What do i need to take rifle to France

WARDY1

Well-Known Member
Going to a relatives in Charante region of france late august and was thinking about taking the 7mm-08.

Couple of questions;

1 What certs do i need
2 whats in season over there Deer/Boar?
3 Any special restrictions

Cheers

Steve
 
Don't know about seasons, pretty sure you will need a European Firearms Pass, if so you will need to move quick as they take a bit of time to process.

Not sure how it works going to Europe, but coming to the UK from Europe you need to have
the shooting arranged prior to application.
 
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I live and hunt in France however i may not be totally correct on every point as each region tends to be slightly different, however, the general season for all game is 12th September until around 12th January. Enclosed park hunting which is fairly common happens all year round and is up to the owner to decide on numbers etc. In my region all land communal and private is pooled and the cull decided each year then shared between all hunters living in that area.
I think to bring a firearm to france you would just need a copy of your FAC but perhaps check with euro tunnel or somebody like that.
 
hi
i take my rifles to france every year, firstly as already stated you need an international firearms pass with all your rifles noted, this is free from your local firearms dept, if traveling by ferry you must inform the ferry company that you are carrying firearms, they will put a special label on your windscreen and when you lock your vehicle they will take the keys during the voyage, as i understand it to hunt in france you will need a permis de chasse obtained from the local prefecture,i think you can get a temporary permit to cover your stay. as far as where and what to shoot, unless this has been arranged in advance you will need to contact the chasse in the area that you are staying. hope this helps regards geoff
 
You will need your firearms certificate, european firearms pass ( should be sent to you by return of post) and a letter of invitation.
If you use eurotunnel it is simply a matter of declaring the rifle on this side of the chanel as you leave the country.
 
To purcahse ammunition you will need a Permis de Chasse. Either a current one or the one from the previous year.

French citizens need to pass an exam to get this. Foreigners don't but evidence of their "competence". An FAC giving use of the rifle for deer or other live quarry in the UK should suffice for that.

The Permis de Chasse can be for a year, for nine days, for three days. The last two can only be issued two times in the same year which runs from 1st July.

You pay more for the longer period, of course, AND you have to decide if you want a Permis de Chasse just for that "department" (like our counties) or one that is nationwide.

Firearms are allowed on the Eurostar but ammunition is prohibited. I don't know about Eurotunnel.

Lastly, like so much of France, things "at night" are illegal! Shooting (and fishing) are illegal after dusk so no "boar under the moon"...except in the three departments that border Germany where they have German hunting laws because it suits them! French on 14th July yet still German when they want something else!

Some places restrict certain public forests to those resident in the "commune" (a community or group of villages or district).

You can get a Permis de Chasse by post or in person or I think now by internet. They will want the evidence of "competence" AND proof that you have insurance issued by an approved French insurance company for shooting cover.

BASC or SG or whatever other cover will not suffice AFAIK.

Here is the website of the relevant Government agency:

http://www.oncfs.gouv.fr

As others say weapons in military calibres are prohibited. That means actually in French law any weapon "capable of firing ammunition that can be used in a military weapon" so .275 Rigby is banned!

But oddly no problem with 8x57JRS or 7x57JR (the rimmed versions for double rifles or combination guns). Double rifles have a limited following, very rare to see any sort of drilling or bockbuscheflinte, and self-loading rifles are widely used.

The effect of that law is that even if you did, illegally, take a 308 to France you would not be able to buy, off the shelf, sporting ammunition for it as gun shops won't stock what there isn't (because of that military calibre ban) a market for.

Your 7mm-08 is no problem and is widely popular in France in fact...as is 270 Winchester and (in self-loading rifles) 280 Remington and 300 Winchester Magnum. So it's not just a land of 7x64 although that has a certain popularity.

In fact in most good gun shops you'll find a far wider selection of calibres that in most gun shops in UK.
 
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Good reply enfieldspares - I certainly learnt learnt a few things there!
With regard to eurotunnel and ammo, it shouldn't be a problem and most of the information is on their website.

I have to disagree regarding express rifles though. Yes autos and bolt actions are popular but so are express rifles particularly over and under rifles.
 
something, somewhere in deep darkness of my memory tells me you're not allowed to hunt/shoot on a sunday!?!?
 
Sunday in France is a major day for shooting! Go in season to Paris on the Eurostar and south of Calais you'll see probably about four or five shooting parties between there and Paris.

Same if you take the roads in the Sologne area in a Sunday...especially the Routes Nationales through the forest areas! They even have warning signs put out on the roadside verges to advise "Hunting in Progress"!
 
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