S.I. No. 65/1969:

FIREARMS (SHOTGUNS) (PROOFING METHODS, MARKS AND FEES) REGULATIONS, 1969.

FIREARMS (SHOTGUNS) (PROOFING METHODS, MARKS AND FEES) REGULATIONS, 1969.

I, SEOIRSE Ó COLLA, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 12 of the Firearms (Proofing) Act, 1968 (No. 20 of 1968), hereby make the following regulations :

1. These regulations may be cited as the Firearms (Shotguns) (Proofing Methods, Marks and Fees) Regulations, 1969.

2. These regulations shall come into operation on the 16th day of April, 1969.

3. In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires--

" action " means the parts of a firearm which are intended to prevent the escape from the breech of gases generated by firing a load;

" approved method " means a method in general use and approved by the gun-making and cartridge-making industry, or by a proofing establishment outside the State;

" barrel proof " has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 5;

" breech " means that part of a firearm where the action can be separated from the barrel or barrels to allow for the insertion of a load;

" breech face " means the flat face in a plane at right angles to the axis of the barrel, with which the barrel is terminated at the breech end and which is held in close contact with the action-face when the breech is closed;

" breech proof " has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 5;

" chamber " means that portion of the barrel at the breech end which is enlarged in diameter in order to accommodate the cartridge;

" Institute " means the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards, and includes any person to whom the responsibility for the proofing of firearms has been entrusted by the Board of that Institute;

" load " means the propellant, projectile, wadding and any other material to be fired or discharged from a barrel;

" mean pressure " means the average of a number of pressures developed by firing the same loads and measured at a position in a chamber or barrel;

" monobloc " means the part of the firearm into which the barrel is (or barrels are) fitted at the breech end, if that method of construction is used;

" proof load " means the load required to develop proof pressure on firing;

" proof pressure " means the pressure required to proof a barrel or firearm;

" reproof " means the repetition of the proof of a firearm which has already passed that proof;

" sender " means the person (other than a servant or agent) who submits a barrel or firearm for proof or reproof;

" service cartridge " means any cartridge manufactured or generally available to the public in the State, Northern Ireland and Great Britain;

" service load " means the load either in a service cartridge or (where not contained in a cartridge) intended for use in safety in a barrel or firearm;

" service pressure " means the mean pressure developed by firing a number of service loads;

" shotgun " means any smooth-bore breech-loading firearm the nominal bore of which is 12 or smaller, which discharges shot or bullet and the bore diameter and the dimensions of each chamber of which are within the relevant limits set out in Table I of these regulations;

" special load " means a load which on firing develops a mean pressure greater than that developed on firing a service load;

" statutory proof " means the proofing of firearms required by the Firearms (Proofing) Act, 1968 (No. 20 of 1968);

" view " means the inspections, in accordance with regulations 11 to 13, of a barrel or firearm before and after firing a proof load in it, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.

4. These regulations shall apply to shotguns.

METHOD OF PROOF

5. (1) Statutory proof shall consist of the firing of two proof loads in each barrel of the firearm, together with view in respect of each firing.

(2) The firing of these two proof loads together with view shall be known respectively as barrel proof and breech proof.

6.(1) The sender shall deliver each firearm to the Institute in a proper state for proof.

(2) To comply with paragraph (1), each barrel shall be

(a) struck up and chambered,

(b) both internally and externally smoothed, clean and free from rust, pitting, dents and bulges, and

(c) fitted to its action, which shall be finished (or in the finished state) and intended for the firearm.

(3) The Institute may at its discretion engrave serial numbers on each barrel and action of a firearm delivered to it for proofing, or require the sender to do so before delivery.

7. (1) In the case of a firearm in which soft soldering has been used to effect a joint in a position where a failure of the joint would, in the opinion of the Institute, involve the user in danger, the sender shall satisfy the Institute that the joint is correctly and efficiently made.

(2) The Institute may at its discretion--

(a) take such steps as it considers necessary to ensure that the joint mentioned in paragraph (1) has been correctly and efficiently made,

(b) refuse to accept for proof a firearm having a soft soldered joint in a position mentioned in paragraph (1), if it is not satisfied that the joint has been correctly and efficiently made.

(3) A firearm of the type mentioned in paragraph (1) shall fail proof if the Institute is not satisfied in accordance with that paragraph.

8. If a sender--

(a) submits a firearm in a condition which fails to comply with regulation 6,

(b) submits a firearm of the type mentioned in regulation 7 (1) and in respect of which the Institute is not satisfied under that regulation,

(c) requires a firearm to be proofed by a type of proof which, in the opinion of the Institute, is unsuitable,

(d) supplies, in respect of a firearm, informationn which, in the opinion of the Institute, is inadequate or erroneous, or

(e) fails to supply any information requested in relation to a firearm,

the Institute may refuse to proof the firearm.

9. If a sender submits to the Institute for proof or reproof a firearm which is in such a state or condition, that in the opinion of the Institute--

(a) the firearm cannot be viewed,

(b) the firearm cannot be viewed in a manner whereby any defects, whether latent or patent, would be disclosed, or

(c) the firearm cannot be loaded or fired with a proof load except by involving an employee of the Institute in unusual danger,

the Institute may, at its discretion, refuse to accept the firearm for proof or reproof.

