From: "Richard Loweth", [EMAIL PROTECTED] I did a paper on this subject for the FCC. There were many central fire .22" cartridges the most "infamous" being the Short and Long Morris, In essence the Firearms Act seems to have relied on the fact that most who would have experience of the Act, either through drafting it, steering it through Parliament, or enforcing it would have had knowledge of what a Miniature Rifle was. Essentially it is a "rifle" firing cartridges either of .22 or 6mm calibre or one firing "miniature ammunition". So, what is this "miniature ammunition"? Is it perhaps that defined in the Rules of the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs: "A miniature cartridge may be rim fire or central fire, with projectile of any calibre not exceeding .23 of one inch or 6mm and in the case of bottle shaped cartridges the shells may not exceed .297 of one inch. The powder charge may not exceed 7 grains of black gunpowder, or its equivalent in any other explosive. The projectile must be lead, not cased with any other metal, and not exceeding 50 grains avoirdupois in weight." The SMRC further defines a Miniature Rifle as: "A miniature rifle may be any pattern, single loading or repeating, of any calibre not exceeding .22 of one inch or 6mm, or a rifle of larger calibre fitted with any device for firing miniature ammunition as defined in paragraph 4" (the paragraph I quote above). Interestingly the "rules" mention "miniature pistols" as clearly distinct from "miniature rifles". There is now no factory loaded central fire sub .23" cartridge that would be allowed under SMPC regulations. The .22" Hornet being, as sold both too powerful and loaded with a metal cased bullet. Interestingly .22" Rimfire Magnum also fails! The noted book of the contemporary period that deals with the matter "The Citizen Rifleman" clearly illustrates a self-loading rifle! The FCC did seem to take the "bait" that was offered by the police of people using .223" M-16 rifles etc...but clearly such a combination would not be what was intended by the 1920 Act, as the M-16 does not fire "miniature ammunition" and thus cannot be what the law-makers of 1920 would have termed a "miniature rifle". The police should read the sources of the law that they seek to castigate. -- Well I knew if I said that centrefire .22 was not popular in 1920 someone would write a long message telling me I was wrong. Such is the way of these things! Section 11 exempts you from Section 1 but not Section 5 so the argument that miniature rifle clubs would be shooting M16s is total nonsense. And frankly even if people were shooting centrefire rifles, so what? How often are centrefire rifles used in armed crime? However, there is a different point of view on the Isle of Man, as they have quite a large number of miniature rifle clubs and their legislation is very poorly worded. It does not for example ban self- loading "carbines", only rifles, and they haven't changed the definition of a machinegun to ban burst- fire guns either so I'm waiting for some smartarse to try showing up with an M4 carbine fitted with a .22LR conversion kit. (The IoM Police won't issue FACs for self-loading centrefire carbines or burst-fire firearms before anyone asks.) Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
