UKC

Hi folks,

A group of 6 us are in East Greenland conducting research this summer and were wondering what the possibilities for hiring rifles out there are (for safety only I should add!). It would be for 4-8 weeks, and whilst all of us have had safety training and shooting experience only one of us has a UK firearms certificate. Does anyone have any experience of this? We'll be coordinating things from the Kulusuk/Tasiilaq region initially,

Thanks!

In reply to Beowulf:

You could try Tangent:

http://www.tangentexpeditions.com/index.php?id=oar_equipment_hire

In reply to Beowulf:
We only had one person with firearms certificate, that seemed to be enough. Getting the gun was hassle, though. The person with the certificate had borrowed it from a friend, but due to airline restrictions nowadays the gun is not allowed to travel in one piece, you have to take some bits out (I forget the right word forf it) So, guess what, some of those bits got lost.
So, we had to hire one out there sort of last minute, but the gun we got was a world war one monstrous thing that was a little faulty, when loading, the cartridges wouldn't quite go in, you had to carefully push it in with your finger. Glad, I never encountered a polar bear....you couldn't really ask him to wait til you fiddled your cartridge into the gun....Also, I would have been devastated to have to shoot one!

Here is a local tour operator in Kulusuk who might be able to help you (address and phone numbers on the webiste)
http://www.eastgreenland.com/database.asp?lang=eng&num=445

In reply to Heike: WW1? Blimey! I was worried enough by the number of Third Reich rifles kicking around in Longyearbyen. Thanks for the advice so far guys. How much did it cost to hire in Greenland? 50 quid plus vat seems quite steep, we would probably pay for the cost of a rifle easily over the period we need it for, although logistically I guess its quite simple.

In reply to Beowulf:
I can't remember exactly, I think it was a £100 for four weeks with cartridges, but I can't be certain. Will go and check the details in our report and can get back to you start of next week if you want.

In reply to Beowulf:

The guy I was chatting to about Greenland said that Tangent also arrange the necessary firearms permits. In the past in polar bear country we managed with ice axes, a bear spray and clenched sphincters, though our exposure was limited for a day or so. Good luck!

In reply to Beowulf:

interesting discussion.

was in kamchatka several years back where the issue is tigers (?!!??! no one has seen one for decades)
thereabouts the police just hand you a kalashnikov for a USD5 deposit and off you go. apparently everyone knows how to safely use an assult rifle....

worrying

In reply to ice.solo: I was out in Kulusuk last year but didn't go away from civilisation. I was musing that bear encounters were so infrequent in the Tasiilaq area during high summer that perhaps we were worrying unnecessarily, then the locals shot one actually on Kulusuk island - that was pretty sobering!

In reply to Beowulf: Out of interest

Where would you go for basic firearms training for this sort of thing? I'm interested in that sort of trip but I don't know one end of a gun from the other.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Take a look at the BASC website -

http://www.basc.org.uk/content/basc_training_courses

They do a firearms awareness course which should fit the bill

In reply to Beowulf: AFAIK it is possible to take your own rifle to other countries, as long as it is an unfirable state whilst in transit, i.e bolt removed from the action, or firing pin removed, and i may be wrong but i have heard from members of my gun club that the pilot will usually take charge of any firearms on board and keep them in his locker.for use against someting like bear i wouldnt want to use anything under .300mag as i highly doubt anything less has the stopping power to drop a bear, but agian i havent shot any bears so i may be wrong

In reply to Beowulf: Apply for a uk shotgun certificate much easier to get and keep than a firearms cert...lots of conditions.

Pump action shotguns are very useful and easy to use.

Just load the mother with heavy slugs not shot!

Dont let the uk police f*ck you about..insist you need it as you intend to regularly go on trips to places with dangerous animals.

Get a application form from any police station and buy a gun cabinet and bolt it to a wall. They will inspect it.

Provided your have no convictions they shouldnt be able to stop you owning shotguns.

Decent pump actions can be bought for £150

In reply to davidbeynon: I did rifle training as part of a UNIS course - http://www.unis.no - that's probably not much help!

In reply to brokenjockstrap:
Remembering that you need to check that the chokes are removable if you plan on 'loading for bear'.

In reply to dannym2710:

I missed the full stop the first time round, and was left with a worrying image of a ursophobic pilot always on the lookout...