posted 2 Nov 2020, 23:49 by Tony Cattermole [ updated 2 Nov 2020, 23:49 ]
Members should note this message received from the Met FLD
Following on from the announcement of a further National Lockdown the Met Police have put in place some measures as follows:-
· We will continue to process the Firearm, Shotgun & RFD Grant applications that are current in our system but new applications are closed at this time.
· Grants will require additional questions prior to attendance and varying levels of PPE – This means that they will take longer to organise and carry out.
· Renewals of all holders, RFDs and Clubs continue with remote systems (video call or telephone) as our preference but face-to-face interviews are still possible at this time (Subject to risk assessment and control measures – Typically both applicant and FEO wearing masks)
· We have commenced communication with RFDs and Clubs and will be aiming for personal contact with all of these by Wednesday.
Please also note that telephone lines are likely to be very busy with enquiries and staffing levels will likely be impacted by this situation. Please note that the best way to contact us is via our website or FETLondonAll@met.police.uk.
If members have questions or issues they are welcome to contact me or Met Police direct.
Best wishes and stay safe
Derek Stimpson
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posted 2 Nov 2020, 23:35 by Tony Cattermole [ updated 2 Nov 2020, 23:35 ]
Dear Members
Due to the new lockdown restrictions all shooting at Bisley has been cancelled for November.
This means we are unable to run the Wednesday practice or the Wappenshaw shoot.
There are no shoots in planned for December at present.
Disappointing, but addressing the current increase in COVID is more important.
Hopefully things can begin to return to normal in the new year.
Regards
Dave Carroll
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posted 23 Oct 2020, 17:28 by Tony Cattermole
The following message has just been received from the Home Office.
“It is now clear that EFPs will not feature in any agreement with the EU. This means that from 1 January 2021, GB certificate holders will no longer be able to apply for an EFP or use one to travel to the EU with their firearm or shotgun. The situation will be different in Northern Ireland where, in line with the NI Protocol, NI certificate holders will still be able to benefit from EFPs.”
We expect further information from the Home Office about what this will mean in practice, which we will share when received.
We have sent the following response from BSSC:-
“Given that it is likely that negotiations over a wide range of matters will continue to unfold between the UK and the EU in the years to come, we would wish the prospect of a bilateral agreement on adoption of the EFP (such as is the case with Switzerland) to remain on the agenda going forward.
The other issue is the question of recognition by the police of the EFPs of visitors to the UK from Europe in establishing their bona fides for the granting of British Visitor Permits. It seems to us that it makes a great deal of sense for forces to continue to rely on an EU citizen’s EFP for this purpose, rather than to ignore the EFP and turn instead to national documents which are most unlikely to be in English and will, in the case of Greece and Bulgaria, not even be in the latin alphabet. We know that it has been a preferred position of UK forces to continue to rely on the EFP for this purpose, and we would welcome clarification on what the position will be going forward. It makes no sense at all for forces to refuse to recognise a potential visitor’s EFP, which has of course been issued by their local police, simply on the basis that it bears the EU flag.”
This is the formal notice from the Home Office
Changes to EFPs
When the UK transition period ends, from 1 January 2021 residents of Great Britain will no longer be able to apply for a European Firearms Pass (EFP) or use one to travel to the EU with their firearm or shotgun.
Residents of Northern Ireland will still be able to request an EFP and to use it to take a lawfully owned firearm to an EU country, including the Republic of Ireland, from 1 January 2021.
What this means for your members
Before travelling, GB residents will need to check and follow the licensing requirements of any EU country they will be in with a firearm from 1 January, as well as UK import and export controls. This includes if you are in an EU country on 1 January.
Countries may have varying lead times for applying for licenses, so we recommend checking requirements well ahead of travelling.
If you’re sponsoring an EU visitor bringing a firearm to GB, you should apply to the local police force for a visitor’s permit like now but will not need to produce the visitor’s valid EFP. Visitor’s permits issued before the transition period ends will stay valid until they expire.
Next steps
Any enquiries about travelling with firearms after the end of the transition period may be answered by the H O guidance on GOV.UK
More news follows as soon as we have it.
