Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

[Wapiti]

Heard some news in town regarding a bloke who had police attend his place on a shooting related matter,
it seems that some new residents from out of town had made a complaint about a small holding next door, I think the places are 20-50-100 acre blocks where people pursue their dreams in having a few cows, chooks, goats etc to enjoy sort of being self-sufficient.
The kind of places close to town where people move in from the cities 100's of km away to supposedly enjoy the "laid-back country lifestyle" - as the real estate agents term it.

New neighbours moved in next to this family, and called the police about some "unsafe and frightening use of firearms" they were complaining about. Cops just did their job, attended the place and spoke to the family and found nothing illegal as far as firearms use had occurred.
However during discussions they discovered, in a shed, old-mates reloading set up and there was some ammo unattended being made on a reloading bench, with some ammo just having been assembled.
Nowhere near a gun, which were locked up elsewhere, but some ammo was found.
The license owner was charged with, as I was told by the blokes in the gunshop, "unsecured ammunition" and had his license revoked and guns taken pending a court hearing in town.
Not good, and this is going to cost this family quite a bit of money in legal fees, not to mention that it appears they inadvertently broke the law.

So, a tip, maybe do an emu parade and make sure there is no assembled ammo (or powder, primers) laying around unsecured to invite a charge that may be very stressful. Yeah I know, victimless crime, chase the real criminals, all that stuff, but when this happens you can't go back in time and fix it.

[Zappa]

Nowhere near a gun, which were locked up elsewhere, but some ammo was found.
The license owner was charged with, as I was told by the blokes in the gunshop, "unsecured ammunition" and had his license revoked and guns taken pending .

I'm also conscious of this, when I get a knock on the door for a safe inspection, or my missus rings the cops for a unrelated manner and they spot the powder on my bench.
Generally anything that needs a license to buy, I tend to put away. Pain in the backside emptying the hopper everytime you leave the house but give them any excuse these days and you're pinged.

[bladeracer]

I'm also conscious of this, when I get a knock on the door for a safe inspection, or my missus rings the cops for a unrelated manner and they spot the powder on my bench.
Generally anything that needs a license to buy, I tend to put away. Pain in the backside emptying the hopper everytime you leave the house but give them any excuse these days and you're pinged.

I turn the hopper to shut off flow, dump a few throws into the pan until it stops, dump the pan back into the hopper, put the full hopper into the cupboard, and click the padlock shut. One day I'll get around to mounting the powder thrower to the inside of the cupboard door. It really is just a pain in the bum that has zero effect on public safety.

I only made 783rds this month as I'm waiting on bullets. I need to do about 4000 .44-40's and .38's with the powder I'm using (for Cowboy), then I can do 1000-odd AS50N .38 and .44-40 Wadcutter loads (for precision ISSF), and then start loading a heap of blackpowder .38, .44-40, 12ga, and smokeless .30-30 for the state titles in March. And then finally I can do a batch of .308 for a mate to practice with. The great thing about loading pistol ammo is the powder goes a very long way

[Fester]

With them coming for us now, rather than the crims, there's no time for complacency.
After a reloading session, lock up all explosives.
Never leave a rifle out to clean; wipe it down and put it into the safe.

Payback for those tree-changing neighbours would last until they leave, for me.
I would devote daily time to dirt bike boundary riding, only letting up for the chainsaw work.

[bigrich]

Heard some news in town regarding a bloke who had police attend his place on a shooting related matter,
it seems that some new residents from out of town had made a complaint about a small holding next door, I think the places are 20-50-100 acre blocks where people pursue their dreams in having a few cows, chooks, goats etc to enjoy sort of being self-sufficient.
The kind of places close to town where people move in from the cities 100's of km away to supposedly enjoy the "laid-back country lifestyle" - as the real estate agents term it.

