BigCIllAodain wrote: »

Whats the most exotic or unusual pistol or rifle you've seen or fired?

Ammo wise nothing unusual, a good few .22LR in dedicated semi autos, .22 Clones (1911) and a few centre fires with rim fire convertion kit add ons. Centre fires were all 9mm- Browning Automatic Pistol (nasty little jumpy sh1t), Beretta M9 (too big for my small hands) and the HK USP ( nice piece of kit)......
.....but the most exotic handgun I've fired is an WWII issued Pistole Parabellum 9mm Lugar. That was the dogs' to fire, it was snappy in the hand but the fit and feel was beautiful.

I'd say you could turn a few heads!

My last modern (circa 2001) firearm, a Baikel MP 153, a plastic monster, resides besides its slightly younger sibling, the short lived Mauser 96 American ( an unusual design) alot more wood and steel then plastic, but still some to be found (like an aging socialite). They keep a rather nice if not tired French o/u company that dates to around 1980 give or take. Another unusual design feature with its trigger set up - double trigger but the first trigger can be used as a single trigger, discharging each barrel with separate pulls.
My .22 Brno is getting on in age pushing 50 years and still as accurate as the day I got it 33 years ago with its original magazine, there's no plastic to be seen. While lastly my BSA Majestic Feather Weight (previously discussed with you ) is nearly due its old age pension and bus pass coming up to its 60th year and still bowling over deer and boar.

Now I know you can put them all in the ha'penny place, so for us who have some nostalgia please feel free to tell us more.

By the way do you have a few modern day (100 years new) full/ big bore stuff?

cookimonster wrote: »

Now I know you can put them all in the ha'penny place, so for us who have some nostalgia please feel free to tell us more.

By the way do you have a few modern day (100 years new) full/ big bore stuff?

Save me getting them out -

1 x 1862 Three-band Snider .577 Snider cal rifle, saw service in the last Fenian revolt in Canada in the late 1870s, owned by a family member who was in the 44th Battalion of Infantry, Welland & Lincoln Militia.

1 x 1862 Two-band Snider Short rifle in .577 Snider, issued to Québec Garrison Artillery of the Citadelle, Quebec City. Pre-Confederation, this rifle has no DC in diamond stamps. You can see me shooting it on Youtube - tac's guns - Snider.

1 x 1897-built Ludwig Loewe Mauser carbine in 7x57, property of Piet Huijsen, who surrendered it after the Battle of Korannafontein on May 10 1901, page 264 of David Goerge' book 'Carved rifles of the Veldt'.

1 x 1898-built 6.5x55 Swedish Carl Gustaf m/96 service rifle with ultra-rare inter-war Wehrmann peep-sight.

1 x Mauser Model B in 7x57 recovered from Rhodesia in 1990.

1 x BSA .22 Model 2 rifle in unique take-down format by Alexander Martin of Glasgow, passed down from the original family.

1 x Swiss K11 7.5x55 carbine.

1 x Walther Model 2 semi-auto .22 rifle with original x2.5 scope dated around 1930-ish.

1 x Walther DSM .22cal from around 1937, sadly bubba'ed in the early 1950s.

1 x Mauser ES350B .22 rifle with matching 2.5 Ajack scope from 1937.

1 x Swiss 7.5x55 K31 carbine - with choice of Swiss Products diopter sights or x4 Weaver scopes various, on no-drill clamp-on mounts.

1 x 1957 .22cal BSA Martini International MkII, left-hand, with 1952 x18 Unertl Supertarget calibrated head scope.

1 x 1960 .22cal BSA International MkII with one-off laminated thumbhole stock and Tasco T707 x16 scope.

1 x late 1960's K31-actioned .308 Win 300m target rifle with Schults & Larsen barrel, W+F and Gehmann front and rear sights.

1 x 1972 Parker-Hale .577cal muzzle-loading Musketoon black powder short rifle.

1 x 1986 Krico 650SS practical/tactical .308Win rifle with 8 - 32x56 Nightforce NSX illuminated reticle scope.

1 x 1986 Ruger Old Army .44cal black powder stainless steel revolver.

1 x 2002 Ruger Super Redhawk UK mainland compliant .357Mag stainless steel revolver with Burris 2 - 7x35 scope.

1 x 1963 Anschutz Model 1409 .22 target rifle with Tasco x18 T707 scope.

1 x Uberti Winchester High-wall single shot rifle in .45-7-Government. New in 2015.

Seems there's twenty. Sorry 'bout that.

Lots over in the USA but they are not mine any more.

GolfVI wrote: »

Fired a ww1 Vickers Machine Gun used in the Irish war of Independence

That's hard to beat but I give you an 8mm Nambu pistol and a 1916 vintage German Imperial Armaments Factory Erfurt Luger in 9mm Parabellum..

The Luger was in amazing condition and the precision engineering of it is astonishing. The Nambu looked and felt like something out of a Provo or UDA clandestine workshop in the eighties.

LAR Grizzly 45 Win magnum mk1[hence the boards.ie moniker]. Lovely gun if you have big hands[I do] and plenty of noise out of too.

A copy of "the Terminator" pistol.AMT stainless longslide 1911 45 ACP with API predator lazer sight.State of the art stuff back in the late 80s.Thing was as big as a pistol scope today.But nice to shoot, the longslide really brought the 45 flip down to that of a .22.IE nothing

Mauser 1898 Broom handle"schnell feuer"[full auto ]M12 pistol. Utter waste of time without the buttstock holster,and even then barely controllable.

Those would stick out as exotics in a long list of guns.

