Forgotten Hope Public Forum
Off-Topic => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Flyboy1942 on 02-08-2010, 00:08:01
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I've been meaning to start a collection of bolt-action rifles and some shotguns and the like for a while now, and in the near future I may have the funds to actually achieve this. The trouble is, I am in sort of a weird situation between California and Colorado, and wonder if any of you fine gents could shine some light on the best way to go about acquiring and shooting these weapons.
For one, it seems from my research that I shouldn't have trouble buying a rifle or shotgun in either state without residency (big heap of hell for handguns though), but would it be better to buy in one state rather than the other?
Also, where the heck to I go shooting a massive battle rifle in southern California? My friend took me shooting a couple of times and we just drove into the middle of the desert-is this the best option?
Also, should I start with a Mosin Nagant for costs sake, or save up for a K98k or an Enfield?
Thanks for any help!
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In belgium, any weapon designed before 1943 can be legally owned without permit.
Shooting is a MUCH bigger challenge.
I have no idea, but their are enough fine chaps on these forums who can defiantly help you.
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In belgium, any weapon designed before 1943 can be legally owned without permit.
Shooting is a MUCH bigger challenge.
I have no idea, but their are enough fine chaps on these forums who can defiantly help you.
Don't you mean 1895? It was that the last time i checked.
Exceptions are made for bolt action rifles, weapons with rare obsolete ammunition or rare weapons in general. unto the end of WW2 (probably the year 43 that is in your head)
Or do you have a source to prove me wrong. plz post it then.
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In belgium, any weapon designed before 1943 can be legally owned without permit.
Shooting is a MUCH bigger challenge.
I have no idea, but their are enough fine chaps on these forums who can defiantly help you.
Oh I agree, this is one of the best places to ask something like this. :)
Definitely one of those times when I'm glad to have been a part of this community for so long. It can be quite a helpful place.
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Gun laws in Colorado are more lenient than those in California. However what you say about going way out into the desert is definitely the easiest way to shoot here too. This is especially true in the summer when the Chips have their windows rolled up and the air conditioner at full blast, eliminating any possibility of your fun being overheard.
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Well, well, this is a pretty open ended question. Are you asking where you should purchase your firearms, where you should shoot them, or a little of how you should start your collection? To start your collection, it doesn't really matter what you start with, just make sure it's in good shootable condition. If you plan on shooting them often, i'd probably skip the Enfield first since .303 British is a rather rarer and more expensive round. Both the Nosin and the K98 both have fairly common ammo available at cheap surplus prices. However, if you plan on just buying 'em for the collection sake, to say you own them...start with the one you want the most. Or whichever you can find in best shape for the price.
For shooting them, yes.. middle of the desert is fine. As long as it is 500ft from the nearest residence and you arn't aiming towards a busy location (i.e. a highway, or shopping complex). It is also better to shoot in "bowl" or valley. Where the bullet will just go into the ground if you miss.
For buying the rifles, I really am unfimiliar about west coast gun regulations [so, some changes may apply for above], however you can legally buy firearm (legal fireams) from other private dealers with no permit as long as you are from the same state. I would recommend this option for right now. A good way of buying guns is also from pawn shops and places like that, where the might require a hunting license, and background check, not always necessary a pistol permit. Some states are more lienent than other with arms sales and regulations so I would advise checking this out for a more specific answer.
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For California:
1) You gotta be 18.
2) You'll have to go to the gun shop and fill out the full background check forms, get fingerprinted, etc, as well as pay transfer taxes on top of the gun's actual cost.
3) If you purchase from a private person or an online dealer, you'll have to find a FFL dealer who will take care of the transfer, then transfer the gun to you.
4) Either way, there will be a 3 week long background check for your rifle before you can actually pick it up.
5) You'll also be required to buy a gun lock, or give a statement of ownership of a gun locker.
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For California:
1) You gotta be 18.
