NSW PPL and PTA Questions

[Patches]

G'day all,

I've recently joined a pistol club located within regional NSW for the purposes of target shooting and have held the PPL for almost 5 months and completed beyond the 3 mandatory shooting activities during this time. Whilst I've bombarded the members of the pistol club with various questions and read through the Firearms Registry documents, I'm still uncertain on the entirety of the PPL and PTA compliance conditions.

1) Within the first six months of holding the PPL (i.e. prior to PTA approval), am I able to possess pistol ammunition (in the applicable calibres, which are predominantly .177" and .22" LR) and transport it to and from the pistol club grounds? If I'm understanding correctly, I cannot purchase the pistol ammunition directly from the dealer without the PTA or firearm registration certificate, but possession (sourced from the pistol club) seems ambiguous. The P650 assessment states that this isn't permissible, yet members of the pistol club have suggested that it is as long as it's transported responsibly (i.e. within a concealed lockbox). Ideally, I'd like to avoid possessing any pistol ammunition prior to the PTA approval, but the individual with access to the pistol club's safe has limited availability, making participation in scheduled shooting activities difficult.

2) In the interests of reducing costs, are there any restrictions on bulk purchasing pistol ammunition (once again, in the applicable calibres), regardless of the licence type (i.e. PPL or full)?

3) For the initial PTA, members of the pistol club suggested opting for a used competition pistol kit (with conversion kits for both .22" LR and .32" S&W WC) from Hammerli, Pardini, Walther, etc. which would be more versatile and allow me to compete in both centre-fire and rim-fire events. Additionally, there is a cost benefit to purchasing the pistol kit as opposed to the pistol and conversion kit separately (e.g. for the Pardini SP RF and HP the difference is approximately $500 AUD). However, I'm concerned that I would be in breach of the following condition outlined within the PPL fact sheet: "you must not possess a centre-fire and rim-fire pistol at the same time - section 31(3C) of the Firearms Act 1996." I've been told that this would be compliant (as the conversion kit is recorded as a spare part and not necessarily registered as a separate pistol), but even if it is, I'm uncertain how this would work with purchasing ammunition (i.e. if there would be a limitation for .22" LR only), if it'd be illegal to switch the conversion kit between .22" LR and .32" S&W WC at an event, and if this would raise concerns during a scheduled safe storage inspection.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[bullzeye]

1) No - you shouldn't be possessing any ammunition at home. Buy ammo at the range when you are shooting, don't take the ammo home - it's unnecessary. As you know - you will be supervised at all times by a range officer. There should be a Club Armourer who supplies ammo to members.

2) No restrictions. You can buy as much ammo as you like once you've got a firearm/ rego papers.

3) Your first pistol has to be either rimfire or centrefire. It can't be both. Start off with a cheap, second hand 22. This is what most people do.

IMO - you are over complicating things. All of this goes slowly. Take your time.