Antiques on/off ticket.

[markH]

I had my visit from the FEO(s) yesterday and they seemed skeptical of my assertions that it was OK to transfer an antique onto FAC for the purpose of shooting it and then take it off again to restore its' antique status.

I have 3 antique rifles which I would be interested in firing, simply to say I had shot them. I hoped to put one at a time on ticket, shoot it then swap for another.

It's no big deal I just think it would be nice to shoot eaach of them just once.

I'm not cracking up am I????? I understood the above to be correct.

Can anyone provide a source of evidence that I can quote?

[Unframed Dave]

I was under the impression, that once they become firearms, they cannot go back, thus lowering their availability to many and hence, value.

Happy to be corrected.

Dave

[Unframed Dave]

Sorry, my mistake, I thought you were referring to air rifles.

Dave

[markH]

I think that was more to do with conversions. They used to get up to all sorts of tricks to convert section 1 to shotgun cert, i.e. extending and smoothboring barrels.... you used to be able to get a bren gun on section 2 but I think that has gone by the board now.

These days if it started life as section 1 it remains there from here to eternity.

I would assume the many lee enfields that were converted had to have their magazines restricted and welded in place when the 3 shot rule came in.

[mag44uk]

I put a martini henry on fac then took it off at next renewal. Sold it with no problem.

[enfield2band]

You can transfer an antique muzzleloader onto your gun license. If it is smoothbore it goes on the SGC, if it is rifled it goes on the FAC.
Put it on the respective certificate and inform the police. Send them a copy of the details the gun (they may want to know its provenance), and send them a photostat copy of your license where it has been put on.
Put "from my collection" where it would normally be filled in by a dealer if you bought a certificated gun.

When (if) you decide not to use it anymore it can revert back to Section 52 as antique/curio.
Do the same and inform the police of what you have done and show it cancelled on the certificate.

Some police forces will tell you that once a gun (antique) is put on a license it cannot revert back to antique status. This is not true.
It does not state this anywhere in he firearms act.

[Otley]

If you put an obsolete calibre antique on to your FAC, does it need to be in a locked cabinet?

[tony1]

I brought a M43 1871 mauser some years ago put it on my firearm cert shot it for few a
years then took it off and sold it (much to my later regret ?) with no problem.

[TA6319]

I was led to believe that you could not now write on your own licence regarding antiques going on or off.
Best to ask your own licencing department, as there is some variation between forces

[enfield2band]

If you put an obsolete calibre antique on to your FAC, does it need to be in a locked cabinet?

Yes. It comes under the same rules as all firearms.

[enfield2band]

I was led to believe that you could not now write on your own licence regarding antiques going on or off.
Best to ask your own licencing department, as there is some variation between forces

Who would do it if you don't?

I have put two on my FAC without any problem.
I shoot blackpowder with a number of other people and we all do it.
It is important to stay withing he confines of the law.
So long as you follow the correct procedure and inform the police, when you put one on or take one off, there is not a problem.

[keith66]

It will be interesting to see what happens when the inevitable new laws following the keynam enquiry come about.
I have two antique muzzleloading rifles that i would love to bring back into use one day but much depends on the next year or so!
I have put antique shotguns on & off ticket before & it wasnt an issue at all. This was with Essex police, Other forces may take a harder line!

[markH]

I actually got in touch with BASC by e-mail and despite not being a member they replied within a couple of hours quoting from the government website. Basically said that antiques can be put on ticket, and taken off simply by submitting a written statement to the police that you are no longer shooting it.

Devon and Cornwall have accepted this and my ticket is supposedly on the way.

[silva]

With antique rifles, as opposed to shotguns, do you still have to apply for a variation for the said antique caliber in the normal way, before putting it on your ticket, or is it different with muzzleloaders and obsolete calibers ?

[angrybear]

This may help, copy/paste from the "Home Office guide to Firearms law" Nov 2022 edition;

Occasional firing

8.14 An antique firearm can only be held as a curiosity or ornament and cannot be fired.
However, they can be added to a firearm or shot gun certificate for the purposes of
collection and occasional firing. Where the ‘good reason’ for possession is
collection and not target shooting, section 44 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act
1997 requiring membership of a club to be named on the certificate is not
applicable. Where a person has an antique firearm which they wish to fire for test,
research, re-enactment, target shooting or competition purposes, no test of
frequency of use should be applied when assessing good reason to possess: the
primary reason for possession will be collection.

8.15 An antique firearm may be brought on to a certificate or removed from time to time
or when there is a change of ownership. A signed statement of intent by the owner
to the local police firearms licensing department should be sufficient to effect the
necessary change of status when required. A variation fee would become payable
where an ‘antique’ is brought onto certificate to allow it to be fired, unless a ‘one for
one’ variation is sought. In the latter case, it should be borne in mind that mostly
only mass-produced muzzle-loading arms had standardised bore sizes. Therefore,
a variation for a craft-made muzzle-loader may require finding a suitable example
before the calibre can be ascertained. As this may take some time, some latitude
may be given over the time taken for such ‘one for one’ variations.


Ammunition

8.12 Ammunition does not benefit from the exemption for antique firearms, and the
possession of live ammunition suitable for use with an otherwise antique firearm
may indicate that the firearm is not possessed as a curiosity or ornament.