Law on dug relics

[edwardsa]

Hi everyone

This is my first post having recently joined. I am interested in WW1 & 2 battlefield relics, having a few trench finds such as gas mask filters and shell cases.

Are there any UK restrictions on buying rusty rifles/pistols (or even bits of them) that couldn't possibly be re-activated?

Thanks for any advice.

Andy

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum!

Do not take any chances and try and import any relic firearm, not matter how rusty it might be. Even these have to be legally de-activated. You might think it is not capable of being used again, but the law does not always see it that way.

Buy from inside the UK from respectable dealers who offer the correct paperwork.

Cheers, Ade.

[JMCJR]

There is practical reason in being very careful digging on a battlefield regarding unexploded ordnance (UXO)...most of it is still live, some of it will be unstable. Artillery, mortar and other shells fuzed with a time fuze might be corroded too much to explode, then maybe not. These shells are dangerous as all others. A friend of mine was sweeping up practice sea mines near Denmark, his efforts netted an extra mine which turned out to be German WWII. When opened, it was live, but the battery was too low to function the mine. He said they did not want to move it for fear of jostling the battery into a last charge and sinking his minesweeper. They managed to safely deactivate it, but finding a expert on WWII mines in the 1980's was a challenge. Best to buy your collectables and not cash in your insurance policy explosively.