alahol2
Well-known member
That's the main reason I keep mine, no flare disposal problems.
European Firearms Certifcate Very pistol
- Thread starter bendyone
- Start date
That's the main reason I keep mine, no flare disposal problems.
Plum
Well-known member
Useful, thanks but you are refering to a European certificate and not a UK certificate? I did not know there was a European one. Where was the chage announced? I can't find anything on a search.
chrishscorp
Well-known member
I saw 2 for sale and did enquire but it all sounded rather complicated, if a friend can purchase and transport who has a FAC and you could obtain ammunition it may be worth a revisit.
Plum
Well-known member
Unles you are a trader you cannot buy or carry the pistol or its ammunition unless those items are already listed on your firearms certificate. You have to buy from a uk dealer who then stores the pistol for you until you have that specific pistol/serial number listed on your certificate. The certificate must also state the max number of cartridges you can possess at one time. With all the paperwork done you can then go and collect from the dealer. So, yes, a complicated process but the certificate is free (providing it is exclusively for safety equipment/emergency signalling)
Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
[163233]
...
The answer on the euro certificate after brexit, and assuming no other agreements. Is the same as for US boats that go round tooled up, you declare it when you clear in and then it's up to them. I believe some countries will hold firearms until you clear out which would require returning to the place that's holding it.
They equally might not be worried and let you roam their ports like a 16th century pirate with a couple tucked into your pants.
They equally might not be worried and let you roam their ports like a 16th century pirate with a couple tucked into your pants.
Graham376
Well-known member
Gary Fox
N/A
It makes you wonder why flares have expiry dates, set at an arbitrary-sounding five years. Ikaros and Pains-Wessex must be cashing it in.
Meanwhile, flare pistol cartridges, despite more explosive propellant, don't have expiry dates..whoops what a giveaway, sounds like we are being conned.
Graham376
Well-known member
Some expired flares I've let off in the past on bonfire night (well away from the sea) have been pink rather than red so colour seems to degrade with age. Only one parachute refused to fire but that could have been faulty from new.
alahol2
Well-known member
Flare cartridges are very well sealed, alloy casing and some sort of resin over the business end. no cardboard in sight.
I've still got a box of old flares dating from the seventies which would probably still work but I'm not inclined to carry them on the boat. Too small a garden and too close to the sea to give them a go on bonfire night. I really should mention them in my will.
[163233]
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They might have always been pink...
Porthandbuoy
Well-known member
Old parachute flares can still be burning when they land. If you ‘dispose’ of them well inland there is a chance of setting a house or barn on fire.
nortada
Well-known member
When firing, point them into wind. They go higher so less likely to reach the ground. Plus the parachute may land close to you for subsequent disposal.
Plum
Well-known member
Then your experience is different to mine. I point slightly down wind. This is what the manufacturers say (Pains Wessex). The rocket flare is steered by the force of the wind on the burning exhaust tail. In fact, if you point into the wind on a VERY windy day the rocket will turn and point directly into the wind and fly horizontally at low altitude and the parachute flare will descend several hundred metres away from your position.
www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
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Porthandbuoy
Well-known member
You must have a death wish! That is contrary to all manufacturer's advice. My point isn't one of technique, merely my experience of disposing of old parachute flares on the in-laws farm in the middle of Shropshire. Never again, the damn thing was still burning when it hit the ground. An in-date flare will be extinguished well before it lands.
Fr J Hackett
Well-known member
True story, a friend decided to fire an OOD parachute flare on a bonfire night, it came down a few hundreds of meters away near some houses. Shortly after we had retired indoors we heard a fire engine it turned out it wasn't near it was in the middle of a group of houses and set fire to a garden shed. He kept very quiet about it.
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
They are designed to burn all the way down; it isn't because it was out-of-date; an in-date flare would also still be burning when it landed. A parachute flare should NEVER be used on land unless you're in the middle of miles of desert or a lake; there's too high a chance of setting something on fire.
As an aside, someone once posted photos on here of the mess that was made when a still-burning parachute flare landed in a yacht's cockpit.
Blue Sunray
Well-known member
Oh dear I've been using them over land for decades and only occasionally has this involved desert or lakes, never mind.
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
I wonder if there are different kinds? The marine ones certainly burn all the way down, and as I noted, there have been instances of boats being damaged as a result of parachute flares landing on them. But perhaps military flares or ones used for mountain rescue have a shorter burn time so they don't land while burning.
Porthandbuoy
Well-known member
I've never had to fire an in-date parachute flare, thank goodness, but at a boat show many many years ago a Pains-Wessex rep told me they should extinguish before hitting the water, after all, you wouldn't want a still burning flare landing in your liferaft.
Gary Fox
N/A
How can the exhaust gases, having departed from the rocket and being unattached to it, have any ability to steer the rocket?
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