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Slightly off-topic, if I can be forgiven for posting it.
Back in '97 when most of us had to hand our handguns over to the police for destruction or 're-assignment' to the police armouries [like three of my 9mm Glocks] - maybe even getting sent to the national collection like three of mine, a shooting pal went to the temporary office set up at the local county police HQ to hand in his Colt Gold Cup target .45ACP pistol, as required by the new law.
It was his only handgun, and he'd won dozens of medals with it over the years he'd used it in competition, here in UK, over in Europe and even in the USA. It was his baby, and cared for in every way. He'd even made a French-style box for it. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is a gun box made of solid wood that has been cut out precisely to the outline of the contents.
This is important to remember.
Andy worked for a very progressive small-scale precision engineering company in Huntingdon, making very special items for Lola Racing, which was then alive and well and just across the road from Andy's company. His company had some VERY interesting and state-of-the-art metal-working equipment, as you'll see, and later on actually made some of the parts for the British Mars lander project as well as racing cars.
Andy moved to the counter, produced his FAC and little wooden pistol case. He opened it up, so that the police officer [PO] could verify the serial number, and then, in a low voice, said 'I wouldn't try and pick it up if I were you'. The police officer looked at him as though he was crazy, and asked 'Well, I HAVE to check the gun is safe for me to take off you, right?'
'Suit yourself', said Andy, 'but I suggest that you just stick a pencil in the muzzle to lift it out of the box.'
'Tell you what,' replied the PO, 'YOU do it, and I'll start the paperwork as soon as I see it's OK'.
Andy carefully put a handy pencil into the muzzle, and lifted out the first couple of inches of the complete pistol - barrel bushing, barrel, and slide - leaving the rest of the gun where it lay.
'WTF?' sputtered the PO, 'What have you done to it?'
'Well,' replied Andy, holding the 'slices' of his pistol carefully on the pencil' 'I'd heard on the grapevine that the Chief Constable is putting together a 'private museum' of interesting handguns seized [and that's the right word] from their legal owners, and thought, b*gger that for a game of soldiers, no f****r is going to enjoy MY pistol after having taken it off me.
So yesterday, after I'd gone to the club and shot my last-ever box of ammunition, I came to work and used one of my new precision water cutting machines to micro-slice my pistol up into forty-five slices, just like a sliced loaf. I'd like to see you or anybody else try and shoot it now.'
'And before you say anything, when I did that, it was MY property to do with as I wanted. Now it's YOUR property, and you can do sweet f***-all with it, unless you're very handy with the old super-glue.'
With that, he walked out of the door.
tac
Back in '97 when most of us had to hand our handguns over to the police for destruction or 're-assignment' to the police armouries [like three of my 9mm Glocks] - maybe even getting sent to the national collection like three of mine, a shooting pal went to the temporary office set up at the local county police HQ to hand in his Colt Gold Cup target .45ACP pistol, as required by the new law.
It was his only handgun, and he'd won dozens of medals with it over the years he'd used it in competition, here in UK, over in Europe and even in the USA. It was his baby, and cared for in every way. He'd even made a French-style box for it. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is a gun box made of solid wood that has been cut out precisely to the outline of the contents.
This is important to remember.
Andy worked for a very progressive small-scale precision engineering company in Huntingdon, making very special items for Lola Racing, which was then alive and well and just across the road from Andy's company. His company had some VERY interesting and state-of-the-art metal-working equipment, as you'll see, and later on actually made some of the parts for the British Mars lander project as well as racing cars.
Andy moved to the counter, produced his FAC and little wooden pistol case. He opened it up, so that the police officer [PO] could verify the serial number, and then, in a low voice, said 'I wouldn't try and pick it up if I were you'. The police officer looked at him as though he was crazy, and asked 'Well, I HAVE to check the gun is safe for me to take off you, right?'
'Suit yourself', said Andy, 'but I suggest that you just stick a pencil in the muzzle to lift it out of the box.'
'Tell you what,' replied the PO, 'YOU do it, and I'll start the paperwork as soon as I see it's OK'.
Andy carefully put a handy pencil into the muzzle, and lifted out the first couple of inches of the complete pistol - barrel bushing, barrel, and slide - leaving the rest of the gun where it lay.
'WTF?' sputtered the PO, 'What have you done to it?'
'Well,' replied Andy, holding the 'slices' of his pistol carefully on the pencil' 'I'd heard on the grapevine that the Chief Constable is putting together a 'private museum' of interesting handguns seized [and that's the right word] from their legal owners, and thought, b*gger that for a game of soldiers, no f****r is going to enjoy MY pistol after having taken it off me.
So yesterday, after I'd gone to the club and shot my last-ever box of ammunition, I came to work and used one of my new precision water cutting machines to micro-slice my pistol up into forty-five slices, just like a sliced loaf. I'd like to see you or anybody else try and shoot it now.'
'And before you say anything, when I did that, it was MY property to do with as I wanted. Now it's YOUR property, and you can do sweet f***-all with it, unless you're very handy with the old super-glue.'
With that, he walked out of the door.
tac
