While I am new to this forum I have been a shooter / reloader /and unrepentant tinkerer for over 45 years as well as being a former mechanic and owning / operating a lathe, milling machine and all manner of equipment of mass construction. I have now reached that period in life referred to as retirement and have a safe bulging with (as defined in Qld licenses) weapons mostly bought cheaply and requiring refurbishment with the intention of doing exactly that in my retirement.
A little background. In the 1980s and early nineties ( pre little Johnny) I used to do all manner of 'gunsmithing' for myself, my brothers and an occasional friend including chambering, threading and fitting barrels, repairs to mechanisms and general tinkering, including fixing the odd abortion created by a gunsmith used by a local gun shop but life and business commitments pretty much coincided with the infamous Buy Back and have only done the odd barrel set back and rechamber due to throat erosion and a couple of recrowns on my own gear which I believe to be ok as I man not changing anything that identifies the 'weapon'.
Now to the question above.
I have reamers and headspace gauges for the cartridges that interest me, the equipment, expertise and experience to do all that I need to do on the old rifles in my safe, mostly in the 303 and 06 families and also have built a stock making pantograph but only holding a licence for category A & B class weapons cannot legally do the work I wish to do such as rechamber / rebarrel to a different calibre and on at least two set up a second barrel as a switch barrel rifle. I have owned some of these rifles since the early eighties for 'one day' only the world has changed.
So I was wondering if I should talk to QPS Licensing Branch about obtaining either a Dealers License or an Armourers License but I am not really interested in setting up a business other than for hobby purposes ie I really only want to do my own or the very occasional outside job. I just want to make the old girls sing again and keep a couple and sell off a few to pay for my bits and pieces and other old relics to rescue.
What license do I need to cover me so that I can LEGALLY do what I want to do and stress that I am not interested in doing it the illegal way or am I pipe dreaming here?
For those of you who will tell me that I should just go see an armourer, you have completely missed the point. One - I am not made of money, two - it would make the whole exercise economically unviable, three - I just want to do what I can already do myself.