called Tommiasfc and then Mr D who pointed out that Garinda and some others were slagging him off without knowing who he was - this was on the "illegal drugs" thread!

Back in 75 when I had a .22 I never even thought about the law and the law never even paid us any attention, even though I used to use it in public places with other members of the public around! I am not making any big statement about the law being wrong these days! What I am saying is that back then the law didn't give a damn about air guns (unless of course someone went into Woolworths with one) but generally it wasn't against the law to use one in your back yard! Going out with an airgun was a pass time on parr with having a kick around with a football!