I walked into the armoury of my local police station today and there was a BIG pile of firearms that have been handed in for destruction..... laying on top was an old, battered double rifle case all covered in cobwebs and dust. I asked if it had been handed in for destruction - it had, I asked, could I look? - I could...... sadly, it was locked and they didn't have a key...... but embossed on the case was a name and below it ir said Rigby Rifles.

As I said, aaaaaaggghhhh fuuuuuu!

I've asked if there's any way the owner can reclaim it and I can make them an offer - but the firearms officer says it's very unlikely but he'll try to find out.

What a waste huh?

Have you considered providing the gentlemen a substantial tip to assist you in switching out that innocuous firearm for a more evil one deserving destruction? That is the African way, is it not?

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Have you considered providing the gentlemen a substantial tip to assist you in switching out that innocuous firearm for a more evil one deserving destruction? That is the African way, is it not?

This sounds like a very good idea.

You won't get anything worse than a "No.".

Sadly, I'm pretty damn sure it wouldn't work with this guy...... suprisingly, he's as straight as an arrow and has already entered the serial numbers into the records...... but I'll be pestering him tomorrow morning for a final decision and if that doesn't work, I'll be pestering everyone else involved.....

Doesnt he have a CO that understands the value of the dollar bills ???

Or i can pester him for you if you pay the airfare for me to RSA

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Sadly, I'm pretty damn sure it wouldn't work with this guy...... suprisingly, he's as straight as an arrow and has already entered the serial numbers into the records...... but I'll be pestering him tomorrow morning for a final decision and if that doesn't work, I'll be pestering everyone else involved.....

How did he get the S/N if the case was locked?

I'm not sure, but I guess it was locked after the serial number was taken for some reason...... there's a lot of unanswered questions about it at the moment - but I hope to find out more tomorrow........

I'm positive it's a DR though because of the weight of it........ It also rattles slightly so there could well be odds and ends such as oil bottles and turnscrews etc in there.

The suspense is killing me!

Hey Shakari,

You owe us a report on your .404, how did it go for you??

Hope you get the Rigby issue sorted...man, I dream of finding something like that in some old ladies attic.......
The best deal like that was a mate at college who bought, from an acquaintances deceased estate, a SAKO .243(mint) for R1000...

Cheers

i hope it too, Shakari, that it will be sorted for you, i have a friend who got a Bereta shotgun for what the fee of the registration costed him , ca 300 kr at that time, 300 Rand , and that shotgun was worth 20000 Rand. from the police holding areas before destruction.

Kayaker , the 243 at 1000 R was a b..... good buy, theyre worth it ,the SAKO rifles, and with the 243, init perfekt for biltong hunt.

Shakari,

Best of luck recovering the historic piece. Save a Rigby ... it's good for the soul!

At the very least it should be brought to the attention of the authorities that firearms to be destroyed should be surveyed for historically important items which should atleast go to National museum collections.

Kayaker,

Yup the 404 performed really well and took a few Buff and plains game etc. Although as I posted here a while ago I wasn't impressed with the Rhino SPs. Other than that it was great. One guy shot a wounded Buff in the ass with it with one of the aforementioned SPs and the bullet went all the way through and came out the nose..... bad bullet performance but great penetration. The MS were brilliant and one client shot a buff through the chest and the bullet exited the other side and went straight through a 30 inch circumference tree and almost through a tree of a similar size. The tracker hacked it out with his panga and it could almost have been re-used. BUT the reason I was most glad to have it was that one client arrived with a brand new Sauer in a Sauer travel case..... the rifle stock was cracked all the way through and I could have easily just twisted it off. - I shudder to think what would have happened had he shot the damn thing. Whether the fault lie with the rifle or with the airlines, I couldn't say. FWIW, he travelled KLM.

My buddy in Botswana won the Govt firearms raffle a few years ago and he went down to the local cop shop to look at the confiscated guns to see if there was anything he wanted and walked out with a .450 double (can't remember the make - but it was English) for the equivalent of about US$100. - They thought they were selling him a .double barrelled 410 shotgun. - he always was a lucky bastard!

Not just a lucky bastard, but a very, very lucky bastard.

The reason the case is locked up but they have the serial number is probably because the local copper substituted a couple of pieces of lead pipe for the double rifle in the case. Then they just destroy the whole rifle case. He walks away with a nice contribution to his retirement fund with some spread around to whomever destroys the case for insurance.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Have you considered providing the gentlemen a substantial tip to assist you in switching out that innocuous firearm for a more evil one deserving destruction? That is the African way, is it not?

and as you get your find of the decade home you pick the lock and open the case to get your prize..........a rusty old single shot .22....

