Bringing a grand old French dame to the range: MLE 1866 Chassepot

[Sylvain]

I was wondering if you had the bayonet to go with the gun.
I was ready to ship you one lol.

That thing looks more deadly that the gun itself.

 

[Ark]

Very, very cool, Beowulf. Black powder or goofy milsurps are a neat distraction during the long, dark ammo winter.

 

[Beowulf]

I was wondering if you had the bayonet to go with the gun.
I was ready to ship you one lol.

That thing looks more deadly that the gun itself.

If you are willing to ship me stuff from other there, see if you can find me an 1848 Dreyse or a 1860/67 Carcano, so I can complete my needle gun collection.

I've seen them for sale here, but they cost an arm and a leg (not that the Chassepot is cheap, but cheaper than the other two).

 

[Beowulf]

Very, very cool, Beowulf. Black powder or goofy milsurps are a neat distraction during the long, dark ammo winter.

Agreed. I've generally put away my semi-autos and my full autos and have toned down my shooting a lot. Heck, last time I went to the range, I only shot the Chassepot, my 1863 Remington Zouve (repro), and my 1807 Harpers Ferry flintlock pistol (repro). I probably shot less than 60 rounds in the entire range session, but I was having fun. I only stopped when my wife called me and asked if I was on my way home and I realized that I had been there for 3 hours.

To continue the fun, I picked up a new old lady to take to the range, an 1864 5th Model Burnside Carbine. I'll do another thread when I get some bullets casted and get her out to the range.

 

[MrSmitty]

Things are classified by calibers mostly.
It's harder to get a permit to own a 9mm handgun than it is to own a .22 handgun for example.
But it's easier to get a permit for a .44 magnum revolver than it is a 9mm.
It depends if they are "military calibers" or not I think.

The same rule applied to some local police for a while.
They could carry .380 pistols, or .45 handguns but not 9mm handguns.

It doesn't really make sense like you can imagine.

We don't really have sub-guns or SBRs.

If I legally own a pistol (let's say a Glock 17) I can legally add a foregrip or a stock to it, it stays a pistol.

Those add-on stocks and grips are popular here.

No NFA stuff, same for silencers.
They are not registered and don't have extra taxes, they are like hear-muffs.

I can buy all those parts online delivered to my door and add them to a pistol legally.

In the picture bellow that's a 9mm carbine and 3 handguns.

The handgun is registerer, not the stock or silencer.

In the US you can't take a NFA item outside of your state without noticing the ATF first.

In France you can go all over the country with those guns, even to another EU state if you are registered in a European shooting competition. Thanks Sylvain!! I'm alway curious about laws and regulations in other countries, our NFA rules are really stupid.....Are 30 round mags allowed there? inquiring minds want to know!!

about

 

[indyblue]

A very interesting, informative, resourceful post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sylvain]

about

I could make an entire thread about French gun laws (and European gun laws in general), it's very complex and I don't want to derail that thread.

Yes, 30 mags are legal (for now) for rifles.
It's illegal over 30 ... I think (it's a resent thing, it changed in 2018).

You can get an AR-15 here that would be illegal in several US states.

You can only own 10 mags per firearm though.
You're also limited in term of ammunition you can buy and own.
The max is 1,000 rounds per gun (for most people).

So you want to buy more ammo and more mags you need to buy more guns.
It has to be the same caliber though.

If you own a Glock 19, in 9mm ... you can store 10 mags and 1,000 rounds of 9mm.
Buy a second Glock and you can keep 20 mags and 2,000 rounds.

When it comes to pistols for us a "high cap mag" is any mag over 20 rounds.
Those are illegal in most cases.

If you're a IPSC shooter you can own pistol mags over 20 rds and own more than 10 mags per guns (no limit).
You can also own more ammo.

 

[Sylvain]

If you are willing to ship me stuff from other there, see if you find me an 1848 Dreyse or a 1860/67 Carcano, so I can complete my needle gun collection.

I've seen them for sale here, but they cost an arm and a leg (not that the Chassepot is cheap, but cheaper than the other two).

There's no restriction on shipping bayonets or knives, but firearms that's another story.

A 1948 Dreyse recently sold for $1,300.
The starting price was 500.

ALLEMAGNE Fusil d'infanterie DREYSE. Modèle... - Lot 168 - Drouot Estimations

Toutes les informations sur le lot ALLEMAGNE Fusil d'infanterie DREYSE. Modèle... - Lot 168 - Drouot Estimations

www.drouot-estimations.com

 

[Beowulf]

There's no restriction on shipping bayonets or knives, but firearms that's another story.

A 1948 Dreyse recently sold for $1,300.
The starting price was 500.

ALLEMAGNE Fusil d'infanterie DREYSE. Modèle... - Lot 168 - Drouot Estimations

Toutes les informations sur le lot ALLEMAGNE Fusil d'infanterie DREYSE. Modèle... - Lot 168 - Drouot Estimations

www.drouot-estimations.com

That's less than half what they go for here. Hmm, I need to figure out this whole importation thing. From the US side, I think as long as it is proven older than 1898, they will let it through. Not sure how export works out of the EU or France in particular.

 

[Sylvain]

That's less than half what they go for here. Hmm, I need to figure out this whole importation thing. From the US side, I think as long as it is proven older than 1898, they will let it through. Not sure how export works out of the EU or France in particular.

I think in France anything pre 1900 is an antique firearm and it doesn't require a background check or registration to buy/own.

I'm not sure how it works either.

 

[Beowulf]

I think in France anything pre 1900 is an antique firearm and it doesn't require a background check or registration to buy/own.

I'm not sure how it works either.

That seems to be the case in Sweden as well, at least according to the commenter on the video I posted up thread.

 

[Beowulf]

Amazing what you can do while stuck on conference calls...

 

[Sylvain]

That seems to be the case in Sweden as well, at least according to the commenter on the video I posted up thread.

I think even replica guns are antique in France, as long as they are based on a pre-1900 design.
Even if the gun was made recently.
As long as it's using non-metallic cartridges.