Requirements for shotgun liscencse

From Essex, 32 posts

I have a freind who owns a shotgun and i know that you have to have a gun cabinet mounted to the wall securely. I also know that the police will come around and check everything about your house including your gun cabinet and where you store your ammunition.

There maybe more try phoning the Home Office.



Nick

From Suffolk, 43 posts

here we go -

contact your local police

firearms licencing dept

they will embellish you with all details great and small (theres too much to list !

speak and you will find them more than helpfull -

they dont bite! unless you want them to ) for example

you will need locks on your windows, dependant on location an alarm, security lighting - yes the gun cabinet would need to be secured to a wall / floor - or you could save yourself loads of trouble and join a gun club and store it there!



regards

Dez

From Ipswich, 3298 posts

Contact the local police station or go on the met site and look at the shotgun sign up sheets and print one off.



good places to put your cabinet are:



Under the stiars (thats where mine is), In a wardrobe but make sure you can still attach it to a wall, in an out of the way corner.



Make sure that the cabinet isn't visable through any windows!.

You can keep the ammunition of the shotgun either in the cabinet with the gun or ontop. We keep it in the cabinet and in our filing cabinet aswell.

Your local specialist in your area will tell you all you need to know. And hell awnser any questions that you have when they come to visit you to find out if your a nuter or not.



Hope that helps.



Deadeyedick:

From Ipswich, 3298 posts

Yes its compulsery to have a cabinet. Any well built burglar could know your mums door clean of its hindges. plus I'm not sure your mom would like having a fire arm next to her bed lol.



Choke is the size that the barrel is at the end of the barrel (if that makes sense) It compresses all the pellets into a smaller or larger group which then slowly gets larger the further away the rounds go.



i.e. True cylender is basically no choke and 1/4 is 1/4 of the size of the barrel at the begining (I think)

I have 1/4 chocke and improved cylender.



Ask the gunshop and tell them what you will be doing. They will reccomend you the chokes and cartrages.



Also don't go over board on the cartrages. I use RC30 12B cartrages and these are great.

From Dorset, 74 posts

When I got my shotgun cert I needed either a) secure premises or b) lockable cabinet. Whether that had changed or differs region to region I dont know. I guess we would all recommend a proper gun safe.



The Baikal is a dreadfully cheap Russian (I believe) gun and you will find others much nicer to shoot and own.



The ideal width of shot at point-of-impact is about 3 feet. That gives the right density of pellets to kill/break the clay. The further away the p-o-i the tighter choke you need right up to full-choke which keeps the pellets really tight as far out as possible. Clearly if you are shooting a close up target with a full choke barrel the pellets will not have spread out so far so it is more like trying to hit the target with a rifle.



A lot of guns come with variable choke, you screw in the one you need for the distance you are shooting.



If you have 1/4 and 1/2 choke and the clay (lets say) is flying away, you shoot first the 1/4 then the 1/2. If the clay is flying towards you, fire the 1/2 first then the 1/4, see - the target is getting closer. The barrel shot first will be selectable via a lever of some sort unless you have double triggers (they are a pain).

Hope this helps.

From UK, 5 posts

I would like to ask a few enquires. I would like to procure a shotgun of my own to do clay pigeon shooting as a hobbie and maybe for competition as well. I also shoot at my local farm under controlled conditions.



However, the questions are, in order to complete a shotgun application form, you require two ''Referees'' to write about you. Those referees must be within a club and give sufficient evidence about you. Well, I am not a club member or know anyone involved, so will I have to join a club in order to process the application? Isn't there another way to do this?



Secondly, we do not have an alarm in our house. Is that a major problem? Although the cabient would be secured in a place where it's not possible to find.



Many thanks

From Ipswich, 3298 posts

With regards to the "referances" You need a professional person to baisically say that your not a nut case.



I don't have an alarm either and that never posed any problems so no alarm is needed, just keep all your weapons locked up unloaded in your cabiet.



I would also recommend "snap caps" for your gun, these are designed to let off the firing pin springs and prolong the life of your firing mechanism. Also clean your gun after every use even if you only fire 1 cartrage and always oil the outside of your gun, I'm sure you alredy know this but so many people don't and it can't hurt.



Deadeyedick:

From UK, 5 posts

By ''professional'' do you mean people like doctors and anybody relevant from public services for example? I mean, on the form, it seems to ask for ''club'' details and how long you've known the particular person.



I'm looking at a Bretta Sliver-pigeon II shotgun. Any feedback and it's worth considering?

From UK, 5 posts

Whoops, I meant Beretta. Excuse my mistake.

From Ipswich, 3298 posts

Yes, a gp or a professional person, they will write down how long they have known you, this is baisically to show that they know that your not a lunitic, With regards to the club part It wasn't on the paperwork of my licence so im afraid I cannot help you there



Deadeyedick: