Thinking about a antique pistol advice please

[hamilton0729]

Hi I read in another post that you can shoot antique pistols anywhere you can shoot nr. If this is true what would be a good gun to buy? I'm not a collector so I'm guessing a remake or something. Would it be better to buy a rim fire and reload or a muzzle loader? I have never done either but am interested in starting just looking for something to liven up my plinking trips to crown land.

Thanks for reading

Mike

 

[LomondK]

Well. Technically yes you can shoot legally prescribed antique revolvers on crown land. There are a few issues with your post. First of all remakes don't qualify as antiques, they must be manufactured before 1898 . There is a whole list of calibers (the easily attainable commercially available calibers like .45 colt and 44-40 can not be classified as antique)
There is a sticky at the top here to explain what will qualify as an legal antique. Also just because it is technically legal you still have to be really careful, 99% of LEO's have no idea these laws even exist so you have to have your ducks in a row, know your laws and be able to explain yourself really well.
Not to be a downer I love shooting my antiques The cheapest functional antique revolvers are usually the .32 rim fires, the easiest for getting into reloading are the center fires. .455 webley and .44 russians are the simplest and usually easy to find components for (recently .455 brass has been hard to find)
Best advice I can give is do a lot of research about what you want before you start dropping money. There are a lot of guys on here with lots of info, and most are willing to share with somebody asking questions.

 

[Musketfire]

A solid old flintlock or percussion muzzleloading arm would be a great starting point. Maybe try a repro flintlock musket / carbine, It makes your initial learning curve waaay easier.

For the price of a "half way" antique revolver you can get a really really high quality flintlock long arm.

 

[haha49]

I shoot mine in the bush with no fear of the law then again I printed out the laws and have a letter stating it's antique because they all are. I don't shoot it often due to the fact you have to reload for it and it can be expensive to shoot added in I don't want to put more wear and tear on it.

Now what I'm not sure of is if it would be illegal to shoot it in my city limits due to them saying firearm not antique. The gun range is exempt of course so I shoot it there but it always made me wonder.

 

[Tyockell18]

I shoot mine in the bush with no fear of the law then again I printed out the laws and have a letter stating it's antique because they all are. I don't shoot it often due to the fact you have to reload for it and it can be expensive to shoot added in I don't want to put more wear and tear on it.

Now what I'm not sure of is if it would be illegal to shoot it in my city limits due to them saying firearm not antique. The gun range is exempt of course so I shoot it there but it always made me wonder.

Legal or not you would likely be in a world of schit.

 

[mooncoon]

I am not sure what you mean by a remake; are you talking of a rebuilt antique starting with one in poor condition or are you talking about a modern copy of an antique? Also if you are buying one simply so you can shoot a pistol in the bush, I think a person is wise to use a tremendous amount of discretion of how and where they are shooting. It may be legal but most people seeing you, including police and game wardens will not know that. Also in reply to the question of shooting in the city because it is not a firearm, that is not completely true. The gun is not a firearm for the purposes of registration and licensing but it is a firearm for the purposes of storage and transport and also if used in a criminal fashion.

If you are knowledgeable of what you are doing, an antique muzzle loading handgun is probably the cheapest option. The counter to that is that most or many are in poor condition and to be useful, require that you have the knowledge and ability to recognize and repair the problems.

Your other relatively low expense choice would be one of the medium to large caliber rimfires, They can be shot but there is a learning curve plus usually need a bit of knowledge in creating your own ammunition.

The most expensive option is one of the various centerfire revolvers and a browse through the EE will give you an idea of how much they are running but figure on starting around $1000 and going up. The advantage is that they are easier to load for and shoot

cheers mooncoon

 

[haha49]

Legal or not you would likely be in a world of schit.

Of course you would have to be stupid do it but it made me wonder legally what could they do I know they would arrest you take you away find out latter they can't charge you charge you with other things and if used in a crime it's a firearm but what if you didn't use it in a crime and didn't transport it. For transport handguns have to be in a locked case for Prescribed antique firearms but not trigger locked. I wouldn't want to find out but I thought about it.

I've let police officers shot my antique firearms at the range and I got some small restricted pistols as well they were surprised it wasn't a 12.6 it made them want to get one.

It may be legal to walk to the range with an unloaded rifle on your back but you shouldn't do that in the city in a small town no one cares big city be ready to be kicked in the head.

 

[dingus]

As mooncoon says use the antique in and ilegal way the antique non firearm becomes a restricted or prohib modern handgun in the eyes of the law.
So as to what they could do if someone was shooting a antique in the city id say as much as if you were shooting a 1911 45 auto modern pistol.

 

[hamilton0729]

Thanks for all the replies I'm going to do a lot more homework before I dive in I was planning on using it at my hunt camp its pretty secluded. Been reading the stickies lots of great info there and browsed the EE the centerfires are pricey but I have even seen guys selling brass and lead with them so that's any easy way to get started.

 

[tokguy]

44 special and 44 Russian are the easy calibers IMO.
I used cut-down 44 Magnum brass in a 44 Russian with some success. Not perfect by any means; I've since acquired proper Starline 44 Russian brass which is much better.

 

[jethunter]

Hi I read in another post that you can shoot antique pistols anywhere you can shoot nr. If this is true what would be a good gun to buy? I'm not a collector so I'm guessing a remake or something. Would it be better to buy a rim fire and reload or a muzzle loader? I have never done either but am interested in starting just looking for something to liven up my plinking trips to crown land.

Thanks for reading

Mike

A good one for you would be something that you can afford and that you can get ammo for. If you don't reload the options are very narrow.

455 webley revolvers - $1500-$2000 range for a shooting condition revolver. Factory 455 ammo is available occasionally. Reloading is easy and components are usually available. Some of the webley pistols were modified to use 45acp brass but this is still a reloading only project because full power 45acp is not recommended for these old pistols.

8mm French Service Revolver - aka 8mm Lebel revolver. $1000-$1300. Factory ammo occasionally available, reloading components are available intermittently. Reloading is best with this one.

32 rimfire: lots of revolvers from various makers available but factory ammo hasn't been made for 50 or more years. Some old stock catridges show up occasionally for sale but big$$$. Hard to reload but here are kits for it.

44 Russian revolvers: A few S&W revolvers around in the $15-$2500 range. Easy to load for but factory ammo is scarce.

44 special: some old colt SAA sixguns have been rebuilt with new 44 special cylinders and barrels. $4000-$5000. Factory ammo and reloading components available.

There are bunch more but these are the most commonly available.

 

[mooncoon]

A good one for you would be something that you can afford and that you can get ammo for. If you don't reload the options are very narrow.
.

I think in most cases, shooting antiques requires a desire, willingness and knowledge of how to form and reload for a normally obsolete or difficult to obtain cartridge. Most obsolete cartridges can be formed from something current, in my experience

cheers mooncoon

 

[twosteam]

Please remember not to shoot "hot" loads from these treasures. You could destroy a fine piece of history as they are not built out of modern metals, you could be hurt too but that is not as serious a concern.

Hi I read in another post that you can shoot antique pistols anywhere you can shoot nr. If this is true what would be a good gun to buy? I'm not a collector so I'm guessing a remake or something. Would it be better to buy a rim fire and reload or a muzzle loader? I have never done either but am interested in starting just looking for something to liven up my plinking trips to crown land.

Also remember that a copy of an antique does not qualify under antique regulations.


jan.

 

[drslav]

Now what I'm not sure of is if it would be illegal to shoot it in my city limits due to them saying firearm not antique. The gun range is exempt of course so I shoot it there but it always made me wonder.

I would not attempt this. Most city by laws prohibit discharging any type of firearms. Some even cause you trouble for firing a pellet gun.

 

[Fig33]

The City of London, prohibits the discharge of any firearms or bows within the city limits-laid out in the 1999 city bylaws. Within the bylaws London defines firearms as such:

'Firearm-defined "Firearm" means a barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing bodily injury or death to a person, and includes any frame or receiver of such a barrelled weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm, including air guns, spring-guns, or any class or type thereof'

This pretty much covers everything, they also have a broad definition of bow weapons and air powered weapons.

 

[drslav]

I imagine this applies to most if not all cities.

 

[Win 38-55]

Another important piece of knowledge one requires when reloading for antiques is a good understanding and knowledge of what is safe and what is not. The tensile strength of the steel in most antiques is much lower than the tensile strength of modern repros.

 

[Infideliceman]

Dingus wrote "As mooncoon says use the antique in and ilegal way the antique non firearm becomes a restricted or prohib modern handgun in the eyes of the law.
So as to what they could do if someone was shooting a antique in the city id say as much as if you were shooting a 1911 45 auto modern pistol". This is not quite correct, if you fire an antique within the City or Town limits there would techically be NO offense unless the by-law addressed the issue of antiques being discharged. Most by-laws state that you cannot discharge a "firearm" within City limits, antiques are NOT firearms under criminal law and can NEVER become one. If you use an antique to commit an offense such as an assault the antique will be consderd a weapon same as a baseball bat would be if it was used as a weapon in the commission of an offense but an antique can never be classified as a firearm and as such is different if you discharged a modern Colt 1911. One is a firearm and one is an antique, that is the law. I would not want to challenge the issue but at the end of the day, which would be a day off much confussion you could not be legaly charged. There are however several criminal laws they could try and lay in you such a reckless endangerment and several other such laws but unless you antique hurt someone it would be a very far stretch to charge you.

 

[Infideliceman]

In the City of London the charge and or offense in this case would be a municipal fine or matter and NOT a Provincial or Federal matter and as such would not involve a record of any type. Breaking this by- law would be no more severe than not taking the weeds out of your lawn. You could legally transport or carry your antique and until it is discharged no offense will have been committed. The Firearms Act says that the antique must be transported unloaded in a locked box, and displayed unloaded that's it. The argument would be is if it was on your hip are you transporting it or not. My lawyer says that technically if it is on your person you are not transporting it since it is part of your attire. Make sure you have a good lawyer if you put it on your hip, mine is in my motorcycle saddle bag ALL the time, unloaded in a locked box.

 

[Fig33]

This is from the Mississauga firearms bylaw
““Firearm” means any barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet, missile or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing bodily injury or death to a person, and includes anything that can be adapted for the use as a firearm, and for the purpose of this by-law includes a slingshot, a spring gun, air gun, paint ball gun and air soft gun”

Which is virtually identical to the City of London bylaw but includes air soft and slingshots.
These cities use the municipal act to define what they consider to be a firearm within their city limits. They define ‘firearms’ as any ‘barrelled weapon’ not any ‘barrelled firearm’ and antiques would fall under this purview. Regardless that an antique is not classified as a ‘firearm’ for purposes of federal firearm legislation, at least within these two municipalities they would be considered a ‘firearm’ for purposes of their municipal code. Antique firearms would meet the municipal definitions, as an antique firearm is a ‘barrelled weapon’ from which ‘any…projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing bodily injury’.