Pellet legalities?

Witcher

Lads, a thread on the airsoft forum posed an interesting question about the laws around purchasing air rifle pellets...it's my understanding that to buy .177/4.5mm pellets from a dealer here requires a licence..but what of spherical 4.5mm ammunition such as this? Would one need a licence to import and possess it or does it's shape make it innocous in the eyes of the law?

bullets

Dont forget to see my point on Potato's

~B

Cass

One is ammunition for a firearm under the definition of the law the other is ammo for an airsoft toy. ie - not a firearm and hence does not require a license.

The size is coincidental, plus i don't think that an airsoft can reach the MV of an air rifle or any other firearm, and definitely not the impact energy so doesn;t meet any of the requirements/standards that would classify it as a firearm.

kildare.17hmr

i reckon the warning not suitable for under 3s says it all!

kildare.17hmr

Blay wrote: »

Lads, a thread on the airsoft forum posed an interesting question about the laws around purchasing air rifle pellets...it's my understanding that to buy .177/4.5mm pellets from a dealer here requires a licence..but what of spherical 4.5mm ammunition such as this? Would one need a licence to import and possess it or does it's shape make it innocous in the eyes of the law?

it clearly says on the ad they they are for airsoft use. Dont know where it says in the law that 4.5mm pellets require a licence?

As long as its under 1joule its not classed as a firearm

Witcher

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

it clearly says on the ad they they are for airsoft use. Dont know where it says in the law that 4.5mm pellets require a licence?

As long as its under 1joule its not classed as a firearm

I'm aware that they are for airsoft. When I said on the thread on the airsoft forum you needed a licence to purchase 4.5mm pellets I was thinking of the conical type the lads here would use...which I understand do require a licence to purchase...Bullets post about the spherical 4.5mm ammo kind of threw me for second and it got caught up on the size which in hindsight is just coincidence as Ezridax said, it's the use rather than size which is the deciding factor. The question made sense in my head at the time:P

rowa

Only in ireland could a tiny lead pellet require a licence :rolleyes:.

tac foley

rowa wrote: »

Only in ireland could a tiny lead pellet require a licence :rolleyes:.

Funny ould thing, that.

Last saturday I bought 25,000 of 'em, that's still only fifty tins, for our club match airgunners.

I kept 5000 for my own use.

tac
Feinwerkbau P-70
Steyr LP-5
FAS 604 and a lot more....

firefly08

it clearly says on the ad they they are for airsoft use. Dont know where it says in the law that 4.5mm pellets require a licence?

I'm aware that they are for airsoft.

I'm a bit confused by that... I know it says 'airsoft' on the add but I have never seen a 4.5mm airsoft gun. Every one I have ever seen uses 6mm pellets.

Sparks

rowa wrote: »

Only in ireland could a tiny lead pellet require a licence :rolleyes:.

And only in Ireland could they issue such an air rifle licence for 100 pellets only...

rowa

Sparks wrote: »

And only in Ireland could they issue such an air rifle licence for 100 pellets only...

When they come in tins of 500 ? Typical irish, sure it was all for national security durimg the troubles :rolleyes:.

Sparks

rowa wrote: »

When they come in tins of 500 ?

Yeah, it cracked up the other air rifle shooters who saw it over in Finland. Nice to know your country causes so much mirth for others... :rolleyes:

Typical irish, sure it was all for national security durimg the troubles :rolleyes:.

To be fair, the FO in the station did write on the back of the letter that it was a misprint and that it should have been 1,000 (and signed it ) as I was heading out the door to Finland on the strength of that licence the next day. So it was a foul-up, rather than by design.

Mind you, if they weren't legally firearms the same way they're not in the rest of europe, it wouldn't have been a problem in the first place...

Witcher

firefly08 wrote: »

I'm a bit confused by that... I know it says 'airsoft' on the add but I have never seen a 4.5mm airsoft gun. Every one I have ever seen uses 6mm pellets.

You can get guns that will fire a 4.5mm bb, they're mostly over 1 joule so are a firearm, in theory you could get one under a joule and be as legal as a typical 6/8mm airsoft gun but no airsoft site would allow a player to use the 4.5.

tac foley

Not just Ireland has some, uh, unusual, laws pertaining to laying of hands on toy guns that also happen to look pretty realistic. Since October 2008 it has been impossible to buy any electrically or gas-driven AirSoft toy gun unless you are a registered re-enactor or member of the UK skirmishing association.

So, in my case, although I have a firearms certificate and can, in theory legally own a REAL .50cal something or other, I cannot legally acquire a 1 Joule toy gun.

You KNOW it makes sense.

Right.

tac

wolfsshadow

you can get steel bb in 4.5 and 6mm calibre and air rifle pellets on ebay, but i can't see how using a steel instead of a plastic bb in a airsoft gun would make any differece its still the same power so really with reference to the original question it's not the shape but the power of the gun, so dont get plastic bbs and think they will make your air rifle legal

Sparks

wolfsshadow wrote: »

you can get steel bb in 4.5 and 6mm calibre and air rifle pellets on ebay, but i can't see how using a steel instead of a plastic bb in a airsoft gun would make any differece its still the same power so really with reference to the original question it's not the shape but the power of the gun, so dont get plastic bbs and think they will make your air rifle legal

Wolf, if you put a metal 6mm bb in an airsoft gun, it won't make it out of the barrel. 1 joule of energy isn't enough to move that much mass.

wolfsshadow

you might be right there sparks if they did you could possibly measure the range in inches, i'm just saying they are available but wouldn't recomend anyone buying or using them