BP-Legislation in the UK

[Smokeless Coal]

Had a PM from Jochen asking about our regulations in the UK. The BBS is international so I thought I should put an answer in this section.

Hi,

I wonder whether muzzle-loaders are free in the UK or not.

In over here ( Germany ) they are free ( single-loaders ) but to buy BP you need a license.
Of course you may only shoot them on special firing-ranges ( mostly indoor 50 & 100 meters )

I really would like to try distances of 300 meter or more outdoor.

Any chances in the UK?

Cheers Jochen

[Smokeless Coal]

Jochen,
first off no they are not free in the UK. We have to have a "firearms certificate" to possess them. Unless they are antiques and not to be fired. A firearm certificate limits the number of guns to just those that we can prove that we fire on a regular basis.

We have to have "good reason" before we are allowed to have them. Good reason can be target shooting or historical interest. We can have BP shotguns on a "shotgun certificate" a shotgun certificate does not limit the number of guns.

We can have BP single shot pistols, BP multi shot revolvers and rifles on our certificates.

Our ranges have to have insurance. We can shoot our rifles at very long distances if the range has suitable insurance. Some even shoot out to 1500m.

[Jochen L.]

Hi,

thanks for the answer.

Firing-ranges over here are of course insured too, but due to the law it must be impossible ( even by accident ) that a projectile fired from those guns that are allowed to shoot on that firing-range can leave it. This of course cuts the possibilities.

Personal I'm interested in the end of the trajectory for you need to think, do some math and need practice & experience to hit the aim.
Muzzle-Loaders open a very wide field for such fun for the guns are highly accurate and you can experiment with different loads & kinds of BP and different types of projectiles.
Also it's not very expensive compared to other shooting-sports ( at least over here )

I'm not sure, but I guess it should be possible to register a muzzle-loader on the EFP.

Cheers Jochen

[Smokeless Coal]

Our ranges were issued a certificate by the Ministry of Defence until this year. It has now changed to having insurance cover suitable.

Yes the EFP will cover muzzle loaders.

A lot of shooters here use percussion revolvers because cartridge pistols are banned (at the moment).

I shoot revolver on a 25m range and others in my club shoot m/l rifles on a military range out to 300m.

The experimenting is the fun part of shooting them along with having a laugh at the serious shooters on the range when the clouds of smoke drift over them.