Firing a gun on Lake Ontario

[goboatingnow]

I know the feeling about cost . I downgraded from large bore centre fire to 0.22 rim fire for the cost reason as well

I get no advantage going to air rifles they are regulated just like firearms ( any thing with. > 1 joule energy )

Dave

[BobnCamie]

I am seriously thinking about a air rifle to shoot "wharf rats" with if and when we can leave. I was chased by a huge rat when I lived in panama, do not want to go through that again. That may be fun. I know about all the hoopla about firearms on boats, but still think a air rifle,not handgun, may be more likely to pass muster with port authorities. Maybe. But still lots of fun,and as far as defense, they are hunting and killing hogs with them now. Would be interesting to see how these would make out.

[mottseng]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

I am seriously thinking about a air rifle to shoot "wharf rats" with if and when we can leave. I was chased by a huge rat when I lived in panama, do not want to go through that again. That may be fun. I know about all the hoopla about firearms on boats, but still think a air rifle,not handgun, may be more likely to pass muster with port authorities. Maybe. But still lots of fun,and as far as defense, they are hunting and killing hogs with them now. Would be interesting to see how these would make out.

As an ex-police office this is what I remember.

• A restricted firearm is any firearm with a barrel length shorter than 18" or overall length of 26" (handguns and sawed off shotguns would be an example)
• All firearms must be registered and there are rules around registration and ownership such as storage use of etc.
• Prohibited firearms are fully automatic weapons and some others

Now the definition of a firearm that requires registration is any firearm that has a projectile speed exceeding 500 feet per second. This rules out most pellet and BB guns that can be purchased at sporting goods stores, as long as you are 18 and over.

Now the discharge of any firearms are generally prohibited within city limits and are generally restricted to clubs/shooting ranges, hunting and farmers.

So long a short of it is this. If you fire off rounds in Canadian waters and get caught you are going to find yourself in trouble.

I hope this helps when in Canada

[theaton]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

Rim-fire .22 have deadly range of 11/2 mile.

Please provide reference to support that statement?

A really hot .22 lr has a muzzle velocity of around 1312 fps and 153 ft pounds of energy. My ballistics chart only goes out to 1900 yards, 740 yards short of your 1 1/2 mile distance. At 1900 yards, the bullet is travelling 278 feet per second with 7 foot pound of energy. The bullet drop at 1900 yards on a "normally" fired shot is 2500 feet. Normal means fired from the shoulder at a relatively flat angle. In other words, the bullet would not reach the target. It might skip off the water but that would further reduce it's velocity and energy. I haven't done any trajectory calculations to see if the bullet could reach 1 1/2 miles if fired at a 45 degree angle. However, fired at that angle, the bullet would not be lethal.

[Captivy]

Originally Posted by mottseng

Sorry but a boat does not fall under the definition of Vehicle in the Highway Traffic Act.

Sorry, if it has a motor or is being towed by something with a motor, it's illegal:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodcons...ent/239841.pdf

[sailr69]

join the military, you won't enjoy it much when your in a fire fight. got it out of my system in Vietnam

[mottseng]

I believe the OP's question has been sufficiently answered. It would definitely be a risk and would find himself in trouble. I hope the OP has kept up with this thread since he has not posted since.

[mottseng]

Originally Posted by Captivy

If it has a motor or is towed by something with a motor, it's illegal:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodcons...ent/239841.pdf

I agree it is illegal to fire a gun from a vehicle but a boat on the water does not fall under the definition of a vehicle under the highway traffic act.

[BobnCamie]

I was just referencing the label on the box as far as range. Who wants to be hit from a ricochet 1 mile away that is coming down from a 30-45 deg angle. Who knows what damage could be done. 1300 fps? You better buy better ammo. Mine thru a chronograph is from 1525-1610 fps. Done it myself. Anyway fps don't mean crap as much as kinetic energy. I know that they are hand in hand, still I have seen ricochets well over half mile past target in the dry fields shooting ground squirrels. And fps is not relevant to that and am sure serious damage would happen at that near mile second impact.

[goboatingnow]

CCI 0.22 stinger is at 1645 fps, and 0.22 WMR is over 1800 fps

dave

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

Anyway fps don't mean crap as much as kinetic energy. I know that they are hand in hand, still I have seen ricochets well over half mile past target in the dry fields shooting ground squirrels. And fps is not relevant to that and am sure serious damage would happen at that near mile second impact.

Energy = 1/2 times the weight of bullet times [the speed (fps)]^2

[BobnCamie]

I understand that, been around firearms all my life. Reloading all center-fire and shot shells.still ricochets scare the SH-T out of me.

[hellosailor]

Brazen,I think you emphasized the wrong part. "A grand jury ruled the shooting a bizarre accident. " is the relevant part. Emphasis on BIZARRE.

Aside from the Belt Parkway being a misunderstood term, even in NYC, if they meant that portion which is properly called the Marine Shore Parkway, it doesn't abut the ocean, it abuts Jamaica Bay. And if the gas station fisherman was "fishing" the way most folks did there, before fishing was strongly discouraged because of toxins in the fish, he was already drunk, shooting at his own beer cans and ignoring the parkway on the land.

That's not a gun accident, that's an alcohol accident. Same as drunk driving, just a different weapon.

Plinking, shooting, skeet shooting offshore...all could be legal but since we don't know exactly what and where the OP had in mind there's no way to guess. Except in this day and age, if someone radios in "Shots fired on the lake..." I wouldn't want to be the guy who had to explain I was just plinking when all the uniforms showed up.

[goboatingnow]

Shots fired on the lake

god yeah, can't imagine the response that might bring, gunboats from all over the place.

[appick]

I have a semi auto .40 caliber hand gun that we use for target practice behind the boat on our trips in the summer. It's never been a problem for us. We tie a couple soda cans together and drag them behind while sailing. Of course we make sure there are no visible vessels anywhere in the direction we are shoot. I only use lower velocity ammo. It makes for good fun. We do it several miles offshore so we don't disturb anyone, and only shoot away from the shore. Of course not handling fire arms while intoxicated is a give in. We also have gun locks and properly secure them when not in use.

As to the worry about lead contamination in the fresh water. I'd be more worried about the hundreds of coal burning power plants across the country and especially around the Great Lakes pumping out thousands of tons of coal soot contaminated with lead, nickle, mercury ect. That and the US military has firing ranges on the Great Lakes where they practice their machine gun firing from the Coast Guard boats and the Navy boats out of Chicago. So my 20 rounds of a few ounces of lead/brass aren't much in comparison. Also the Badger ferry from Ludington still dumps thousands of pounds of coal ash per trip to Wisconsin and back so...

Anyways, we have fun and do it occasionally and responsibly and it hasn't been a problem. I've asked a few police officers I've know on the legality and they've said it shouldn't be a problem but ya never know.