Home All Rifles Found in Belfast Orange Hall After 100 Years

Rifles Found in Belfast Orange Hall After 100 Years

March 1, 2016

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Steyr rifles 10 Belfast 99 — 10 Steyr Rifles Found in Belfast Hall after 100 years

The authorities in the UK have uncovered a cache of illegal ~~German Mauser~~ Steyr-Mannlicher rifles. It seems there was a huge cache of 25,000 rifles smuggled into Belfast in 1914 during something called the “Home-Rule Crisis”.

All rifles stamped Ulster Volunteer Force – UVF

I haven’t looked into what exactly what that is, but it doesn’t take a rocket-surgeon to figure out it was a break-away from the UK movement.

It also appears that many of these guns have been found over the years. One place mentioned in-particular was church floors! Very interesting.

I would think all the serial numbers match.

Notice the single-stack magazine and clip-hole.

The news reports about what happened to these weapons is somewhat confusing to a freedom loving American such as myself. On one hand, they made a big deal out of the weapons and ammunition being classified as “antiques” and legal to own? But then another reference was made to the police confiscating the weapons, “deactivating them” and then returning them to the owners for display.

10 Steyr Rifles Found in Belfast Hall after 100 years

For those new to Mauser rifles, you will notice the age of these weapons by the fact they have straight, as opposed to turned-down, bolt handles. And the magazines are single-stack that use en-bloc clips that drop out of the bottom hole after the last round is stripped from the clip.

Quite the collector’s pieces. It’s just too bad they are located behind enemy lines; in a land that panics at the merest hint of firearms.

Sad.

Marky
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“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”

edit: Thanks to reader Max Popenker for correcting our mislabeling these rifles as Mauser actions. They are Steyr-Mannlicher actions. My mistake. –Marky