a question for UK collectors

I would like to ask a question that is directed towards our UK compatriots on mp40modelguns.

Would you rather have real, live firing firearms or ersatz imitations of them? Just curious about the feelings of our British counterparts that's all.

Well the real thing of course and a lot of us had the real thing back in the good old days, however machine guns were never allowed and never would be so modelguns fill a gap there and you dont need to be on a range to fire them.
Yes i would still like to be able to fire the real thing but i would still buy model guns and airsoft for a few reasons.
1. Its the only way to own a full auto thompson etc
2. i would never be allowed to own as large a collecton of real firearms
3. cost, i could never afford to own the same in real firearms
4. you can fire them indoors

We envy you guys in the states, although you have some strange laws in different states but as much as i miss the real thing i love modelguns they are great fun, just bloody time consuming.

claymore wrote:

Well the real thing of course and a lot of us had the real thing back in the good old days, however machine guns were never allowed and never would be so modelguns fill a gap there and you dont need to be on a range to fire them.
Yes i would still like to be able to fire the real thing but i would still buy model guns and airsoft for a few reasons.
1. Its the only way to own a full auto thompson etc
2. i would never be allowed to own as large a collecton of real firearms
3. cost, i could never afford to own the same in real firearms
4. you can fire them indoors

We envy you guys in the states, although you have some strange laws in different states but as much as i miss the real thing i love modelguns they are great fun, just bloody time consuming.

Cerwyn wrote:

I'm with claymore on this one. Having recently taken up rifle target shooting, the "real things" are fun and exciting but the restrictions on what we can have here are really tight.
I have a semi-auto .22LR, the only semi auto I can own. I've been lucky enough to fire bolt and lever action rifles in .223" .357" .44" .308" and .338" amongst others but as good as they are a modelgun allows me to own and fire a full automatic sub machine gun which is the only way I could ever experience full auto.

I sympathize with your plight, it is a bit extreme to ban 70% of the guns though. For recreational uses they have much potential.

On the other hand though, I envy you guys because you can get full auto deactivated guns that we cannot. (MK17, F2000, EVO Scorpion, just to name a few) Here we can only get full auto guns manufactured before 1986.

Not really a collector, but a film maker. For film making I would rather have the models, much safer.
However, I am also a competitive shooter. We are basically confined to rifles and shotguns, but I would love to be able to shoot pistols in this country.

Just over a year ago, I moved from SW England to the Isle of Man. A location probably unknown to non-UK residents, (unless they're bikers!)The Island is substantially autonomous - it's NOT part of the EU, your British mobile phone won't work here, unless you've arranged for "roaming". We have the world's oldest democracy, dating back to Viking time We sit in the middle of the Irish sea, close enough to SEE England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland on a clear day, andwe have our OWN flag, banknotes and parliament, known as the Tynwald. We adopt some English laws... and some we don't. We still have dog licenses! And we have firearms certificates too. I can legally buy and use firearms here that are totally banned in England, like a REAL Walther P38, or a SMLE.

I brought with me a collection of modelguns, airsofts, deacts... because I find firearms fascinating. James Bond's Walther PPK  is roughly the same age as my mother (and I'm coming up to the age where I get a free bus-pass) but it's still regarded as "sexy". The Sten gun was churned out in vast numbers - seventy five years ago! - and it STILL does the job it was designed to do. The Colt SAA is thought to be the machine with the longest production run in history... There ARE no other machines of a similar age which still work, in significant numbers.

Your new location makes the phrase 'No man is an Island' rather redundant.