Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Questions about Western Australian gun and ammunition laws. W.A. Firearms Act 1973.

Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 02 Jan 2023, 1:01 am

Hello all,

Found this neat little table if anyone was wondering what category each firearm type is in and what use will get an approval for it. Pretty neat.

The JPEG is pretty blurry but the PDF file is good :D
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 02 Jan 2023, 1:17 am

colin.rac wrote:Hello all,

Found this neat little table if anyone was wondering what category each firearm type is in and what use will get an approval for it. Pretty neat.

The JPEG is pretty blurry but the PDF file is good :D


Notice that in WA you can't actually use firearms held on a collector's licence.

No mention of tranquiliser guns, can you not own them over there?
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 02 Jan 2023, 11:51 am

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Hello all,

Found this neat little table if anyone was wondering what category each firearm type is in and what use will get an approval for it. Pretty neat.

The JPEG is pretty blurry but the PDF file is good :D


Notice that in WA you can't actually use firearms held on a collector's licence.

No mention of tranquiliser guns, can you not own them over there?

There is another category not listed on here, cat E that is paintball and other firearms, I would think it would fit under that.

WA's firearms laws are so very twisted compared to other states, its like a whole different country over here. Depending on the firearm, they have to unserviceable for a given time frame, then they can be serviceable, but you don't have an approved use to actually shoot, so technically speaking you cannot use your collected firearms for anything. It may be possible, again, depending on the category, to change your license type to recreational hunting or get a club letter or something. I've heard of that before.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by animalpest » 02 Jan 2023, 12:14 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Hello all,

Found this neat little table if anyone was wondering what category each firearm type is in and what use will get an approval for it. Pretty neat.

The JPEG is pretty blurry but the PDF file is good :D


Notice that in WA you can't actually use firearms held on a collector's licence.

No mention of tranquiliser guns, can you not own them over there?


Yes, you can use tranquiliser guns, but you must have approval to use the drugs before you can be licensed for one. They ask every year and if no approval you can lose your dart gun.

Not sure we're that table comes from, but for Cat D firearms, the genuine need is "To satisfy the genuine need test for category D the applicant must
satisfy the Commissioner that the firearm is required for Commonwealth or State government purposes." Just being a professional or contract shooter is not enough.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 02 Jan 2023, 1:48 pm

colin.rac wrote:There is another category not listed on here, cat E that is paintball and other firearms, I would think it would fit under that.

WA's firearms laws are so very twisted compared to other states, its like a whole different country over here. Depending on the firearm, they have to unserviceable for a given time frame, then they can be serviceable, but you don't have an approved use to actually shoot, so technically speaking you cannot use your collected firearms for anything. It may be possible, again, depending on the category, to change your license type to recreational hunting or get a club letter or something. I've heard of that before.


Tranquiliser guns are CatC here.

Yep, WA absolutely hates firearms and anybody interested in firearms.
Over here you can transfer a collector firearm to your shooter's licence and back, but it involves a PtA each time. We can use collector firearms at collector club events but nowhere else. You can't take your collector-licenced Browning Hi-Power to a pistol club and have a practice or shoot a comp unless you first transfer it to your CatH licence. But when a collector club holds an event that allows the Browning Hi-Power than you can use it at that. If you have two Lee Enfield rifles, one on a collector licence and the other on CatB, and you take the collector one hunting or to a competition you are breaching the law.

In WA I can't image they allow you to swap them, and if they did there are probably stupid fees and paperwork involved. I can even imagine them allowing you to swap a collector rifle to your CatB and then when you're ready to swap it back saying that as you were shooting it its clearly not of pure collector interest, so no. And vice-versa.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 02 Jan 2023, 8:16 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:There is another category not listed on here, cat E that is paintball and other firearms, I would think it would fit under that.

WA's firearms laws are so very twisted compared to other states, its like a whole different country over here. Depending on the firearm, they have to unserviceable for a given time frame, then they can be serviceable, but you don't have an approved use to actually shoot, so technically speaking you cannot use your collected firearms for anything. It may be possible, again, depending on the category, to change your license type to recreational hunting or get a club letter or something. I've heard of that before.


Tranquiliser guns are CatC here.

Yep, WA absolutely hates firearms and anybody interested in firearms.
Over here you can transfer a collector firearm to your shooter's licence and back, but it involves a PtA each time. We can use collector firearms at collector club events but nowhere else. You can't take your collector-licenced Browning Hi-Power to a pistol club and have a practice or shoot a comp unless you first transfer it to your CatH licence. But when a collector club holds an event that allows the Browning Hi-Power than you can use it at that. If you have two Lee Enfield rifles, one on a collector licence and the other on CatB, and you take the collector one hunting or to a competition you are breaching the law.

