Thread: How to immobilise old fiream to create safe wall hanging

A cut half way through the barrel in the middle of the chamber is/was a common English method coupled with firing pin removal. I would expect tig welding in the chamber would have the same effect.

as FSS says there is no legal definition of what is deactivated in nz once a gun, always a gun in otherworld's you need an FAL to own and still needs to be stored in approved storage even if it is de activated
i confirmed this with my gunsmith the other day as i have an old 12ga I wouldn't have minded turning into "not a gun" it can't be done in nz

i do wonder how pubs rsa's etc get away with it
as a do see quite a few old guns on display

my GGgrandfathers shotgun is in my possession and I have removed both firing pins due to its age circa 1861-63.the damascus barrel interiors are in work condition than anadolescent with a super sahit case of acne . Ihave a spread sheet on my collection and these factsa are noted on it .THEFSAcan wait tillImready to get my info . that gun seesm to have come from a&w carthy in dunedin,although our clan historian and myself seems to think its possibly a british import .

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

i do wonder how pubs rsa's etc get away with it
as a do see quite a few old guns on display

That's cause up until about 20 years ago, if you had rocked up to a fieldpiece or AA gun outside an RSA with the appropriate ammo, a couple of cans of CRC and a brass mallet you could have loaded and fired it.

Not so much now a days. The NZDF have had to go into contortions to continue to display very historically significant firearms in their messes etc. I do not know what its like these days.

Thanks guys. Very good comments.

I could not see a simple safe solution from firearm to wall hanger, and its clear there isn't one. 40-50 years ago firearm wall ornaments were quite common, but at that time we'd also see farmers coming into town with rifles sitting in a rack in back window of the truck while they went shopping. All changed now..

I will send link to this thread to farmer and he can read it for himself. Given the complexities I think @imaca 's enlarged framed photo option may be a good one.

Cheers Mudz

You could weld an Enfield through the magazine well so underside of bolt is fixed to action.no way it could be made to fire again.

This poses question when registering firearms.my old .270 barrel and action are still here but action is toast...can't see it needing to be registered any more than the mk11 zephyr in back of wreckers yard with no engine or wheels.

Found an image of what I had planned. If it was welded etc and then done like this I doubt the cops would have a problem.

@Micky Duck, see the below excerpt from the act.

anything which is not for the time being capable of discharging any shot, bullet, missile, or other projectile but which, by its completion or the replacement of any component part or parts or the correction or repair of any defect or defects, would be a firearm within the meaning of paragraph (a) or subparagraph (i);


With firearms as with cars, until it’s no longer on the books, it is on the books, if my Corolla ever dies and goes to the great car paddock in the sky, it will be registered until I advise the relevant authorities, regardless of how many wheels or how much motor it retains.

As I understand it, the same applies to Firearms, even non functional must be registered at the time the others in safe are.




Back to the original question, my 0.02 on what it looks like is that a firearm is a firearm until it is ‘destroyed’. Anytime a firearm is lost/stolen/destroyed, police/FSA must be advised.

Now considering that, if the police/FSA consider the firearm ’destroyed’ then the firearm no longer exists.
Therefore it follows that if you can satisfy them that the Firearm has been destroyed, it is therefore no longer a Firearm.

The following is on the FSA website....
Major firearm parts
You must register the following parts if they are not integrated into a firearm:

the action (frame, receiver, or upper receiver and lower receiver) of a firearm.

It does not have to working or complete to be registered just a major part of a firearm.
But perhaps @gundoc can shed more light as He is building replica guns....

From Gunworks.

Gunworks - Deactivating a firearm | Deactivate a firearm
In order for us to deactivate a firearm in NZ, we require a letter from NZ Police, describing (in writing) what NZ Police would like us to do in order to deactivate the firearm to their standards, where the firearm will then be recognized as "deactivated".

Originally Posted by Makros

No such thing as deactivation in New Zealand really. ...
(ii)anything which is not for the time being capable of discharging any shot, bullet, missile, or other projectile but which, by its completion or the replacement of any component part or parts or the correction or repair of any defect or defects, would be a firearm within the meaning of paragraph (a) or subparagraph (i); and

Um... if I have a blank beautiful bit of <insert your favorite native [or non-native] wood that you turn into s stock, is that now a firearm? As I can complete it?

My god that is broad

Originally Posted by imaca

I think this is the crux of the matter.

Howabout a life sized high definition photo of the rifle. Not the same I know but it comes back to what @No.3 said, just because it can't be fired, does not mean it can't be used to intimidate.

Yet anybody can buy a cast alloy replica of various guns?

Well there is an opened submission for a review of the firearm act from 13 th of January onward, maybe we should start writing about making a provision for desactivated firearms?

Find someone withe a laser or water jet and cut it vertically to have a 1/2 a display piece?

Originally Posted by NZBeeMan

Find someone withe a laser or water jet and cut it vertically to have a 1/2 a display piece?

Many years ago, when Joe Green was the man answering questions it was commented that lengthwise sectionalising - as you suggest - was the only way they would consider a firearm deactivated and still recognisable.

This is purely hearsay and not legal advice..... just a comment i remembered from a meeting.