Comments on: SA Police Looking To Restrict PTA Approvals for “Large Calibres”

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:00:16 +0000

I had a custom made Sako TRG in .338 Lap, which I imported myself. It was my pride and joy. The 338 Lap is a work of art when compairing it to anything else. I recently sold it on used guns as I will be moving to NT. I rang the Weapons mob there and they informed mre I would have buckleys of getting it over there. I used the money to purchase a SF version TRG in .338 Lap in New Zealand. Best thing I have ever done was get a house there. If you want a target rich environment and an understanding public, go to New Zealand. Look at gunslinger.com.

By: rhyder

rhyder — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 09:45:47 +0000

archaos says:

March 22, 2010 at 4:57 pm

This is getting out of hand. I own a 338 Lapua and live in NSW, the only range i can take it to now is a 50mtr indoor range. As i hold an R Licence to hunt in State Forests, how now am I to sight my rifle in, at my local range (200mtrs that recently banned 338 Lapua’s, but not 338 win mag, 338FED, 338RUM). What is the excuse for picking a couple of different bullets out of a hat and forgetting the rest. If they ban these are they going to buy them back from us, i hope they have deep pockets to cover all the Accuracy Internationals and TRG’s out there. As for the SSAA, they arent worth my time anymore, they seem to just roll over and play dead, who are fighting for us now, the SSAA take our money, ask us to promote the sport, while in the end they do jack to protect us. The government banned semi-auto rifles, now its this, whats next, soon we will require a permit to own a knife and fork to eat our food with. Our government needs a good kick up the ass, so while they sit down and decide how big there next pay rise is, and where to holiday on a tax payers dollar, we, the tax payer who likes to shoot, gets slowly turned into an extinct species. Its coming, soon the only place you will see a rifle or pistol is in a museum or in a book.

shis is so right.but mostly the government need to focus more on whos fit for a licence rather than what guns the licence holders can own

By: Greg Hayes

Greg Hayes — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:00:26 +0000

Is there anyone out there that can tell me what the longest range kill for a kangaroo is? I live in Papua New Guinea, I’d like to find out because, I was recently told by someone from Woolongong that they owned a Remington 338 lapua in Austrslia, and quite often shot kangaroos at a range of 1 mile (1600 meters). I am sceptical. Any light shed would be much appreciated. I understand that ballistically the 338 lapua is capable of such a fete but, placing the round on a live target the size of a kangaroo at 1km+ is the stuff of national records I think correct me if I’m wrong.

By: Norm Nelson

Norm Nelson — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:03:19 +0000

Jack, Jack, Jack,

I see that you are up to your old tricks. Hanging it on other shooters again just because they like to shoot the big calibres or evil black painted rifles.
I note with interest that you own a .338 Win Mag. Very nice calibre.
I have a very nice Sako in .338 Win Mag with a lovely timber stock. Its a lovely rifle to hunt with and I have taken many Sambar with it in the Victorian High country.
Oh and I also shoot it out to 1200 yards on a regular basis with a mild hand load using the Hornady 250 grain BTHP match bullet.
Now its not one of those evil tactical rifles that you hate so much but it can match it with the best of them.
Maybe they should take it off me? Maybe they should take yours off you at the same time?

By: Jason Lownds

Jason Lownds — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:47:49 +0000

Patrick, don’t read too much into Jack’s comments! Luckily he is in the minority when it comes to shooters. Name calling is something new from him though, he’s usually too busy telling everyone how well educated he is etc etc. What it boils down to with Jack is that he likes to wear a shoulder holster loaded with a .357 smith and wesson for hunting. He’ll quickly tell you that its a target model and he has a permit to use it, which pulls apart his whole arguement about genuine reason etc etc. Owning a target handgun that gets used for hunting!! It seems that Jack thinks a Tactical bolt action rifle is more dangerous to the public than a handgun. It seems that if the police says it’s so, then Jack agrees. Educating the police seems out of reach to Jack.
However, Patrick there is a plus side. On a recent visit to UTS Kuringai, I had several well educated non-shooters read through several articles and comments on this site and not a single one agreed that Jack’s ideas would be of benefit to shooters. They did however pick apart quite a few spelling and grammer mistakes on my part

By: Patrick Vongries

Patrick Vongries — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:17:09 +0000

Mr Boswell,

It is individuals like you, who through their self righteous opinions attempt to take away peoples freedom of choice. Its not just about the Lap 338 and what you consider as a “Bazooka”,who cares what your think? In fact, the Lap 338 can be converted in a hunting caliber ( ie: 338/278 ) without any loss in fire power and use the same projectiles. You’re just another moron.

The so called ” Do gooders ” will continue until no gun is sold through their naivity and lack of understanding of firearms and their capabilities.SHOOTERS must stand together for the support of ALL CALIBERS.If shooters and the clubs dont begin to stand for all shooting disciplines, the sport will die in Australia very quickly, And I can tell you know if idiots like you dont get on board and I lose my right to shoot what I want to shoot, I will work destroy your rights as well.