In WA I can't image they allow you to swap them, and if they did there are probably stupid fees and paperwork involved. I can even imagine them allowing you to swap a collector rifle to your CatB and then when you're ready to swap it back saying that as you were shooting it its clearly not of pure collector interest, so no. And vice-versa.

Its unreal. Reading up on the laws over east makes me question why the laws here are so much tougher... and stupider. The collectors license I think should be looked over. What's the point of having a serviceable rifle, and not being able to shoot it (legally) even at a range? I can understand cat D, but I wouldn't be happy if I got a nice Barret M82 and it's just a paperweight.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 02 Jan 2023, 8:28 pm

colin.rac wrote:Its unreal. Reading up on the laws over east makes me question why the laws here are so much tougher... and stupider. The collectors license I think should be looked over. What's the point of having a serviceable rifle, and not being able to shoot it (legally) even at a range? I can understand cat D, but I wouldn't be happy if I got a nice Barret M82 and it's just a paperweight.


There is no reason that makes sense. There is also no lawful basis on their requiring specific property acreages to own firearms but they persist with that rubbish. How WA dealers are allowed to charge serviceability fees is beyond me.

I think WA also allows Police to seize any firearm held on a collector licence for testing if they have cause to believe it's been fired.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 02 Jan 2023, 10:03 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Its unreal. Reading up on the laws over east makes me question why the laws here are so much tougher... and stupider. The collectors license I think should be looked over. What's the point of having a serviceable rifle, and not being able to shoot it (legally) even at a range? I can understand cat D, but I wouldn't be happy if I got a nice Barret M82 and it's just a paperweight.


There is no reason that makes sense. There is also no lawful basis on their requiring specific property acreages to own firearms but they persist with that rubbish. How WA dealers are allowed to charge serviceability fees is beyond me.

I think WA also allows Police to seize any firearm held on a collector licence for testing if they have cause to believe it's been fired.

Wow, I didn't know that, seizing your gun under suspicion its been fired? That's cruel.

What's the collector's license like over east? Is it anywhere near as messed up as WA's?
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 02 Jan 2023, 10:20 pm

colin.rac wrote:Wow, I didn't know that, seizing your gun under suspicion its been fired? That's cruel.

What's the collector's license like over east? Is it anywhere near as messed up as WA's?


WA is the worst in all aspects of firearm ownership and usage. They do still allow supervision of unlicenced people on private property I think, and I don't think they have a minimum age limit on children. But you can't borrow a firearm in WA, you have to be co-licenced for it. WA has really made it expensive to transport firearms and ammunition components, and they are the only state that classes bullets as live ammunition. WA also requires ammunition, including bullets, to be secured to the same standard as your firearms. You can still own non-firing replica firearms in WA which appeals to some.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by geoff » 03 Jan 2023, 2:26 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Wow, I didn't know that, seizing your gun under suspicion its been fired? That's cruel.

What's the collector's license like over east? Is it anywhere near as messed up as WA's?


WA is the worst in all aspects of firearm ownership and usage. They do still allow supervision of unlicenced people on private property I think, and I don't think they have a minimum age limit on children. But you can't borrow a firearm in WA, you have to be co-licenced for it. WA has really made it expensive to transport firearms and ammunition components, and they are the only state that classes bullets as live ammunition. WA also requires ammunition, including bullets, to be secured to the same standard as your firearms. You can still own non-firing replica firearms in WA which appeals to some.


Private property such as shooting on a farm, minors only

Supervised by club member at a range, ok for adults as well
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 03 Jan 2023, 2:49 pm

geoff wrote:Private property such as shooting on a farm, minors only


Is that right, so like Queensland then. When they turn 18 they can no longer be supervised on private property?
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by animalpest » 03 Jan 2023, 3:08 pm

bladeracer wrote:
geoff wrote:Private property such as shooting on a farm, minors only


Is that right, so like Queensland then. When they turn 18 they can no longer be supervised on private property?


Correct. At that age they need to have their own licence
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 03 Jan 2023, 3:27 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Wow, I didn't know that, seizing your gun under suspicion its been fired? That's cruel.

What's the collector's license like over east? Is it anywhere near as messed up as WA's?


WA is the worst in all aspects of firearm ownership and usage. They do still allow supervision of unlicenced people on private property I think, and I don't think they have a minimum age limit on children. But you can't borrow a firearm in WA, you have to be co-licenced for it. WA has really made it expensive to transport firearms and ammunition components, and they are the only state that classes bullets as live ammunition. WA also requires ammunition, including bullets, to be secured to the same standard as your firearms. You can still own non-firing replica firearms in WA which appeals to some.