Derek Stimpson
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posted 21 Oct 2020, 15:34 by Tony Cattermole [ updated 21 Oct 2020, 15:34 ]
It is with great sadness that we inform members that David Franklin-Johnson, a member since 2002 and known to many, passed away on 14th October 2020. We will miss him.
He was recently much involved in the HBSA Junior Section that he created. Their shoots will be suspended during November and December as a mark of respect to David. They expect them to recommence from the New Year.
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posted 20 Oct 2020, 12:43 by Tony Cattermole
at Stourport on Severn Pistol & Rifle Club, Minster Road, Stourport on Severn, Worcestershire
All proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Support
This event generally is intended for traditional British single shot Rook & Rabbit sporting rifles (and their foreign equivalents) from the 1865-1914 period.
Full-stocked military training rifles such as .310 Cadets and .22 WO Training rifles are welcome.
Additionally, for this event the end date has been extended to 1960, therefore later Central Fire and Rim Fire Rifles are also welcome.
No “Modern” rifles to be used.
To maintain a level playing field “Iron Sights Only” allowed no telescopic sights.
This shoot is intended for enjoyment and to provide funds for a worthy cause so please come along and have a good mornings shoot.
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posted 18 Oct 2020, 22:04 by Tony Cattermole [ updated 18 Oct 2020, 22:23 ]
Members attention is drawn to this government information:
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posted 6 Oct 2020, 17:23 by Tony Cattermole [ updated 6 Oct 2020, 17:23 ]
Members attention is drawn to the following message and document from the NRA regarding availability of sessions to access, check, and clean their Heritage Pistols stored in the Cheylesmore Armoury. Regrettably, as you see, there will be no shooting able to take place for the foreseeable future. This remains under review and any change will be advised.
Derek Stimpson
Dear NRA Heritage shooter,
Over the past 6 months the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted shooting activities on Bisley camp and due to this the NSC have not been able to offer the Heritage shoots that were previously published. Unfortunately, for the foreseeable we will be unable to offer a heritage shoot due to the resources required and restrictive nature of the layout of Cheylesmore range club room. The Organisation is continuously looking at ways to organise a heritage shoot but with the current guidelines that are in place from the UK government it is unlikely that we will be able to offer you a Heritage shoot until 2021.
We understand how frustrating this may be, and can appreciate that you may have concerns for your firearms stored within the Cheylesmore armoury. Due to these concerns we would like to offer a session, where you can clean and inspect your firearms in a “Covid safe” environment. Please note: No live firing will be permitted during the session.
Sessions will be limited to 6 members at a time and 4 sessions will be offered a day on the below published dates.
26/10/20 02/11/20
27/10/20 03/11/20
28/10/20 04/11/20
29/10/20 05/11/20
30/10/20 06/11/20
The sessions will be as follows
08:30-10:00
10:30-12:30
13:30-14:30
14:45-16:00
Before requesting a time and date please read through and familiarise yourself with the procedure we have created for this event which is attached to this email.
Should you wish to attend please email armoury@nra.org.uk with a preferred date and session and we will endeavour to allocate you with a suitable slot.
Should you have any questions please contact the NSC armourers via email armoury@nra.org.uk or call us on 01483797777 ext. 134
Kind regards
NRA Armoury
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posted 5 Oct 2020, 21:20 by Tony Cattermole
Stourport on Severn, Saturday 3rd October 2020
Dear Competitors
Thank you all for competing in this our 15th Annual Midland Rook and Rabbit competition.
Review the match results here >>>
This year we were not only privileged but lucky to be able to use the range at Stourport on Severn.
When you sit back and consider the problems associated with Covid-19 it was a near run thing if the event could even go ahead. But go ahead it did, up until the very last minute the range was booked to the Covid secure maximum of 10 shooters on the range at any one time.
Unfortunately, 3 individuals had to cancel at the last moment due to Covid lockdown, illness and accidents.As always, I would very much like to thank the Committee and Members of Stourport on Severn Rifle club for allowing us the use of their range.
