Always love to ask overseas posters; how much trouble was it to get your guns? You evidently are a reloader; I like Trailboss in the .45 Colt, but it's unobtanium. I'm told Unique makes a good load in that caliber.
Hello.
It used to be very complicated here but things have improved. There are four categories of guns here, A, B, C, D. A is prohibited, anything full auto, mortars, grenades, you name it... B requires a prior authorisation before buying and includes semi-autos and any modern handgun. You also must have been registered with the French federation of sport shooting for at least six months and a shooting range. Attendance is mandatory. You are limited to 12 guns plus 3 regulated parts like uppers, extra cylinders, etc. C only requires membership to the French federation of sport shooting or a hunting license and is for manually-repeating long guns, except those using military calibers (.308 is allowed though). D is not regulated and includes black powder replicas, and most guns (there are exceptions) built before 1900. Transporting and shooting D guns is still regulated.
For B guns, before, we had to put together a file comprised of many documents for each gun and send it out, to get an answer a few months later. You had to do this for each gun every five years, limited to 12. Now the authorisation is attached to the owner alone rather than the owner/gun combination. This means that once you are approved, you can buy a gun directly from the gun store. The purchase is automatically appended to you authorisation, until you reach your quota.
For B and C guns, you also must have a medical certificate and never have been treated at a mental health facility.
If you stop sport shooting, you must sell your B guns through a dealer. You can keep your C guns if you stop shooting or hunting though.
You can only buy ammo, cases, bullets, powder and primers if you legally own a gun in the corresponding caliber. They don't regulate casting your own bullets but you can only make them for yourself.
Now, although the authorisation and registration procedure has been greatly sped up and simplified, we are losing gun ownership rights caused by new EU regulations, and that will not stop... Best exemple are black powder cartridges for D guns now regulated. So, if you own, say, an antique Colt SAA in .45 Colt, you must own a modern firearm in that caliber to be able to buy even empty cases.
I expect that soon or later, all semi-autos might be banned, or at least limited to ten-round (or less) magazines. That is why I only own one semi-auto (AR).
On the upside... Suppressors do not require any extra tax, documentation or delay. If you legally own the gun, you can just buy one on the Internet and have it shipped directly to you. There is no SBR definition in France, though there are length limits for C guns. B guns, anything goes. You can buy a short barrel AR with a silencer the same way you'd buy a revolver. There is no 3-day delay for anything, since you already have been checked.
On the downside, aside from the ever present bureaucratic hassles, they can put you on a no-gun-allowed database any time they want, and that includes for opening your mouth a little too much on social media, like, if you criticise government... If that happens, they just show up at your house and take everything.
Here in France we don't have access to American powders, only Vectan and Vihtavuori. I am not sure if their import is not allowed, or if it is just too much of an administrative hassle, or too costly... We have a Unique equivalent, or nearly so, called Ba9. H4227 is extremely close to SP3, and Ba6-1/2 to N110/H110. Bullseye is close to Ba10. We have enough choice to cover all calibers. The problem is the lack of reloading data...
Gil.