Yes unlicensed people can hold and operate a firearm as long as they have supervision from the licensed owner. A lot of the firearms laws here in WA seem to be more of a cash grab than a safety measure. I would like to know the reasoning behind a unlicensed child being legally able to use a firearm with supervision, but a fully grown adult cannot. Doesn't make sense to me.

I thought the process of becoming a licensed firearm owner was backwards, buying the gun then getting a license for it, but it seems perhaps a lot of the laws and regulations are backwards.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 03 Jan 2023, 4:26 pm

colin.rac wrote:Yes unlicensed people can hold and operate a firearm as long as they have supervision from the licensed owner. A lot of the firearms laws here in WA seem to be more of a cash grab than a safety measure. I would like to know the reasoning behind a unlicensed child being legally able to use a firearm with supervision, but a fully grown adult cannot. Doesn't make sense to me.

I thought the process of becoming a licensed firearm owner was backwards, buying the gun then getting a license for it, but it seems perhaps a lot of the laws and regulations are backwards.


It's probably about legal responsibility. As a supervisor it is your responsibility what a minor gets up to in your care, once they turn eighteen they are responsible for their own actions. It might be difficult to prosecute an adult who claims you were supervising them when you legally have no control over them?

Here in Victoria my kids come to visit the farm and I can't allow them to even handle my firearms let alone use them - it sucks so I generally don't do any shooting when they're here. Now that the oldest has turned twelve he can get a Junior licence which allows him to handle firearms under my supervision. Juniors can also handle firearms and hunt on public land, but only for pests, not for deer. You have to be eighteen to hold a deer licence but they are trying to get that fixed. Juniors can hunt deer on private land under supervision.

Here you get a licence first, then buy firearms. You don't need to own any firearms to hold a licence as you can legally borrow firearms here, even from interstate (oddly, to hire a firearm you have to actually own at least one firearm). I was told many years ago by WA Police that I couldn't keep my WA licence if I no longer owned any firearms, is that true?

Anybody from any Australian state can come to Victoria and hunt on public land with no permits of any kind. That should be sufficient to grant any Aussie a firearm licence for the purpose of hunting, everybody already has permission to hunt hundreds of thousands of acres of public land here. You don't need a firearm licence here if you're using a bow. This is a single country, not Australia and WA.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 06 Jan 2023, 8:14 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Yes unlicensed people can hold and operate a firearm as long as they have supervision from the licensed owner. A lot of the firearms laws here in WA seem to be more of a cash grab than a safety measure. I would like to know the reasoning behind a unlicensed child being legally able to use a firearm with supervision, but a fully grown adult cannot. Doesn't make sense to me.

I thought the process of becoming a licensed firearm owner was backwards, buying the gun then getting a license for it, but it seems perhaps a lot of the laws and regulations are backwards.


It's probably about legal responsibility. As a supervisor it is your responsibility what a minor gets up to in your care, once they turn eighteen they are responsible for their own actions. It might be difficult to prosecute an adult who claims you were supervising them when you legally have no control over them?

Here in Victoria my kids come to visit the farm and I can't allow them to even handle my firearms let alone use them - it sucks so I generally don't do any shooting when they're here. Now that the oldest has turned twelve he can get a Junior licence which allows him to handle firearms under my supervision. Juniors can also handle firearms and hunt on public land, but only for pests, not for deer. You have to be eighteen to hold a deer licence but they are trying to get that fixed. Juniors can hunt deer on private land under supervision.

Here you get a licence first, then buy firearms. You don't need to own any firearms to hold a licence as you can legally borrow firearms here, even from interstate (oddly, to hire a firearm you have to actually own at least one firearm). I was told many years ago by WA Police that I couldn't keep my WA licence if I no longer owned any firearms, is that true?

Anybody from any Australian state can come to Victoria and hunt on public land with no permits of any kind. That should be sufficient to grant any Aussie a firearm licence for the purpose of hunting, everybody already has permission to hunt hundreds of thousands of acres of public land here. You don't need a firearm licence here if you're using a bow. This is a single country, not Australia and WA.


Yes that is true, once you no longer own a firearm, you no longer require a license according to WAPOL ( WA Police). I wish we had that hunting law here. Here, as I’m sure you know, you cannot hunt on public land (even though half of WA is bushland or desert, perfect for hunting small to medium game). Here it is legal to own a bow without a license, however I’m not sure about usage, like residential areas, I assume you can, a bolt/arrow isn’t going through a brick wall or a a decent tin fence. I would love to come to Victoria and go hunting, absolutely a luxury here in WA. Perhaps WA hasn’t adopted that law to stop randoms coming in and owning a 12G or something. Here you buy the gun, then the license, very strange but that’s how it is. I assume you get a refund on the gun if your application is rejected.

