My W&S Mk3 history

I live in Northern Ireland so am restricted to owning air rifles and pistols that are on a Fire Arms Certificate regardless of their power rating.

So, when I was a boy, my dad bought a second hand Webley and Scott Mk3 air rifle for me to use but it was held on his FAC. This was in the mid 1970's and Northern Ireland was in the middle of civil unrest called "The Troubles". I was about 13 years old and back then, boys of 16 years old could get a "provisional FAC" which allowed them to own and use an airgun. So I was counting the days until I was old enough to take posession of the Mk3. But as the troubles continued, fire arms and basically any kind of legally held gun was becoming more restricted and harder to get a FAC if you were new to the sport.

As a result, they changed the rules and abolished the provisional FAC when I was on the brink of getting one. I was fifteen and a half when they put the age for owning an airgun up to 18. I was not amused.

When I turned 18, I applied for my FAC and got it but since I had access to my dad's shotguns and the air rifle, I just had his on loan. This allowed me to apply for a Winchester 101 multi choke shotgun on my own FAC which I used to shoot Clay Pigeons and vermin.

So the old Mk3 remained on my dad's FAC and I never really took ownership of it officially.

Due to living abroad, I got rid of my shotgun and eventually stopped renewing my FAC. Dad still had the airgun on his FAC and it was there should I ever need it. Then dad developed Alzheimers and decided to get rid of his guns as he wasn't using them anymore. We sold his shotguns, but my uncle who's a farmer took the air rifle onto his FAC with a view that it was still really mine should I ever decide to get a FAC.

I'm now retired and do Grey Squirrel control with a local conservation group and have need of an air pistol. So I needed to get a new FAC. This meant I could finally get the old air rifle on my own certificate and that is what I did.

Imagine my surprise when I found out how well respected these guns are in the airgun community. That is what lead me here and I was so pleased to find out the wealth of knowledge that resides here in relation to these fine old guns.

On another thread here I asked about the age of my rifle and recieved a reply that says it was made between 17th July 1965 and 25th September 1965.  

When we got it, the spring was quite weak so when on a holiday in Wales, we took it to a gun shop and the guy replaced the spring for us. The new spring made a massive difference and it was great fun to use. We also bought a telescopic sight for it which took it to a whole new level.

Over the years, the scope has disappeared so I will probably get another one. But in the meantime I'm just going to have fun with it out on my local gamekeepr's range.

Here are some photos of it.