.22 Magnum pistols legality in ROI

irishshooter32

Hi there does anybody know weather pistol chambered in .22 RIMFIRE magnum are legal here the law states it must be a .22 Rimfire caliber so this would include 22 mag? It’s interesting because I can only ever find .22LR pistols for sale it would be good to have .22 mag because there considerably more powerful then .22LR if anybody knows where I could buy one new or used let me know thanks.

Cass

You won't find one and if you do you cannot license them as anything over 22lr (long rifle rimfire) is illegal due to the 2009 Criminal justice and Miscellaneous provisions act and more specifically part 5 of SI337/2009 which amends part 4(2) and states:

5. Article 4(2) of the Principal Order is amended—

(a) in subparagraph (d) by the deletion of the word “rim-fire”,

(b) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (e)—

“(e) the following short firearms designed for use in connection with competitions governed by International Olympic Committee regulations:

(i) air-operated firearms of 4.5 millimetres (.177 inch) calibre;

(ii) single shot firearms using 0.22 inch long rifle rim fire percussion ammunition;

(iii) other firearms using 0.22 inch long rifle rim fire percussion ammunition provided that the maximum magazine capacity of such a firearm does not exceed five rounds and that the barrel length of the firearm is greater than 10 cm.

BSA International

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058208441/22-magnum-pistols-legality-in-roi

Why would you need "considerably more power"?

Grizzly 45

A UK long-barrelled pistol with a "coat hanger" type affair would be possibly the only way of acquiring anything above.22 LR that's pistol-like here these days.The Irish legislation does have that loophole. KEL Tec makes one for the UK market. But then again its KEL Tec so expect issues on reliability, its pricey as well,getting someone to export it from the UK and convincing your Cheif to sign off on it too, as well as spending a fair bit on 22 magnums.Thats not exactly cheap paper punching ammo either.

smmember20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117879611#Comment_117879611

Cass can't agree with your viewpoint on this one, the legislation clearly states .22 Rimfire, ((iii) firearms which are designed for use with 0.22 inch long rifle rim fire percussion ammunition) at no point does it limit to LR or exclude Magnum, there are many dual cylinder LR and Magnum revolvers licensed in Ireland already. .22 LR and .22 Magnum are both .22 rimfire cartridges, while technically they are different and not interchangeable they can both be licensed in a pistol, now separate to that there are no shooting competitions for pistol .22 magnum, however that is not to say that there cannot be any.

Now all that being said I cannot see anyone investing in a .22 pistol in magnum configuration, save in the case of the dual cylinders for a revolver because of the above and also because of the cost and availability of the ammunition.

Much more interesting question would be anyone license a .17 pistol or can they?

Cass

smmember20 - Cass can't agree with your viewpoint on this one, the legislation clearly states .22 Rimfire, ((iii) firearms which are designed for use with 0.22 inch long rifle rim fire percussion ammunition) at no point does it limit to LR or exclude Magnum

It says it in the SI and even in your reply. I've highlighted it above. Long Rifle rim fire, iow LR. It actually specifically states 22lr. That was the purpose of SI337/2009 because after the 2009 Criminal Justice act people were trying to license other rimfire cartridge pistols so SI 337/2009 was drafted to limit it to LR only and it was done by removing the term "rim-fire" and repacing it with "0.22 inch long rifle rim fire". It narrows it to that one specific cartridge/caliber and removes the ability to use 22 magnum, 17hmr, etc.

However, and I don't mean this facetiously, if you think they can be done try license one. I know of two lads that were refused anything other than 22lr in rimfire after 2009. The licenses you say that are out there for magnum, etc. were they licensed after 2009? If so I'd be interested to know and also be cautious of the validity of the license as any license issued in "error" that contravenes the Act stands moot. It'd be like a Chief Super issuing a restricted pistol license. They cannot do it so if they issued one it'd stand moot.

irishshooter32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914578#Comment_117914578

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Cass

You would, always.

The onus of knowing which type of license required, for the firearm being sought, is always on the applicant. If a Garda issued a license "in error", as said above, it would stand void. If you applied for a "22" knowing it was anything other than a .22lr (rim fire) pistol then its a fraudulent application, hence illegal, hence acriminal offense.

I'm sure this is only an exercise in the hypothetical as the discussion of illegal activities, or even the implication of such, is not permitted on this forum.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117913683#Comment_117913683

If it said .22inch rimfire you might be correct. But it says .22 inch Long Rifle (LR) Rimfire. The LR was presumably intentional.

Plus 22mag is slightly bigger than .22inch, if that were the line (it isn’t)

smmember20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914578#Comment_117914578

Absolutely correct apologies not seeing the wood for the trees

Cass

No harm, no foul.

I once asked a lad, about three years ago, why he didn't just license a 22 revolver he wanted as a six shot instead of all the talk that was going on about restrciting to 5. In my head it was 22lr so unrestricted, meaning I'd completely forgot about the 5 shot limit and that it being a 6 shot made it restricted meaning it couldn't be licensed.

Brain farts, they're great fun. 😎😁