FAC Interview First Grant

[RDC]

By all means quote reduced noise, and if you like, reduced perceived recoil for moderators. Suggest avoid "health and safety" lest some bright spark gets the idea of making them compulsory.

Agreed. The 'health and safety' line is easily bypassed by the question "Do you wear ear defenders/ear protection?" Most people would say yes. The FEO then chips in with "So why do you need a moderator?"

This is not a hypothetical situation - it happened to me in Cheshire a few years ago.

I don't doubt it did happen to you, from what I can gather different forces have different opinions.

From my understandIng though, PPE is a last resort in health and safety. Yes, everyone should be wearing hearing protection. However where reasonably practicable, noise should be reduced at source as much as possible before resorting to PPE.

Reasonably practicable is a matter of cost as much as capability. Therefore it can't be forced on everyone to buy expensive moderators for their rifles as the cost may simply be too much for them. However if someone is willing to reduce noise at source with one then it shouldn't be refused by the issuing authority.

Lancashire, apparently, only used to issue moderators to hunters and so my club insisted I'd get the same response you did.

[Mattnall]

And then you'll get the; "well, if you find shooting so noisy have your moderator, but you can only shoot on a range where all the firearms are also suitable moderated."

Or take up golf.

[GeeRam]

I can see them asking why you want 2 almost identical rifles for gallery. Have an answer waiting for that

I'd agree with this......you usually want to stay with the one calibre for that anyway.
And possibly be prepared for which slot you will give up if they do knock you back to 5.

I actually got quized as to what justification I had for wanting a 45LC slot, and explained it was for gallery rifle. Why do you want that, most people use 357 was the reply. He was a bit perplexed when I said, I wanted a period calibre to go with the period rifle, and as the rifle I wanted wasn't available in the 'correct' 44-40 calibre, 45LC it was going to be.

My FEO wasn't a shooter though

[IainWR]

I can see them asking why you want 2 almost identical rifles for gallery. Have an answer waiting for that

I'd agree with this......you usually want to stay with the one calibre for that anyway.
And possibly be prepared for which slot you will give up if they do knock you back to 5.

I actually got quized as to what justification I had for wanting a 45LC slot, and explained it was for gallery rifle. Why do you want that, most people use 357 was the reply. He was a bit perplexed when I said, I wanted a period calibre to go with the period rifle, and as the rifle I wanted wasn't available in the 'correct' 44-40 calibre, 45LC it was going to be.

My FEO wasn't a shooter though

It's an interesting point. A .357 or a .44 could both easily be justified for GR, and two centrefire rifles for GR isn't difficult to justify - different setup, spare gun, nuances of rules and other reasons. So I feel I could proceed against a refusal of two centrefire GR rifles that was based on the "you have one - why do you need two?" argument, and I've done that (successfully, without court action) as part of a discussion on a holding of some tens of firearms. But it's not one I've had to do on a first issue.

Iain

[pbrazendale]

Thanks for the pints regarding the gallery rifles I'm going to push for both, if I get blocked or have to drop one then it will be most likely the .44 as the .357 is cheaper to feed.

Really looking forward to getting up and running now :-)


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[daman]

As above, get the biccies in, be open and honest.

I was limited to five on initial grant, the FEO just asked me which one I'd like to cross off from my wishlist. No problem getting further slots after a year though, so unless you have lots of cash to buy everything at once it's not a big issue.

Have you got your storage sorted, as understandably they like to see you have security in place?

[Triffid]

My suggestion is to be as enthusiastic as you can. Take any question or statement by your FEO as a chance to display your knowledge and love of shooting. Avoid Yes & No answers if you can.

So if asked about your 357 vs 44 rifles, my answer would be that yes on the surface they appear similar and of course both cartridges were developed and designed by Elmer Keith, but for my use they quite different. At longer ranges I like the flatter shooting 357 . . it's got a 100 yard drop of 4.5 inches compared to the nineteen inch drop of the 44, down to the different ballistic co-efficients of the bullets. Plus it's cheaper to feed of course - ammo is £37 per hundred as opposed to £60 for the 44. However the 44 comes into its own at shorter ranges: there a scoring advantage of the .428" bullet diameter over the .356" plus when I'm in a skittles competition the .44 is that much more authoritative.

. . .take a breath and the FEO looks up in hope that I've finished . . .

"But then of course the rifles I'm hoping to get are very different too" I continue . . . and launch into the comparative merits of the Marlin vs the Henry not forgetting a bit of invective about the 'Remlins'. . . Or perhaps the Ruger M77-44.

Ten minutes later, the FEO's eyes are glazed over, they makes a note into their file and shuts it pointedly. BUT DON'T STOP THERE, keep going, once you've got him (or her) on the run, you need to press your advantage. Ask whether he/she thinks the .22 ammo limit that you applied for is enough and when you get the obligatory neutral response, you can then launch into an explanation of the relative merits of different kinds of .22 for each rimfire.

My FEO once made the mistake of asking why I used so little full-bore ammunition. Two hours later I'd run through the whole reloading process with him. I know that the Badger takes a similar approach to me, but he's much, much better at it.

Triffid

[Blackstuff]

OR just say you need one gallery rifle for iron-sight divisions/competitions and one for open/optics division/competitions....

[Rockhopper]

What ammunition have you asked for and what quantities? In my (limited) experience this will be the area they'll like to reduce for an initial grant.
Don't use cost as a reason to justify large quantities though.

[pbrazendale]

Thanks Triffid some interesting facts there.

In terms of ammo I've asked for 1200 .22LR and 300 for each centrefire calibre.

I didn't want to go more than this as I thought it was likely to get knocked back.


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