2) You'll have to go to the gun shop and fill out the full background check forms, get fingerprinted, etc, as well as pay transfer taxes on top of the gun's actual cost.
3) If you purchase from a private person or an online dealer, you'll have to find a FFL dealer who will take care of the transfer, then transfer the gun to you.
4) Either way, there will be a 3 week long background check for your rifle before you can actually pick it up.
5) You'll also be required to buy a gun lock, or give a statement of ownership of a gun locker.
Dear sweet lord! Screw you California!
Dude come out to Missouri and we'll set you up. Seriously.
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Do you kids enjoy shooting that much? I need to get a gun soon, but I have no interest in them at all except for historical value, reenacting, and i guess a little bit of machismo. But I don't have any intentions of going shooting with them. Don't get me wrong I am a mofo shooting champ, like I've won competitions, but I don't think it's much phun.
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Lets compare that to Belgium witch has one of the most strict gun laws in the world at this moment (even more so then UK and Australia).
For California:
1) You gotta be 18.
Same here
2) You'll have to go to the gun shop and fill out the full background check forms, get fingerprinted, etc, as well as pay transfer taxes on top of the gun's actual cost.
We need A doctor to say we are mentally en physicaly fit enough for it, The police to say you are not a criminal (blanco police record) membership to a club, Pass a theoretical test, follow 12 lessons in safety, pass a practical test. If you want semi auto you also have to go to the police station for a chat and defend why you want to buy it (not as bad as it sounds, they just ask some safety questions) and ask the Governor or the State (if the governor refuses) for premission
3) If you purchase from a private person or an online dealer, you'll have to find a FFL dealer who will take care of the transfer, then transfer the gun to you.
Complicated, if its bolt action and you both have the correct paperwork then just pay the man and go home with you weapon Then send an application with a request for a licence to buy munitions you get a letter back and your done, if its semi or 1 of you does not have to correct paperwork then you have to get it all in order first. And write a letter to the authorities that you are buying a gun from someone, they will check and if everything is ok then he can give it to you. A gun dealer is not needed, but it is easy and they do it for like 20 euro.
4) Either way, there will be a 3 week long background check for your rifle before you can actually pick it up.
If you start from zero, 6 months is the absolute minimum to get everything in order. Once you are cleared its easy though for Bolt action and hunting rifles, just buy it and its yours, you just have to do a little paperwork so you can buy ammunition. If its semi then about 2 months of waiting.
5) You'll also be required to buy a gun lock, or give a statement of ownership of a gun locker.
less then 5 is remove bolt, store ammo seperatly and out of reach for children, more and you need a gunlocker, more then 20 and you need a 'safe' with at least 3 locks and at least 4 cm solid wooden door. Also no windows in the room and brick walls
Oh, and i dont hate our laws eventhough they are a pain in the ass sometimes. Only thing i want changed is that i want to shoot automatic :(
Also, we have a list of historical weapens that a free to buy for all over 18.
Do you kids enjoy shooting that much? I need to get a gun soon, but I have no interest in them at all except for historical value, reenacting, and i guess a little bit of machismo. But I don't have any intentions of going shooting with them. Don't get me wrong I am a mofo shooting champ, like I've won competitions, but I don't think it's much phun.
Here? Historic value and the fun of shooting them sometimes. I am interested in only a few post WW2 weapons to be honest.
And within the year i will join a reenactment group, 99% sure of it.
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Do you kids enjoy shooting that much?
Big bang and something way over there goes "poof". Same reason people like fireworks, plus an element of zen involved in lining up the sights with the target.
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People who buy and pimp cars cause more deaths then people who own firearms as a hobby
And the people who do this as a hobby rarely ever freak out and cause a shooting. It is those who buy it illegaly
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30 years ago my dad bought a semi auto M1 carbine at a market in the centre of Brugge. It used to be very relaxed.
