Any FAC holders on here?

[Paulington]

Hey guys.

Was wondering and thought I'd ask, do we have any FAC/SC (Firearms Certificate/Shotgun Certificate) holders on here?

For years, since I was 11 in fact, I've been shooting on my Uncle's co-terminous certificate but I've decided I want to get my own now. got the enquiry officer coming next Wednesday to inspect the safes and security measures and then off to do my DSC1 later this month! !

Quite surprised actually, if anyone on here does have one they'll probably know that Avon & Somerset are strict as heck compared to others and they've allowed me a .308 and .243 on my first co-terminous ticket.

I joined a rifle/pistol club the other day, got 15 visits before I am a full member then I am going to get a couple .22 LRs put on, spotted a .357 Taurus long-barrel revolver I fancy too.

So anyway, anyone on here own one OR does anyone on here want to own one? If you do, what have you got on your ticket and how often do you shoot/which clubs? Smallbore or fullbore?

It's well worth getting into, it's a great hobby shooting. .
____________________
"Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul."
Current Vehicles: '89 Kawasaki KDX200, '99 Yamaha XV535, '00 Honda ST1100 Pan-European, '08 Suzuki GSX-R1000, '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GS4 2.0 TDCi, '15 BMW 1 Series 116d Sport Turbo.
CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[Jayy]

I don't have one personally but I've always wanted to fire a real gun for some reason.

When I used to run a tracking company, our engineer who did most of the installs for us was into his weapons. Had all kinds of guns at his house, including an AK47 which had been converted to semi automatic (I believe fully auto weapons are illegal). Was pretty cool just holding some of them, would love to fire one.

There's also a large gun dealer about 500ft from my house.

What exactly does it involve to get a license that allows you to own/fire them?

[Paulington]

Hey ZX.

Well, I don't know about where you live. but every gun club near me has a "Guest day", usually on a Sunday some time in the month where anyone from Joe Public can come down, pay a fiver and have a go on a .22 LR rifle for about 10 minutes under the supervision of a Range Officer. So if you want to try it out and see if it's for you, this is a good way.

You are correct, essentially. Fully automatic firearms are called "Section 5 Firearms" and basically anything under Section 5 (think short-barrel handguns, RPGs and fully automatic weapons) is illegal to own, regardless of whether or not you have an FAC. HOWEVER, you can apply to the Home Secretary for permission to own a S5 firearm, you just need an absolutely exceptional reason. But yes, essentially, fully auto firearms are illegal, as are any semi-auto firearm above .22 calibre.

It depends what type of licence you want.

A shotgun certificate is relatively easy to get, you print off the forms from your local constabulary's website, fill them out, get a few passport photos plus a cheque for the fee (around £70 I think). Once you have done that you need to purchase a gun safe which is a safe, specified to BS7558, which is suitable to store firearms in. This has to be installed in your house, bolted to a wall/floor in a place that is hidden such that a casual visitor to your house would not see it.

After that, you will have an Enquiry Officer come out and visit you. During the visit he will interview you, ask you why you want the shotgun certificate, ask to see the safe and how it is secured. If he is all happy he'll sign off on it and within a few weeks you'll have your ticket! This will allow you to own any number of shotguns of any bore.

However, if you wish to own a Firearms Certificate, it's a fair bit harder.

Same as above, fill out all the forms and send them off with photos and a cheque for the fee. However, instead of just saying 'shotguns', you need to specify:

What firearms you wish to purchase (Rifle? Bolt action? Semi-auto? Pistol?).
What calibre you wish to own them in.
What calibre ammunition you will be purchasing.
How much of each ammunition you will purchase per transaction
The maximum amount of ammunition you will be holding at any one time for each calibre.
Finally, and most importantly, you must specify A VERY GOOD REASON for owning the above firearms.

Just FYI, "self defence" is not a reason. The only reasons they will really accept are, for example, "vermin control", "deer stalking", "target shooting" and they will only accept target shooting if you are a full member of a proper club. For any animal management reasons you will need permission to shoot over land.

Once you have done all that, you will need to purchase a minimum of two safes, one to store the guns, one to store the ammo. They must be securely affixed to the walls/floors of the house, preferably in separate rooms. These must only be accessible by yourself. I have an extra safe which is a code lock system in which I lock the keys to the gun/ammo safes.

