My .416 Rigby application has been approved!

[njc110381]

I lived in England for a couple years - 87-89. I remember that it was not easy to own firearms back then. There was a little antique book store I used to stop in looking for Africana whenever we drove through the little village of Hungerford.... I can only imagine the restrictions to own firearms today, 30 years later. Enjoy your new toy while you can, I say. And good on you!

Ah, Hungerford... One of the most well known UK firearm incidents in recent history happened there. I believe the result of that was semi auto and pump shotguns being restricted to 3 shot unless on a more restrictive firearm certificate and centrefire semi auto rifles being banned completely. It's not too far from me actually, quite a pleasant part of the world.

We seem to thrive on knee jerk bans here in the UK. Handguns were also banned in 1997 when a chap decided to shoot a load of kids. Not that the ban made much difference to the crime figures. There are still kids shooting and stabbing each other in our big cities. All these bans do is brush over a social issue that nobody seems to be willing to face up to. There are 1001 ways to kill someone if you want to, so taking one of the tools away will never help. The sooner we face that fact the sooner the issue can be addressed. Kids shouldn't want to hurt each other, that's the sad fact of it all. Currently we're blaming knives, but it's kind of hard to remove kitchen knives from general use isn't it...

 

[Arctic97]

Ah, Hungerford... One of the most well known UK firearm incidents in recent history happened there. I believe the result of that was semi auto and pump shotguns being restricted to 3 shot unless on a more restrictive firearm certificate and centrefire semi auto rifles being banned completely. It's not too far from me actually, quite a pleasant part of the world.

We seem to thrive on knee jerk bans here in the UK. Handguns were also banned in 1997 when a chap decided to shoot a load of kids. Not that the ban made much difference to the crime figures. There are still kids shooting and stabbing each other in our big cities. All these bans do is brush over a social issue that nobody seems to be willing to face up to. There are 1001 ways to kill someone if you want to, so taking one of the tools away will never help. The sooner we face that fact the sooner the issue can be addressed. Kids shouldn't want to hurt each other, that's the sad fact of it all. Currently we're blaming knives, but it's kind of hard to remove kitchen knives from general use isn't it...

Yes, Hungerford was one of the keys of the big bad push to more restriction for you guys. Do not, however, feel you are alone when it comes to knee jerk reactions to similar situations. In that respect we are still very much in step with you, our British cousins....

 

[One Day...]

 

[One Day...]

Currently we're blaming knives, but it's kind of hard to remove kitchen knives from general use isn't it...

Oh no it is not! It has already been done on every flight in the US. You now cut your (whatever pretends to pass for a piece of beef) with a plastic "knife." I am sure you have that too on the other side of the big pond...

OK, I cannot resist: way back when during some special training for some special situations there were fascinating discussions about how lethal a pencil can be. No, I do not refer to the easy political assassination through libel and slander, I refer to how easy it is to drive a sharp garden variety HB pencil straight through someone's vital parts. If you do not believe me, try it on the next carcass of deer or elk you shoot, you will be amazed at the lethality of this tool of learning... Your honor, moving to ban all pencils from all schools!

 

[One Day...]

Any tips for shooting it for the first time? I've never shot a calibre this large before so I'm expecting it to rattle my teeth a bit! It's a CZ550 Aramid Composite, nice and robust with a bit of weight to it and a good size butt pad!

Shoot a box of 12 gauge waterfowl max loads at a target. The .416 R will feel like a pussy cat after that

 

[Rule 303]

Oh no it is not! It has already been done on every flight in the US. You now cut your (whatever pretends to pass for a piece of beef) with a plastic "knife." I am sure you have that too on the other side of the big pond...

OK, I cannot resist: way back when during some special training for some special situations there were fascinating discussions about how lethal a pencil can be. No, I do not refer to the easy political assassination through libel and slander, I refer to how easy it is to drive a sharp garden variety HB pencil straight through someone's vital parts. If you do not believe me, try it on the next carcass of deer or elk you shoot, you will be amazed at the lethality of this tool of learning... Your honor, moving to ban all pencils from all schools!

One day some airlines have given up on that and gone back to blunt steel knives, a far safer option. Back in the early 90's a Malaysian Airliner was high jacked by men using the plastic cutlery from on board. Broke off into a sharp point and this was held to the pilots throat. Just goes to show how ignorant, those that make the rules and regs, really are.

 

[njc110381]

Shoot a box of 12 gauge waterfowl max loads at a target. The .416 R will feel like a pussy cat after that

Well it's range day on Sunday. The plan is to start with start loads and see how that goes. Then I'll load a couple of each charge building up and shoot those to see how far I or the gun can go before pressure signs. I'll leave the ladder test until I can shoot the thing properly, I don't think it will go well on the first day.