New neighbours moved in next to this family, and called the police about some "unsafe and frightening use of firearms" they were complaining about. Cops just did their job, attended the place and spoke to the family and found nothing illegal as far as firearms use had occurred.
However during discussions they discovered, in a shed, old-mates reloading set up and there was some ammo unattended being made on a reloading bench, with some ammo just having been assembled.
Nowhere near a gun, which were locked up elsewhere, but some ammo was found.
The license owner was charged with, as I was told by the blokes in the gunshop, "unsecured ammunition" and had his license revoked and guns taken pending a court hearing in town.
Not good, and this is going to cost this family quite a bit of money in legal fees, not to mention that it appears they inadvertently broke the law.

So, a tip, maybe do an emu parade and make sure there is no assembled ammo (or powder, primers) laying around unsecured to invite a charge that may be very stressful. Yeah I know, victimless crime, chase the real criminals, all that stuff, but when this happens you can't go back in time and fix it.

good post, very timely topic . one other thing is ammunition being labelled . factory ammo in factory boxes is fine , but reloads in ammo containers are supposed to be labelled , calibre, number or rounds . i write that with permanent marker on top of my ammo cases . it's another reason you can get pinged

so the complainants in this case moved to the country , then complained cause the working farmer next door was using firearms . FFS. saw a news story a few years ago about a similar situation where a woman was crying and distraught about roo culling on the property next door .FFS again !

betcha these same tossers are the type to let their kids ride trailbikes non stop around their property boundary annoying the p!ss out of their neighbours . no wonder folk out in the regions are suspicious of people from the coast

[OyKurwa]

Well, as s**t as the situation with the neighbours is you have to follow the regs, which means all firearms and ammunition are secured. That shouldn't need to be a reminder, it should just be BAU for anyone who shoots and reloads.

The city people moving rural and complaining about shooters is a very real issue. I dealt with a dispute many years ago where some people had moved from Melbourne to a big rural block. Their neighbour was a mad deer hunter, who had a huge property and would legally shoot on it. These people would call 000 every time the guy took a shot on his own land.

I had a conversation with them where I explained that he was not breaking any law, and they were essentially making vexatious 000 calls. This earned me a complaint file.

They then switched from making firearm job 000 calls to instead calling in noise complaints, and started a noise pollution dispute through council which was still going when I left the area.

I felt sorry for that bloke, he was doing nothing wrong and the neighbours were completely, "Noone should own guns", types who were making life as hard as they possibly could for him.

If anything it's a great example of why suppressors should be legal and regulated as PPE.

[bigrich]

Well, as s**t as the situation with the neighbours is you have to follow the regs, which means all firearms and ammunition are secured. That shouldn't need to be a reminder, it should just be BAU for anyone who shoots and reloads.

The city people moving rural and complaining about shooters is a very real issue. I dealt with a dispute many years ago where some people had moved from Melbourne to a big rural block. Their neighbour was a mad deer hunter, who had a huge property and would legally shoot on it. These people would call 000 every time the guy took a shot on his own land.

I had a conversation with them where I explained that he was not breaking any law, and they were essentially making vexatious 000 calls. This earned me a complaint file.

They then switched from making firearm job 000 calls to instead calling in noise complaints, and started a noise pollution dispute through council which was still going when I left the area.

I felt sorry for that bloke, he was doing nothing wrong and the neighbours were completely, "Noone should own guns", types who were making life as hard as they possibly could for him.

If anything it's a great example of why suppressors should be legal and regulated as PPE.

back in the day , those city types who move rural and try to impose their half baked ideals would've got run out of town . feel sorry for the bloke their complaining about , hope they got their just deserts

[Wapiti]

Well, as s**t as the situation with the neighbours is you have to follow the regs, which means all firearms and ammunition are secured. That shouldn't need to be a reminder, it should just be BAU for anyone who shoots and reloads.

The city people moving rural and complaining about shooters is a very real issue. I dealt with a dispute many years ago where some people had moved from Melbourne to a big rural block. Their neighbour was a mad deer hunter, who had a huge property and would legally shoot on it. These people would call 000 every time the guy took a shot on his own land.

