Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bladeracer » 02 Feb 2026, 9:01 am

alexjones wrote:
bladeracer wrote:
alexjones wrote: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?


Oh yeah, I keep one mag in the pistol/rifle and I have an ammo crate with spare pistol mags in the car. My spare rifle mags are either in the ammo crates with the ammo or in my hunting/shooting gear.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bladeracer » 02 Feb 2026, 9:28 am

Jackaroo wrote: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.


Page 56 of the VAPA Handbook gives a brief explanation of Classic Pistol. It is shot _exactly_ like the Centrefire/25 Meter Pistol match as it's shot at the same time. In Classic we can shoot two-handed though, and we only shoot the first twenty rounds in each half of the match. If you are already running a Centrefire/25 Meter match you simply add Classic Pistol to it and let anybody that wants to shoot it join in. As nothing tangible changes it shouldn't require a range inspection or anything else. I can try to get some video of the next match if you want. Only three of us are shooting Classic with any regularity I think, and we use both "up to .38" and ".38 to .45" pistols for it.
https://vapa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/VAPA-Member-Handbook-2024-25-web.pdf
I have asked if there is any reason I couldn't shoot the Centrefire, Classic and 25m matches all on the same day and it seems frowned upon :-)

My principal club is with VAPA, but Cowboy requires SSAA membership as well. I don't shoot ISSF matches at other clubs yet, but I'm trying to get to Outtrim very soon to shoot WA1500. I consider ISSF to be fundamentals training for practical shooting so I have little interest in traveling to ISSF matches, other than those that we don't shoot at our club. I travel to practical matches, mostly Cowboy last year, and it's looking like I'll be mostly chasing Cowboy matches this year as well.

Vic state titles are at Little River in March, the national titles are at Virginia, north of Adelaide in October. NSW nationals are at Bathurst in early June. Qld state titles are at Calliope April 30 to May 3 but I'm not sure I'll manage that as I want to do the ANZAC shoot at Little River. SA state titles are mid-April, with the Vic Wild Bunch state titles the weekend before (I still need to find a .45 1911 for this). WA state titles are end of May - I wouldn't mind a trip back there but don't know if I want to deal with their ridiculous laws again. Tassie, ACT and NT haven't posted dates yet.
https://acas.today/?page=comps&state=VIC
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by deye243 » 02 Feb 2026, 4:08 pm

perentie wrote: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.

It was the case in Western Australia but apparently now it has been dropped don't know if that's true or not
the grubs would usually use it as an excuse to confiscate
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by Fester » 02 Feb 2026, 5:32 pm

If they can classify toys as high-powered firearms and convict people possessing the said weapons (toy guns) for serious illegal firearms charges, they can do anything they want.

Premier Mince didn't even withdraw the belt-fed shotguns thing and let the media run with it, thinking non-shooters won't know any better.

They quietly removed the clay shooting vests and reloading info bans because it made them look so stupid.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by Wapiti » 02 Feb 2026, 9:11 pm

Fester wrote:If they can classify toys as high-powered firearms and convict people possessing the said weapons (toy guns) for serious illegal firearms charges, they can do anything they want.

Premier Mince didn't even withdraw the belt-fed shotguns thing and let the media run with it, thinking non-shooters won't know any better.

They quietly removed the clay shooting vests and reloading info bans because it made them look so stupid.


And Minns is as popular as ever, according to some BS polls!
What does that tell you about the morons that vote.
I hope anyone who voted for that mob of backstabbers loses their freedoms first and really fails.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by deye243 » 02 Feb 2026, 10:13 pm

Wapiti wrote:
Fester wrote:If they can classify toys as high-powered firearms and convict people possessing the said weapons (toy guns) for serious illegal firearms charges, they can do anything they want.

Premier Mince didn't even withdraw the belt-fed shotguns thing and let the media run with it, thinking non-shooters won't know any better.

They quietly removed the clay shooting vests and reloading info bans because it made them look so stupid.


And Minns is as popular as ever, according to some BS polls!
What does that tell you about the morons that vote.
I hope anyone who voted for that mob of backstabbers loses their freedoms first and really fails.

Come on now we all know that those laws will only apply to anglo-aussies all the rest will get a free pass
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by tuknal » 03 Feb 2026, 3:01 pm

Wapiti wrote:
bigrich wrote:
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 :roll:


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.


must admit ive never ever heard of reloads needing to be labelled or boxed
had multiple police checks theyve seen my reloading gear/ammo and never have i labelled any and have always complied ,this is NSW tho i could be different in other states
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bladeracer » 03 Feb 2026, 3:59 pm

tuknal wrote:must admit ive never ever heard of reloads needing to be labelled or boxed
had multiple police checks theyve seen my reloading gear/ammo and never have i labelled any and have always complied ,this is NSW tho i could be different in other states


