Target Sports

BEGINNING BLACK POWDER PART TWO: BACK TO BASICS

Created on 14th May 2009

GEORGE PRESCOTT continues his series on black powder, this time looking at how to get a firearms certificate

ANYONE LIVING in England who wants to own any sort of firearm, with the exception of deactivated weapons and air guns, is required under the 1968 Firearms Act to hold a firearms certificate. Ownership of a shotgun requires a separate certificate. Furthermore, shooting a black powder firearm other than a shotgun can only be done legally on a Home Office certified range, unless it is being used for field sports, in which case another set of rules apply.

Getting a firearms certificate, usually referred to as a ‘ticket', is fairly simple. The application form may seem a little daunting at first and needs references from people who have known you for a reasonable length of time. If you've had no past problems with the law there is no reason why you should not hold a firearm certificate. You'll need to be a member of a club suitable for using the types of firearm you wish to hold and the club will provide guidance when the time comes for you to make your application.

Having visited a club range, tried black powder shooting and decided to take a serious interest in these firearms, club membership is the next step. Unless you are currently a member of a Home Office certified club and are changing clubs, a six month probation period is required. During this time, the club will ask any probationary member to take part in a range safety course, to become familiar with the safety policy.

Once you have full membership, you can apply for a firearms certificate and an explosives licence. The latter is needed to buy and store black powder. No restrictions, by the way, are placed on owning Pyrodex (which is a ‘smokeless' black powder substitute, not black powder but nitro-cellulose based). The local firearms unit will have forms for both licences. Incidentally, anyone with a criminal record leading to imprisonment for more than three months is barred for life from holding a firearms certificate. Other restrictions are also in place for lesser offences and terms of imprisonment and, of course, these also apply to membership of a gun club.

The Home Office form for a ticket is fairly straightforward but there are a couple of general points worth making about such applications.

First, however many firearms you eventually want to own, don't send in a long list. Five is a reasonable number for a first application, although there probably won't be too much difficulty with a couple more. Some forces may try to restrict you to fewer. If that happens to you, point out that this FAC lasts for five years and the figure requested takes that into account. If you meet any requests with which you feel uncomfortable, seek further advice from your club committee and police liaison officer (if there is one). If things are not resolved then take it up with one of the organisations such as MLAGB, NRA or BASC (which has a specialist Firearms Department). They will advise on the best way to deal with excessive obstructiveness should you be met with it, but hopefully you will not.

Be careful when applying about specifying where you will shoot and take advice from another club member about wording this. Regulations are strict and if your ticket only specifies your club range you will be in trouble if you want to shoot at one of the big national ranges like Bisley.

Include any and all criminal offences, even expired speeding tickets. It won't affect your certificate, but they all need to be included on the application. Finally, before granting your ticket a Firearms Enquiry Officer (FEO) will look at both the house and storage arrangements for the guns and powder.

Equipment and types of firearm

During the probationary period the club supplies shooting equipment and all the new member needs is a pair of ear defenders and safety glasses. The headphone-style ear muffs sold in your local DIY store are fine if designed to protect against loud impulse noise. If not, choose a set from your gunshop as they only sell types suitable for the purpose. Some shooters supplement cheap muffs with a pair of foam ear plugs. In my experience, simple push-in plugs don't always work so well, possibly because sound is conducted through the bone of your skull, which muffs cover and protect. Ordinary glasses with polycarbonate lenses are safe but otherwise ensure you wear safety specs, especially if revolver shooting. Shooting the club's black powder pistol will ground you in two important activities in this or any other type of shooting: loading and cleaning. Since black powder loading can be dangerous I will cover the basics here, although this is no substitute for expert tuition. With the pistol at half-cock and the nipple (or nipples) without caps, use a new 4x2 to clean out the barrel. Do this thoroughly because if there is moisture, oil or black powder solvent left in the weapon when you fire it, the barrel may bulge, making it unsafe. Anyone who thinks this can't happen to them should think again because it's more common than many imagine. It leaves the shooter with a red face and also a large hole in his bank balance, because a gun with a bulged barrel is scrap. It happened to a club member I know when he was shooting a short Enfield that had cost him the thick end of £1,000, so it pays to do this preliminary job as thoroughly as possible.

Having made sure that the gun barrel is dry and clean, first shout "capping off" (as a precaution) then fire off a cap without loading a charge. It is probably best if shooting a revolver to ‘cap off' every cylinder.

Capping off is meant to clear the nipple of oil or any other residue which might have collected during storage. In practice, especially if the weapon hasn't been used for a while, this often doesn't get rid of the muck. It's advisable to clear the hole in the nipple before capping off. Another handy tip is to always store your firearm muzzle down, so that the residues run out of the barrel.

Loading a single shot pistol

Shooting any black powder weapon accurately depends upon the consistency achieved in loading. This is partly determined by the precision with which the charge is dispensed. Most black powder shooters use a funnel to deliver a quantity of powder to the bottom of the barrel from the powder flask. Loads vary but, with noise a consideration, you can achieve reasonable accuracy with a rifled pistol using a charge of 15gn. Having loaded the black powder charge, place a greased patch squarely over the muzzle. The commonest size for these is a thickness of 10 or 12 thousandths of an inch (‘thou'). Then place a ball on top of the patch, taking care to keep the patch central over the muzzle. Ram home the ball using the three-stage rammer (see picture). All that is required now is to set the weapon at half-cock, place a cap on the nipple, aim and fire.

Things become harder if the gun misfires. If this happens, place the firearm on the bench, muzzle up the range and seek help. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to clear it until you have an expert on hand. This section is advisory only, so that a shooter understands the principles involved in clearing a misfire. It is not meant to be a full set of instructions, nor act as an alternative to expert supervision.

Misfires occur for a number of reasons but the two commonest are either a blocked nipple or the shooter forgetting to load a charge. Before attempting to clear a misfired gun, leave it on the bench for a short period (at least a minute) to be sure there is no possibility it will fire. Black powder can be tricky and has been known to ignite without giving any warning. If the nipple is blocked you can remove it from the gun, clear and replace it and, with a new cap in place, the weapon should be OK. Before firing, be sure to ram the ball down on to the powder charge. If you have forgotten the charge, remove the nipple in the same way and insert a small (5gn) charge in the barrel through the nipple hole using a purpose-built flask. Replace and cap the nipple and fire the weapon. This will eject the ball, although it's good to have someone watching as it often doesn't sound as if anything has happened. You will only know the ball has been fired if someone has seen it go down the range. 5gn doesn't make a lot of noise and it doesn't move a .44 calibre ball very fast. Loading and clearing are probably the most potentially dangerous actions for a beginner. Do not try these without expert guidance.

Next month's article will deal with loading a revolver.

BEGINNING BLACK POWDER PART TWO: BACK TO BASICS

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BEGINNING BLACK POWDER PART TWO: BACK TO BASICS

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