Applying For My Firearms Licence, What To Get

[Daz Harrison 9]

Ive been using an airrifle on a local farm for a while now, i have asked the owner if its ok for me to start the process of getting my FAC to use on the land, he said .... "yes, aslong as you shoot the bloody foxes" the main pest on the land are fox,pigeon,rabbit.

 

what would you guys recommend ? i was thinking .22 hornet and also a shot gun ?

 

your honest thoughts please

 

Daz

 

PS the land i have is 84 acres

Edited October 26, 2014 by Daz Harrison

[walshie 2,804]

A 22 hornet is a good tool for foxes and rabbit, but ammo is a bit expensive if you're going to use a lot of it for bunnies though. If you can stretch to 2 rifles, a 22rf would be better for rabbits and any of the 22 c/fs for fox.

[shropshire dan 467]

+1 walshie great advice

[charlie caller 3,654]

I would check what the land is passed for if anything, and if it is not passed then you will need to get it passed, so a word with the local firearms dept will let you know if the ground is passed, if not arrange to get it passed before you apply, a hornet is a cracking little fox round, but if I were you I would go .222 then if you happen upon a Muntjac you can put him in the freezer also get a .22 rimfire for the bunnies.

[SportingShooter 0]

+1

 

A .22LR and a .22 Centrefire.

[celticrusader 78]

Better start saving then pal coz there's a lot of money to be spent there.lol

[Daz Harrison 9]

thankyou all for your advice, the pigeon are a real problem aswell so a shot gun will be needed, next year is going to cost me a furtune, better get some OT at work.

[Matthew Phillips 36]

22lr using sub sonics for rabbits

223 for fox and muntjac

semi auto shotgun for pigeons and rough shooting

 

Good luck getting centrefire on first request, my county wouldn't permit me until I've got 'experience'

[nasher1 258]

Same here they would only grant me rim fires .17 and .22 despite having airguns and shotguns from a early age and 30 years of fieldsports, yet was told that I need to do a DSC1 to get a .243. So I suppose any bloke who walks into WHSmith and picks up a shooting magazine and thinks to himself "I'll have a go at that" pays for his DSC1 can have a .243 according to avon and somerset

[celticrusader 78]

From what I can gather if you go on a stalk and can use that guide as a referee like I did you should be OK but yes as nasher1 has said...very stupid but what do a lot of the police really know?

[Daz Harrison 9]

From what I can gather if you go on a stalk and can use that guide as a referee like I did you should be OK but yes as nasher1 has said...very stupid but what do a lot of the police really know?

that is true, how much do the FEO realy know about what caliber for fox and what caliber for rabbit,

[Alsone 789]

 

From what I can gather if you go on a stalk and can use that guide as a referee like I did you should be OK but yes as nasher1 has said...very stupid but what do a lot of the police really know?

that is true, how much do the FEO realy know about what caliber for fox and what caliber for rabbit,

 

 

In many cases nothing beyond the Home Office Guidelines, which are just Guidelines....

 

Unless they actually shoot, they're not really going to be familiar beyond what they've heard / been told.

 

It's a lottery as to which force you're in as to policy and as to how much you want to stir the pot.

 

For years, I understood my force wouldn't grant CF at 1st grant. Now they won't grant RF at 1st grant if you're shooting foxes. Go figure.

 

You could get away with 2 guns, but some compromises would have to be made. Shotty is a cert for pigeon as no rifle can be used elevated. Then it comes down to where the priority lies between fox and rabbit as to the choice of rifle bearing in mind RF can be used at VERY limited range vs fox as can shotty, and CF is a vaporiser and very expensive to run against rabbit (plus you'll never get it granted for rabbit - would have to be fox as good reason with AOLQ).

Edited December 3, 2014 by Alsone

[stubby 175]

thankyou all for your advice, the pigeon are a real problem aswell so a shot gun will be needed, next year is going to cost me a furtune, better get some OT at work.

 

so you need a fac and a shotgun licence, or you could just try getting a section 1 shotgun to go on a fac,

I'd check with your fao first, as some allow .22 rimfire to be used on foxes, bring them in to around 60yds on a squeak and the rimmy puts them down easy,

that would keep your outlay down and ammo is cheap

 

if you have only used air rifles upto this point, then sometimes it's better to get the shotgun cert first, in which case it wont be sec 1, but it'll get you started, and can still be used on close foxes, then 6-12 months later apply for the fac, it all depends on your firearms dept, if you have not been shooting with a fac before, they may want to add a mentor to your ticket, which can be a pain