Have you taken and juniors hunting large game like deer? What rounds do they shoot? I would assume something like 308 or 6.5 Creedmore, poor kid’s shoulder might not take it :lol:
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 06 Jan 2023, 10:51 pm

colin.rac wrote:Yes that is true, once you no longer own a firearm, you no longer require a license according to WAPOL ( WA Police). I wish we had that hunting law here. Here, as I’m sure you know, you cannot hunt on public land (even though half of WA is bushland or desert, perfect for hunting small to medium game). Here it is legal to own a bow without a license, however I’m not sure about usage, like residential areas, I assume you can, a bolt/arrow isn’t going through a brick wall or a a decent tin fence. I would love to come to Victoria and go hunting, absolutely a luxury here in WA. Perhaps WA hasn’t adopted that law to stop randoms coming in and owning a 12G or something. Here you buy the gun, then the license, very strange but that’s how it is. I assume you get a refund on the gun if your application is rejected.

Have you taken and juniors hunting large game like deer? What rounds do they shoot? I would assume something like 308 or 6.5 Creedmore, poor kid’s shoulder might not take it :lol:


I think in WA virtually all the land is owned now, either passed back to Aboriginal control or turned into non-hunting public land, like national parks. I don't believe you can use bows in the suburbs as a mate I raced with in the nineties had a pistol crossbow that he had "issues" with for shooting in a public park. I don't think he suffered actual charges, but it was a long while ago now. I had permission to hunt on Aboriginal land back then, including Doon Doon Station - no idea if it's still called that but it was pretty damned big.

Nope, I'm fairly sure I've never taken anybody out hunting as an adult. When I was a kid, the owners of the properties I was shooting on would have their kids and grandkids come to visit and I'd get a call to take them out looking for rabbits. All of them were city kids with no idea about shooting or hunting but I didn't feel I could say no. But that turned me off wanting to be in the bush with other people, I'm a lone hunter. The blackfellas I hunted with up north were not a lot safer with firearms but they did have one advantage, lack of ammo made them very circumspect about wasting it. As none of them were licenced, when they needed ammo they had to wait until somebody went to the Territory where you didn't need a licence to buy ammo, apparently. I did buy ammo several times in NT but I don't recall if they wanted to see my WA licence.

For hunting small game stick with the lighter chamberings, like the Hornets, .204, or .223 and kids won't have any trouble with recoil. For bigger beasts the .243 does make some noise and blast but recoil isn't awful. Going larger still you can use reduced loads or stick to lighter bullets. If they still complain about recoil then install a muzzle brake - but if you're accompanying them always be sure you are out of the blast zone of the brake. In the larger chamberings for hunting you're not likely to fire more than a shot or two so recoil and blast should get soaked up by the excitement of the moment. When my grandkids want to hunt here I have a good selection of rifles to try them on.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 07 Jan 2023, 2:17 am

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Yes that is true, once you no longer own a firearm, you no longer require a license according to WAPOL ( WA Police). I wish we had that hunting law here. Here, as I’m sure you know, you cannot hunt on public land (even though half of WA is bushland or desert, perfect for hunting small to medium game). Here it is legal to own a bow without a license, however I’m not sure about usage, like residential areas, I assume you can, a bolt/arrow isn’t going through a brick wall or a a decent tin fence. I would love to come to Victoria and go hunting, absolutely a luxury here in WA. Perhaps WA hasn’t adopted that law to stop randoms coming in and owning a 12G or something. Here you buy the gun, then the license, very strange but that’s how it is. I assume you get a refund on the gun if your application is rejected.

Have you taken and juniors hunting large game like deer? What rounds do they shoot? I would assume something like 308 or 6.5 Creedmore, poor kid’s shoulder might not take it :lol:


I think in WA virtually all the land is owned now, either passed back to Aboriginal control or turned into non-hunting public land, like national parks. I don't believe you can use bows in the suburbs as a mate I raced with in the nineties had a pistol crossbow that he had "issues" with for shooting in a public park. I don't think he suffered actual charges, but it was a long while ago now. I had permission to hunt on Aboriginal land back then, including Doon Doon Station - no idea if it's still called that but it was pretty damned big.

