Ground dug 303 cartridge case restoration

[bombdoc]

Thank you Stephen, for your response regarding the ownership of recovered military ammunition... we shall just have to agree to disagree!

I would however like to clarify the legal basis for your statement "Only standard ball and tracer projectiles are legal to possess without a relevant licence."? According to my reading of the Firearms acts, these items fall under Section 1 of the Act and require a licence to possess? The only ammunition that does not require a specific licence is blank and shotgun cartridges having more than five projectiles which fall under Section 2 of the Act, although technically these should only be sold to someone who can produce the relevant shotgun licence..? The point I was trying to make that it is up to the possessor to demonstrate that what they have is clearly not "Ammunition" that falls under the Acts. Live Ball and tracer ammunition most certainly does fall into Section 1 and requires an annotated Licence to possess.

I am the first to admit that UK firearms law is a complete mess, and that both the Police, courts and the Home Office seem wholly incapable of managing the subject area in a sensible or logical manner. I am well aware of the fact that a market exists for recovered and imported ammunition, however I suspect that this is poorly regulated and is neither logical or coherent.

Recent actions and events, including indeed a much respected contributor to this board have fallen foul of issues of ownership, title and possession..! My intention in posting the warning was to make it clear that this is not, as you allege, a clearly defined legal area. I will repeat my warning that possessing and trading in military munitions is full of potential pitfalls, both physically and legally, and that folk need to be aware of this!