Air rifle gunsmiths in Cape town

**HvR** · 20-08-2014, 08:54

Got a vintage (~50 years old) BSF air rifle which is in need of some repair, think some parts machining is also needed.

Any recommendations?

**Proudprado** · 20-08-2014, 09:23

Eish, buy another one in better condition?

**Andycap** · 20-08-2014, 09:25

Have a chat with the guys on http://www.airrifle.co.za/

Oom V and Oom A will probably be able to help.

**Proudprado** · 20-08-2014, 09:28

They probably will. Whether it will be worth the money sending it to Vincent and having him repair it is probably up to you. I'd rather spend the money on a Weihrauch 50S.

**HvR** · 20-08-2014, 09:29

Originally Posted by Proudprado

Eish, buy another one in better condition?

Inherited piece so luckily got nothing in it on the moment, but need to get it certified as a non-firearm to get the old licensing scrapped so mihgt as well take it to someone who can give me a ball park figure for repair. If it is going to cost too much it will be retired and the money will towards a 2nd hand .22.

**HvR** · 20-08-2014, 09:30

Originally Posted by Andycap

Have a chat with the guys on http://www.airrifle.co.za/

Oom V and Oom A will probably be able to help.

Thanks Andycap, will go have a look.

**Yeti** · 20-08-2014, 20:18

The old Lic is already scrapped

The only true Air rifle genius in the Cape Is Jaco van Lill

Contact him on 084 580 8385

**HvR** · 21-08-2014, 08:52

Originally Posted by Yeti

The old Lic is already scrapped

The only true Air rifle genius in the Cape Is Jaco van Lill

Contact him on 084 580 8385

Thanks will do.

Unfortunately it is still on SAPS system, I suspect because it was captured as a rifle without caliber classification. To be able to close down the estate it needs to be removed and SAPS only willing to this with a certification from a gunsmith.

**Dick** · 15-09-2014, 21:22

In my short gunsmithing career (part-time, amateur turned pro) I worked on a few air rifles, even made some special tools inluding a spring compressor. They are not so easy to work on as might be thought. Most of them had been abused which made it worse. But the biggest difficulty was owners who didn't want to spend anything on them. In the UK where real firearms are all but impossible to own, good air rifles are treated with some respect. In SA they are seen as toys. Eventually I refused to work on them - it wasn't worth it. The very expensive Olympic types might be a different story, but I never saw any of those.

**Dick** · 15-09-2014, 21:52

Originally Posted by HvR

Unfortunately it is still on SAPS system, I suspect because it was captured as a rifle without caliber classification. To be able to close down the estate it needs to be removed and SAPS only willing to this with a certification from a gunsmith.

I've just been through exactly that. I'm not dedicated and don't want to be. So I'm limited to four. I had three, so the S&W rolly I just bought made it four. But when I submitted the application they said "no, you already have four." The fourth turned out to be my air rifle which Jaco Bothma told us ten years ago would simply be removed from the register. So I had to fill out an official application to cancel a licence for a rifle that doesn't need one. Also complete with gunsmith certificate that (A) it is an air rifle (although the licence says it is) and (B) the calibre.

All this nonsense comes out of the distinction that SAPS makes between the calibres. There are various air rifle calibres but the only ones in SA, as far as I know, are 4.50mm (177) and 5.50mm (22) or as SAPS would have it No 1 and No 2. 4.50mm does not require a licence but 5.50mm does, because SAPS has the notion that some enterprising individual might use a 22 air rifle barrel as the basis of a 22 rimfire arm.

The problem is, as you point out, that the licence does not mention calibre. It is one of the many stupidities of CFR that, on my licence (the one I thought I no longer had or needed) says that the calibre is "wind" when it should say that the action is wind and the calibre 4.50mm. My licence still existed on the register becuse they had no way of knowing which calibre it was. Hence the demand for a gunsmith certificate.

Why can't we just show them the gun so that the calibre is obvious ? Because that's too simple for the bureaucratic mind. Of course, to be fair to them, you may have sold it in the interim. But then you'll be in real trouble because the gunsmith can't certify anything and you'll be permanently stuck with with a licence which, in my case, would have meant that I wouldn't have been able to buy my "new" used rolly.

Which leads to the question - would it have been reasonable in terms of the law to have sold a 4.50mm air rifle because you had been told that it no longer required a licence ? And if I had in fact sold my air rifle on that basis, how would I prove that it was 4.50mm ?

All because CFR doesn't register all firearm calibres accurately. My SMLE is on my licence as 303 Rifle. Is that 303 British or 303 Savage ? A dealer would be within his rights in refusing to sell me 303 British ammo. All this crap because they want to control things beyond reason, and because they dreamed up an Act with the maximum complexity and confusion to make it difficult for us. Nonetheless, we should be entitled to demand the CFR employs one or two people with some knowledge, and that all DFOs should at least know the basics.