At last it is mine, officially!

[slingshot]

Congratulations Tirpassion...time to uncork some bubbly

[hvj1]

Tirpassion,
Heartiest congratulations my friend. The FP 60 is in a class of its own. Simply magnifique! Now I look forward to seeing youshoot really well with the pistol. You deserve it. I am so very happy for you. You have my very Best Wishes.
Best Regards

[FN-Five-Seven]

For the license part, it was butter smooth. I applied on the 3rd of January 2013. A cordial welcome by the officer in our local police station, no interrogation, no interview, no phone calls in between and the license was granted in February by the Police Commissioners office of our district (prefecture de police) when I was in India. A covert enquiry was surely done but I did not know anything of it. But the funny part is that I learnt yesterday only that while applying, I could have asked for 3 weapons at one go.

What ???
No explaining the concept of "Specific threat " and the " Specific need " , and God knows what ,to the officers at the Licensing authority for the millionth time ?
No explaining that the applicant's life is still worth something if he/she is not in the business of transporting truck load of cash from Point A to Point B ?
No explaining that the applicant may still have a threat to his / her life if he / she does not own over 1000 acres of land ?
Guess things are not as fun filled in France , as they are over here , huh ?

J/K

Which reminds me , I have an appointment with my Police Verification Officer on 1st April . I think , he has planned to make an April Fool of me . Oh , well .

For your information, long guns (except for semi automatic and automatic guns) do not need any license in France; the membership card of either the French Shooting Federation or the Hunting Federation suffices to buy as many long guns as one may wish . However, all types of historical replica muzzleloaders are sold freely across the counter against age, identity and address proof.

I know , you are trying to make us happy with the above information , but guess what , we Indians living in India , have the last laugh . The whole process of acquiring a license to possess a firearm , long or conceal ,is like swimming in a river filled with double cream . You don't even know what you are missing .

J/K again

Now, here is my Hämmerli FP60, made in Switzerland before Walther took over the company. It has a 32cm long barrel with 6 grooves (a jewel!!! the original Hämmerli barrels were of superlative quality). The barrel is 14mm in diameter. The overall weight is below 1.1kg which makes it the lightest free pistol in the market. The trigger weight is adjustable from 10g to 100g. There is a Rink grip fitted to it. It was overworked by the seller. Hence, I had to also work a lot on it with the Opinel and ready made quick fixing wood paste. It is, alas, no more beautiful as it was earlier but who cares .

Félicitations Monsieur Tirpassion !

(Okay , I wanted to type Congratulations Mister Tirpassion , so if I wrote it correctly , I do have a superb command of the French language ; if I screwed it up , then , well , it's all Googgle Translate's fault )

Finally , wishing you lots of good times with your newly acquired pistol at the range

Congratulations once again

Regards

F-N-FiveSeven

[tirpassion]

Thanks a lot to all of you!!!

I was just thinking how I could be so mean not to mention that this FP60 was a collective gift from my friends and family members in France for my 40th birthday. Here in this post, I thank them profoundly.

best regards
tirpassion

[Safarigent]

If one is punching paper, you want the best possible instrument to do that with.
If you are hunting, you want the best possible instrument for that too.
Different categories.

Anyway, please do post a few cards from before and after the modification on the grip. I am intrigues at how it can affect your shot placement and accuracy.

[tirpassion]

Dear Arjun,

The grip of a pistol is extremely important, even more for Free Pistol shooting. A well made grip or well modified grip will help you to find the exact hold everytime; the regularity of the hold so to say. You need the regularity of the hold to assure the regularity of the natural alignment of the sights when you lift the weapon. The natural alignment of the sights is a fundamental part of pistol shooting. If you are making an effort (moving the wrist) to align the sights, the wrist will go back to the natural position within seconds thereby affecting your shot placement. In precision shooting you can not afford this error.

I have already modified the grip in the last few days and I know that I am better with it . May be just a bit more filler to fill up the gap before perfection. I have learnt with time that grip modification should be done slowly, very slowly with trials in between. Now I need to shoot a match to see where I am.

best regards
tirpassion

[tirpassion]

Tirpassion,
Heartiest congratulations my friend. The FP 60 is in a class of its own. Simply magnifique! Now I look forward to seeing youshoot really well with the pistol. You deserve it. I am so very happy for you. You have my very Best Wishes.
Best Regards

Dear Sir,

Thanks a million for your blessings. I will not let your best wishes for me go in vain .

sincere regards
tirpassion

[prashantsingh]

Congratulations tirpassion.

[bodhijobs]

Congrats Arnab da. Hope to feel the pistol in my hands pretty soon.

[dev]

Congrats Tir. Hope that you blaze more trails of glory.

Regards,

Dev

[Moin.]

Thanks AB, Tir Dada & Briha Sir as always.

Best
Moin.

[coltpython]

congratulaions

[brihacharan]

Hi tirpassion,
> Hearty congratulations on being given a priceless 'Gift' on your 40th Birthday
> Many Happy Returns of the Day
Briha

[airgun_novice]

Happy Birthday, bro - and CONGRATULATIONS May you share many intimate and unforgettable moments with her.

[tirpassion]

Dear friends,
My 40th happy buttday was last year in nov . My charmante dame had organised a surprise party for the occasion in december 2012. One saturday , she went out for lunch with her friends and booked a restaurnt for the children, my mom in law and me for the lunch. I was happy not to go for the kitchen .
On reaching the same restaurant, the maitre d'hotel lady asked my name, checked the register and told me, 'your table is in the inner salon' and pulled apart the curtain separation. 'Happy birthday to you' sang the choral ; nine of my close friends, their children along with my better half were all there to welcome me... I was seeing only fog before I understood that uncontrolled droplets were flooding my eyes. ..
And she took care of my favortites also, champagne demi sec , coteau du layon (a sweet white wine from the Loire valley) for the foie gras, mercurey (burgundy red) for the gigot d'agneau aka roast lamb and cheese and a white chocolate cake with caramel along with cherry/raspberry coulis to top the feast which lasted from 12noon to 5pm.
The gift box was adorned with cheques and a word to fulfill my dream of the free pistol.
That is what i did of late

Best regards
Tirpassion