Imitation Firearms

[juggler40]

Hi all,
Just looking for a little bit of clarification, or really just some advice regarding imitation firearms.
I'm interested in starting a small collection of some American Civil War era / Bushranger era firearms, now a few of these I'm interested in are classed as antique and require no licence (Snider-Enfield 577-450) so that's all good.

However I've always loved the Colt Navy/Army/Dragoon, and would love to have one in a personal collection for their historical and aesthetic value, issue is they cost an arm and a leg and I don't want to go through the full licensing as I don't intend to shoot them. So the obvious choice would be to join an approved club (Antique and Historical Arms and Collectors Guild would be my choice) and purchase an imitation firearm from Sabre Militaria or one of the various stores in WA / QLD.

Basically I just wanted to confirm that if I am to be a member of the guild, I will be able to legally purchase and store these imitation firearms in my house for personal collection, as long as I stored them out of public sight and where nobody else has access to them.

This leads to my second question, do I need to store them the same as I would store genuine firearms? (Safe bolted to floor/wall or weighing over 150KG) or is the storage requirements less strict?

Not sure if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing but would appreciate any imput.
Thanks a million

[bladeracer]

Hi all,
Just looking for a little bit of clarification, or really just some advice regarding imitation firearms.
I'm interested in starting a small collection of some American Civil War era / Bushranger era firearms, now a few of these I'm interested in are classed as antique and require no licence (Snider-Enfield 577-450) so that's all good.

However I've always loved the Colt Navy/Army/Dragoon, and would love to have one in a personal collection for their historical and aesthetic value, issue is they cost an arm and a leg and I don't want to go through the full licensing as I don't intend to shoot them. So the obvious choice would be to join an approved club (Antique and Historical Arms and Collectors Guild would be my choice) and purchase an imitation firearm from Sabre Militaria or one of the various stores in WA / QLD.

Basically I just wanted to confirm that if I am to be a member of the guild, I will be able to legally purchase and store these imitation firearms in my house for personal collection, as long as I stored them out of public sight and where nobody else has access to them.

This leads to my second question, do I need to store them the same as I would store genuine firearms? (Safe bolted to floor/wall or weighing over 150KG) or is the storage requirements less strict?

Not sure if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing but would appreciate any input.
Thanks a million

I gave my non-firing replicas away when I moved to Vic as I didn't see any easy way to keep them here.

I believe only genuine antiques are exempt, and those can be expensive compared to modern replicas.

Where in Vic are you? Personally, if you like these firearms I would suggest joining a pistol club, get real ones and get out there enjoying them. If you can come along to a Cowboy Action shoot you only need sign a Notification of Receiving Instruction and you can have a go with the real firearms. Feel free to PM if you want further information.

[alexjones]

According to this from Vic police you don't need a licence for imitation firearms you need a permit.

https://www.police.vic.gov.au/sites/def ... alia_1.pdf

[bladeracer]

According to this from Vic police you don't need a licence for imitation firearms you need a permit.

https://www.police.vic.gov.au/sites/def ... alia_1.pdf

That is correct.
https://www.police.vic.gov.au/chief-commissioner-approval