FAC Ammunition Quantities

Flyer4u0

Well-Known Member
Hi

I am returning to deer stalking after living in the far east for 20 years where it was very difficult to own a rifle/shotgun etc. I stalked for approx 15 years before leaving and reloaded all my own ammunition (.308/.222/.243)

Everything has move on since returning to the UK for instance, I have a BDS stalkers certificate from 1987 and find it is no longer valid and will have to upgrade to DSC 1. ( which I will do next month with Jon Snowden)

I have become aware that expanding bullets are now counted towards your final ammunition allowance which was not the case 25-30 years ago.

My FAC application is with the Police at present, and I have applied for 150 rounds of ammo for each calibre. .308/6.5x55/.243.

As I intend to reload and bullets are normally sold in 100 boxes:
a. I need to increase the quantities but by how much and what is reasonable.
b. If I change before issue does it require a variation.

I do have a FEO visit on 29th, could I make some sort of change at the visit.

Any help as always is appreciated.

thanks

Norm
 
You might want to test more than one type of ammo with each caliber you are reloading for. As you say they come in boxes of 100 most of the time. I would be asking for a lot more ammo than that.
 
I think it will be down to you to justify usage? If you only intend to shoot a handful a year then appling for 500 might be excessive? I personnally have 750 for each stalking calibre which is great as it allows me to purchase a decent sized batch of bullets for each. In reality though I rarely have more than 50-100 loaded for each at any one time. My son now has a FAC with another holding so I could now have 950 on my 25.06! The amount you can purchase at one time has now gone. It is just a holding quantity now.
MS
 
My allowance is to possess five hundred of each, .222, .243, .308 and 30-06 that is either cartridges or missiles.
Now you can buy any amount up to the amount you are allowed to hold as long as it doesn't take you over your total amount.
If I bought 500 and used 100, I could only legally buy another 100 to bring my total back up but if I used 498 of the 500 I bought, I could only buy 400 because to buy 500 would take me over the total I am legally authorised to possess.

PS. before any clever dicks jump on my post, i know the .308 and 30-06 missiles are the same, so in practice I could buy/hold up to 1,000 .30 missiles.
 
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Thanks. I understand the mechanism of buying/holding ammo and you are quite correct in what you say, that you don't load all of your allowance. Previously I rarely had more than 150 loaded ammunition so that's what I put on my application for each calibre. Before it did not matter how many expanding bullets you had so it wasn't a problem being limited. As I said my FAC application is in the process and I have a home visit on 29th April.
500 seems to be a reasonable amount. I will speak to the FEO when he/she visits, but wanted to get a feel if it could be changed from 150 to 500 during the visit.
anybodies experiences with Northumberland would be appreciated.
thanks
 
Thanks. I understand the mechanism of buying/holding ammo and you are quite correct in what you say, that you don't load all of your allowance. Previously I rarely had more than 150 loaded ammunition so that's what I put on my application for each calibre. Before it did not matter how many expanding bullets you had so it wasn't a problem being limited. As I said my FAC application is in the process and I have a home visit on 29th April.
500 seems to be a reasonable amount. I will speak to the FEO when he/she visits, but wanted to get a feel if it could be changed from 150 to 500 during the visit.
anybodies experiences with Northumberland would be appreciated.
thanks

No experience with Northumberland but I've dealt with 4 different authorities in the south due to house moves and there are very few that don't give you what you need so long as it is properly justified. Changing it when you have the visit shouldn't be a problem and it is better to have a high allowance that you don't use fully rather than find you have exceeded a small allowance.
 
Currently I have only a .22 Rimfire, and a .243 in stock but have permission to purchase a .30-06 and ammunition also.
I am allowed to possess 500 of each calibre and to purchase 300 expanding bullets or 300 expanding missiles .
I never buy factory ammo or have large numbers of loaded rounds in stock.

HWH.
 
Probably to justify FAC application? May also wish to sell deer?
MS
That's the problem though ms it's not the law that you need dsc to get fac and it never had been , if he's going to sell venison fair enough but there's far too many rules and regs around without us volunteering for more
 
As I intend to reload and bullets are normally sold in 100 boxes:
a. I need to increase the quantities but by how much and what is reasonable.
b. If I change before issue does it require a variation.

I only hunt no target shooting.
Before I started reloading my allowance for 243 was buy 100 hold 120.
When I said I wanted to reload they increased the allowance to; buy: 300, hold: 400.

Ask when the FEO visits, it is the easiest way, he can modify your application to suit.
 
As for the variation business, just discuss this with the FEO when he visits. The cert. won't be granted until he's done his business and put the forms through, so at that point you can change anything - he would potentially use this visit (along with the usual security checks and to meet you to ensure you're not crackers) to discuss anything he was unhappy with and change it. The advantage is that once you've agreed ammo numbers and agreed with him, he's going to recommend it, so, although his is obviously not the final say, it would in all likelihood be granted.
 
Thanks. I understand the mechanism of buying/holding ammo and you are quite correct in what you say, that you don't load all of your allowance. Previously I rarely had more than 150 loaded ammunition so that's what I put on my application for each calibre. Before it did not matter how many expanding bullets you had so it wasn't a problem being limited. As I said my FAC application is in the process and I have a home visit on 29th April.
500 seems to be a reasonable amount. I will speak to the FEO when he/she visits, but wanted to get a feel if it could be changed from 150 to 500 during the visit.
anybodies experiences with Northumberland would be appreciated.
thanks

Flyer,
Northumbria overall have a pretty good reputation and have been known to turn around certificate variations while you wait or within 24 hours. You should realistically expect your license to be turned around within 2 weeks of the FEO visit as you are essentially starting again.
As for holding, it is reasonable to ask for 600 for each calibre but state you are reloading. The ACPO guidelines recognises reloading will require such levels as well as actually reducing the level of constructed ammo you are likely to have.
Iain
 
Thanks everybody. I now have some idea on how to proceed. As far as the DSC 1 is concerned, I am not doing it for the FAC but to show people I am serious about stalking, that's why I completed the BDS Stalkers tests in 1987.
After being away for 20 years one thing I noticed is everything is over regulated. Some for the good and some I just don't know where they were coming from when they set them up.
Pone thing for sure is you have to deal with them coz they very rarely go away.
Again many thanks for all the help.
All the best
Norm
 
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