If they accept your reason and you have permission to shoot over land/are a full member of a club (takes a minimum of 15 visits, one per week, roughly six months for most people), they will send out an enquiry officer whilst they check your background. After this it's the same as a shotgun certificate.

Basically, it is very hard to get an FAC in this country, SCs aren't too bad but FACs are the hardest.

The best way I can recommend you do it is to find a few local clubs, visit them on the Guest Days, find which one you prefer and join them. A year's membership is usually around £70-£80 and that will cover all the hire costs for using the club's guns (besides ammunition, you will have to buy that from them, but it's pretty cheap for .22 rounds). Once you have done your six months probation you can then get your club secretary to sign the form stating you are a full member of that club and you can then get your own FAC/SC. !

It is intentionally hard to get one, but if you want to get into it, find a club and join it so you can get on your way.

Cheers! !
____________________
"Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul."
Current Vehicles: '89 Kawasaki KDX200, '99 Yamaha XV535, '00 Honda ST1100 Pan-European, '08 Suzuki GSX-R1000, '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GS4 2.0 TDCi, '15 BMW 1 Series 116d Sport Turbo.
CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[imanupstart]

I intend to go FAC air once I move out & get a safe sorted. Just know from there will be a .22 rimfire/.17hmr Local gun shop has an accuracy international .50bmg, might be a bit hard getting that on my first application

[Paulington]

FAC Air? Seems a bit pointless getting a full FAC and only putting >12fb/lbs air rifles on it. !

Yeah, I know someone with a Steyr HS50 .50 BMG, paid about £4k for it I think. They are perfectly legal to own here. He has it because he is a member of a club that does full bore target shooting at 200, 500 and 1000+ yards. Makes some bang. !
____________________
"Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul."
Current Vehicles: '89 Kawasaki KDX200, '99 Yamaha XV535, '00 Honda ST1100 Pan-European, '08 Suzuki GSX-R1000, '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GS4 2.0 TDCi, '15 BMW 1 Series 116d Sport Turbo.
CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[Jayy]

Seems like a lot of red tape to get past before you can own a few guns and cost a few quid as well.

Watching FPSrussia's channel on YouTube doesn't help either, looks like immense fun firing some of the weapons he does.

[Paulington]

It is a lot of red tape, but unfortunately it's really the only way to go about it nowadays.

It is so strict too, for example, on my FAC I have the .308 declared for deer stalking/animal control which means I will be using it to stalk and control the population of deer over the land I have given. However, if I took that rifle to the club I am a member of and used it for target shooting, I would be breaking the law and liable to prosecution as I am not using it for it's intended (read: stated on my FAC) purpose.

My advice to you is, if you want to do it, do it as soon as possible. Get down to a club, ask about joining and do your probation. You will have a lot of fun and be on your way to your FAC. The reason for this is because with every shooting, especially those who own an FAC/SC and go on a shooting spree, it will become harder and harder to get an FAC/SC and it will just get more and more restrictive. However, if you already own one and remember to renew it every five year's, you'll be fine.

Go for it. .
____________________
"Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul."
Current Vehicles: '89 Kawasaki KDX200, '99 Yamaha XV535, '00 Honda ST1100 Pan-European, '08 Suzuki GSX-R1000, '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GS4 2.0 TDCi, '15 BMW 1 Series 116d Sport Turbo.
CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[swampy]

Don't need one, my cocks big enough and my mother didn't hate me
____________________
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." Hunter S Thompson
"Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death..." Hunter S Thompson

[mjn51]

The best place for an answer to this question is :-
https://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk

it's a bit like BCF

M.

[temeluchus]

[WildGoose]

Seems such a lot of hassle for such a limited range of uses. I have an interest in firearms as a result of an interest in the military in general, but in the UK, what is the point.

Target shooting on a range gets very boring very quickly, and to go hunting animals, you need to have a reason and a place to do it.

So unless you are a gamekeeper, or friendly with a farmer who wants certain things controlled on his land. Then you are forever worrying about being too close to a road, upsetting some ramblers or making sure you have sufficient backstop so you don't end up plugging someone in the next field.

It isn't exactly Deer Hunter scenery on your average UK farmland.

Better surely to just nip to the states or whatever, fire whatever you want, and get it out of your system over a short holiday.

