Reloading in Ireland

packas

Hi all,

I'm very interested in reloading my own 40S&W pistol ammo for IPSC shooting. Does anyone know where the law stands on this? It seems a lot of people are doing it (reloading that is:D )

I was in Tannyoky Gun shop last weekend. They will sell me everything over the counter (a lot cheaper on the net though even with postage) except propellant & primers. For that I need a permit

Regarding presses. Does anyone have any experience of using the Lee Pro 1000 progressing press? It seems cheap enough which worries me. Ideally I'd like a Dillon 650

Sparks

Right now packas, the law's very, very gray. At least one shooter has had his house searched by gardai and his reloading presses and equipment confiscated and a court case brought against him (last I heard it was moved from one District Court to another because the judge claimed he was no expert in firearms - which may have bearing in the future on the District Court appeals route the Criminal Justice Bill is to bring in).

As I understand it - and please note that I'm an engineer, not a lawyer, so my legal training pretty much covers contracts, companies, health&safety and that type of stuff only - the equipment (presses, measuring gear, etc) and some of the supplies (brass cases for example) are fully legal and can be sold over the counter without licence. However, as you found, propellant and primers are classed as explosives ( yes, propellant isn't actually an explosive. Tomato's not actually a vegetable either, but it's still classed as one legally. Noone said law was drafted by people with detailed technical knowlege of what the law applied to! ) and you can't buy them without a permit.
As to whether or not the act of reloading is in itself illegal, well, that's the big murky gray area as far as I can tell.

However, in a few weeks or months when the commencement orders for the criminal justice bill are signed, you just apply for a licence under the new Section 10A or the Firearms Act and bob's your uncle.

Well.

Assuming that your superintendent is happy to grant you the licence, and that:

(a) the applicant holds a firearm certificate;
(b) the reloading of ammunition will not, in the particular circumstances, endanger public safety or security or the peace;
(c) the person has a special need which, in the opinion of the superintendent, is sufficient to justify granting the licence;
(d) the applicant is competent to reload ammunition;
(e) the premises where the reloading is to take place are sufficiently safe and secure for that purpose.

And any other conditions the Superintendent wants to add to the licence.

It'll be a 3-year licence, and the Minister gets to decide the maximum amount of whatever component parts you buy under it, as well as the maximum amount of whatever component parts the dealer stocks.

packas

Sparks,

Thanks for the excellent response. Will definately hold off buying anything until the law's clear. Not worth it !

Sparks

Not until the new bill's through anyway packas. Though there may well be a price hike in the gear at that point with the rise in demand. Still though, until then, it may be best to shoot factory ammo and save the brass!

shc1

Sorry I can’t help with the laws. I can give some insight on the reloading.
From what I hear Dillon makes top of the line stuff. As for expense I went with Lee. Nothing special just a single stage Challenger Press with Carbide Dies. Some day I might go with a multi stage loader. With me slower is safer. Might want the crimp die for auto-loaders. Search the net for scales. Higher priced is better. My scale is a Pact II, weighs to 1/10 of a grain. If I had the cash I’d go with a better one but it’s good enough for targets and plinking. A good balance beam on the side helps check the weight from time to time.
The Lee specials sometime include (what I started with) the Lee Perfect powder measure. Good for stick powder to within a half-grain or so, rifle loads. Smaller stuff, ball powder leaks and makes for a dangerous mess.
Lee also sells the Safety Powder scale, cough (what I started with). Don’t bother you’ll be glad you didn't.
Hope this helps.

packas

Thanks for the info guys!

sidneyreilly

Sparks wrote:

At least one shooter has had his house searched by gardai and his reloading presses and equipment confiscated and a court case brought against him (last I heard it was moved from one District Court to another because the judge claimed he was no expert in firearms - which may have bearing in the future on the District Court appeals route the Criminal Justice Bill is to bring in).

The equipment was found to be totally legal. What he was done for was possesion of empty shells he didnt have a certificate for which was a collection of 9mm and .40 cases etc cases collected over the years, he was not reloading them at all.

Been thrown out of court anyway:D

Sparks

sidneyreilly wrote:

The equipment was found to be totally legal.

Figured it would be, given the above.

What he was done for was possesion of empty shells he didnt have a certificate for which was a collection of 9mm and .40 cases etc cases collected over the years, he was not reloading them at all.

Yeah, I remember that because it meant anyone with a bullet board on their wall was doing something illegal unless they had a licence for a firearm in every single calibre on the wall!

Been thrown out of court anyway:D

Thrown out of Wicklow or out of Bray? (Good news if the former, not so good if the latter )

sidneyreilly

Strcuk out!

Sparks

Excellent! (Pity the DCs don't keep transcripts, it would have made interesting reading!)

Clare gunner

Pity no one employed from one of the shooting organisations were not down there to take notes of what was said.Would have thought that would be a no brainer.

trixter

Personally I like the RCBS progressive. Well for pistols its progressive for rifles its certainly not. They even have a powder feeder linked to the scale so it can automatically spit out the right amount of powder (although it often doesnt and you have to redo it but its still pretty good). The scale is fairly sensitive, although I am not sure how accurate off the top of my head.

You can easily do 100 rounds/hour including measuring with a micrometer, at a relaxed pace with this.

Samson

The RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme is a nice bit of kit, and whilst not a progressive press, it can be upgraded when required to progressive with the "Piggyback 4" conversion.

Cost for the kit (everything you need - hardware wise, except die sets and shell holders) was sub $286.00USD delivered.

thelurcher

These could be worth checking out - think I got the link from this forum originally:
http://www.smartreloader.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1266
Shipping is cheap and from within the EU so no customs duty etc.

Was talking to the postman last week and he said that every package from the US he's had is getting charges added now - on $286 you could be adding the best part of €100 - at a guess?

B80

Hi Been reading here for a while but this is the first time posting. I have an little used RCBS progressive which I bought in the US shortly before deciding to move home about 6 years ago. Sold my pistols as transfaring them home was not an option then. Would be willing to sell towards a new rifle to anyone interested. Its been in its original box in my garage unused for about five years. With shell holder (plate) and RCBS three die set for .40 S&W.

Samson

thelurcher wrote:

These could be worth checking out - think I got the link from this forum originally:
http://www.smartreloader.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1266
Shipping is cheap and from within the EU so no customs duty etc.

Was talking to the postman last week and he said that every package from the US he's had is getting charges added now - on $286 you could be adding the best part of €100 - at a guess?

I was lucky in that I didn't get stung for duty/VAT as the guy I bought it off made a "mistake" on the customs declaration.
I did consider smartreloader.com, but had quite a bit of paypal money to blow, hence me going with an ebay merchant.

However, I still reckon the route I took would have worked out cheaper, even had I been caught for the VAT (21%) and duty (3%).
$286.00USD equals approx. €228.00 (exchange rate from xe.com/ucc)
Plus VAT of ~€48.00 and duty of ~€7.00 = landed total of ~€283.00

thelurcher

How they work out the charges is a mystery :rolleyes:
Fella here bought a lens for 1200 and the customs was 400 - I got stuff last week 150 and customs was 54 - it always seems to average around 33%
Unless for smaller packages which gets ridiculous!
They also charge you the VAT etc. on the shipping cost which just doesn't make sense