First timer here, need some advice.

[aks1296]

Hello indian for guns,

I am Subhasis Biswas from Kolkata. I am 19 years old and a college student. I am really interested in shooting and owning firearms, i know that right now I won't be able to get a license because I am underage. but can I buy any Air Rifle? or it needs license too? I am now staying in haldia for my studies, after 2 years will shift to our apartment in kolkata. Any gun dealers near me? And another that thing I will be joining the Kolkata rifle club after my studies, as you gurus say that anyone with rifle club membership can get arms license for sporting easily. Can I get one for sure after joining rifle club? i really want to buy the iof 30.06 rifle. Please help me and thank you.

Subhasis.

[sohampaul11]

Hello Subhasis! Welcome to IFG. Hope you have a good time here.
Yes. You can buy an air rifle and no it doesn't need a license.
Where in Kolkata do you stay? There are a number of gun dealers in Central Kolkata,near Lalbazaar and Esplanade(notably Aimco,Great Eastern Firearms,D.N Biswas). You can buy locally made air rifles from them,including Precihole.
There is nothing known as the "Kolkata Rifle Club". There is North Calcutta Rifle Club and South Calcutta Rifle Club. Tollygunge Rifle Club is history. There are some clubs around Kolkata,namely Howrah Rifle Club and Serampore Rifle Club. Depending on the location where you are based,you might want to look into them. But if you are remotely serious about shooting,you should seriously look into North Calcutta Rifle Club.
Getting a arms license is a difficult procedure. You might get it,you might not. Getting to be a member of a rifle club is a feat in itself. Nowadays,due to strict security concerns, most of the clubs don't give admission to new members that easily. If you are a student,you would need a bonafide letter from your college stating that you are currently studying in that college and that your college doesnt have any problems if you pursue shooting. Also,the fees is usually lower for student members. Normal membership usually requires you to know atleast 2 members of that respective club. There needs to be 1 proposer and 1 supporter. They will propose and support your name in the declaration form. Also, fees is higher for normal membership. The application is checked and background checking is done by the local police. If no discrepencies are found,only then will you be admitted to the club. Consider yourself lucky,since a club membership gives you the exclusive right to import competition grade air weapons from abroad. Nowadays, they say that you also need to have participated in atleast 1 competition to be able to import an air weapon for yourself.
As for your arms license,you need to be atleast 21 in order to be able to apply for a license. Being a club member has it's advantages here because the club help in this process. But there have been cases where people have joined a rifle club->learned to shoot->became a member of a maoist and shot down people. It used to be easier to get a license. But nowadays,the police knows this and applications are turned down 95% of the time.
So, there is no guarantee if you will get your license "for sure" but you can hope for it.
Going by your queries, you seem to be relatively new to shooting. I would suggest you to get a club membership and practice in 10m open sight air rifle. From there you can judge for yourself whether you have the finances or will to progress into something else,such as 10m peep sight air rifle,10m air pistol, 50m rifle prone, 50m rifle 3P,etc.
Just out of curiosity, where are you planning to shoot a 30.06 in Kolkata? This rifle is usually used in the Big Bore competitions. In Kolkata,you wont have a 300m long range. Almost all of them have 10m,25m and 50m ranges. So, that limits you to either .22lr rifle or pistol or at the most .32.

[pran80]

Dear sohampaul11,
Can you please quote some cases where people joined rifle club, Learned to shoot and then joined Maoists?
I am just interested in knowing and that's all.
Thanks,
Pranjal

[aks1296]

Hi Soham Sir,

Yes I meant the North Calcutta Rifle Club. Are you saying that I can buy the AR right now? Or will I need a rifle club membership to do that? Can you please tell me is the Precihole Nx100 a good starter AR since you own one yourself? I have seen the pictures of that AR and it looked so real. About the arms license, If I write need as sporting after joining the club which I will after 2 years, what would the best way to convince the police to give me the license? I will probably buy the .22lr rifle if I get the license, since the 30.06 rifle is too expensive for me. I will only use it to shoot target. thank you for your time.

