Highest rifle calibre in Ireland?

John_Dillinger

Could someone please tell me what is the largest cal rifle you can get a license for in Ireland?

Sparks

John_Dillinger wrote: »

Could someone please tell me what is the largest cal rifle you can get a license for in Ireland?

There isn't an upper limit. If the Garda Superintendent will issue a licence for it, you can shoot it here. I think the largest so far licenced is some monster H&H elephant gun.

José Alaninho

Sparks wrote: »

There isn't an upper limit. If the Garda Superintendent will issue a licence for it, you can shoot it here. I think the largest so far licenced is some monster H&H elephant gun.

I heard it was a .338 lapua meself...

Edit: sorry, OT!

Sparks

José Alaninho wrote: »

I heard it was a .338 lapua meself...

The .338 may well have the upper hand in some metrics, but for calibre size (on a rifle at least), .475 beats .338

Edit: sorry, OT!

Fixed with a thread split.

jwshooter

i know a lad with a 458 lott

Grizzly 45

Apprently there is ONE liscensed 50BMG here.

Sparks

Hadn't heard that Grizzly, I'd have thought there was just the one range it could be shot on as well!

It wasn't me!

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Apprently there is ONE liscensed 50BMG here.

As far as I know, that was debunked. I know of a handful of .375H&Hs myself, have witnessed a .338 Lapua Mag in person and have heard of various things like .458 Lotts about as well.

jwshooter

It wasn't me! wrote: »

As far as I know, that was debunked. I know of a handful of .375H&Hs myself, have witnessed a .338 Lapua Mag in person and have heard of various things like .458 Lotts about as well.

iv shot a 338 lapua the T8 cools it down a good bit , done some long range rabbits with a lad one day 250gr ballistic tip gets down range fairly quick.

It wasn't me!

jwshooter wrote: »

iv shot a 338 lapua the T8 cools it down a good bit , done some long range rabbits with a lad one day 250gr ballistic tip gets down range fairly quick.

... I really, really want to do that now!

Grizzly 45

As far as I know, that was debunked

.

Heard it was supposedly in Donegal area.And NO not used by a certain organisation.:)

Sparks

Rabbit. With .338 lap mag. At long range.
Fecking hell man, if you hit it at all you don't get usable meat and with that kind of round a bloody engine block wouldn't serve as a backstop.
I can see just about one use for .338 lap mag in this country (long range target shooting - even the elephant vet in Dublin Zoo wouldn't bother with a .338). Shooting rabbits with one... what's next, thowing old cars at them with a trebuchet? :rolleyes:

Sparks

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Heard it was supposedly in Donegal area.

And what range would they be shooting it on? Without permission from an Irish army commandant to use an army range, you'd have to be going over to Ballykindler and shooting there, and I don't think the MoD range rules allow you to shoot .50bmg anymore.

rowa

i know for a fact because i have held it in my hands the .470 big game rifle that was licenced , it took a court case to get it in ,but it is in ireland now , also a .416 rigby and a .338 lapua magnum i have yet to hear of a .50 bmg but i wouldn't be suprised , i'd prefer a .408 cheytac if we're burning money by the bucketful here

i think you're right sparks , the mod ranges have a muzzle energy upper limit that is just above the energy of the .308 /7.62

Sparks

rowa wrote: »

i think you're right sparks , the mod ranges have a muzzle energy upper limit that is just above the energy of the .308 /7.62

Worse than that, they have both an upper energy limit and an upper muzzle velocity limit as well.

jwshooter

there is a 416 in wexford a B/D rifle . the 338 is a fun gun to shoot but at 4 bucks a shot the fun goes out of it fast. the 300 win mag is a better long range toy and cheap to run .

i would get as much crack out of shooting the 243 at long range ,its a very under estimated cal .

John_Dillinger

I dont understand how such large cal rifles can be made available...i even remember reading a story about (slightly different here) a guard being refused a handgun for target shooting, but still, why do some people need such large cal rifles in Ireland? Theres a slight difference between asking a guard to be licensed for a .22 or a 338 lapua for rabbit shooting...does anyone agree with me?

