Go back to the future

Legal restrictions make owning and using an old rifle harder than ever, but Diggory Hadoke explains how vintage can still be viable

- Diggory Hadoke

There are historical and legal reasons for the decline in interest in vintage rifles in this country. When I was a child, to have a modest collection of sporting and military rifles was not an uncommon thing for a country gentleman. My father had only a passing interest, but owned more than a dozen. My primary school headmaster had more than 100. I know this, because he used to bring them to school to show us.

Sadly, for most people, the casual ease with which mild interest could be nurtured into a hobby and perhaps even grow into a passion has been stifled by increasingly restrictive legislation. It is hard to develop an interest in anything if you can’t have it and rarely see it. The fact is, a barrier to the ownership and use of vintage firearms, like all firearms now, stands firmly between them and us.

The firearms we are allowed now are limited in number. If you buy a new .22 rimfire or another .308 stalking rifle, you will probably have to sell your current one first. Given that most people who use a rifle will consider it a serious piece of kit, if they are allowed only one for each purpose, they will probably make sure it is exactly what they want. That means buying new.

The opportunity for a special occasion rifle or an occasional, limited-use hunting companion has been denied to our generation. Imagine telling the police you would like a .303 Martini-action converted service rifle, from about 1880, because you would find it amusing to take the odd roe or fox with it when you are in the mood. Our freedoms in this country have been curtailed to the point that this is simply not an option.