And most illegal weapons are inherited from dead family members, not bought. It is estimated that (out of 10 million people) there are 2 million illegal firearms. That is why our laws are focused a lot on making bullets hard to get, also you can only shoot with stranded ammunition, so hollow points or tracers or any of that kind are illigal to even own.
And sure, you can be mad at all the stupid rules theta, but really, i do not mind. There are very few gun related problems in the country and i am happy. Sure, knives kill more people and so but with a gun it is a lot more easy, and less messy for the user, so that alone might already stop murders. And if you want someone dead really bad you will find a way anyway.
And Hans van Temse bought his weapon legaly, that is one of the reasons they changed the laws, because now it is no longer possible to go to a shop, buy a gun and start shooting people all in under 30 minutes. I find it a good thing to be honest.
Also, on a sidenote, lots and lots of people still have weapons from the wars here. If i go round i would have a few enfields, mausers, hembrug's and some stens without a problem. 3 years ago someone from my town took the weapon he had on his attic to the police station because he did not want it anymore. It was a fully functioning .50 from WW2, with 2 boxes of ammunition.
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West coast and their extreme gun control. ::) I wonder why there is more gang violence over there....
- Yes shooting is fun, it the thrill of the moment...
- You can pretty much purchase any weapon here, as long as you jump through enough hoops.
- Gun safes and locks are recommended, but don't believe they are required yet. I personally don't believe in them. If a robber breaks in your home you have to a.) Wake up, get your "bearings" together, b.) Run to your gun cabinet, c.) remember the code, open it (hopefully get it right the first time) d.) grab the gun and remove any trigger locks you may have additional to the safe e.) load the magazine, and slip it into the firearm f.) hope the robber hasn't heard or found you yet... ; if you have kid, teach them about the firearm, don't hide it from them, if they know what it is and what it does, they will be less provolked to mess around with it...resulting in injuries.
- I think it is still to dificult to own a firearm...legally
@Siben, an M2 .50 cal? He had a good little fortune with that thing if it was still active. SShould of old it on the black market if he didn't want it.... the police will just send it to the incinerator. :'( I have a friend who is a cop, he was forced to bring numerous rare and collectable firearms to the incinerator. It's a sad affair.
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I keep my K31 loaded in my gun locker, so all I have to do is open it and rack the bolt. However, if you own a gun locker, you don't need to leave it unloaded or with a secondary lock on it :P
Also, shooting is awesome, its like archery, only things go boom, and its far longer range.
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Yes oddball, a frikking fifty call, or as our local newspaper put it "an anti aircraft gun used on the turrets of tanks"
And here weapons are for hunting and sports. Not for shooting criminals. Keeping them loaded is punishable. Infact you have to store the ammo separably of the weapons and in a locked box at all time. Gunlocks are only needed when transporting. Magazines can never be in the rifle, and bolts have to be removed when possible. Having a ready to shoot weapon or a loaded magazine is enough to loose your licence.
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Yes oddball, a frikking fifty call, or as our local newspaper put it "an anti aircraft gun used on the turrets of tanks"
And here weapons are for hunting and sports. Not for shooting criminals. Keeping them loaded is punishable. Infact you have to store the ammo separably of the weapons and in a locked box at all time. Gunlocks are only needed when transporting. Magazines can never be in the rifle, and bolts have to be removed when possible. Having a ready to shoot weapon or a loaded magazine is enough to loose your licence.
Dude, I'm not going to lie, that's rediculous. It is also funny how the news media always extraggerates things to get more publicity and make it more dramatic. So your not able to defend yourself via firearms there? What about knives? hehe, or is that illegal, too?
Edit: Oh yeah, I just want to mention. I was browsing through a military surplus store, yesterday...as I was back on vacation and I was supprised to see a Boys AT rifle hanging from the ceiling. I have no picture, because I didn't have my camera, but nothing you see everyday.
Also, buy your automatic weapons here;
http://www.autoweapons.com/products/products.html
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Any knive with a blade longer then the width of your hand is an illegal weapon. Exceptions are when it is in your kitchen. It can be there and only there.
