# What rifles do they hunt with in the United Kingdom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064 "2008-08-06T18:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/1 "2008-08-06T18:50:38Z")
In America, we have many domestic producers of hunting rifles - Winchester, Remington, Weatherby, and Savage are probably the most popular. But if you asked me to name one British gun maker, I would say, “Enfield,” and that’s it. I can’t think of anything else. And as far as I know, they only make combat rifles. So what do they hunt with in England and Scotland? Do they use surplus Enfields over there? Do they use imported American hunting rifles? ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/2 "2008-08-06T19:23:19Z")
Well, in the the BSA Motorcycle company, the BSA stood for Birmingham Small Arms [BSA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Small_Arms_Company). And there’s always [Holland & Holland](http://www.hollandandholland.com/gunrooms/london/welcome/) ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/3 "2008-08-06T19:27:52Z")
Accuracy International [Holland & Holland](http://www.hollandandholland.com/gunrooms/london/welcome/) [Boss & Co.](http://www.bossguns.co.uk/newguns.asp) [Eley](http://www.eley.co.uk/) [James Purdey & Sons](http://www.purdey.com/guns/bolt-action/) [Joseph Brazier](http://www.josephbrazier.com/) [Westley Richards](http://www.westleyrichards.com/firm/history3.html) [WW Greener](http://www.wwgreener.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/4 "2008-08-06T19:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=GaryM] And there’s always [Holland & Holland](http://www.hollandandholland.com/gunrooms/london/welcome/) [/QUOTE] Whoa - those are some downright beautiful shotguns and rifles. They keep talking about “bespoke” firearms - what is that supposed to mean? ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/5 "2008-08-06T19:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Whoa - those are some downright beautiful shotguns and rifles. They keep talking about “bespoke” firearms - what is that supposed to mean? [/QUOTE] Bespoke means custom-made. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/6 "2008-08-06T20:03:07Z")
Most of those pieces seem fairly high-end. What does the average bloke hunt with? ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/7 "2008-08-06T20:25:17Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Most of those pieces seem fairly high-end. What does the average bloke hunt with? [/QUOTE] He doesn’t. Hunting isn’t a popular pursuit. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/8 "2008-08-06T20:25:55Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Most of those pieces seem fairly high-end. What does the average bloke hunt with? [/QUOTE] The average bloke in the UK doesn’t, which is perhaps why you’re seeing a lot of high-end guns that appeal to the very limited portion of society that does hunt. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/9 "2008-08-06T20:36:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \* **Szlater** : > He doesn’t. > > Hunting isn’t a popular pursuit. True enough - start shooting with a hunting rifle in most of southern England and any misses will hit the next village 😃 - but there are a lot of shotguns held by farmers and by sport shooters, both game and clay pigeon. I believe the commonist types of gun are Berettas and Brownings but not an owner myself. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/10 "2008-08-06T20:43:11Z")
[QUOTE=MarcusF] True enough - start shooting with a hunting rifle in most of southern England and any misses will hit the next village 😃 - but there are a lot of shotguns held by farmers and by sport shooters, both game and clay pigeon. I believe the commonist types of gun are Berettas and Brownings but not an owner myself. [/QUOTE] Come to think of it, you can hunt rabbit and other vermin with a .22, so I would expect farmers to have one of those around as well as their shotguns. Though I doubt they would consider it a leisure activity, more of a neccesity. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/11 "2008-08-06T20:56:40Z")
My flatmate used to be a ground beater for a Duke (or something) near Aberdeen, on one of the big hunts. Hunting, in the UK, isn’t some guy going out to shoot a deer to feed his family. It’s almost always members of the landed gentry, dressed in tweed, with flat caps, shooting pheasants, or other animals, released especially for the event (I used to share an allotment with a guy who raised pheasants from eggs specifically to release on the moors for a hunt). ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/12 "2008-08-06T20:58:46Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] Come to think of it, you can hunt rabbit and other vermin with a .22, so I would expect farmers to have one of those around as well as their shotguns. Though I doubt they would consider it a leisure activity, more of a neccesity. [/QUOTE] They usually get local kids in (with their own .22’s) to shoot rats in the farmyard. It’s what happens on the farms around my village, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/13 "2008-08-06T21:05:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally poster by \* \*\*CRSP \*\* (Appropriate name for this thread!): > It’s almost always members of the landed gentry, dressed in tweed, with flat caps,… These days I would have thought it was more likely to newly rich young City types burning off their mega-bonuses :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/14 "2008-08-07T01:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=Capt. Ridley’s Shooting Party] I used to share an allotment with a guy who raised pheasants from eggs specifically to release on the moors for a hunt. [/QUOTE] I have bought water garden plants from a company that sells plants to attract animals. They sell baby ducks, that you release onto your property so that they will migrate, return in season all grown up that you may kill them. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/15 "2008-08-07T08:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s almost always members of the landed gentry, dressed in tweed, with flat caps, shooting pheasants not a native speaker here, pheasants, peasant: which one was the bird and which one was the poor dude? ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/16 "2008-08-07T08:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=willthekittensurvive?] not a native speaker here, pheasants, peasant: witch one was the bird and witch one was the poor dude? [/QUOTE] Um, well, in the first place the word you want is “which”. Witch = evil woman with pointy hat and broomstick. But to get back to the point, a pheasant is a bird, a peasant is a poor dude. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/17 "2008-08-07T08:37:22Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] Hunting isn’t a popular pursuit. [/QUOTE] - the UK is much smaller than the US and more densely populated - guns are not popular here (you are not allowed a gun for home defence, for example) - hunting is not popular here (hunting foxes with dogs was recently banned) - we don’t have many places where the average guy can hunt (you can pay a lot of money to use a grouse moor, but that’s about it) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/18 "2008-08-07T08:46:02Z")
[QUOTE=glee] - the UK is much smaller than the US and more densely populated - guns are not popular here (you are not allowed a gun for home defence, for example) - hunting is not popular here (hunting foxes with dogs was recently banned) - we don’t have many places where the average guy can hunt (you can pay a lot of money to use a grouse moor, but that’s about it) [/QUOTE] …We don’t have so much large wild game - lots of pigeons, pheasant, partridge, rabbits and quite a few deer. Regionally, some hares, grouse, plus a list of other smaller game birds such as woodcock and snipe, but we just don’t have any wilderness. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/19 "2008-08-07T09:38:03Z")
[QUOTE=glee] - the UK is much smaller than the US and more densely populated - guns are not popular here (you are not allowed a gun for home defence, for example) - hunting is not popular here (hunting foxes with dogs was recently banned) - we don’t have many places where the average guy can hunt (you can pay a lot of money to use a grouse moor, but that’s about it) [/QUOTE] What are the rules for owning a shotgun? Say if I wanted to keep one in my flat in Edinburgh, on the grounds that I went deer stalking from time to time (can you stalk deer with a shotgun?) I’d love to give deer hunting a try, but as others have said it is such a minority pursuit, with unappealling class connontations, that there’s just too much activation energy to get involved over here. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064/20 "2008-08-07T09:52:52Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] Come to think of it, you can hunt rabbit and other vermin with a .22, so I would expect farmers to have one of those around as well as their shotguns. Though I doubt they would consider it a leisure activity, more of a neccesity. [/QUOTE] Not the UK, but my ex FiL is a farmer in the Republic of Ireland and has a shotgun and a .22. No idea of the brand. He shoots rabbits, and not for sport. He also used the shotgun to kill his two beloved dogs after they’d got the taste for killing sheep. ☹ (He also has a rifle that his brother found hidden under the seats in a caravan he bought - which had the original sights filed off and telescopic sights welded on, presumably by a terrorist group. I asked if he reported it to the cops and he said “no, I hung it on the wall”!) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rifles-do-they-hunt-with-in-the-united-kingdom/459064.md?page=2)