Sparks

The large calibre rifles are used for various purposes JD; many for long-range target shooting (a .22lr, no matter how good you are, just isn't suitable for shooting at 1000 yards - in fact the larger matches, like the Palma match, stipulate a specific calibre, like .308). The really large calibres, like the H&H .470s and the like, are actually used by people going on safari in Africa - they shoot the H&H's here to train for that (you don't learn to shoot by practising on an elephant). And some of those rifles are used by vets here as well (some of the largest are apparently held by those working in Dublin Zoo). All these are cases where there's good reason and it's safe to licence these firearms. It's not a case of people just wanting the loudest bang they can get, there's an actual need involved, whether it be to humanely dispatch an injured animal in Dublin Zoo, or to humanely hunt a cape buffalo, or to be competitive in an international match against people who can choose whatever firearm they want for training.

A .338 lap mag for rabbits, however, might be seen as coming under the heading of "being fairly stupid".

rowa

the people i know with the heavy game rifles have them here simply because they are there property , previously they would when heading out to africa or where ever ,have to fly to london to collect there rifle from storage in a dealers over there and all the paperwork and hastle it involves and make there way back to the air port and then travel on to there destination , the rifles really aren't used here just stored and practised with occasionally.
can't really say why people here have .338's and the like,apart from anything else they'd be expensive beasties to feed and can you really get the best out of them in ireland ?
i have a .308 and love it , i don't think i'd be bothered with a different calibre , maybe as jwshooter says a .300win mag if shooting at longer ranges .

It wasn't me!

To be honest, money and licensing no object, I'd have a host of guns, to shoot a host of different styles of shooting and because they fascinate me. I could think of half a dozen different calibres within seconds I'd love to own for long distance target shooting alone, to say nothing of hunting deer, European or African game.

Sparks

That's pretty much the story right there for target shooting - you no more have one rifle for target shooting than you have one club for golf...

It wasn't me!

Sparks wrote: »

That's pretty much the story right there for target shooting - you no more have one rifle for target shooting than you have one club for golf...

Yeah, but with finances and licensing being what they are, try getting yourself that .22LR/6mmBR/.243/6.5x47/.308/7mmWSM/.300WinMag/.338LapMag target shooting safe, and that's before moving onto anything else. And those aren't all the calibres one could viably choose, not by a very long shot. Sad really.

4gun

once or twice when stalking sika i've gotten within 30-50 yards,my .308 at this range does a lot of damage to the deer so i was thinking of getting a lever action rifle in .357.The energl levels i've seen for this calibre are low, something like 406ft/lbs @ 100 yds.
Q1 are the energy levels sufficent for deer
Q2 is it possible to get a licence

kakashka

4gun wrote: »

once or twice when stalking sika i've gotten within 30-50 yards,my .308 at this range does a lot of damage to the deer so i was thinking of getting a lever action rifle in .357.The energl levels i've seen for this calibre are low, something like 406ft/lbs @ 100 yds.
Q1 are the energy levels sufficent for deer
Q2 is it possible to get a licence

Damage?Where are you hitting your 30/50yrd Deer???

rowa

4gun wrote: »

once or twice when stalking sika i've gotten within 30-50 yards,my .308 at this range does a lot of damage to the deer so i was thinking of getting a lever action rifle in .357.The energl levels i've seen for this calibre are low, something like 406ft/lbs @ 100 yds.
Q1 are the energy levels sufficent for deer
Q2 is it possible to get a licence

it'd be illegal , as far as i know the bullet must have 1,700 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle , maybe a .44 magnum could do that , but then you'd be back to square one.

4gun

kakashka wrote: »

Damage?Where are you hitting your 30/50yrd Deer???[/quote
the place where i stalk is covered in thick furze,mainly the deer don't expect stalkers to go in among them.In a lot of cases i miss the shot because the scope is focused at 100 ydsand by the time i find them in it they are gone. thats why i was thinking of lever action, they're quick and easy at short ranges, but the calibre has to be thus that its not too distructive at close ranges

It wasn't me!

