Hunting shooting  shotguns rifles calibres - information for visitors to the UK. Importing weapons. 

For all intents and purposes, if you are a UK resident, you will need to have a shotgun license of your own in order to borrow or hire a shotgun . The only exception is that a person may, without holding a shotgun certificate, borrow a shotgun from the occupier of private premises, including land, and use it on those premises in the presence of the occupier. Note that this exemption means just what it says: the gun must have been borrowed from the occupier, the premises must be private, and the occupier must be there when the gun is being used. If you are clay shooting at artificial targets, you may be able to hire a shotgun as long as the shooting is taking place on a ground which has been approved by the Police and you are accompanied by an approved person at all times. The law for UK residents regarding borrowing rifles is a little more flexible in that you may borrow (or hire) a rifle in the presence of the sporting tenant as well as the owner of the land - but you must still be in the presence of the lender ( in other words you must physically be next to the lender of the rifle). 

For all intents and purposes for visitors to the UK, regardless if you are a non UK nationals or visiting UK national.....it is  illegal to borrow or rent shotgun without a UK visitor's weapon permit. You would need to apply for your permit in advance (this can take approximately 4 - 6 weeks) and if you are an  EU resident, we require your original firearms pass (original NOT a copy) for this. For non EU residents, either a copy of your local valid weapon permit and/or a letter of good character from an approved person would also need to accompany your application which is always carried out by the UK resident who is organising your shooting / hunting trip. 

Anyone - UK resident or overseas visitor - who shoots or stalks should have 3rd party liability insurance. It's not a legal requirement in the UK, but it is in many other countries. Countrysports makes this a contractual obligation - after all, if you were injured by someone else due to a shooting accident, wouldn't you expect them to compensate you ? If they had insurance, then you should have no problem being compensated even if the amount was very high.  In the UK, anyone who offers insurance or arranges this for you must be a registered insurance agent / registered with the Financial Services Authority because they must comply with certain procedures for the applicant. Membership of BASC gives insurance for UK residents shooting & stalking in the UK and and temporary overseas cover. Non UK resident members are also covered whilst hunting in the UK. BUT...non UK residents shooting outwith the UK will need to obtain their own insurance. 

Bowhunting is illegal in the UK and most European countries. You cannot arrive in the UK without a visitor's UK weapon permit.
No automatic or semi automatic weapons are permitted in the UK. Non UK residents must have a visitor's weapon permit and this is normally arranged by the person with whom you book your sport - that person is called your 'sponsor' and is normally a UK resident himself or herself. This process is not complicated and all the complicated part of the paperwork should be dealt with by your booking agent. You will be expected to provide various details along with a copy of your local hunting permit or resident's weapon permit. You should  allow at least 6 weeks for this application to take place. Then the visitor's permit is mailed to you prior to your arrival in the UK - so you have to allow enough time for the mail. If you are an EU resident, then most Police Forces insist that they receive your original EU firearms pass so you must allow enough time for mailing this to your sponsor and for its return in the post.

It is possible (and legal) to use the estate's rifle if you have booked deer hunting without a visitor's weapon permit. It is not possible to borrow or rent a shotgun unless you have a visitor's permit. Renting a shotgun is sometimes possible (it's less common than renting rifles), but allow plenty of time to arrange this and you have to ask the booking agent or estate to apply for a visitor's permit for you.

Arriving in the UK with a weapon is much easier than a few years ago. When you book your flight ticket, you must tell the airline that you are bringing a weapon with you. The weapon is normally carried in the hold of an aircraft (small aircraft which do not have a separate hold, may not allow transport of weapons - you should check with the airline). On check in, the weapon is taken into the hold and when you arrive in the UK inform the staff at the luggage collection point that you have a weapon - they will hand it to you or accompany you to customs who then check the identification of the weapon with your UK visitor's permit as well as checking your ID on the permit agrees with the passport. You are allowed to bring in a limited amount of rifle ammunition - (normally in a crush proof container in your suitcase or metal container, BUT check this with airline when booking your ticket). I recommend one of the small lockable cash boxes which are perfect for holding up to two boxes of 20 rounds each.

