Say goodbye to another rare rifle

Those aussies are at it again, this time its a 1914 volley sight equiped rifle marked 1MD, thats a rare stamp to have on a rifle, Queensland MD, not in the league of a trial rifle, but far from common just the same, and its on an early rifle, or was..

SMLE Wood Set - Complete with front Volley Sight - eBay (item 200481490997 end time Jun-14-10 02:18:20 PDT)

What is it with aussies doing this all the time? Last year it was a 1913 Lithgow with volley sights, already broken down for the wood parts on ebay, I could choke:bash:.

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Originally Posted by RJW NZ

Those aussies are at it again, this time its a 1914 volley sight equiped rifle marked 1MD, thats a rare stamp to have on a rifle, Queensland MD, not in the league of a trial rifle, but far from common just the same, and its on an early rifle, or was..

SMLE Wood Set - Complete with front Volley Sight - eBay (item 200481490997 end time Jun-14-10 02:18:20 PDT)

What is it with aussies doing this all the time? Last year it was a 1913 Lithgow with volley sights, already broken down for the wood parts on ebay, I could choke:bash:.

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It's just a crappy old range rifle busted up for parts. A 1914 EFD receiver with a missmatched heavy Lithgow barrel. Nup, it was nothing.
The bits being sold aren't much more... foreend heavily sanded, profiled channel for H barrel.... English nosecap, coachwood handguard, the butts are a little interesting, but neither were original to the rifle they came off anyway.

Just a quick look, I may have missed something....

Australian gun ownership laws do not take into account any historical value of a firearm.

To be licenced to own a battle rifle such as a SMLE, you must either maintain active membership of a rifle club or have permission from a farmer to shoot on his property. If you want to buy an additional rifle you must be able to justify the purchase, with a letter of approval from your club, or friendly farmer.

State laws govern the possession and use of firearms in Australia. These laws were largely aligned under the 1996 National Agreement on Firearms. Anyone wishing to possess or use a firearm must have a Firearms Licence and, with some exceptions, be over the age of 18. Owners must have secure storage for their firearms.

Before someone can buy a firearm, he or she must obtain a Permit To Acquire. The first permit has a mandatory 28 day delay before it is first issued. In some states (e.g. Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales), this is waived for second and subsequent firearms of the same class. For each firearm a "Genuine Reason" must be given, relating to pest control, hunting, target shooting, or collecting. Self-defense is not accepted as a reason for issuing a licence, though it may be legal under certain circumstances to use a legally-held firearm for self-defence. [4]

Each firearm in Australia must be registered to the owner by serial number. Some states allow an owner to store or borrow another person's registered firearm of the same category. (Sourced from Wikipedia)

For some people maintaining ownership is to onerous, so instead of selling the firearm via used guns they destroy it and sell of the parts to get some cash. Barrels and receivers have to be handed into the police.

Whilst there is a licence category for collectors, for most people it is just too hard - probably by design.

I have now been waiting 5 weeks to get approval for No 4 MK 2. I was told yesterday, that it will probably take at least 3 more weeks to gain approval. Owning a rifle here is seen by the authorites to be more of a privilege that a right.

Paul

Paul, that sounds very similar to UK law.

Interesting that owners will destroy rather than sell - is that because the process of validating a purchasers authority to purchase/own is difficult, that there is a risk of prosecution if either party fraudulently makes a purchase or does not register the sale/purchase or that the transfer process is simply too complicated?

Honestly, if the bore was really good, it was a two hundred dollar rifle. With a range sight, a Central or Rawson etc it may have pulled $350.
As suggested, add to the $200 the buyer's expense for the permit to acquire ($30) and the transfer ownership fee (usually $20 or so, have seen $50 charged) and all of a sudden the junky old rifle isn't even worth the sum of it's parts. Advertising it for sale, waiting for a buyer, waiting for the buyer to get a permit.... yes, the laws have made firearm ownership too hard for a lot of people.

He'll get his $250 for the auction bits, hand the receiver in at the local police station for free and be in front a few bucks and only take a few days for the process. The gun didn't have any real value, so you couldn't accuse the seller of busting up a collectable.

Paulseamus- the wiki reference is close to right in most cases, but things aren't quite that bad in NSW

The collectors licence does not allow you to fire a firearm held on that licence. That's probably why a lot don't bother with them. It's fairly easy to get though, and not difficult to conform to the rules to keep. :beerchug:

Sad to hear about the difficulty in collecting firearms in Australia. Here in my state of Nebraska, USA, My wife and I can possess as many firearms as we care to own. No permission is necesary from the Govt. We just have to have our names run though the system first to see if we're wanted for anything. We're not. If bought from an individual collector or owner who isn't a lisenced dealer, we don't have to do any paper work at all. Just cash and carry. Ammunition is another thing that isn't regulated. One can buy many cases of their favorite ammo and stack it away without any problems. You're allowed to purchase up to 50 pounds of black powder at a time and aren't required to limit yourself to any amount stored around your premises. The same goes for smokeless powder, bullets and primers if you hand load your own ammo. With the correct permit and after paying a 300.00 tax stamp or so, one can even purchase and own fully automatic firearms too as long as one passes the Federal Background check first to make sure that the purchaser isn't a wanted criminal or just released from an Insane Asylum. Such firearms are really expensive now though and so only the big collectors with deep pockets will collect and shoot such things. Laws are laws though and one has to abide my them all or change them by popular vote.

Actually, there is one state permit required in Nebraska.
The "Firearm Purchase Certificate" is necessary to acquire a handgun and also allows purchase of a long gun without the federal background check.
Some individuals also want to see it before selling a pistol in a private sale, although it's not required.
Still, compared to the Former Empire, it's all beer and skittles.
-----krinko