As much as some people think we do everything on auto-pilot, or that we "shouldn't need to be reminded", people are people and small errors are made regarding the huge lump of laws we have to comply with in everyday Australia.
Mate, not going to discuss this further with you here, but one minute you say "That shouldn't need to be a reminder, it should just be BAU for anyone who shoots and reloads", as if we are all 100% perfect, you then go on to confirm that we are being infested with city-latte dobbers who come to our area and call the cops on us for legal behaviour... and invite police to come onto our places for a bit of a nose-around.
Not just when we are out around others are we expected to be perfect, but even in our own castles. Where no moral rules or vitmins existed before these city germs showed up.

I posted it using a real-world example at how one minute, a job you just didn't get around to finish because your life isn't just work-for-a-boss then sit in front of the TV like theirs, you might just have inadvertently left dangerous ammunition, in different stages of assembly, on your workbench.
Just waiting to leap off the bench and hurt or horrify members of the public or neighbours when they show up uninvited.

It was given as a heads-up that people are still being dragged through courts for this insanity, and that you may just be breaking another law that through familiarity, you just missed it. None of us are perfect mate.

Watch out for that small shovel in the shed unsecured too, it might just suggest to an intruder that they could use it against you or your family when they just wander in, because all the cops are doing their overtime in speed cameras. Better call the cops and see if one of them is still working for us.

[Wapiti]

good post, very timely topic . one other thing is ammunition being labelled . factory ammo in factory boxes is fine , but reloads in ammo containers are supposed to be labelled , calibre, number or rounds . i write that with permanent marker on top of my ammo cases . it's another reason you can get pinged

so the complainants in this case moved to the country , then complained cause the working farmer next door was using firearms . FFS. saw a news story a few years ago about a similar situation where a woman was crying and distraught about roo culling on the property next door .FFS again !

betcha these same tossers are the type to let their kids ride trailbikes non stop around their property boundary annoying the p!ss out of their neighbours . no wonder folk out in the regions are suspicious of people from the coast

Thanks Rich, another good reminder about reloaded ammo being labelled...
Looks like the latte pollies really have been thinking, I mean, when your ammo is stolen by miscreant interlopers from outta town, where there aren't any coppers to harass them stealing... from people who work and pay taxes to support the performance-expectation-free (except from the revenue raising numbers to meet on a weekly basis) politicians and police.

It's so important that the low-IQ thieves can sell-on that ammo to people who can actually read what the headstamps say, so the crims can match them to their stolen guns.

[bigrich]

good post, very timely topic . one other thing is ammunition being labelled . factory ammo in factory boxes is fine , but reloads in ammo containers are supposed to be labelled , calibre, number or rounds . i write that with permanent marker on top of my ammo cases . it's another reason you can get pinged

so the complainants in this case moved to the country , then complained cause the working farmer next door was using firearms . FFS. saw a news story a few years ago about a similar situation where a woman was crying and distraught about roo culling on the property next door .FFS again !

betcha these same tossers are the type to let their kids ride trailbikes non stop around their property boundary annoying the p!ss out of their neighbours . no wonder folk out in the regions are suspicious of people from the coast

Thanks Rich, another good reminder about reloaded ammo being labelled...
Looks like the latte pollies really have been thinking, I mean, when your ammo is stolen by miscreant interlopers from outta town, where there aren't any coppers to harass them stealing... from people who work and pay taxes to support the performance-expectation-free (except from the revenue raising numbers to meet on a weekly basis) politicians and police.

It's so important that the low-IQ thieves can sell-on that ammo to people who can actually read what the headstamps say, so the crims can match them to their stolen guns.

i saw a story recently about the green berets and american special forces once completing their missions , used to leave the ammo for the viet cong and NVA behind . after spiking the ammo with dangerous over pressure rounds to make rifles blow up on the shooter, and grenades and RPG's booby trapped to cause the same effect . so as you can see, it's really important to label ammo so that no crims using it get harmed if it's stolen from your safe, and definitely not leave it lying around so it can be easily stolen and used inappropriately where it might cause harm to poor criminals

[Fester]

I am not so sure about the labelling of ammo box laws, and I reckon I would have heard of it if it was a legality in the Nanny State of Wales.