Pistol calibres do not develop enough energy, by and large, to make the cut. There are freak cases like the .454 Casull, but they are, by definition, not the norm. Perhaps something like a .30-30 is the answer?

kakashka

4gun wrote: »

the place where i stalk is covered in thick furze,mainly the deer don't expect stalkers to go in among them.In a lot of cases i miss the shot because the scope is focused at 100 ydsand by the time i find them in it they are gone. thats why i was thinking of lever action, they're quick and easy at short ranges, but the calibre has to be thus that its not too distructive at close ranges

Ok i see,Might be worth considering iron sights for this type of stalk

Head/neck shot would solve meat damage

4gun

kakashka wrote: »

Ok i see,Might be worth considering iron sights for this type of stalk

Head/neck shot would solve meat damage

In this situation you've only got seconds to shoot or not shoot,you have to take the biggest target or run the risk of missing completely

kakashka

4gun wrote: »

In this situation you've only got seconds to shoot or not shoot,you have to take the biggest target or run the risk of missing completely

Out with the chainsaw so:)..clear sight lines in Furz?

4gun

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Pistol calibres do not develop enough energy, by and large, to make the cut. There are freak cases like the .454 Casull, but they are, by definition, not the norm. Perhaps something like a .30-30 is the answer?

30-30 wasn't available in the make I was considering, I guess I'll have to reconsider

4gun

kakashka wrote: »

Out with the chainsaw so:)..clear sight lines in Furz?

can you get a silencer for that:p

kakashka

4gun wrote: »

can you get a silencer for that:p

:Dhow fast can you run:D

jwshooter

4gun ..what type of scope it it that it will not focus from 30-100yds .if your shooting in such a tight spot at close range with a hi mag scope all your getting is a blur,

a variable power scope set at 4 power when your in cover will work better .
also snap shooting with a rifle and meat damage must tell you some thing.

its better to give the deer the benefit of the doth than risk placing a poor shot and loosing a injured animal.

good shot placement does not cause meat damage.

4gun

jwshooter wrote: »

4gun ..what type of scope it it that it will not focus from 30-100yds .if your shooting in such a tight spot at close range with a hi mag scope all your getting is a blur,

a variable power scope set at 4 power when your in cover will work better .
also snap shooting with a rifle and meat damage must tell you some thing.

its better to give the deer the benefit of the doth than risk placing a poor shot and loosing a injured animal.

good shot placement does not cause meat damage.

At a distance i have no problem with shot placement
In under 50 yds a remi. core-loked 150 gr bullet is literally explosive
I would think that a ballistic tip would be worse
this type of hunting would probably be best suited to using a bow of some sort ,but thats not legal here

rowa

4gun wrote: »

At a distance i have no problem with shot placement
In under 50 yds a remi. core-loked 150 gr bullet is literally explosive
I would think that a ballistic tip would be worse
this type of hunting would probably be best suited to using a bow of some sort ,but thats not legal here

one of the big ammo makers (i think winchester) were doing "light loads " which as you'd expect were hunting loads but with a reduced charge for teaching kids to shoot a full bore rifle , they might be the way to go , of course if we lived in a decently run country you could simply reload to your own specs , but thats unlikely to happen now i think .

jwshooter

the 308 using that bullet is not regarded as a overly destructive cal . a 243 using 80gr soft points will cause more damage at 50yds

as this picture shows

i had killed her calf with the first shot and clipped her with the next shot i had to be quick with the follow up shot as she was almost in cover ,this shot was 70yds and she was running broad side to me .

CJhaughey

Lever action 30-30 would be ideal for thick scrubby shooting.
Very popular in countries where you shoot in scrub and heavy cover.
I think the round is up around 1900 with a 150gn projectile which would be more than enough for deer.
It is a close range round though.

ejg

Just use a 165 or 180 gr in the 308, speed will be way down.
Then look at bullet design, Federal blue box ammo is quite explosive I think, Fusion would be very tough.
I've shot a few deer at close range, because that is where they stood. The main problem is that if you hit shoulder or spine it'll be messy no matter if at 50yds or 200.
edi

rowa

all the ammo manufacturers seem to be power mad , surely someone does a round for smaller animals and/or shorter distances ?
the only other way to go would be to take manufactured ammunition and reduce the powder charge properly , but that would take a reloading set-up and probabily trouble .

Grizzly 45

4gun wrote: »

At a distance i have no problem with shot placement
In under 50 yds a remi. core-loked 150 gr bullet is literally explosive
I would think that a ballistic tip would be worse
this type of hunting would probably be best suited to using a bow of some sort ,but thats not legal here

Or shotgun slugs from a pump or semi shotgun for the kind of brush conditions you are talking about.Were it legal...:rolleyes:
Or have a look at the remington Woodsmaster rifles they are in a variety of cals,semi or pump as well think the smaller ones are in the 243 range.