1970 Lee Enfield Enforcer .308.
It was the dedicated British Police Force sniper Rifle.
767 commissioned...of which less than 240 are still in existance. This beaut makes the Enfield number 4 T look like a cannon gun for percision .
These were so good and accurate that when they were updated to the AICS and were recalled back by the British police forces that they destroyed nearly all of them so that they could not be used.
I am happy to say I own one..and to the best of my knowledge its the only one on the island..
Its a beaut to shoot and a privelage to have.

The most unusual one I've handled was a Dolne Apache pistol with folding nuckelduster grip and spring loaded blade under the barrel. That was back in the day in Afghanistan when every man and his dog carried a gun (at least one)

cookimonster wrote: »

You had me on 'Lee Enfield Enforcer....'

....then you bowled me on "I am happy to say I own one..'
Do you have the original case etc with it, even if you don't thats a fantastic rifle to own.

I have a Pecar 6×42  scope, the same company supplied the scope for the Enforcers but with a variable zoom.

They were not issued in cases/ crates like the military L39a1 or L42's.
They were also issued with just one magazine.
The reason been... if used, as a percision piece , it should not have required a second follow up shot.
It was up to the individual police forces to specify what magnification scopes were required, I have the variable 4 10 x50 Pecar scope on mine.
I met a Metroploitan Police Firearms instructor recently who was behind one during his time as a SO17 firearms team, where he was the Team sniper, as a professional he claimed it was the "finest" sniper rifle he ever used.

Ahhh I got the two mixed up. I thought it was issued as a complete kit.

For those who want to know a little more and like me don't want to read...

L42A1
https://youtu.be/-6sfVyQ4i-0

Enforcer
https://youtu.be/8GxCNB1fwZY

Not unusual but I shot a few coyotes in the states with a semi auto 338 lapua belonging to my boss at the time.

Wasn't really anything special per say. Alexander arms I believe.


'Hdz

For me its my all Parts correct, along with matching scope, Scope case and Transit case of my 1945 No4 MK1 T.

Known for having better accuracy than its later cousin the L42 ;-)

sfakiaman wrote: »

The most unusual one I've handled was a Dolne Apache pistol with folding nuckelduster grip and spring loaded blade under the barrel. That was back in the day in Afghanistan when every man and his dog carried a gun (at least one)

Dragon slaying weapon of mass destruction that was.....

I have been lucky enough to fire a few guns, and now own a few ..

Fired the 303/FN/Bren/Gustaf and BAP in FCA days got to fire some nice and not nice guns here and there as well, one such was the .50 Desert Eagle (one shot was plenty thanks).

I am lucky enough to have an M1 Carbine best fun you can have with your clothes on.

But I recently bought a quite unusual rifle I had never seen before, a Browning Model SA22, made by FN in Belgium .22 Semi loaded through a hole in the middle of the side of the stick, Rifle is cocked from under the action and the spent brass drops out the bottom - oh and its a takedown as well - all weighing in at under 5LBS

BigCIllAodain wrote: »

Any of ye ever shoot the older FALs? Or even an L1a1?

Yes, the British pattern FAL is a common enough rifle among target shooters who like their more modern military rifles in continental Europe. It's often a straightforward enough one to licence since it has no full auto capability.

If it is a converted select fire to semi auto only,it is a CAT A [prohibited] under the new EU directive. So that means the Irish Metric pattern SLRs are a no no

The UK/Commonwealth[?] inch pattern SLRs were only ever in semi auto,so it would put them in the same category as M1 Garands and carbines,so should in theory be purchaseable as a surplus rifle.

Whether it is a classic or not is irrespective in liscensing here.Its the action type and/or overall length and caliber that decides if it is restricted or not.

If it is a civillian modern sporting rifle built to look like a FN /FAL/SLR and comes issued from the factory with a 10 round mag then it is still a B3 firearm and is a restricted firearm here under Irish law due to its action.Be proably the easier way out of it.

cookimonster wrote: »

The FN FAL as used by the Irish is the orginal of the species with select fire option semi auto / full auto.
It was the British who came up with thier own version the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle, not capable of full automatic fire in the L1A1 configuration. I don't know if this option originated from the 'conserve ammonition' mindset that plagued many army's when orginaly faced with an option of a select fire weapon.
The British did utilise a select fire version of the SLR with a heavier barrel but it was not the light section weapon of choice, more so opting for converted Bren Guns and GPMGs all in 7.62.

That's a FALO, a heavy barrel version called the Fusil Automatic Lourd as opposed to the Fusil Automatic Legere. I suppose it was to be an equivalent for the older BAR.

cookimonster wrote: »

The FN FAL as used by the Irish is the orginal of the species with select fire option semi auto / full auto.
It was the British who came up with thier own version the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle, not capable of full automatic fire in the L1A1 configuration. I don't know if this option originated from the 'conserve ammonition' mindset that plagued many army's when orginaly faced with an option of a select fire weapon.
The British did utilise a select fire version of the SLR with a heavier barrel but it was not the light section weapon of choice, more so opting for converted Bren Guns and GPMGs all in 7.62.

When I joined the Army in 1967, the SLR was the main infantry service weapon and recruit training weapon. Thereafter, depending on the role of the soldier, his main weapon MAY have been the Sterling SMG, particularly if you were based in a vehicle of some kind as part of your MOS - tanks signals, sapper et al.

My part of the Army didn't do much in the way of ceremonial of any kind, so the only time we saw the SLR, as non-commissioned personnel, was on the frequent promotion upgrading course that came around about every three years or so. Foot drill was an important part of the upgrading courses, and foot-drill inevitably involves lots of marching around waving rifles. The longest I ever stayed in one rank was at Staff Sergeant, which I endured for just over three years. The shortest was Warrant Officer 1st Class - just ten days.

Then I was commissioned.

So I never saw a heavy-barrel SLR, the L1A2.