There is a rule for flying with ammo, needs to be in the factory box.

The tree huggers are the new norm, and cops come to every shooting complaint.
As they bring their latte-sipping rules and habits with them and arrogance means they never change, they should only be given 1 or 2 chances before the cops threaten them with a time-wasting penalty.
Get that dirtbike fence track going and they will not think gunshots are so bad.

[bigrich]

I am not so sure about the labelling of ammo box laws, and I reckon I would have heard of it if it was a legality in the Nanny State of Wales.

There is a rule for flying with ammo, needs to be in the factory box.

The tree huggers are the new norm, and cops come to every shooting complaint.
As they bring their latte-sipping rules and habits with them and arrogance means they never change, they should only be given 1 or 2 chances before the cops threaten them with a time-wasting penalty.
Get that dirtbike fence track going and they will not think gunshots are so bad.

i flew up to darwin from brisbane about 4 years ago for a buff hunt , took my handloads in plastic ammo boxes inside a locked container inside a sports bag. just had to check it in with my luggage . no dramas at the time
with labelling that could be a thing specific to which state your in . we definitely need to be up to date with laws , or risk losing our "privileges" over possibly minor details. i'd rather over do it with compliance than get caught out

as a alternative to getting back at those winging tree change clowns , i'd take up learning the bagpipes . maybe join a pipe band and invite them over to march up and down the fence line

[Fester]

I think different carriers are different with gun transporting rules, some are anti, some OK.

Blokes that go OS for comps would know how to get away with ammo containers, but I would just load them into factory boxes so it all ends well.
They all say the problems are coming back through in Aus as guns are bad here, although they were fine in the earlier days.
What changed, not much with LAFOs, just the media, and the pretend leaders.

The best way to start with small blocks, or tree changing city sheeple next door, is with the .22lr shooting subs in the opposite direction of their house, and out of their sight.
You would then gauge how bad they are as you build up.

[Jackaroo]

I only made 783rds this month as I'm waiting on bullets. I need to do about 4000 .44-40's and .38's with the powder I'm using (for Cowboy), then I can do 1000-odd AS50N .38 and .44-40 Wadcutter loads (for precision ISSF),

.44-40 for ISSF??????

[Wapiti]

I can understand why people do get a bit wierd and edgy about gunshots, especially in more closer settled areas.
I'm the first to say that we shouldn't be little bitches and dob everything we don't like to the cops, wouldn't it be great if there was just respectful dialogue.
Unfortunately not too many people are going to drive up to your house and confront you about using your guns, because of the high-profile shootings lately on the media... granted, they were by people given licenses by the cops who were terrorists on warchlists or crazies who just get a stolen gun and go settle some scores.
So they ain't going to bring over a 6-pack and ask about your back yard crackers.
What else do they do, I guess? They have unqualified politicians and top cops who backstabbed their way into pseudo-leadership on the media all the time, calling for people to dob their neighbours in if they see a gun... or dream up in their heads it might be illegal. Because heaven forbid, they just might be naughty neighbours after all.

Two things I'd say, probably upset some but here goes...
If you want to shoot on your small-holdings acreages (where big enough you be legal), maybe prior you go and visit your neighbours and during a friendly beer or culpa, introduce towards the end of the discussion how you've got bast@rd foxes raiding your chooks, feral cats hanging in the trees, something to bring up the gun bit. Invite them to give you a call when they hear a shot down the track, if they are concerned it might be someone else etc.
It probably will fix that problem right up before it happens.
If you strike a man-bun, you know that you're going to hit an intellectual brick but try anyway.

The other thing is, if you live in a patchwork of 20, 50, 100 acre weekenders, maybe setting up a shooting range session with your mates is just inviting trouble. Maye go to the local gun range for that stuff.

[bladeracer]

I only made 783rds this month as I'm waiting on bullets. I need to do about 4000 .44-40's and .38's with the powder I'm using (for Cowboy), then I can do 1000-odd AS50N .38 and .44-40 Wadcutter loads (for precision ISSF),

.44-40 for ISSF??????

