The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I am not so keen on the forward vertical grip

I spoke with my FEO about FN FALs today and I expressed my hesitation considering they use to be section 5 and we all know the outcome for possession of a section 5 firearm on a S1 FAC... I have to say, I was surprised by his response, I quoted "once a S5 always a S5" and he said "not necessarily." He advised not to buy one if it didn't come with a certificate from the proofing house to confirm it was only capable of firing in a single shot capacity.

If that's all it takes, why haven't we got straight pull MG34's and Lewis Guns? I'd have one of each.

If the lever release saga is anything to go by the addage "once a section 5 always a section 5" just doesn't ring true.

Early models got seized as S5, then modified and returned.

Also, pistols for humane dispatch start out as S5 and a restricted for S1 slots.

I've even had people try to tell me that if my semi-auto shotgun ever drops below 40" in length, it's S5 forever more. I guess removing the stock to fit a spacer renders me a criminal by that logic?

I'd use the logic that if a weapon is S5 at the point the police first come into contact with a gun, that gun is will be treated as S5.

If the first time they come into contact with a gun, it's S1, then it stays S1.

When it comes round to your renewal, the FEO turns up to record / confirm the firearms in your possession, and finds your straight pull FN FAL - what offence have you committed? Where in the firearms act does it state that the component parts of an S1 firearm may never have been component parts of another weapon abroad?

I was talking to an RFD a while ago that told me his people had sold a shotgun to a customer who traded it back in 9 months for something nicer and at that point the measured the barrel length. Oopps! It was under 24" so effectively S5 and had been when they took it in and the sold it on, luckily it was back without issues and would probably go on to be destroyed however it does make me wonder how the FEO would have looked on the whole affair.

I have to say I am concerned about buying an FN FAL, I really want one, but I will only buy one if I can get the nod from the people above me that it's OK to do so. My FEO said on the phone at the end of the day (paraphrasing here), just being in possession of a S5 firearm is enough to get you in deep water even if you bought it in good faith.

Like I say, some of the 9mm LR boys found themselves in possession of actual S5 weapons (where under certain conditions they could fire semi-auto etc.) - none of them were prosecuted.

I'd be impressed if you managed to fire your FN in semi-auto mode. To all intents, it's S1 - what it was in a previous life doesn't seem to have any bearing on things.

Let's remember, there is still a fairly large number of owners of SPAS-12's - all rendered S5 due to their barrel length from the factory. People have just brazed choke tubes to make it up to 24". None of them have been prosecuted... the police seem perfected happy.

I take your point(s), but none of the situations are quite the same as converting a S5 firearm to a S1 firearm. "what it was in a previous life doesn't seem to have any bearing on things." <-- If it was that easy why aren't dealers reactivating deacts or other live firing S5 rifles? Who wouldn't want a straight pull Lewis Gun? The FN FALs seem to be sailing as close to the wind as any firearm before it...

The short AK's are the same, they had to weld on the flash hider to meet minimum length restrictions.

I'm not looking to stir up the hornets nest on this, I just want to make sure I am firmly on the right side of the law.

Has anyone approached the Home Office for an opinion? I had to do it to get my S5 SGC LRA9 released from Durham plod. It took a few weeks and some chasing but i ended up with a letter than got the job done at the end of it

If I recall correctly, The Anglo Custom chap had a letter from the home office saying that his were OK. Pretty sure I had a copy at one point. I'll have a look at around for it.

Be aware though that others on the market are build to a slightly different spec. I haven't seen one close up so can't really comment. Anglo have welded up the hole where the gas plug goes so one cannot be fitted easily. Others have the gas plug fitted, but I think that all of them have had new barrels. The Anglo one also has a modified bolt, don't know if the others have or not. Obviously you could probably refit both to be semi auto if you were determined to but the get out of jail free letter probably only applies to the exact specification of the Anglo one.

The only other issue is finding one now. Not sure if any more are going to be made. Best chat to Anglo Custom and Suffolk Rifle if you are interested. Alternatively get an LMT, they are similar money.

Now, is anyone going to build me a straight pull Bren. I keep dropping enough hints!

HALODIN wrote:I take your point(s), but none of the situations are quite the same as converting a S5 firearm to a S1 firearm.

Yes it is - my SPAS-12 reference is a perfect example of an S5 weapon being converted to S1. On paper it should be more dodgy than the FN - which are all rebuilds. The SPAS's were built as S5, then had the stock fixed and a choke tube added later in life. If they'd have gone the FN route, they'd have been rebuilt with new parts somewhere else, fitting S1 legal stocks and barrels from the get go - but they didn't even bother doing that.

That doesn't prove whether or not the FN is legal, but shows that 'converted' weapons are on sale in the UK. But as others have said, speak to the Home Office for a more definitive yes or no.