I have to say you’re ignorant and self righteous and need some educating. This is about freedom and choice!!! Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t shoot? I come from 2 generations of military you’re not in a position or have the qualificaiton to tell me what I should or shouldn’t shoot. And as a shooter, you should be supporting us rather than psycho-analysing what type of person shoots a lap 338. I love shooting the lap 338 and if the same rifle was made in a 338/378 I probabaly would have got it, but its my choice. I’m post grad educated and work for an organisation that does a lot of good within the community and I have no propensity for violence. I enjoy conservation hunting and like to do it with the rifle of my choice. There was absolutley no reason to ban the Lap 338 at Silverdale contrary to the smoke screen that was created.It is completely illogical with no defense. The template debacle is a joke, especially when they have less space oversees and still manage to shoot Lap 338 safely. The SSAA needs to step up their efforts to get it reinstated at Silverdale.If they dont then I’ll be voting for a new executive when the time comes. In fact, I would like to see the NRA get some traction out here to provide some heavy hitters to bring weight and organisation to Australian shooters. The SSAA would have to start supporting all shooters or disappear. So to summarise, this is about FREEDOM of choice not about caliber .Any rifle or pistol of any caliber can be “scary” in the hands of a criminal, but we’re not talking about criminals. A 338,300WM or.223 with 1:7 twist will have realively the same distance and result with a good shooter???It’s about preventing fascist and communist style governance, who by removing the rights of citizens to enjoy their choosen sport or recreation are purely only to satisfy the illogical representation of goverment paranoia. Give them and inch and they will take a mile!! We’ve seen it in Europe once too many times. Your naive and poorly educated in arms in my humble opinion. Your about misinformation and scare tactics!! you may as well join the greens.

I plead with ALL shooters to vote and stick together and not be separated by the machiavellian tactics of the few, used to divide an conquer Australian shooters for their own political agenda.

By: Jack Boswell

Jack Boswell — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:42:47 +0000

I am an admirer of the sense of your comments. But you are not in a debate with other shooters with me as the adjudicator. There are some reality shocks :
1. Only about 5% of the population care about our rights to shoot; us.
2. The law says that a firearm must be habitually used from the shoulder.
3. Category B firearms must have a legitimate reason i.e. target or vermin control and you must be able to prove your NEED for that firearm.
4. This is a nation of shop keepers who work hard and live in cities. They do not care about what you do in your spare time unless they are worked up in a frenzy of fear by the Murdock media which hates us.
5. The rifles under discussion are very scary ones. That is what attracts the “tactical” image people to them. The very capability of the real tactical weapons is what frightens the voting public, the cop on the beat and the police commissioners who have the power of regulation.
6. What sort of people are prepared to pay huge amounts of money ($5000-$10000 or more) for a rifle which is inferior for both hunting and target shooting? But very very good for shooting PEOPLE: Are they terrorists? revolutionaries? Crazy? Or just juveniles who do not care about any one else; least of all other shooters.
7. Australia is a completely different country to America. We don’t have a bill of rights let alone a second amendment.
8. The police officer in charge of registration of ranges has the power to veto any type of firearm he chooses. The organization has the right to appeal but the odds on winning this one are astronomical; the club has the right to ban any firearm that endangers anyone or endangers their registration and hence existence.
9. All the fuzzy motherhood statements about not letting the thin edge of the wedge etc does not cut the mustard on this one with me. I blame the importers for this predicament. Ask them for your money back! I am not throwing them under the bus , they are driving the bus straight for the train with us in the back seat with them. I have as much sympathy with them as I have for road sign shooters, poachers and others who give shooters a bad name. You do not NEED a bazooka.
10. If you have not convinced me? lots of luck with the media, police, politicians, voters.
I think with my brain not my heart. If you keep poking your tongue out at the police everybody will delight in cutting it off.

By: ScottW

ScottW — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:11:51 +0000

At the end of a day a rifle is a rifle.

1. The object being shot at isn’t concerned about the calibre of bullet about to strike it. 22LR can kill you just as dead as a 50BMG.

2. The object being shot at isn’t concerned about the rifle that sent the bullet. It could be pink, black, tacticool, a collectors piece, or a beat up hunting rifle. What counts is whether its going to hit the target.

Why ban specific calibres or styles of rifle? If someone can afford a pink ‘Hello Kitty’ tacticool rifle in 50 BMG let them. As long as they use it responsibly it’s no different than your favourite hunting rifle.

The key is to take the responsibility of firearm ownership seriously. As long as you act responsibly and within the law I couldn’t care what style or calibre of rifle you have.

Jack’s last comment hits the magic word “attitude”. That’s all that counts…having the right attitude towards responsible firearm ownership.

By: Jack Boswell

Jack Boswell — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:28:00 +0000

Each state is very different. WA has always had ridiculous gun laws and attitude to shooters, there is a preponderance of newly arrived British citizens and they bring different attitudes to the eastern states.

By: Stephen Barrett

Stephen Barrett — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:44:07 +0000

I did hear when I was at FIsher Firearms about a year ago that the head of SAPOLs firearms branch did not think anyone needed anything more than a 30 calibre rifle. I have only caught up on this story recently. Big calibre’s sound expensive to own but some people want to have them and why shouldn’t they, so long as they follow proper firearms handling procedures? I am sure there are guys that like to shoot at very long ranges and why shouldn’t they? There is no harm to anyone else is there? The talk I heard is that, “Sniper”, rifles were being banned. That seems ridiculous as a Sniper is originally only a way of saying someone was a crack shot by being able to shoot the small and agile Snipe Bird. Of course this means almost any rifle can be called a Sniper’s Rifle. I think it is in our best interests to lobby this by contacting MP’s and the like. A bit like Japanese Whaling. They don’t care that much about the Whaling but they really care about their ability to fish. So for them it is much better to fight for Whaling as it stops anyone fighting them on fishing. I am sure if you did a count the most popular rifles after the 22LR would be things like 223Rem, 243Win, 270Win and 308Win and I suppose there are enough 30-06′s too. I think the larger calibre’s are much less common but we don’t want them getting rid of the big ones because once they do that they will start on the 30′s and work their way through them all.