This was the 12th match to take place at Stourport On Severn (not including the American and Christmas shoots), I still do not know where the years have gone.
The Friday night weather forecast indicated heavy rain and wind with an amber warning. Fortunately, the rain was only heavy at times and the wind never really appeared, the light in the morning was reduced making the early details a little difficult at 50m but again this improved as the day progressed, but overall, we remained dry.
This year we originally attracted 17 (13 in 2019) entrants who would have shot 57 (39 in 2019) matches.
Which means this year was a massive improvement over 2019 which is truly amazing given the current situation.
The changes to the shooting program to limit contact between individuals worked extremely well.
Which included two separate bubbles of 5, pre-prepared targets and having 2 routes to the target frames.
Unfortunately, the usual supply of superb cake, biscuits and tea was unavailable and the club house had restricted access.
I think we all missed the opportunity to have a chat and ogle each other’s treasures so we will have to catch up next time.
I must congratulate and commend all those who attended, everyone followed the rules, wore a mask, never moaned and kept socially distanced from each other at all times.
This year the shooting program dispensed with the sighting series of shots on a separate target and instead each detail consisted of 13 shots at both 25m & 50m with the best 10 shots being counted at each distance. Initially this was to reduce the amount of movement in and out of the range. However, since Saturday the vast majority of competitors have contacted me and the general consensus is that this was big improvement therefore it will now become the norm.
And to prove the new arrangement is an improvement, we had 2 maximum scores of 140 from two individuals this year which I don’t think we have seen before. More surprising or maybe not, one was shot with a modern scoped rifle whilst the other was shot with a BSA Martini Action No.6 (not 100% sure if it is fitted with an aperture sight) both in .22LR. Those old gun makers did know how to make a good gun but we must not forget the man or woman on the butt.
Many thanks to all those who attended and helped out during the day. I hope everyone had a good day and that we see you all again.
! Dates for the diary.
- Christmas Charity Rook & Reindeer Saturday 5th December 2020, with all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support.
I have no idea what this will involve so watch out for more information.
- Next year’s Rook & Rabbit @ Stourport on Severn Saturday 2nd October 2021
Last year we discussed having some sort of shoot in the Spring of 2020 obviously that never happened so perhaps we will be lucky in 2021.
Best Regards
Paul Smith
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posted 2 Oct 2020, 16:43 by Tony Cattermole
Members are reminded that the 2020 Trafalgar meeting will take place on17th & 18th October 2020.
Entries are rather low at present so please make the effort to support historic arms shooting by entering. Entries may be made online and the NRA will also accept “walk-in” entries at the NRA reception as usual that weekend.
Sadly we cannot hold our annual Heritage Pistol Exhibition, nor the NRA hold the usual the arms fair due to Covid 19 restrictions. However the most important thing is to keep shooting and support the NRA in running the meeting, so please do enter. On line entries will assist in planning, especially with facilities and the number of range officers needed.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Derek Stimpson
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posted 2 Oct 2020, 13:03 by Tony Cattermole
Dear All
It has been brought to my attention that there are 2 shoots this month!!
Our regular midweek practice will be shot on Wednesday 21st October at 100 yards on Short Siberia.
You cannot just turn up and shoot!!
In line with current legislation please let me know if you are coming as we have to keep a record, plus we may have to limit numbers to ensure social distancing.
Email: rifle.practice@hbsa-uk.org
Don’t forget our Mini McQueen competition.
This is on Saturday 10th October
Location: BSRC Time Limit range at Bisley
This is a .22RF practice at 50 yds being a miniature version of the normal McQueen
Targets: 9 electrically operated miniature ‘Huns Head’ targets behind McQueen castle
Timing: Random target window, 3 second exposure at 10-20sec intervals
2 sighters and 10 to count – one shot per exposure
Rifle: 22RF rifle with minimum x4 telescopic sight – no iron sights. The paddles are very small!
You will need a rifle with a 10 round magazine or fast single loader
Position: rested or on bipod
Two “castles” are set up, so two shooters each detail, which takes approximately 15 minutes. Don’t forget your FAC and SCC.
Regards
David Carroll
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