Nope, I'm fairly sure I've never taken anybody out hunting as an adult. When I was a kid, the owners of the properties I was shooting on would have their kids and grandkids come to visit and I'd get a call to take them out looking for rabbits. All of them were city kids with no idea about shooting or hunting but I didn't feel I could say no. But that turned me off wanting to be in the bush with other people, I'm a lone hunter. The blackfellas I hunted with up north were not a lot safer with firearms but they did have one advantage, lack of ammo made them very circumspect about wasting it. As none of them were licenced, when they needed ammo they had to wait until somebody went to the Territory where you didn't need a licence to buy ammo, apparently. I did buy ammo several times in NT but I don't recall if they wanted to see my WA licence.

For hunting small game stick with the lighter chamberings, like the Hornets, .204, or .223 and kids won't have any trouble with recoil. For bigger beasts the .243 does make some noise and blast but recoil isn't awful. Going larger still you can use reduced loads or stick to lighter bullets. If they still complain about recoil then install a muzzle brake - but if you're accompanying them always be sure you are out of the blast zone of the brake. In the larger chamberings for hunting you're not likely to fire more than a shot or two so recoil and blast should get soaked up by the excitement of the moment. When my grandkids want to hunt here I have a good selection of rifles to try them on.


I thought you would have to use something a little bigger than a 223 or a 22-250 for a deer, placement is everything so makes sense. I’m taking some of my mates (all of which are currently still 17 years of age, I am currently 18 turning 19) to my uncle’s mate’s farm and do some plinking with some steel targets I am making, already made a home forge so I can harden the steel, wont be AR500 but wont be anywhere near mild steel. Only shooting 22LR so I’m not too worried about hardness, the steel I have is half inch thick, plenty for 22 at any range. My uncle’s mate also has a couple firearms himself, although not sure what, considering he has a farm, probably a 12G and a 22, planning on buying a 12G sooner or later, really like the look of this Adler A110 my second most local firearm store has for sale. Lever action 12G shotgun, it is cat B from my understanding, a little bummed about that. The only property letter I have access too (and the one I used in November for my Stirling Model 14) was a store bought one from that very same store, very happy that got through, was stressing they wouldn’t like that letter. You seem pretty clue-y on how strict they are over here, you’ll know I’m pretty lucky to get a pre-approval letter. Just waiting on the form-22 approval now.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 07 Jan 2023, 4:42 am

colin.rac wrote:I thought you would have to use something a little bigger than a 223 or a 22-250 for a deer, placement is everything so makes sense. I’m taking some of my mates (all of which are currently still 17 years of age, I am currently 18 turning 19) to my uncle’s mate’s farm and do some plinking with some steel targets I am making, already made a home forge so I can harden the steel, wont be AR500 but wont be anywhere near mild steel. Only shooting 22LR so I’m not too worried about hardness, the steel I have is half inch thick, plenty for 22 at any range. My uncle’s mate also has a couple firearms himself, although not sure what, considering he has a farm, probably a 12G and a 22, planning on buying a 12G sooner or later, really like the look of this Adler A110 my second most local firearm store has for sale. Lever action 12G shotgun, it is cat B from my understanding, a little bummed about that. The only property letter I have access too (and the one I used in November for my Stirling Model 14) was a store bought one from that very same store, very happy that got through, was stressing they wouldn’t like that letter. You seem pretty clue-y on how strict they are over here, you’ll know I’m pretty lucky to get a pre-approval letter. Just waiting on the form-22 approval now.


People in Queensland still use the .22-centrefires for deer, in Victoria we're legislated to use at least a 130gn .270" bullet (no mention of velocity or energy) for sambar and red, or an 85gn .243" bullet for smaller deer. NSW recommends the same but it's not law yet. I don't think any other states have such caliber restrictions. Outside of the Kangaroo Code I don't think any other animals have such legislation, except perhaps ducks. My deer preference is 7mm-08. With modern twist rates and bullet designs the smaller cartridges are far more capable than they used to be, but our regs don't reflect that.

Plinking steel is a great way to get non-shooters into shooting. 3mm mild should be okay for .22LR at any range if it's suspended, but 5mm is for sure. I thought the same way, get cheap mild and harden it, but I looked into it and I don't think mild will harden at all, I think it doesn't have enough carbon? I'm looking at adding a bunch of steels myself and hoping 5mm mild will be fine. It's $360 for a 2400x1200mm sheet at the moment. I'm hoping it'll stand up to most of my centrefires from around 500m and further out. A quarter of a sheet (1200x600mm) gives me a 600mm square, two 300mm, two 200mm, two 150mm, four 100mm, and six 50mm squares (probably less a few mm from the cuts), seventeen targets for $90 seems like good value to me. Square targets are 27% larger area than circular ones, but are so much easier to make, and it's easy to make the squares round afterwards if you want to. A half sheet lets you add a large 600x1200mm target for reading the wind on before trying to hit the smaller targets. A full sheet lets you cut out some fifth-scale (.22LR) and half-scale (Lever-Action) silhouettes as well.