Classic Pistol - Colt 1873

[Jackaroo]

I only made 783rds this month as I'm waiting on bullets. I need to do about 4000 .44-40's and .38's with the powder I'm using (for Cowboy), then I can do 1000-odd AS50N .38 and .44-40 Wadcutter loads (for precision ISSF),

.44-40 for ISSF??????

Classic Pistol - Colt 1873

I've been shooting ISSF for over forty years (still A grade for centrefire ) ISSF centrefire is limited in the rule book to .38, does your club shoot something different but call it ISSF?

https://pistol.org.au/wp-content/upload ... ations.pdf

[Wapiti]

If I'm up on a hilltop near my boundary and hear a shot, I'll be concerned a little too until I see what for or why.
If I see my neighbour on a distant hill with my binos, swigging XXXX and taking shots for dog meat or whatever, bloody great. He's doing what I'm doing, using his gun for his livelihood.
But if I hear shots along the road, and take a peek and see the typical not-from-here intellectually-challenged blow-ins having a weekend of shooting anything that has a heat signature, I'll certainly be doing something about it. I used to confront them, but after a few incidences where things could have escalated and one in fact resulted in a fist fight where the instigator got his ego chopped so came back with others and more guns, I don't do that now. It's pics from the phone and a call to the coppers in town.

[Flavius Maximus]

What about tree changers who don't bring this wanky rubbish with them? What about those who never had any & want to get away from it? I'm considering reloading some of my .303 brass with solid copper hollow points, & i live in the suburbs. I hate it here, but some of those wankers from the east moved out & ruined the bush. Now i'm stuck here. I saw how Mudgee changed when all the bondites moved in. It's like newtown in the bush! Isn't getting away from all that pretentious garbage the whole point of going bush? But karens will always get their way here. They're like locusts, & it makes those of us suburbanites with a genuine interest in the country life getting shut out. It's disgusting how they can move in & dictate to you how to live, & you having to go along with it. What a country we live in.
By they way, i mostly bowhunt, so maybe i could help with some of that noise?

[bigrich]

If I'm up on a hilltop near my boundary and hear a shot, I'll be concerned a little too until I see what for or why.
If I see my neighbour on a distant hill with my binos, swigging XXXX and taking shots for dog meat or whatever, bloody great. He's doing what I'm doing, using his gun for his livelihood.
But if I hear shots along the road, and take a peek and see the typical not-from-here intellectually-challenged blow-ins having a weekend of shooting anything that has a heat signature, I'll certainly be doing something about it. I used to confront them, but after a few incidences where things could have escalated and one in fact resulted in a fist fight where the instigator got his ego chopped so came back with others and more guns, I don't do that now. It's pics from the phone and a call to the coppers in town.

really? entitled w@nker came back with mates to back him up with guns as well after you confront him with idiotic behaviour ?!
i'm probably going to sound like a fudd to some , but tossers like that don't deserve a license and are highly likely to bring LAFO's into disrepute . clowns like that deserve the full weight of the law . i certainly wouldn't put up with it . poachers/trespassers and yahoos who drive down country roads shooting up the place don't do us any favours with the public, or people that live and work in the regions.

[bladeracer]

I've been shooting ISSF for over forty years (still A grade for centrefire ) ISSF centrefire is limited in the rule book to .38, does your club shoot something different but call it ISSF?

https://pistol.org.au/wp-content/upload ... ations.pdf

I've only been shooting ISSF since June 2024, but we shoot Classic Pistol, which is for (paraphrased from the VAPA Handbook) "...revolver or semi-automatic handgun of a calibre of .38 or less (event 33) or a calibre of more than .38 and not more than .45 (event 56)..." I believe Classic Pistol is an Australian discipline so probably won't be found in international rule books. I found a little bit here: https://cdpc.org.au/issf/

Screenshot 2026-02-01 181021.jpg (34.09 KiB) Viewed 6882 times

The match is the same as the Centrefire match except it only has 40rds instead of 60, can be shot two-handed, and "...guns need to conform to a production design prior to 1955...".
Must have a minimum 1360gm (3lb) trigger.
Three age classes:
Early is blackpowder pre 1890,
Late is 1890 to 1918,
Post which is 1918 to 1955.