Or if you can live without the loud bang, an air rifle fulfills much of the same requirements if you just want to "shoot stuff".
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[Sako]

had FAC for some time now, have been a part of a deer management project up in the cairngorm area for a while, and also routinely shoot foxes on farms.
currently i have a Sako Quad synthetic .17hmr (small vermin use)
Tikka T3 in 30.06 calibre and a remington 700 SPS in .243 calibre.

the Tikka is my red deer rifle and was also used in africa in 2009, where-as the 243 is a do it all rifle for fox and roe.

congrats on the 243 and 308.

what glass you going for on the top though?, thats the big deal!

[keggyhander]

I used to do Field Target Air Rifle. That was a challenging sport. I only got into it because getting a proper "sniper rifle" would be difficult with nowhere to use it.

Here's my FT rig:

https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y46/keggyhander/ripleysml.jpg

It's a Ripley AR5s, with Leupold vari-x iii 20-50 scope and bespoke fitted Paul Wilson stock (with my unique pistol grip angle). About 2 grands worth.

That said, a couple of years ago I visited a gun shop and indoor range in Las Vegas and shot the following:

AR-15 / M-16
Heckler & Koch MP5
Benelli Combat Shotgun
Silenced Sig-Sauer 9mm

The first three were full auto. It was different from the air rifle, I must say. I had a hell of a time.

[Hetzer]

You are assumed, in law, to have a right to a shotgun. The state has to show good reason why you should NOT have one, it is not on you to show why you SHOULD have one.

Anything other than a shotgun you have to grovel like a child and jump through hoops.

If you understand that the state has zero right to dictate to you what firearms you can and cannot have you get one regardless and bury it on the downs. Fuck the establishment, who gave it the right of god anyway? I will decide for myself and the criminal scum 'running' this police-state toilet of a country can go fuck themselves.


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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[Paulington]

[Sako]

[Simple]

I have a SGC and shoot .410 only on own land and various clay grounds as well as beaters days.

Considering applying for my FAC purely to buy the Marlin underlever 410 i've seen at Rugby Gun Shop today!

My father and uncle both hold reasonably open FAC certs due to being farmers and having our own land it'd be fairly easy for me to get mine.
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Insta - FemFeral

[Simple]

[Paulington]

Didn't think about replying to Hetzer, but yes, a 'shotgun' is legally defined as:

A smooth-bore gun, not an air gun, which:

a) has a barrel not less than 24 inches in length and does not have a barrel with a bore exceeding two inches

b) Either has no magazine or has a non-detachable magazine incapable of holding more than two cartridges and;

c) is not a revolver gun.

Other smooth-bore guns may require an FAC.

For example, one of my buddies has a shotgun which is semi-auto. It works by you pushing cartridges into an internal magazine which are then ejected which each pull of the trigger after the action is cocked.

It can hold one catridge in the breech and two in the internal magazine, that means it is legally defined as a shotgun.

However, I have shot a shotgun of the same semi-auto mechanism which can chamber one in the breech and four in the internal magazine. This would be legally defined as a firearm.

Absolutely Simple, my brother owns a farm so I could have just got permission from him if I wanted to but I decided to go the way I did as it'd mean the land would have to be inspected and it was just a pain. I know one person who used to be a beater and eventually got his FAC by knocking on the doors of farmers around his area and saying:

"Hey mate, I am applying for my FAC and need permission to shoot over land, need your vermin controlled?"

after he got permission he'd go over once a week for about six hours and control the vermin, so this is a viable way if you don't mind giving up some time and the owner doesn't mind the land being inspected by the Police.

That Marlin .410 you are talking about is a wonderful gun, I would love to own one. If you do get your hands on it before I do () I'd love to try a few rounds.

Cheers!
____________________
"Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul."
Current Vehicles: '89 Kawasaki KDX200, '99 Yamaha XV535, '00 Honda ST1100 Pan-European, '08 Suzuki GSX-R1000, '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GS4 2.0 TDCi, '15 BMW 1 Series 116d Sport Turbo.
CBT: 27/08/08. Theory: 04/09/09. Module 1: 16/09/09. Module 2: 01/10/09.

[Simple]

I bet you would but as a lady shot I don't let my toys out to just anyone

Might just stick with the little O/U for now, i'm a little menace with it anway
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Insta - FemFeral