10. (1) A firearm which has been marked as proofed under these regulations and has, by any process of manufacture or any means other than normal use, been reduced in substance or strength, so that the proof mark thereon does not represent the proof, shall, from the time of such reduction, be deemed not to have been so proofed.

(2) A barrel, the bore of which has been enlarged to a diameter ten-thousandths of an inch greater than that marked on the occasion of the last proof under these regulations, or to a diameter greater than the maximum diameter appropriate to the firearm (having regard to the nominal bore and length of chamber) as specified in Table I of these regulations, shall, from the time of such enlargement, be deemed not to have been so proofed.

VIEW

11. Before a proof load is fired in it, each barrel of, or intended for, a firearm submitted to the Institute for proof shall be to the satisfaction of the Institute in relation to straightness and condition.

12. (1) Before a proof load is fired in it, a barrel shall be gauged at a distance of 9 inches from its breech face for its bore diameter, which shall be within the appropriate limits set out in Table I of these regulations, for the bore diameter of that barrel.

(2) The bore guages to be used for the purpose of paragraph (1) shall be of the diameters set out in Table II of these regulations.

(3) Before a proof load is fired in it, a chamber shall be gauged and each diameter and each length of such chamber shall, at such gauging, be within the appropriate limits set out in Table I of these regulations, for the dimensions of that chamber.

13. After the firing of a proof load, a barrel or firearm shall be inspected for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not any material change has taken place as a result of the firing.

14. A barrel or firearm which fails to comply with Regulations 11 and 12, or which, on inspection, is found to have changed materially by reason of the firing of a proof load, shall fail proof.

15. (1) Whenever a barrel or firearm has been submitted for proof, the Institute may, at its discretion, inspect the barrel or firearm for any flaw or material which, in the opinion of the Institute, might render the firing of a service load or a special load in that barrel or firearm dangerous to the user and for the purpose of such inspection may use any test.

(2) Whenever a flaw or material mentioned in paragraph (1) is detected, the barrel or firearm concerned shall fail proof.

PROOF PRESSURES

16. (1) Each proof pressure shall be calculated so that it exceeds the service pressure by an amount between the following limits--

(a) in the case of the barrel proof, when the pressure developed is measured by an approved method at a point 6 inches from the breech face, the limits 80 and 100 per cent;

(b) in the case of the breech proof, when the pressure developed is measured by an approved method at a point 1 inch from the breech face, the limits 60 and 80 per cent.

(2) (a) in the case of the breech proof, the pressure developed at point 6 inches from the breech face shall not exceed the specified pressure for the barrel proof;

(b) in the case of the barrel proof, the pressure developed at the point 1 inch from the breech face shall not exceed the specified pressure for the breech proof.

(3) A proof pressure may be achieved by means of the appropriate loads set out in Table III of these regulations or by any other loads which the Institute may in a particular case consider appropriate.

17.The service pressures to be used in calculating proof pressures shall be the appropriate service pressures set out in Table I of these regulations or, if service cartridges developing a higher service pressure than those so set out become available, the service pressures set out in that Table may be increased as the Institute thinks fit.

MARKS

18. Firearms proofed by the Institute shall be marked as follows--

(a) by the mark denoting statutory proof, which shall be the Institute's symbol, with the addition of an inclined stroke so as to form the letters PCE (being the initial letters of the phrase " Promhadh Caighdeánach na h-Éireann ") interlaced, as illustrated in the Schedule to these regulations;

(b) by the marks denoting the nominal bore of the barrel and the nominal length of the chamber, which shall be the appropriate figures set out in the first and second columns of Table I of these regulations, separated by an oblique stroke;

(c) by the mark denoting the service pressure at the point one inch from the breech face for which the firearm has been proofed, which shall be a number followed by the word " tons ", being tons per square inch;

(d) by the mark denoting the internal diameter of the barrel of the firearm at the time of proofing, which shall be the diameter, in decimal parts of an inch, of the largest appropriate bore guage set out in Table II of these regulations which may be inserted into the barrel to a distance of 9 inches from its breech face;

(e) by the mark denoting the year of proofing, which shall be the last two digits of that year.

19. (1) The mark referred to in Regulation 18 (a) shall be placed on the barrel or barrels as close to the breech end as practicable, and on the action and, if a monobloc is used in the construction of the firearm, on the monobloc.

(2) A mark referred to in Regulation 18 (b), 18 (c), 18 (d) or 18 (e) shall be placed on the barrel or barrels as close to the breech end as practicable.

FEE

20. The fee for statutory proof shall be at the rate of ten shillings per barrel.

TABLE I

DIAMETERS OF BORES AND DIMENSIONS OF CHAMBERS OF SHOTGUNS TOGETHER WITH SERVICE PRESSURES FOR SUCH FIREARMS.

Regulations 3, 10, 12, 17, 18.

TABLE II

Regulations 12, 18.

DIAMETERS OF BORE GAUGES

TABLE III

Regulation 16.

PROOF LOADS

SCHEDULE

Regulation 18.

MARK DENOTING STATUTORY PROOF

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 16th day of April, 1969.

(Signed) SEOIRSE Ó COLLA,

Minister for Industry and Commerce.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of these Regulations is to prescribe methods in accordance with which certain classes of firearms shall be proofed by the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards, the marks to be applied to firearms so proofed and the fee to be charged for such proofing.