[sohampaul11]

Ok. Maybe not Maoists. Intended to write criminals. Here is a news clipping I got while browsing the Internet.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 973297.cms

Shooters massacre migratory birds

Subhro Niyogi | TNN | Jan 22, 2015, 03.43 AM IST
KOLKATA: Migratory birds that visit wetlands in Bengal during winter have turned into game for shooters. Scores of youths with guns, including members of a rifle club, are flocking to a stretch of Baidyabati Canal, around 40 km from Kolkata, to kill birds perched on trees or in flight, treating them as trap targets.
For birdwatchers, Baidyabati canal has been a paradise for more than a decade and a half. With clear water and no human habitation in the vicinity, it's a natural nesting site for birds. In the past couple of years though, the bird count has been shot to pieces. Several of the shooters are affiliated to Serampore Rifle Club.
"The section of the canal adjacent to Gourangapur village is a hotspot for birds. It is extremely popular among bird watchers who throng there on Sunday mornings. But when I visited on Tuesday, I saw gunmen arriving in cars and bikes to hunt. They brazenly shot birds and then handed over the carcasses to villagers. It was obvious they only wanted to practice shooting and had no interest in consuming the meat," a city-based corporate lawyer and avid birder told TOI.
As word of the massacre spread among the community, other bird watchers began making discreet visits on weekdays. What emerged is shocking. One group of shooters arrives around 9am and shoots till 11.30am and a second one 'practices' between 3pm and 5pm. They avoid Sundays.
Veteran birder Subhankar Patra, who was been visiting the area since 1965, says that while some villagers occasionally killed birds with sling-shots, shooting began around a decade ago and spiked in the past two-three years. "Members of Serampore Rifle Club as well as other youths from well-to-do families indulge in this. I have tried to dissuade them but to no avail. Instead, they rudely tell us 'mind your own business'," said Patra.
Among the birds that have fallen prey include lesser whistling duck, gray-headed lapwing, red wattle lapwing, common snipe, green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, common sandpiper and yellow-footed pigeon. The shooting is scaring off migratory birds — fewer of them visit every year. Terrapins or soft shell turtles are also hunted by locals using a spear-like improvised weapon.
Serampore Rifle Club secretary Jaideep Bandyopadhyay admitted that some members indulge in shooting birds, an act he termed illegal. "Shooting animals and birds was part of the tradition. But it is now illegal to do so. Unfortunately, the practice continues. Some members from Kolkata also indulge in the illegal practice. Though we have never intervened earlier, we will raise the issue during the annual general meeting and urge members not to kill birds," he said.
Birder Bonani Kakkar of PUBLIC has written to Hooghly district magistrate Sanjay Bansal. "I have also spoken to forest officers. I hope the administration takes action," she said.

[to_saptarshi]

Pranjal , below might be an exception , but still ...

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/n ... 552820.ece

[sohampaul11]

Yes you can buy. No it doesnt require club membership. Precihole NX100 Club Elite model is a perfectly good starter AR for target practice. There is no 'best' way. All you can do is take up shooting. Learn to shooot. Graduate to 50m rifle prone/3p,which is a. 22lr event. Compete in that event using club guns. You will be awarded certificates after you've successfully competed in that event. Keep those certificates since the police might ask for proof of you competing in a. 22lr event. Read all the threads on Arms Licensing here on this forum. Gather all the documents, follow all the procedures and make sure your name doesnt get entered in the police's diary. After all this, you are at the licensing authority's discretion. Consider yourself lucky if you get an arms license. And finally, dont leave shooting after you've managed to get your AL. The AL has to be renewed after 3 years and at the time of renewal, you might be asked to produce certificates of shooting during that 3 year period.

[aks1296]

Yes you can buy. No it doesnt require club membership. Precihole NX100 Club Elite model is a perfectly good starter AR for target practice. There is no 'best' way. All you can do is take up shooting. Learn to shooot. Graduate to 50m rifle prone/3p,which is a. 22lr event. Compete in that event using club guns. You will be awarded certificates after you've successfully competed in that event. Keep those certificates since the police might ask for proof of you competing in a. 22lr event. Read all the threads on Arms Licensing here on this forum. Gather all the documents, follow all the procedures and make sure your name doesnt get entered in the police's diary. After all this, you are at the licensing authority's discretion. Consider yourself lucky if you get an arms license. And finally, dont leave shooting after you've managed to get your AL. The AL has to be renewed after 3 years and at the time of renewal, you might be asked to produce certificates of shooting during that 3 year period.

What did you mean by "follow all the procedures and make sure your name doesnt get entered in the police's diary"? I didn't understand that.

[sohampaul11]

Follow all the procedures of the arms licensing process and dont take part in any such activities that might land you in jail. Just as a precaution.