Four type classes:
Greatcoat Revolver - breechloading revolver up to 4-1/2" barrel,
Service Revolver - breechloading revolver similar to a regulation pattern issued by any government to regular or volunteer armed forces,
Service self-loading pistol - any semi-auto similar to an issued regulation patternas above,
Private Purchase - any service issue or private purchase revolver or auto for which ammunition was available from field stores of an army.

I use the Model 19 .357 and the Browning Hi Power 9mm for Centrefire and the Pietta 1873 .44-40 for Classic Pistol for my Class 4 attendances.

[perentie]

There was talk a while back of fired cases being classed as ammo. Has anyone heard if thats still on or has common sense prevailed.?
Myself and the club have buckets of spent shells not locked up waiting to go to the scrap metal dealer.

[deye243]

I've been shooting ISSF for over forty years (still A grade for centrefire ) ISSF centrefire is limited in the rule book to .38, does your club shoot something different but call it ISSF?

https://pistol.org.au/wp-content/upload ... ations.pdf

I've only been shooting ISSF since June 2024, but we shoot Classic Pistol, which is for (paraphrased from the VAPA Handbook) "...revolver or semi-automatic handgun of a calibre of .38 or less (event 33) or a calibre of more than .38 and not more than .45 (event 56)..." I believe Classic Pistol is an Australian discipline so probably won't be found in international rule books. I found a little bit here: https://cdpc.org.au/issf/

Screenshot 2026-02-01 181021.jpg

The match is the same as the Centrefire match except it only has 40rds instead of 60, can be shot two-handed, and "...guns need to conform to a production design prior to 1955...".
Must have a minimum 1360gm (3lb) trigger.
Three age classes:
Early is blackpowder pre 1890,
Late is 1890 to 1918,
Post which is 1918 to 1955.

Four type classes:
Greatcoat Revolver - breechloading revolver up to 4-1/2" barrel,
Service Revolver - breechloading revolver similar to a regulation pattern issued by any government to regular or volunteer armed forces,
Service self-loading pistol - any semi-auto similar to an issued regulation patternas above,
Private Purchase - any service issue or private purchase revolver or auto for which ammunition was available from field stores of an army.

I use the Model 19 .357 and the Browning Hi Power 9mm for Centrefire and the Pietta 1873 .44-40 for Classic Pistol for my Class 4 attendances.

So it doesn't have turning targets otherwise known as dueling issf centerfire and sport pistol do I'm also A grade in that discipline

[bladeracer]

On the subject of unsecured ammo, the club had a gallon fuel can on a bench for people to drop their "dud" ammo into. It was there for decades. When I joined I immediately saw a can of unsecured ammunition, so I emptied it all out and took it home to dispose of it properly. I have also removed the can. I ran all the ammo through a rifle first to make sure it was dud (quicker than pulling it all apart), and the vast majority of it fired just fine. 95% of it was .22LR but there was a good amount of .38's and .32's with obvious reloading issues (high primers, damaged brass or bullet, split cases) preventing it from chambering, but it was still live and unsecured ammunition. The ones I do have to pull down the powder goes into my recovered powder tub for disposal when there's enough to bother with, the primers get tossed into the wood stove.

And for those wondering about how to reliably destroy live primers, I did an accidental experiment a couple weeks ago, and I still have no idea how to destroy them. I bought an ultrasonic cleaner to clean the blackpowder brass. I tried various methods including citric acid, 75C heat and dishwashing liquid. I was doing batches of about 400 .44-40's at a time and results weren't too bad. But I thought I'd try a smaller batch to see if the result might be better. I grabbed a box of 130 cases marked "Deprimed and Sized" and tipped them into the water. As they disappeared under I realised they were already primed - I'd put them back into the same box after priming and flaring them - oops.