Weapons should be transported in airplanes in a lockable hard case and ammunition must never be kept in the same container as the weapon. Some airlines request that the bolts of rifles be kept separate from the rifle itself. Check with budget airlines when you book your ticket - many charge extra for carrying sporting firearms and some even ban them altogether (Ryanair being the main culprit) . But also be aware that some check-in or security personnel regard the bolt or the 'scope to be "part of a firearm" and may insist these cannot be carried in hand baggage. In any event, it's never a good idea to remove the 'scope once you have zeroed your rifle before your trip to the UK. 

When you are shooting or stalking in the UK, it is important to understand that unlike some other countries, it is illegal to have any weapon 'uncovered' in a public place. Therefore , standing on the public highway with a shotgun  or rifle is not a wise idea! If you are part of a group shooting and you have to cross a road etc. be discreet. Leaving weapons in a (locked) car but exposed or inadequately secured , could lead you open to prosecution by the Police. Most of the  legislation is common sense regarding weapon security. When your organising agent or sponsor applies for your visitor's permit, they have to know where you are staying in the UK . This is so that the Police can  check to see that there is adequate security for the weapon (and ammunition). If you intend travelling around the UK and staying in various places with your weapon, this may be impractical. The conditions of your visitor's permit will state that your weapon must be stored in a secure place. In practise, such security has to be checked and approved by the Police , so staying at various locations in addition to the actual hunting area you intend to book, can cause problems. Better by far , that on arrival to UK , go to the place where you are staying and which is mentioned on your application, and leave your weapon there if you want to go touring. Then collect the weapon on your way out of the UK.  

Bringing shotgun ammunition into the country is seldom worthwhile - most people purchase what they need from the guide. 

12G and 20G shotguns are the main calibres used in the UK, so cartridges are usually easily available. Any other calibres may be a little more difficult to obtain when in the UK, especially if you require particularly light loads (for best guns) or heavy loads. If you have a gun marked for a service pressure of less than 3 tons per square inch, you should warn the organiser well in advance as he would need to order lighter cartridges specially (and the price may be higher than the normal £6.00 - £7.00 per box of 25) . We use UK shotsize 6 or 7 for most mixed shooting. Shotsizes for ducks may be size 4 if you know you are shooting high birds, but for flighting over ponds where the range seldom exceeds 15 or 20 yards, then size 6's are perfectly adequate. For goose flighting, shotsize 2, 1 or BB should be used. It may be difficult to obtain large shotsizes in 20G cartridges and as a rule, if people are goose shooting, they should be using a 12G gun anyway, rather than any of the smaller gauges.

Lead shot may no longer be used for shooting ducks, geese, snipe and golden plover in ENGLAND. Legislation in Scotland is a little different. In Scotland you are not allowed to shoot if any of the shot should land on wetlands. This section relating to the regulations  is due to be updated later.   

Minimum rifle calibres apply for certain species of deer and regulations differ between Scotland and England/Wales. In fact, the regulations do not specify calibres, but rather by a combination of bullet weight and muzzle velocity. To keep things simple, let's go by calibres:

For Roe deer, as long as the bullet weight is 50 grains or more, the centre fire .22/250 and .222 is legal for Roe deer in Scotland but not legal for Fallow, Sika & Red deer. I have to say, I feel this calibre is rather light for Roe Bucks, particularly on low ground where it is not unusual to shoot bucks weighing up to 60 lb clean weight (head and feet off, stomach/intestine removed).

For all practical purposes, .243 with bullet weights of 70 grains or more is the best minimum calibre for Roe in Scotland and England. As long as you use bullets of 100 grains, then this calibre is legal for all the other species of deer in Scotland and England.

Because the average weights of Red deer in the UK are rising steadily, many estates prefer clients to use calibres greater than .243. Calibres of .270, .308 and 7mm are preferred. Sika are really tough animals and although smaller than Red deer, we much prefer powerful calibres such as .30-06, magnum  7 mm, 7 x 65 , .270 or .308.  

Most deer in this country are shot at around 30 - 120 metres. Even on the open hill for Red deer, the range seldom goes above 150 yards. Some people seem to take a pride in deliberate long range shooting for game - sorry, but most of us in the UK are unimpressed by this. Better by far that you use your skill as a hunter to approach close enough to the quarry to kill the animal with one safe and certain shot with the animal having been totally unaware of what was happening.