Well I went up there and saw the station commander and the firearms officer and they refused to show me the record book or let me into the case or indeed to tell me who had handed it in. - Their comment was it's nothing to do with me and the owner had handed it in for destruction and that was what would happen.

In other words, I should depart in a flurry of sexual endeavour and mind my own business.

Furthermore the next batch of firearms would be sent for destruction tomorrow and the case in question would be going with the rest...... Sometimes the African mind is hard to understand.

As I said,

Aaaaaggghhh Fuuuuu!!!!!!

that's a darn shame. There should be a warehouse where all such firearms can be taken to as a "last chace" transaction shop before destruction.

A PH friend of mine recently found a mint condition double (I believe .577 of English make) left in storage at a Nairobi gunshop. On calling the owner to see if he might want to sell it, the owner said, you pay the storage charges and its yours I don't care how many years that rifle was in storage it would have been peanuts! He said there were more in the armory...

Needless to say, i am desperately trying to touch base with the gun shop

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Well I went up there and saw the station commander and the firearms officer and they refused to show me the record book or let me into the case or indeed to tell me who had handed it in. - Their comment was it's nothing to do with me and the owner had handed it in for destruction and that was what would happen.

In other words, I should depart in a flurry of sexual endeavour and mind my own business.

Furthermore the next batch of firearms would be sent for destruction tomorrow and the case in question would be going with the rest...... Sometimes the African mind is hard to understand.

As I said,

Aaaaaggghhh Fuuuuu!!!!!!

I would bet a substantial sum there is no "double rifle" in the locked gun case.

Another reason for the confustication.

Bwanamich

If you find out - please let me know!

John,

I wondered about that - but to be honest, I don't think they would know what a DR was if it bit them in the ass.........

I know that they do have (or had) a procedure whereby a firearms expert is called in to go through the guns to determine if any have historic significance. A friend of mine knows a guy who went through a bunch of guns not too long ago. He listed about 30 of the 200 guns as worth saving, but apparently they only saved 9.

Perhaps the procedure is different in each province, or perhaps it has changed.

I also see a certain seller on an internet site seems to have an unending supply of South African guns, mainly vintage stuff, a lot of them English. He (or at least his wife) is South African.

So maybe the truck comes in the middle of the night and Captain Mtwetwe's retirement account swells a little more. No doubt this is why the govt proceeds with their confiscations program.

Folks,
I have the dubious duty of inspecting all firearms in the province that are handed in for destruction. In terms of the new firearms act a representative from the Heritage Foundation must look over these weapons in case any of national heritage importance are amongst them so they can be saved. What for and where they are going no-one can tell us. During my inspections I have put aside over 400 firearms out of the 12000 plus I have looked over. I heard thru the grapevine that all but 10 were subsequently sent for destruction anyway. But that is another story.
What I wanted to say is that I have seen dozens of fine english shotguns like Wm Evans, Henry Atkins, Bonehill, Boswell, St Grant etc. all in the pile. Rifles by Rigby, H&H, Jefferies and Cogswell and Harrison and custom mausers etc and one mint condition NIB Pre-64 Win in 375 H&H. Some brilliant and some fair condition single action colts from the late 1800's, a couple of Tranters, and a Singer 45acp. Not to mention a lot of other fine handguns and shotguns. Despite letters to the authorities from the collectors associations, all these fine weapons are now destroyed.

Mindless beaurocracy

Another way to look at this is that it makes the surviving guns more valuable....

Sorry for the loss...

this thread is making me cry...

i cant afford any said rifles and to think they are needlesly wasted instead of being sold at auction for feeding the hungry, saving endangered species, hell even something immoral and illegal is beyond me...

The province of Alberta is undergoing an amnesty to hand in guns at this moment.
A police office in Calgary went to a house to pick some rifles up and noticing the value suggested to the owner he could sell them for a profit. The next day the police officer shows up in civilian clothes with an offer to purchase. Somehow the media found out about this and the police officer in question could face criminal charges. Read about it in the Calgary Herald.

if you have to turn in yer guns you might as well move to another country...it will be like wearing shackles. its like saying you dont deserve rights. therefore you dont deserve them in the first place i guess...

"With guns, we are citizens. Without guns, we are subjects."