Pulling brass out of 75-degree water isn't fun but I got them all into a bowl and dropped them into the sink to rinse the acid out of them. Then I spread them out on a sheet on the lawn - we had over 40-degree weather to dry them out. They were too hot to handle when I got home and felt absolutely dry. I decided to load fifty rounds for testing. I took them in to shoot a Classic match. Round one went fffftttt and lodged the bullet into the forcing cone, so the primer fired but the powder didn't ignite, not what I'd expected. I pushed the bullet out, put the cylinder back in and fired the second, with another fffftttt, and another bullet stuck in the forcing cone. Pushed it out and fired the next four just fine. But rather than continue, I switched to the Model 19 to finish the match (as a Centrefire match). I really didn't want to pull the remaining 44rds down so I shot another Classic match the following week. Four sighters fired fine. First cylinder the third bullet stuck in the forcing cone, I pushed it out and completed the series still on the clock. The next 35rds fired just fine. I have another 80 pieces that could potentially give me grief, but I think I'll just load them and use them for a couple of Classic matches, that's a lot more fun than disassembling them.

[bladeracer]

So it doesn't have turning targets otherwise known as dueling issf centerfire and sport pistol do I'm also A grade in that discipline

Yes, it's shot the same as the Centrefire match, first half is static, second half is three-second exposures.

[alexjones]

Ever left a mag in your gun bag after a hunting trip or range visit only to find it weeks later and think oh F!!!

I haven't.

[bladeracer]

Ever left a mag in your gun bag after a hunting trip or range visit only to find it weeks later and think oh F!!!

I haven't.

Mags stay in my guns.

[alexjones]

Ever left a mag in your gun bag after a hunting trip or range visit only to find it weeks later and think oh F!!!

I haven't.

Mags stay in my guns.

You don't bring spare mags?

[Jackaroo]

I've been shooting ISSF for over forty years (still A grade for centrefire ) ISSF centrefire is limited in the rule book to .38, does your club shoot something different but call it ISSF?

https://pistol.org.au/wp-content/upload ... ations.pdf

I've only been shooting ISSF since June 2024, but we shoot Classic Pistol, which is for (paraphrased from the VAPA Handbook) "...revolver or semi-automatic handgun of a calibre of .38 or less (event 33) or a calibre of more than .38 and not more than .45 (event 56)..." I believe Classic Pistol is an Australian discipline so probably won't be found in international rule books. I found a little bit here: https://cdpc.org.au/issf/

Screenshot 2026-02-01 181021.jpg

The match is the same as the Centrefire match except it only has 40rds instead of 60, can be shot two-handed, and "...guns need to conform to a production design prior to 1955...".
Must have a minimum 1360gm (3lb) trigger.
Three age classes:
Early is blackpowder pre 1890,
Late is 1890 to 1918,
Post which is 1918 to 1955.

Four type classes:
Greatcoat Revolver - breechloading revolver up to 4-1/2" barrel,
Service Revolver - breechloading revolver similar to a regulation pattern issued by any government to regular or volunteer armed forces,
Service self-loading pistol - any semi-auto similar to an issued regulation patternas above,
Private Purchase - any service issue or private purchase revolver or auto for which ammunition was available from field stores of an army.

I use the Model 19 .357 and the Browning Hi Power 9mm for Centrefire and the Pietta 1873 .44-40 for Classic Pistol for my Class 4 attendances.

That's interesting, is this at a SSAA club?
Biggest thing with clubs is that you have to make sure that the clubs insurance policy covers the match and that the match is shot to the rules.
I belong to a New South Wales Amateur Pistol Association Club (Pistol Australia) and I might make enquiries if we can conduct this match on our range.

[Jackaroo]

There was talk a while back of fired cases being classed as ammo. Has anyone heard if thats still on or has common sense prevailed.?
Myself and the club have buckets of spent shells not locked up waiting to go to the scrap metal dealer.

You can buy brass through the mail, because that's what (and all) it is - brass. So I sure hope that it hasn't gotten that ridiculous.