You'll Hate this More euro tosh

[slim63]

Re customs & imports

As you all know I am collecting bayonets again, they are perfectly legal to own, buy or sell as long as you are over 18 get the details here ...
Guns, knives, swords and other offensive weapons: UK border control - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

So if you read the relevant bit above you would think no problem I can buy my new bayonet from the anywhere in the world as long as its within the rules & it will arrive in due course ? ....................... wrong!

What is happening is vintage swords knives or bayonets are getting to uk ports or airports getting scanned & then getting destroyed as your average customs officer seems to think "ooh big knife" then throwing it in the scrap bin
Funny that if it were illegal they are not contacting the plod isnt it?

I now know for sure of 4 occasions where this has happened the worst being a friend from another forum who paid the not inconsiderable sum of 4k for a rare museum quality vintage sword clearly marked 1810 eg just a bit below the 1954 cut off date

So to put it simply these non experts are destroying important artifacts willy nilly & so far there seems to be no way of being compensated for the loss
lets not forget the 20% tax that is applied in some sort of ad hock fashion

To make it even more annoying I can send absolutely any bladed item overseas without fear of loss as long as the country it goes to has laws that allow it, so that's our history allowed out but our history not allowed back in

Oh and just to put the cap on it Fedex are knowingly delivering from all over the world to stanstead then not delivering bladed items any further on, instead they are emailing or phoning customers saying you can pick up (once you pay the tax) ok if you are in the soft south but not so good for northerners eg the travel could often be more than the item price
"not picking up sir?, no problem we will return to sender" which they do .............. and then bill the sender hundreds of pounds

 

[DanBow]

They've been doing that with bladed articles for years. Theres countless stories on a knife forum I'm a member of blades being destroyed!

 

[JayTee]

From what I gather from your link the problem is all down to our side, is there no recourse mechanism to access? after all this is legal private property, where is this mandate coming from?

 

[slim63]

They've been doing that with bladed articles for years. Theres countless stories on a knife forum I'm a member of blades being destroyed!

They have with new stuff that does not meet the strict import laws and rightly so but since the law change in 2019 they are destroying perfectly legal stuff

legal carry EDC knives are a case in point, I know of one dealer who imported a load of perfectly legal new spyderco only to lose them at the port, I don't know the value but even a small bucketful would have cost him a tidy penny & he hasn't got anything back yet (no evidence as its destroyed)

And its got a lot worse since brexit & the fuck up about any imports +taxes and all the rest

 

[JayTee]

Is this solely down to HMRC? If so they need to be taken to task.

 

[slim63]

From what I gather from your link the problem is all down to our side, is there no recourse mechanism to access? after all this is legal private property, where is this mandate coming from?

Exactly
Far brighter people than me have been trying to find out since the start of the year, not one of them can pin it down, absolutely nothing is clear mate

And I am told its getting the same with firearm parts too, even legal, deac or relic ones since the law on what is acceptable as a deactivated has changed
From what I can gather old deac laws apply if you own one, but you cant sell it or even give it away unless it meets the new laws & you need to register it, another process that is ill conceived & well behind at present

Then you have the collectors of bladed items who could well be deep in the brown stuff EG gravity knives are illegal & rightly so but are vintage ones exempt ? I know someone with 3 very rare & very valuable Fallshmerjager (ww2 German paratroop) knives which were legal to own until late last year, if plod sees & recognizes what they are but doesn't know or cant be convinced of the 54 law he could easily be watching a grand+ walk out the door ............. again its unclear if they are legal now or not

 

[Pow-Lo]

Sounds like a right shit show. That’s the problem with H.M. Customs, absolute law unto themselves.

 

[slim63]

Is this solely down to HMRC? If so they need to be taken to task.

It seems partly customs & excise, partly the laws not being made clear along with the new brexit rules (whatever they are) making any import put under much more scrutiny

its not a bad thing in some ways because of some of the plainly available & totally illegal stuff coming through but the people doing the checking obviously don't have a clue what they are looking at

 

[slim63]

Sounds like a right shit show. That’s the problem with H.M. Customs, absolute law unto themselves.

It is and they are, the worst thing is that 90% of collectors are more than happy to stay within the law but brighter minds than mine cant find out what that law is

As an example, I want to buy a Lee Metford bayonet, which are reasonably rare here, very sought after & can be very expensive, i have found one in France at the right money but dare not buy it as there is a good chance it will be destroyed at the port, i would rather such a nice piece of our history survived for when/if our lot sort out this crap than take that risk

 

[ogr1]

I hope it puts evil bay into liquidation.
Feckin shite is run by the chink mafia.

 

[JayTee]

The firearms parts could be a big problem for dealers involved in service and repair as most are of foreign manufacture, could get very interesting in the near future, didn’t know about the deac thing though that could unwittingly catch a few out, mate of mine had his M1A1 7.62 deactivated in 1987 after the Hungerford tragedy and had it on his living room wall, quite the conversation piece.

 

[slim63]

The firearms parts could be a big problem for dealers involved in service and repair as most are of foreign manufacture, could get very interesting in the near future, didn’t know about the deac thing though that could unwittingly catch a few out, mate of mine had his M1A1 7.62 deactivated in 1987 after the Hungerford tragedy and had it on his living room wall, quite the conversation piece.

From what I can work out its still legal to own but he cant sell it me or even give it you as it wont comply with the newest law, to sell it has to be to the latest spec & registered all of which costs

From memory barrels had to be plugged & firing pins removed under the old law, now the barrel has to be cut & welded with a full length bar welded in to meet the new laws.

My mate has a few deac rifles, none of them were cheap, his SMLE bought fairly recently falls foul of the laws just as your mates M1A1 does ............ the bolt operates (against new laws) the barrel has a short plug (not sufficient for the new laws) barrel hasnt been cut through & rewelded (again fall short of the new laws) ............ still legal to own but as that one & all the others are older deac's a lot has been wiped of the value of historic items at the stroke of some shiny arsed twats pen

And guess what none of this bullshit will make the blindest bit of difference to those that hold firearms illegally
None of it will stop stabbings, most of which are done with kitchen knives or home made shit

But you can still legally buy a bb gun AK47 for a couple of hundred quid at (almost) the corner shop that is indistinguishable from the real thing from 5 yards .............. or a 1911 colt ........... or well you get the idea

 

[andyBeaker]

Is this a good time to ask if anyone wants to buy my antique fishing knife that eBay won’t jet me advertise?

 

[slim63]

Is this a good time to ask if anyone wants to buy my antique fishing knife that eBay won’t jet me advertise?

Yes, go on then ask !

 

[andyBeaker]

Does anybody want to buy my antique fishing knife that eBay won’t let me advertise.
?

 

[johnboy]

I may be interested can you post up some photos of it.

 

[slim63]

Does anybody want to buy my antique fishing knife that eBay won’t let me advertise.
?

Maybe!

 

[Cougar377]

Maybe!

Don't fall for it...! Even back in them days they used rods to catch fish.....

 

[Jaws]

Why would anyone hunt antique fish .. esp. with a knife !!

 

[slim63]

Why would anyone hunt antique fish .. esp. with a knife !!

Well he's a soft southerner now mate, they have some right strange habits you know

Think its something to do with eels & jelly but I still cant find out what flavour jelly must be a trade secret or something