TargetTalk

Coming to the end of the year, I am reviewing my goals and planning new ones for the new year. One of the thoughts on my mind is Free Pistol. Being British I would like to enter British competitions, but British law has all but banned pistols. Just about the only thing allowed is the “long arm” version of the free pistol ( there is a nice picture of Mick Gault with his on the wiki http://www.metaforix.net/shooting/index ... ini_CM_84E ) which qualifies legally as a rifle !

Living in Holland I can just about have anything I want, so why bother with the long arm right?

Well if I want to shoot in the UK I will not be able to enter the country with a normal FP
Secondly if I have to use a long arm in the UK I better practice in Holland with it?
The must be a big balance difference ?
Is the long arm legal ISSF Rules outside the UK. ie could i use it in Holland fo competition ?
Is the long arm a disadvantage, ie would you uk shooters lose it if you could?

Unfortunately no one at the club has an PF :( although we have a50 range and i have permission to use it for FP.

All comments welcome

JulianY

JulianY wrote:Is the long arm legal ISSF Rules outside the UK. ie could i use it in Holland fo competition ?

The Longarm is perfectly legal under ISSF rules.

You would probably have trouble bringing one into the UK as it would be listed on your Dutch firearm authorisation as a pistol. That would make it ilegal in the UK.

David Levene wrote: You would probably have trouble bringing one into the UK as it would be listed on your Dutch firearm authorization as a pistol. That would make it illegal in the UK.

Yes that could be fun! but to bring it in to the UK i would need a visitors FAC an that "should" describe it as a rifle ?

I would also probably have to buy it in the Uk and that might help.

I can see that I am going to have to make some friends in the Fire Arms division (I have a have a couple as it is ), they are quite good

What about the balance on these things?

Julian

I've never shot a non long arm free pistol but balance doesn't seem too bad. I think the general concensus is that people would rather not have the arms if they could. Someone like Mick himself might be better placed to comment on balance etc or PaulT if he's reading this ?

FYI My free pistol is designated on my FAC as a long barrelled pistol.

You'd probably have a lot of trouble buying one in Holland anyway as they are probably only sold in the UK. That said there are almost certainly some friendly dealers around who could help you out.

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote: You'd probably have a lot of trouble buying one in Holland anyway as they are probably only sold in the UK. That said there are almost certainly some friendly dealers around who could help you out.

Rob.

Surrey Guns do firearms export, they also carry morini so probably they can help

J

The UK 50m pistols are the standard 50m pistols albeit with rods and about 5mm extra on the Morini barrel. In the case of the Morini, this is academic as you can move the barrel shroud that accommodates the foresight anyway. If you use a compensator (see other posts) then this must be at the end most position for efficacy but you can still shunt the foresight blade backwards. The standard grips are interchangeable and the mass of metal to bolt the rods that are very light weight onto the pistol adds to the overall weight. Yes, I would obviously prefer to shoot 50m pistol without rods but once you are used to the slight increase in pistol weight, this is not significant.

Shooting kit is generally more expensive in the UK and the “longarm” has a premium through short production runs and R&D costs for set-up etc…. So before paying a noteworthy premium, best make sure you know the exact travel to UK status of the pistol. The models available are Morini, Pardini and SAM. Some second hand units are cropping up occasionally, you could post a wanted on forum.stirton.com (you need to apply for logon if you don’t have one – forward Neil, the forum host, a link to this thread).

Paul,
Julian has registered on stirton, he's just awaiting approval. He should also be back in the UK by now, fog permitting. Failing that, he's stuck in Amsterdam airport.

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote:Paul,
Julian has registered on stirton, he's just awaiting approval. He should also be back in the UK by now, fog permitting. Failing that, he's stuck in Amsterdam airport.

Rob.

Yes i was in the UK for Christmas, fog proved not to be a problem thankfully.

Thanks for your response PaulT