I was hoping to get an offcut to test some different cartridges on to determine the velocities 5mm mild will stand up to, thus the minimum ranges, but haven't had any luck yet. Otherwise an 8mm sheet is almost $600, and 10mm is $720. AR500 is three-times the price of mild plate.

Yes, lever guns are CatB now in all states (I hope you went for a CatA/B licence and not just CatA). If you want to shoot clays I would look at an under-over gun rather than a lever or straight-pull. If you just want to have fun though the lever does that well.

I spent '74-'80 in the Pilbara and Kimberley as a kid, then we moved down to Perth until '83. Then I went to country SA and went back to Perth at the end of '85 to study. I only left WA to move to country Victoria in 2014. I got my WA licence in '80 when we reached Perth, and got my SA licence in '83, but I don't know when I finally let the SA lapse as we could still hold multiple licences back then. The WA licence was a crap sheet of paper with a receipt stapled to it, the SA one was a folded card, much nicer to carry around.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 07 Jan 2023, 5:11 am

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:I thought you would have to use something a little bigger than a 223 or a 22-250 for a deer, placement is everything so makes sense. I’m taking some of my mates (all of which are currently still 17 years of age, I am currently 18 turning 19) to my uncle’s mate’s farm and do some plinking with some steel targets I am making, already made a home forge so I can harden the steel, wont be AR500 but wont be anywhere near mild steel. Only shooting 22LR so I’m not too worried about hardness, the steel I have is half inch thick, plenty for 22 at any range. My uncle’s mate also has a couple firearms himself, although not sure what, considering he has a farm, probably a 12G and a 22, planning on buying a 12G sooner or later, really like the look of this Adler A110 my second most local firearm store has for sale. Lever action 12G shotgun, it is cat B from my understanding, a little bummed about that. The only property letter I have access too (and the one I used in November for my Stirling Model 14) was a store bought one from that very same store, very happy that got through, was stressing they wouldn’t like that letter. You seem pretty clue-y on how strict they are over here, you’ll know I’m pretty lucky to get a pre-approval letter. Just waiting on the form-22 approval now.


People in Queensland still use the .22-centrefires for deer, in Victoria we're legislated to use at least a 130gn .270" bullet (no mention of velocity or energy) for sambar and red, or an 85gn .243" bullet for smaller deer. NSW recommends the same but it's not law yet. I don't think any other states have such caliber restrictions. Outside of the Kangaroo Code I don't think any other animals have such legislation, except perhaps ducks. My deer preference is 7mm-08. With modern twist rates and bullet designs the smaller cartridges are far more capable than they used to be, but our regs don't reflect that.

Plinking steel is a great way to get non-shooters into shooting. 3mm mild should be okay for .22LR at any range if it's suspended, but 5mm is for sure. I thought the same way, get cheap mild and harden it, but I looked into it and I don't think mild will harden at all, I think it doesn't have enough carbon? I'm looking at adding a bunch of steels myself and hoping 5mm mild will be fine. It's $360 for a 2400x1200mm sheet at the moment. I'm hoping it'll stand up to most of my centrefires from around 500m and further out. A quarter of a sheet (1200x600mm) gives me a 600mm square, two 300mm, two 200mm, two 150mm, four 100mm, and six 50mm squares (probably less a few mm from the cuts), seventeen targets for $90 seems like good value to me. Square targets are 27% larger area than circular ones, but are so much easier to make, and it's easy to make the squares round afterwards if you want to. A half sheet lets you add a large 600x1200mm target for reading the wind on before trying to hit the smaller targets. A full sheet lets you cut out some fifth-scale (.22LR) and half-scale (Lever-Action) silhouettes as well.

I was hoping to get an offcut to test some different cartridges on to determine the velocities 5mm mild will stand up to, thus the minimum ranges, but haven't had any luck yet. Otherwise an 8mm sheet is almost $600, and 10mm is $720. AR500 is three-times the price of mild plate.

Yes, lever guns are CatB now in all states (I hope you went for a CatA/B licence and not just CatA). If you want to shoot clays I would look at an under-over gun rather than a lever or straight-pull. If you just want to have fun though the lever does that well.

I spent '74-'80 in the Pilbara and Kimberley as a kid, then we moved down to Perth until '83. Then I went to country SA and went back to Perth at the end of '85 to study. I only left WA to move to country Victoria in 2014. I got my WA licence in '80 when we reached Perth, and got my SA licence in '83, but I don't know when I finally let the SA lapse as we could still hold multiple licences back then. The WA licence was a crap sheet of paper with a receipt stapled to it, the SA one was a folded card, much nicer to carry around.


