Restricted rifle calibres

Gman2021

Hi,

Just wondering above what calibre rifle does it come under a restricted licence ?

otmmyboy2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058353086/restricted-rifle-calibres

Everything over .308

3ric_is_3ric

i’ve shot 303 out of enfields before ,was looking at a nice no.4 for sale ,just wondering weather it’s restricted or not as it is longer then a 308 round

tonysopprano

Not restricted as nominally below the .308 limit

3ric_is_3ric

thanks mr soprano

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058353959/303-restricted

The only factor is calibre. Overall length doesn’t matter.

Uinseann_16

This is actually a potential point of contention, it's generally referred to as a .303 British turn that to metric it becomes 7.7x56mmR ... 7.7? That's bigger than 7.62???

The .303 denotes the land diameter

The bullet diameter however is .312 or 7.92mm if you're reloading you cannot use a standard 308/30 cal head you need a .312 diameter head! Or y'know bad stuff can happen

On a .308 Winchester (or 7.62mm NATO) the bullet diameter is .308" or 7.82mm with a land diameter of 7.62mm or .300" hence 30 cal (30-06,.300win mag etc are the same)

The law is extremely poorly written by someone without a understanding of calibres their designations and the difference between bore diameter and bullet diameter etc only way to sort it is a test case...

The gardai generally go by .303" as on the barrel and consider it unrestricted

BSA International

Depends how you measure the internal barrel diameter. Land to land or groove to groove.

3ric_is_3ric

under that same idea would 357 be considered restricted?

otmmyboy2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122209762#Comment_122209762

Mod - Merging these threads as they are essentially the same question.

And as stated above the answer is simple, over 308 is restricted.

Because 303 is measured in the old black powder land to land style(as BSA said) measures 303, hence that is non restricted.

And also avoids a lot of headaches with the authorities of licencing all the Enfields in the country as restricted.

357 is obviously bigger than 308, so it is restricted.

Uinseann_16

(i) single-shot or repeating rifled centre-fire firearms of a calibre not exceeding 7.62 millimetres (.308 inch) and whose overall length is greater than 90 centimetres,

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2008/si/21/made/en/print

This is the relevant legislation the use of 7.62mm and .308" which are NOT the same measurements... Was my point of the law is extremely poorly written

A 38/357 is restricted as is a 9x19 rifle , 8x57 , .350 legend , .450 bushmaster, .500 nitro express , .338 lapua etc etc

But a 30-378 Weatherby magnum is unrestricted it's a 30 cal bullet

Generally over .30 cal is restricted (303 Brit being the exception)

However... This is for Centrefire only as per the legislation a .357 calibre air rifle is unrestricted as would be a .32 long or 44 Henry flat rimfire cartridge (no longer produced but just a example)