Maybe the new Ruger mini 14 in 6.8 would be a contender?

Maybe dump the traditional scope set up as well,and go for a holosight,
[Eotech or Doctor Optics,etc] for the kind of distances and conditions you are shooting in.Or try if your rifle will allow it a "scout rifle "set up.IOW get a 4 power scope and mount forward of the action.Not everyones cup of tea,but it is very quick and with practise can be shot both eyes open.

If you could get one a ..SKS semi rifle in 7.62X39 with a holosight would be ideal for you.Has about the same ballistics as the 30.30.Very cheap and accurate for the distances you are shooting.

Grizzly 45

The only other way to go would be to take manufactured ammunition and reduce the powder charge properly , but that would take a reloading set-up and probabily trouble .

[/QUOTE]
Nope,you are OK on that one here.This was battled out a few years ago in a DC in Donegal.You are not manufacturing you are customising the legally bought ammo.Would require that you know what you are doing in powder weights though.:)

rowa

Nope,you are OK on that one here.This was battled out a few years ago in a DC in Donegal.You are not manufacturing you are customising the legally bought ammo.Would require that you know what you are doing in powder weights though.:)[/quote]
as far as i know the american ammo manufacturers give the powder type and weight out in reloading manuals as they also supply the reloading kit, they also give the maximum and minimum charges so you would be ok .
i think there is far too much emphasis placed on power in rifle ammo and some of the less powerful rounds are the nicest .243, 7x57 etc .

fish slapped

A CZ 527 in 7.62x 39 with a red dot sight

foxshooter243

rowa wrote: »

Nope,you are OK on that one here.This was battled out a few years ago in a DC in Donegal.You are not manufacturing you are customising the legally bought ammo.Would require that you know what you are doing in powder weights though.:)

as far as i know the american ammo manufacturers give the powder type and weight out in reloading manuals as they also supply the reloading kit, they also give the maximum and minimum charges so you would be ok .
i think there is far too much emphasis placed on power in rifle ammo and some of the less powerful rounds are the nicest .243, 7x57 etc .[/quote]

Ive never seen any information on powder thats used in commercial ammo
given out by manufacturers, reloading manuals only give you the info on what powders are suitable for a given bullet in a given calibre. Commercial rounds dont normally use the shop bought powders but buy their powder in bulk and its usually not available to reloaders, therefore knowing what powder is in the rounds is pure guesswork,Some powders dont lend themselves to being suitable in making reduced loads and by reducing them you can cause detonation in the case..its dangerous territory for anyone who is not an experienced reloader in my opinion.

fourtycoats

The highest rifle calibre in Ireland would be one that was used on the top of Lug

jwshooter

personally i cant see what relevance or difference to any one what another is doing or using .

BornToKill

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Nope,you are OK on that one here.This was battled out a few years ago in a DC in Donegal.You are not manufacturing you are customising the legally bought ammo.:)

Grizzly, I'd love to know more details of this case if you have them. Or any press coverage of it. My understanding is that you cannot unmake ammunition without a license but maybe I'm wrong about that.

Grizzly 45

BTK,
Bit of research,it was coverd in the ISD ,early to mid 90s,possible very late 1980s.It definately was up in Donegal.Dont have any press coverage,it was one of those read and file in brain type articles..

rowa

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

BTK,
Bit of research,it was coverd in the ISD ,early to mid 90s,possible very late 1980s.It definately was up in Donegal.Dont have any press coverage,it was one of those read and file in brain type articles..

i remember that case to , i don't think it was that long ago was it ? i do think the guy was done twice by the police as far as i can remember , he was raided and his reloading kit was taken but he wasn't charged the first time ,
he either got the kit back or bought new stuff and the gardai did get him to court the second time , as far as i can recall , he wasn't actually breaking any laws , i do remember hearing that the gardai threatened to do him for drug offences as he had a very accurate scales as part of his set up !
this is a long time ago so i can't be too sure of the details .

Sparks

The reloading case was in Co.Wicklow from what I can remember rowa, originally in the Bray DC and then kicked down to the Wicklow DC, who then kicked it out alltogether.