Ah okay, can’t say I’ve been big game hunting here (mainly due to the no public shooting ruling), if those calibres get the job done, might have to think about getting a 223 or something. Saw a Remington Model 700 chambered in 223 today at the gun store I got my Stirling from, those Remingtons are kind of a dream gun of mine, no idea why, just something about ‘em.

My grandfather said he used to make knives out of mild steel back when he was a boy, and he used to harden mild steel by heating it up to glowing for an hour than clenching in oil, I’ll use water when if i harden it at all, I made the furnace already for some swords I was making (not edged, don’t come for me WAPOL) so it seemed pretty convenient. Your steel sounds rather expensive, there’s a metal machining business about 15 minutes from my home, they sell off cuts and scraps at $2 a piece, got 3 200x300 half inch thick plates, so all together a total of 6 big ones, pretty proud of that purchase. If you have access to something like what I did, try that, save some money.

As for my license, now that I think about it, I cannot remember what license I went for. I went to the gun shop and they helped me do the application and obviously property letter, then I went and did that Firearms Awareness Test, finished it in 3 minutes and got 100%, not sure if you have it over east but my lord is it common sense. I know it’s supposed too, but who thinks grabbing a firearm by the barrel pointing it at yourself is a safe idea? Had a laugh when I saw the diagrams where you had to choose which method of taking a gun out of a car was the safest, 3 out of the 4 had the barrel up the nose of someone, made me chuckle a little. If I selected CAT A, then looks like I’ll be sticking to rimfire and double or single shot shotguns. No Remington Model 700 for me. The Henry 45-70 is another dream gun, a like it a little more than the Rem I must admit, hopefully, hopefully, hopefully me and the shop clerk selected A/B. I almost remember seeing that there, although it was a while ago.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by Noisydad » 07 Jan 2023, 9:36 am

It’s utterly ludicrous (by any sane person’s ability to think) that a shooting iron that requires 2 minutes of your time, a stick to load it and rock to fire it is lumped in with the likes of .30-06s!
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 07 Jan 2023, 1:00 pm

Noisydad wrote:It’s utterly ludicrous (by any sane person’s ability to think) that a shooting iron that requires 2 minutes of your time, a stick to load it and rock to fire it is lumped in with the likes of .30-06s!


Somebody must've been watching an episode of Sharpe and thought, we have to ban those immediately!
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 07 Jan 2023, 1:15 pm

Noisydad wrote:It’s utterly ludicrous (by any sane person’s ability to think) that a shooting iron that requires 2 minutes of your time, a stick to load it and rock to fire it is lumped in with the likes of .30-06s!

Definitely raises questions, if i was being shot at, I would far rather someone try and hit me with a muzzle loading firearm rather than a 22 lever action. Miss your shot and you’ll be witnessing a blue moon by the time you are ready to fire again.

It’s probably in CAT B because of the size of bullets you can fire from selected muzzle loading firearms. Still very questionable with putting in the likes of a .300 Win Mag Remington M700 :lol:
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by bladeracer » 07 Jan 2023, 1:21 pm

colin.rac wrote:Ah okay, can’t say I’ve been big game hunting here (mainly due to the no public shooting ruling), if those calibres get the job done, might have to think about getting a 223 or something. Saw a Remington Model 700 chambered in 223 today at the gun store I got my Stirling from, those Remingtons are kind of a dream gun of mine, no idea why, just something about ‘em.

My grandfather said he used to make knives out of mild steel back when he was a boy, and he used to harden mild steel by heating it up to glowing for an hour than clenching in oil, I’ll use water when if i harden it at all, I made the furnace already for some swords I was making (not edged, don’t come for me WAPOL) so it seemed pretty convenient. Your steel sounds rather expensive, there’s a metal machining business about 15 minutes from my home, they sell off cuts and scraps at $2 a piece, got 3 200x300 half inch thick plates, so all together a total of 6 big ones, pretty proud of that purchase. If you have access to something like what I did, try that, save some money.

As for my license, now that I think about it, I cannot remember what license I went for. I went to the gun shop and they helped me do the application and obviously property letter, then I went and did that Firearms Awareness Test, finished it in 3 minutes and got 100%, not sure if you have it over east but my lord is it common sense. I know it’s supposed too, but who thinks grabbing a firearm by the barrel pointing it at yourself is a safe idea? Had a laugh when I saw the diagrams where you had to choose which method of taking a gun out of a car was the safest, 3 out of the 4 had the barrel up the nose of someone, made me chuckle a little. If I selected CAT A, then looks like I’ll be sticking to rimfire and double or single shot shotguns. No Remington Model 700 for me. The Henry 45-70 is another dream gun, a like it a little more than the Rem I must admit, hopefully, hopefully, hopefully me and the shop clerk selected A/B. I almost remember seeing that there, although it was a while ago.


