Well then. Just spent a very long time on t’internet trying to locate my favourite bullets - Sierra 308 125 gns and Sierra 6.5 120 gns Prohunters - long story short “out of stock” seems to be the story. To my delight I did find an RFD who had the last 2 boxes
in the universe of 125gns .308 so delighted with my endeavours I went through the usual
rigmarole process and ordered and paid for them. Great, super, delighted… ah, not so fast FB - 10 minutes later I received an email saying:-
“Unfortunately we are currently not shipping any bullet heads to Northern Ireland due the lack of clarity from the government on what they class as 'restricted items', and we run the risk of possibly having the goods confiscated in transit. Generally speaking these types of goods require an export license or special customs forms to be shipped to mainland Europe, and until the government clarifies their position our hands are tied.”.
Soooo the last two boxes were almost mine but at the last moment a certain well-known RFD snatched defeat from the jaws of my victory AND even suggested that this corner of the UK is part of mainland Europe! I am not a political animal in any sense but last time I looked out the window I still lived in the United Kingdom, gosh - I even have a British Passport, my wife is a Londoner and until her retirement was the Regional Manager for the
UK Passport Office in Belfast, 15 miles away, maybe someone should spread the word….
Undaunted I pressed on and sent them a response, along the lines of “
for Christ’s sake many RFDs are perfectly happy to send brass and bullets to NI so what is different with you?”. Suffice to say nil result so plan B swung smoothly into operation “will you send them to my pal in Perthshire and I will get him to post them?”. And so it was, they are even as we speak winging their way to me via Perthshire. In short some dealers won’t post to me (nothing personal - I hope) but many (thank Christ) will and without any issues
or bollo about “confiscations”, bless them. Apart from the clear disappointment I felt, the big question for me is why does such confusion still reign? Maybe it is just me but when I look back over the many successful deliveries I have received over the last 9 months I really do wonder what the hell is going on. Answers on a postcard…..
Apologies for the rant chaps but a certain bodily fluid really is boiling.
