Just as a follow up for those who are interested:
I got the licence card for my .303 and picked it up yesterday, im pretty happy with the rifle and now that I dont have a gunsmith and other customers watching me I can inspect it properly in my own time. It needs some cleaning as things are a bit tight and 'sticky' but nothing a cleaning kit cant fix. I will not change anything unless something is affecting the performace at the expense of shooting straight, I think I have a classic weapon on my hands here and dont want to break away from that. Wanted to convert to a .308 but was advised this is not a good idea and not even possible with the BSA action, so im fine with that. No games...this rifle is heavier than most of similar class and calibre! There is nothing I can do really to make it lighter as it seems the bulky action is the cause of the weight, but its bearable and I like its classic appeal. It has been sporterised, the butt or bottom half of the stock is actually a Mugrave stock taken form a 9,3x62 Musgrave. I am a Musgrave fanatic.
The card took three weeks to reach my DFO office after notification of approval, this is not not a terrible time-frame at all, I had surrended to waiting a couple months actually, but heard also from other members on another site that they are doing away with the temp licence that you can (used to) get without a sec21 ie a printed transcript that shows your licenced status which allows you to pick up the weapon without a sec21 permit or a card. They are stopping this because it only adds to the work load and is unnecessary and essentially requires the same documents as a sec21. So, the cards have been coming through in a good time, some people say, because the workload has been shed by stopping this "temp without sec21" licence...I have not ever heard of such a thing maybe because I am younger and never came a cross it before when it was still active, and I find the notion pretty time consuming and impractical as there is already a sec21 que for temp permits, so why did they have this? Perhaps it was there before the sec21..anyway. Maybe the 'older generation' know of this temp without a sec21 but I have never, anyway its just what I heard as a reason that cards are coming through quicker.
Sent in my .375H&H 271 form with a sec21 518 form. The 'record' for a sec21 temp approval is 3 days for one of the clients of a gunshop in Pretoria (I dont care about or see the value of keeping 'records' and such im just making a point). My DFO said average is six weeks for the temp permit under sec21, lets hope and see. Would like to take both rifles on a Warthog hunt in May. At least the .303 is available. Now being fitted with a 20 year old 4x40 Tasco scope, nothing fancy but has served me well on my fathers .270 for many years. Also has sentimental value, so though I might get a better one, I will never discard it, sell it, or give it away...it has too many scratches on it that remind me of my hunting days with that specific .270.
