Quote Originally Posted by tacfoley View Post
Let's just clear up a couple of things here that seem, for some reason, to be puzzling people.

Yes, providing you are over 18yo you CAN buy a Martini-Henry RIFLE or SMOOTHBORE in .577/.450 calibre - it IS an obsolete calibre.

No, you may NOT shoot either form of the gun without it being on a Firearms Certificate if it is a rifle [Section 1] or a Shotgun certificate if it is a smoothbore.

No, you may NOT manufacture ammunition for the rifle without having an entry for it on your FAC - you will be committing the offence of being in illegal possession of Section 1 ammunition for which you do not hold an FAC.

Yes, you MAY load shotgun load cartridges for your smoothbore M-H, but again, you may be asked to provide evidence on legal ownership since you will be using LARGE RIFLE type primers [CCI200 or similar] and NOT shotgun primers [209 sized].

AAMOI, I've never seen a shotgun version of such a firearm, but then, I've never seen a crested bandicoot either. There's time.

In summary then, to make things crystal clear -

You can legally OWN ANY obsolete calibre firearm, rifled or smoothbore, especially if it falls within the the foggy remit of antique.

IF, however, you either make ammunition for it with the intention of shooting it and the RIFLED gun is NOT on an FAC, you are breaking the law. The penalties are heavy in time and money.

IF you have a smoothbore version then it needs to be covered by your SGC. Again, making ammunition MIGHT be problematical, since you will be using every component that is also needed for a rifle cartridge - that one you'd have to figure out with your FEO.

tac
We seem to be at cross purposes on this matter.

I am fully aware of the legality of having ammunition for a firearm that is owned as an antique or curio.
That is not what I said. I merely pointed out that it is a grey area and even though ammunition is obsolete it can be obtained for some cailbres of firearm. (In this case 577/450).
As it states in the Act-They have to consider whether or not certain firearms are a threat to public safety before listing it as an obsolete cailbre.

Atb.