12ft/lb limit, pellets – possible solution?

[1952paul0]

stop this crap and leave us with what we have, and stop giving any thought to the legislators on what we may or may not accept. fight for what we have and try to expand our rights not diminish them

[Rapidnick]

All of what you say is very reasonable but you say "The operative words are 'capable of' which means they have the right to test with ANY and ALL pellets on the market." but this is not the entire story either because with that sort of woolly wording they can change temperature, lubrication, fiddle with power settings on pcps, pump up gas rams, even possible change springs. I am sure you are right when you say you have been shootind a long time under these rules and had no problems BUT "the times they are a-changing". We are likely to come under even more pressure. Pressure groups can force the police to make more checks of airguns, perhaps at club events. If you think that can't happen look at the stupid, stupid knife amnesty which took 100,000 letter openers "off the streets'

Thanks for your response Richard. I must say that if the Police pumped up a gas ram, changed a spring or changed settings on a pcp they would be guilty of tampering with the evidence which is VERY serious indeed.
If you think that the overstretched Police have the spare manpower to attend club shoots to check power levels then we will have to disagree with each other!
On the subject of the knife amnesty, I couldn't agree with you more. An exercise in futility if ever there was one.

[Haje]

The reason for the original post was to discuss the possibility of having a recommended lower limit for target shooters so everyone can remain competitive without the need to run rifles so dangerously close to the legal limit. I was not suggesting that it should be made law or that it should be taken as an excuse by either Government or the Antis to further restrict power levels……. Rather I see it as a way of increasing the safety margins and also help prevent people from running into difficulties with the Law.

As regards hunting, then yes I take on board what you say about a recommendation of 11ft/lbs, but would also add that I know people like my Dad who has been shooting rabbits since the 1940’s taking thousands of rabbits with “clean kills” using a whole range of air rifles (many springers) with unknown power levels. People didn’t have portable Chronos back then. And PCP’s (as we know them today) where not readily available until the 1980’s or there abouts. The main reason why people began to put their gun through a Chrono was to keep the rifle within the legal limit and has little to do with its hunting ability. My Dad always used to test fire an air-rifle into a block of wood and then make an educated guess at the power level it would be making. He has a wealth of knowledge of airguns and could normally repair, alter or adjust the power to a suitable setting…. These days of course he has a Chrono which makes the job easier.

Someone has already mentioned something to the effect that Air rifles are already low powered and that there are far more lethal weapons and tools out there than an airgun. Well I’m sorry, but is that not the intended purpose of the 12ft/lbs law? The law is there to allow the general public the opportunity to shoot low powered, basically non-lethal air rifles for sport or enjoyment. The SGC & FAC system is in place so that people can be vetted and only safe and responsible people are allowed access to firearms. I know the system is far from perfect, but no one can argue that keeping high-powered rifles or shotguns out of the hands of those deemed unsuitable isn’t a good idea.

Air rifle shooting is an enjoyable sport, open to all and is for some people a stepping stone to Rim-fire or Centre-fire rifles. I don’t want to see further restrictions, I’m just saying that some people don’t do themselves any favours by running air-rifles on the limit.



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[Forth]

the intended purpose of the 12ft/lbs law? The law is there to allow the general public the opportunity to shoot low powered, basically non-lethal air rifles for sport or enjoyment.

No it isn't - having been introduced long ago for shoddy commercial reasons (an earlier incarnation of rip-off Britain?) afaics it's there to interfere with the opportunity, not to allow it.
To refer to it as "the law is there to allow" carries an implicit acceptance of a default position of NOTHING being allowed unless the political lords-n-masters deign to give their consent.
In a wider (encompassing everything) context, that's an important difference when it comes present day calls for legislative lists of so-called "rights".... and all the more so because of assumptions upon which the EU's imposed laws and Constitution will be based, and which may or may not be consistent with the reasoning and presumptions underlying the British laws they replace.
The 12ft/lbs law does not "allow", it bans and limits. Whether that happens to be a good or a bad thing is immaterial.

[Haje]

Yes I do know that was the original intention for the introduction of the 12ft/lbs ruling, but you can bet that the Government would have introduced a law by now if there hadn’t already been one. Given the power levels of some PCP’s and guns like the Stealth or Career they would have had to do something….. Hell we can’t have riffraff wandering around with powerful air-rifles causing mayhem can we now?







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[Powderfinger]

Yes I do know that was the original intention for the introduction of the 12ft/lbs ruling, but you can bet that the Government would have introduced a law by now if there hadn’t already been one. Given the power levels of some PCP’s and guns like the Stealth or Career they would have had to do something….. Hell we can’t have riffraff wandering around with powerful air-rifles causing mayhem can we now?
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I agree with the above statement to an extent. I don't want to see my local hoolies being able to buy a 30FPE Webley Patriot from the local toyshop. But I think it is wrong to treat airguns over 12FPE as firearms. I wouldl favour a simple permit system for over 12FPE airguns (akin to the SGC) and owning an unlicensed airgun that goes over the limit should be treated with a small fine and a caution rather than the threat of prison. I also agree on a standard weight/design pellet as the testing benchmark.