There are donkeys and camels up north in WA that are pretty big beasts.

Perhaps in WA they don't give you CatA/B like everywhere else, if you're buying a centrefire they give you CatB only, if you're buying a rimfire or a gun they just give you CatA?
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by animalpest » 07 Jan 2023, 3:15 pm

You are not really licensed for Cat A or B in WA, your firearm is. So long as the property is suitable, then you can have a Cat B firearm.

Each application for a firearm is based on its merits - genuine reason, need and suitable property.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 07 Jan 2023, 5:16 pm

animalpest wrote:You are not really licensed for Cat A or B in WA, your firearm is. So long as the property is suitable, then you can have a Cat B firearm.

Each application for a firearm is based on its merits - genuine reason, need and suitable property.

Oh okay, fair enough. You reckon you could even successfully license a CAT B firearm on a store bought letter?
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by colin.rac » 07 Jan 2023, 5:18 pm

bladeracer wrote:
colin.rac wrote:Ah okay, can’t say I’ve been big game hunting here (mainly due to the no public shooting ruling), if those calibres get the job done, might have to think about getting a 223 or something. Saw a Remington Model 700 chambered in 223 today at the gun store I got my Stirling from, those Remingtons are kind of a dream gun of mine, no idea why, just something about ‘em.

My grandfather said he used to make knives out of mild steel back when he was a boy, and he used to harden mild steel by heating it up to glowing for an hour than clenching in oil, I’ll use water when if i harden it at all, I made the furnace already for some swords I was making (not edged, don’t come for me WAPOL) so it seemed pretty convenient. Your steel sounds rather expensive, there’s a metal machining business about 15 minutes from my home, they sell off cuts and scraps at $2 a piece, got 3 200x300 half inch thick plates, so all together a total of 6 big ones, pretty proud of that purchase. If you have access to something like what I did, try that, save some money.

As for my license, now that I think about it, I cannot remember what license I went for. I went to the gun shop and they helped me do the application and obviously property letter, then I went and did that Firearms Awareness Test, finished it in 3 minutes and got 100%, not sure if you have it over east but my lord is it common sense. I know it’s supposed too, but who thinks grabbing a firearm by the barrel pointing it at yourself is a safe idea? Had a laugh when I saw the diagrams where you had to choose which method of taking a gun out of a car was the safest, 3 out of the 4 had the barrel up the nose of someone, made me chuckle a little. If I selected CAT A, then looks like I’ll be sticking to rimfire and double or single shot shotguns. No Remington Model 700 for me. The Henry 45-70 is another dream gun, a like it a little more than the Rem I must admit, hopefully, hopefully, hopefully me and the shop clerk selected A/B. I almost remember seeing that there, although it was a while ago.


There are donkeys and camels up north in WA that are pretty big beasts.

Perhaps in WA they don't give you CatA/B like everywhere else, if you're buying a centrefire they give you CatB only, if you're buying a rimfire or a gun they just give you CatA?

According to animalpest, WA licenses don’t put you in a category, each firearm you buy however, is, so you can own any category firearm on whatever first firearm you buy/inherit, if genuine reason and need for CAT B and above.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by geoff » 10 Jan 2023, 12:52 pm

Here in WA, I don't hold a "cat b licence" or a "cat h licence", I hold a firearms licence and on that licence are listed a number of firearms of various categories, some are a, some b, some h for example.

It is different to my drivers licence, which states that i can drive a heavy rigid vehicle. The way our firearms licences operate here would be like my drivers licence having a list of the vehicles I owned and their classes, permitting me to drive only those specific vehicles.
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by Border_Bloke » 06 Mar 2023, 10:23 am

I only just noticed this thread & not sure if anyone has flagged this or not, but that chart is for NSW (NOT WA).

Original is here:
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/133134/GR_TABLE.pdf
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Re: Helpful Table Showing What Firearm is in What Category

Post by animalpest » 06 Mar 2023, 7:41 pm

Border_Bloke wrote:I only just noticed this thread & not sure if anyone has flagged this or not, but that chart is for NSW (NOT WA).

Original is here:
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/133134/GR_TABLE.pdf


Yeah thanks. Certainly knew it wasn't WA that's for sure!
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