Verey Pistol - Are they still available?

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tarik

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Have recently checked my flare locker - majority out of date - one was issued to Noah.

I would be very intereted in getting rid of my flares and replacing them with a Verey Pistol and set of flares.

Can anybody tell me if they are still available - I'm aware of the need for firearm certificate etc.. What price etc..

As usual many thanks for all replies.


David
 
Not THAT hard...

I took up target rifle shooting last year, and applied for an Fire Arms Certificate and a shotgun license at the same time. They looked askance at my application for a couple of reasons (i.e., I'm an American on an Irish passport mainly), but the interviewing officer came to my house, and spotted the Baltic horseshoes and old CQR anchor that decorate our back garden (don't ask), and immediately asked if I sailed. After an hour of talking about what and where I wanted to shoot, he eventually said he had no problem with me getting a gun as part of my ship's equipment, and recommended a Verey pistol with a shell adapter for 12 gauge shells.

It took a few months to get the FAC overall, but it is quite possible if you have no criminal record and can afford the application fees (about £70).
 
Advantages are:-

1) Ease of firing.

2) All flare types fire the same way, so you don't need to read instructions to find out how to do it.

3) Far less risk of getting burned.

The problem with the American flare pistols is that they are 12 gauge, and would probably fire ordinary 12 bore shotgun cartridges, thus the UK authorities would class them as a handgun and they would not even be allowed on an FAC. What we need is a design of flare firing apparatus that is safe to use, and detonates the flares with a firing pin just like a gun, but which cannot be used to fire projectiles. Surely it is not beyond the abilities of the flare manufacturers to come up with a design, and preferably one that holds the flare well away from the operator.
 
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dulcibella said:
I'll settle for the nanny state on this issue if it avoids the US level of killings by firearms.
Click to expand...

You may have the wrong end of the stick altogether.

Now consider a scenario in which the hidden agenda is to effectively disarm the public in order to render it defenceless and hence docile.
 
Not wishing to comment on present firearms policy, but it seems ineffective against the criminals who wish to use guns. Historically, firearms registration was originally introduced by a government which was concerned that a revolution was imminent and wanted to know where the guns were... strangely, that was not the reason given to the populace at the time!

I gave up my certificate when the demands for "safe" storage meant that a thief would need a thermic lance to steal an underlever rifle. of course, the ammunition would kill the thief as he cut his way in. Ridiculous!

Rob.
 
The fact is however that some 44% of all gun related deaths in the US are suicides
39K deaths in total, 17K suicide (2008 figures) I have no information, as to how many are felony related, how many are killed by law enforcement and how many are accidental. My belief is that the American male finds it easier to commit suicide by firearm than murder someone. IMHO it is better for the farmer to go out into the barn with a shotgun than jump under a tube train and traumatising so many unrelated people. I had two friends commit suicide by hanging and I'm not sure how quick it was.
Admittedly, a 12 bore Very pistol is capable of firing shotgun cartridges, but having a badly bruised shoulder from discharging a shotgun when I was 16, I personally would not want to discharge with say a brennecker load.
 
We have an old Verey pistol and shells that we carry on the boat. The FAC is relatively easy to obtain. You have to show somewhere safe where it will be stored in the home, ours is in a steel box, padlocked and bolted to the rafters in the loft. You also need somewhere similar on the boat, ours is in an old .22 amunition box bolted into an under berth locker, this was never inspected.
One big advantage of the pistol shells is that there is no expiry date on them. A big disadvantage of the shells is that they are very difficult (maybe impossible now) to obtain. Of course, it's also prudent to carry some smokes for daylight ID.
As stated, the FAC is free.
 
Norman_E said:
Advantages are:-

1) Ease of firing.

2) All flare types fire the same way, so you don't need to read instructions to find out how to do it.

3) Far less risk of getting burned.

The problem with the American flare pistols is that they are 12 gauge, and would probably fire ordinary 12 bore shotgun cartridges, thus the UK authorities would class them as a handgun and they would not even be allowed on an FAC. What we need is a design of flare firing apparatus that is safe to use, and detonates the flares with a firing pin just like a gun, but which cannot be used to fire projectiles. Surely it is not beyond the abilities of the flare manufacturers to come up with a design, and preferably one that holds the flare well away from the operator.
Click to expand...

There used to be just such a thing. A holder that took a hexagonal drum with 6 shells that you manually indexed to locate over the firing pin which was armed by a pull cord tensioning a spring, released by a trigger. Cartridges were available in red or white. You needed a firearms certificate (free one) and they limited the amount of 'ammunition' you could hold or buy at any one time. I had one for some years but eventually handed it in when local plod made it too much hassle to renew the licence and replacement cartridges were no longer available. I think it was call 'Dial-a-Star' and was originally forces gear sold by Royal Ordnance?
 
Fire Arms Certificate

I have never had any trouble getting and then renewing my firearms certificate for my verey pistol, having it for pyrotechnic reasons is good enough. You do, though, need helpful friends prepared to swear that you are not a terrorist etc. and also prepared to take the time to fill in the forms.

To be honest, I keep it for sentimental reasons; the flares are not very powerful nor particularly visible. In a real emergency I would go for the the largest rockets I could lay my trembling hands on.
 
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