I haven't heard of it either, outside of airline requirements that prefer factory packaging or purpose-made cartridge boxes, like MTM ammo boxes, that keep rounds separated.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bigrich » 03 Feb 2026, 4:36 pm

bladeracer wrote:
tuknal wrote:must admit ive never ever heard of reloads needing to be labelled or boxed
had multiple police checks theyve seen my reloading gear/ammo and never have i labelled any and have always complied ,this is NSW tho i could be different in other states


I haven't heard of it either, outside of airline requirements that prefer factory packaging or purpose-made cartridge boxes, like MTM ammo boxes, that keep rounds separated.


i had my 9.3x62 reloads in mtm cartridge boxes when i flew from brisbane to darwin for a buff hunt . i flew with virgin and had no problems :thumbsup:
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by Finniss » 03 Feb 2026, 5:29 pm

Airlines used to state manufacturers packaging only....they changed it to allow mtm style after manufacturers started packaging in buckets.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by tuknal » 04 Feb 2026, 7:02 am

ok fair enough but it seems its a airline policy not a actual legal requirement then ?
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by Finniss » 04 Feb 2026, 9:39 am

QLD Explosive regs require handloads to be labelled. Not sure if being licensed under a different act (weapons) changes this.

Airlines dont need labels. They dont usually open your locked case.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bigrich » 04 Feb 2026, 10:12 am

Finniss wrote:QLD Explosive regs require handloads to be labelled. Not sure if being licensed under a different act (weapons) changes this.

Airlines dont need labels. They dont usually open your locked case.


i found this to be the case . i was expecting my locked , cased , rifle and ammo to be checked, but nope . just logged it in . gotta make you wonder , i could've had anything in my cases . :unknown:
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bladeracer » 04 Feb 2026, 3:38 pm

bigrich wrote:
Finniss wrote:QLD Explosive regs require handloads to be labelled. Not sure if being licensed under a different act (weapons) changes this.

Airlines dont need labels. They dont usually open your locked case.


i found this to be the case . i was expecting my locked , cased , rifle and ammo to be checked, but nope . just logged it in . gotta make you wonder , i could've had anything in my cases . :unknown:


I got on a flight from Perth to Derby in 1993. I only had hand luggage though. The girl on the counter didn't know what to do so she called the pilots who came to the check-in desk. They had me show my pistol was clear, at the check-in counter, then dropped it into a big orange plastic bag. I put the mags and a couple big boxes of handloaded 9mm in there, they taped it shut and took it into the cockpit with them. I don't know what they got up to in front, but both boxes of ammo came apart during the flight and the pistol was buried in loose ammo.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bigrich » 04 Feb 2026, 4:39 pm

bladeracer wrote:
bigrich wrote:
Finniss wrote:QLD Explosive regs require handloads to be labelled. Not sure if being licensed under a different act (weapons) changes this.

Airlines dont need labels. They dont usually open your locked case.


i found this to be the case . i was expecting my locked , cased , rifle and ammo to be checked, but nope . just logged it in . gotta make you wonder , i could've had anything in my cases . :unknown:


I got on a flight from Perth to Derby in 1993. I only had hand luggage though. The girl on the counter didn't know what to do so she called the pilots who came to the check-in desk. They had me show my pistol was clear, at the check-in counter, then dropped it into a big orange plastic bag. I put the mags and a couple big boxes of handloaded 9mm in there, they taped it shut and took it into the cockpit with them. I don't know what they got up to in front, but both boxes of ammo came apart during the flight and the pistol was buried in loose ammo.


yeah, that's a worry :wtf:
i remember reading a section in elmer keith's book "hell, i was there" about how he wouldn't let one of his rifles out of his sight and check it in as baggage on a flight heading home from africa. and the pilot's , once they found out who he was , gave him personal assurances they'd look after his rifle and invited him up to the cockpit to take the wheel at one point . different times .
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bladeracer » 04 Feb 2026, 5:20 pm

bigrich wrote:yeah, that's a worry :wtf:
i remember reading a section in elmer keith's book "hell, i was there" about how he wouldn't let one of his rifles out of his sight and check it in as baggage on a flight heading home from africa. and the pilot's , once they found out who he was , gave him personal assurances they'd look after his rifle and invited him up to the cockpit to take the wheel at one point . different times .


There were only myself, my partner, and his brother on the flight, plus maybe half a dozen flight crew that were going up there. The pilots let all three of us into the cockpit to watch the approach into Derby. As you say, different times.
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Re: Word of warning RE. unsecured ammo

Post by bigrich » 04 Feb 2026, 5:32 pm

bladeracer wrote:
bigrich wrote:yeah, that's a worry :wtf:
i remember reading a section in elmer keith's book "hell, i was there" about how he wouldn't let one of his rifles out of his sight and check it in as baggage on a flight heading home from africa. and the pilot's , once they found out who he was , gave him personal assurances they'd look after his rifle and invited him up to the cockpit to take the wheel at one point . different times .


There were only myself, my partner, and his brother on the flight, plus maybe half a dozen flight crew that were going up there. The pilots let all three of us into the cockpit to watch the approach into Derby. As you say, different times.


ahh, the good old days :D

scary thought, one day we'll look back on the present as being the good old days :roll:
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