If it is for decoration it can not be sharp.
But its not like the cops will raid your house and steal your knives, it will only be like than when they are in your car or when you carry them around like a weapon. Or when you have like 20 swords and you act in an unstable way.
Tazers, pepper spray and even a stick longer then 30cm and thicker then your thumb are illegal weapons.
But once agian, a 12 year old playing in a field with some friends with a baseball bat will have no problems, if you are 20 and its 2 in the morning and in the middle of a town then you loose it and get fined for possession of an illegal weapon. All depends on how the police sees it in the situation.
Also, rare weapons that you turn in are not destroyed, they go to the army museum for preservation. And i have seen pictures of what they turn in most of the time it is some fugly hunting shotgun or a .22
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That's lucky there. Here, historical weapons that are turned into the police are required to be destroyed. A few months ago, a lady turned in 'some old gun' her husband had kept, he had died recently, in exchange for a 100 dollar gift card for walmart. It was a mint condition, all matching lugar worth between 1500 and 2000 dollars....
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That's lucky there. Here, historical weapons that are turned into the police are required to be destroyed. A few months ago, a lady turned in 'some old gun' her husband had kept, he had died recently, in exchange for a 100 dollar gift card for walmart. It was a mint condition, all matching lugar worth between 1500 and 2000 dollars....
If not more, my great uncle had a luger, that he captured, unfortunately he sold it.. I don't know much about it...but intresting never-the-less.
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Thanks for the answers everyone!
For California:
1) You gotta be 18.
2) You'll have to go to the gun shop and fill out the full background check forms, get fingerprinted, etc, as well as pay transfer taxes on top of the gun's actual cost.
3) If you purchase from a private person or an online dealer, you'll have to find a FFL dealer who will take care of the transfer, then transfer the gun to you.
4) Either way, there will be a 3 week long background check for your rifle before you can actually pick it up.
5) You'll also be required to buy a gun lock, or give a statement of ownership of a gun locker.
Ouch. Thanks for giving a clear outline of the process though. Do they require registration if you buy the gun out of state? I might just buy one when Im in Colorado since they only require a two hour background check, though if it's a hassle to bring it back in to Cali I guess Ill just have to suck it up. I assume ammo can be bought and/or delivered to your door without issues?
@Oddball: Yeah Im pretty much asking about starting a collection; so where to buy guns and shoot them, as well as any tips on what to buy first. A guy I met at school has a collection of rifles and doesnt like the Mosin because of its sticky bolt for instance.
So if the police get called out cause someone happens to hear you, they dont really mind as long as you're using reasonable safety precautions? (well away from any houses/streets/people, shooting into an embankment or some kind of backing)
@CPS: I pretty much agree with the people already posting. I enjoy shooting because of the primal "oooh big noise and destuctive power!", the relaxing and focusing needed to shoot accurately and direct that power to a pinpoint at a distance, and also the connection with history that participating in such a time-honored past time creates. Especially when it's a gun with a history of its own.
@Siben: Im glad I dont live in Belgium. :| The knife thing is where it really gets me. I can see all the regulations on guns in a small European nation (though this is the level of hassle required to buy an automatic in the US), but damn they wont even let you carry knives? Funny story about the Ma Deuce though. I would have mounted it to my car and claimed it was for duck hunting. :P
The gun store near campus in Colorado has a nice looking SVT I keep thinking about. for $800 its not even too bad a price, though I dont think it has a magazine. Odd sites. Very cool gun...however I think I'm gonna go with a Mosin. The cost to buy is really low and the surplus ammo is second only to 7.62x39mm for rifle round price. Also, the design has been around for over a hundred years so the history behind it is considerable. Also the design is extremely simple so theres less to lose/mess up for a noob like me when stripping and cleaning the buildup from the dirty surplus ammo.
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You actually could bring it in from out of state, as at that point it is private property. No registration needed for long rifles.