Pay more for FAC to get better service?

[Jamsie]

Don’t feel you have to advise me on how to proceed, I am a big boy and can look after myself. I won’t run out of ammo, whilst at club there is no need to show an FAC or have ammunition recorded provided you do not take any home with you. However not everybody shoots at a club where ammunition is available, so some may struggle.

Field shooting wise I will run out of certain calibres but I have enough foresight to shoot some very frugal calibres, so I will keep shooting…..

.22 hornet will do 1000+ rounds to a kg of powder, my 25-45 sharps is one of the most frugal all deer legal rifles going; 26.4 grains of powder gets me deer legal with an 80 grain bullet to 1740 ft-lb or I can use 29 grains under a 100 gr and be deer legal for Scotland. 500+ rounds for a kilo of powder. These are both calibres chosen in part because they will allow a lot of shooting for not a lot of consumables.

Lee really has it wrong if he thinks I am not prepared but, unlike Lee I can see that not everybody is in the same boat.

More to the point people should t be needing to stockpile because FLDs cannot doe their job properly.

Pertinent to the OP People forget we had an increase in 2015, with a view of making things more efficient. Plenty have seen no improvement, why would it be any different with the next round of increases?

You should ... and no doubt will, proceed as you see fit.
The points you raised have been mulled over many times on the SD and they are nothing new.
I agree entirely with you regarding the last fee increase and with your analysis on increased fees / performance going forward.

Jamsie

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

Why should I throttle back a bit because the police FLD are not capable of running their workload efficiently?

I would add the post above is hypothetical, I am under Wilts who are generally excellent. In the last 6 months I have had 2 variations whilst I waited, i.e. inside 15 minutes. I contacted them at 6 months asking about renewal and they said to wait for the letter, 4 months to go this week and I’ll probably put it in.

BUT unlike Lee I can see that not everyone is in the same situation as me with an excellent FLD to deal with.

As for being prepared, I have enough primers to last me for 24 months or more for some calibres, apart from small pistol which I am down to about 1500, I use a lot of small pistol.

I do shoot at 3 club shoots a month, including several hundred .22 and .357 a couple of times a month and 3-400 CF a month. I also stalk 3-4 times a month and out on foxes or vermin 8-10 times a month. I have just under 10 kg of powder but I reload for 12 calibres from 4 grains to 63.5 grains of powder. I could throttle back a bit on the club shooting but that is all practice for the quarry shooting, the deer, fox and vermin control can’t be throttled back on. Equally if I was a serious competition shooter I would need to practice so I wouldn’t be throttling back.

Even throttling back to half if I had to wait 12 or 18 months it would cause me problems, hopefully under Wilts I won’t have to!

Coorr. Your more hormonal than my Mrs!

You crack on me old cocker, when you run out of ammunition because you run out I promise not to laugh

 

[Dalua]

Quite simply, how does public safety benefit from controlling a licenced shooters ammunition which is held in a safe - are there stats to support this or is it another 'seems like a good idea to control shooting' type restriction ?

I think that bit of the legislation relates strongly to the original purpose of the Act in 1920 - namely to prevent a rifle-armed revolutionary force equipping itself with rifles and ammunition via lawful suppliers.

 

[25 Sharps]

Coorr. Your more hormonal than my Mrs!

You crack on me old cocker, when you run out of ammunition because you run out I promise not to laugh

I won’t run out, but others might……

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

I won’t run out, but others might……

That makes 2 of us then!

 

[25 Sharps]

That makes 2 of us then!

That’s because you hardly do any shooting

 

[25 Sharps]

I think that bit of the legislation relates strongly to the original purpose of the Act in 1920 - namely to prevent a rifle-armed revolutionary force equipping itself with rifles and ammunition via lawful suppliers.

Yep!

 

[Jamsie]

That makes 2 of us then!

At least three of us actually ... and I'm sure that there will be plenty others who have applied a bit of foresight and as a result, are well able to weather the component shortages and certification holdups afflicting the sport / hobby.

Jamsie

 

[25 Sharps]

At least three of us actually ... and I'm sure that there will be plenty others who have applied a bit of foresight and as a result, are well able to weather the component shortages and certification holdups afflicting the sport / hobby.

Jamsie

Mine’s as much to do with the fact I have an efficient FLD.

In Lee’s case he just shoots a few reds on a narrow strip of land, other than that he’s all mouth and no trousers so he’s not running out in a hurry

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

Mine’s as much to do with the fact I have an efficient FLD.

In Lee’s case just shoots a few reds on a narrow strip of land, other than that he’s all mouth and no trousers so he’s not running out in a hurry

i dont waste perfectly good bullets on killing paper!

Im semi retired now, still put 100 plus deer in the larder though!

Personally i would rather go fishing, after rattling about in the deer world for 20 years i dont have the blood lust that i used too!

 

[25 Sharps]

i dont waste perfectly good bullets on killing paper!

Im semi retired now, still put 100 plus deer in the larder though!

Personally i would rather go fishing, after rattling about in the deer world for 20 years i dont have the blood lust that i used too!

Exactly my point, if you have an ammunition allowance of 200 you’ve got 2 years (as I’m sure you don’t miss) if you reload you’ve got a decade or 2.

As I said, all mouth…..

 

[kes]

I think that bit of the legislation relates strongly to the original purpose of the Act in 1920 - namely to prevent a rifle-armed revolutionary force equipping itself with rifles and ammunition via lawful suppliers.

Perhaps so but is it beyond a criminals intelligence to gather sufficient or is it an imposition on the law-abiding - I suggest the latter only.

 

[25 Sharps]

Perhaps so but is it beyond a criminals intelligence to gather sufficient or is it an imposition on the law-abiding - I suggest the latter only.

I think limits are not really an issue, other than in the scenario of a slow renewal or variation. They are generally pretty sensible and most shooters will have enough for their needs.

It does mean that large quantities of ammunition are less likely to fall into the wrong hands, which would be far easier to mover around and sell on than firearms themselves.

None of mine would be any good as they’re all odd calibres

 

[timbrayford]

With licensing badly done by the police, somebody who's wages we already pay, why do we pay at all for the licence.
If you charge for a service, that service should be the same across the country, and everyone treated the same.
But it isn't, and never will be, retired coppers are not the answer to licensing

Neil.

Precisely why we need a dedicated agency with professionally trained staff specific to the role. Some of the FLD staff that I've spoken to wouldn't know the difference between 357 S&W magnum and .338 Lapua magnum

 

[Greenmist]

It’s not rocket science to get stocked up is it?

You have to prepare to dig in and get on with it!

You know it’s gonna be a long slog so there’s no excuse for the 3 P’s really is there?!

PI$$ - POOR- PREPARATION

If you’re a pest controller you should be well stocked up anyway because it’s part and parcel of the job, most if not all target shooters are home loaders so therefore should have everything they need by the thousand so really if you’re unprepared because of your renewals on the drag is your own bloody fault!

7 P's, obviously not a soldier

 

[Dalua]

Perhaps so but is it beyond a criminals intelligence to gather sufficient or is it an imposition on the law-abiding - I suggest the latter only.

I wasn't suggesting that I thought it was a good idea.

 

[Steve2_1]

Lots of very mixed responses. Think the general concencous is the FAC application and general processes are, well, in dire need of an improvement. Oh well, i'll keep waiting to hear back from the FEO, ideally while i'm young