Hey guys anyone reload 7.7 jap looking to buy some I will even give the old brass back to you to reload more let me know thanks.

Can't sell (reloaded) ammo without a license but could traded for something AFAIK.

Can't sell ammo without a license but could traded for something AFAIK.

You can sell all the commercial manufactured ammo you want without a license. But you cannot manufacture ammunition for sale without an FFL license. I don't remember if the feds throw in the words trade and barter with for sale? They do in all their other FFL license requirements so I wouldn't be surprised if they did for ammunition manufacturer as well. It may be worth looking up though to make sure you don't break any laws.

With that said the following statements are my own personal opinions and are not meant to be offensive though they could be construed as such. So I will try and be as gentle as possible.

I have written extensively here about not shooting other peoples reloads. As well as not allowing ones reloads to be fired out of someone else's gun. First of all, your reloads have been developed by you for your particular gun. And they work just fine for that gun. But someone else's gun may not have the same internal barrel dimensions, and/or may not be head spaced the same or correctly, and/or may not be in the same physical shape as your gun. There are plenty of stories on the Internet where someone shot another person's reloads in their gun and it damaged (or worse) their firearm. As a reloader, would you want to be responsible for someone else's gun? Or worse, their safety or life? As a shooter who owns a nice gun, do you honestly trust a guy off the Internet to reload ammunition properly for your gun? Let me give you a few examples. I was encouraged to shoot some reloads from a guy I have known for years. First round through my gun was a squib load. After I finally got the bullet out the second one was a squib as well. I load for my Mosin Nagant whose groove diameter is .314" so I use a .315" boolit. Even though I use a reduced powder load, if that cartridge was fired in a gun with a barrel in much better shape than mine whose groove diameter is .310", what would the internal pressure be trying to force that extra large bullet down that extra small barrel? It could easily exceed safe pressures. And it could cause damage or worse. I had a friend who is now deceased. He was shooting some light pistol loads through his revolver. He let me shoot a few and it was a nice load. The next cylinder of cartridges, one blew up the gun in his face and shot shrapnel into a couple of other friends. If I had shot one more cylinders worth of cartridges, that would have been me. And that was his reloads in his gun.

Now, add to all of the above, a new relationship. Business and customer. As a manufacturer of ammunition (reloads or otherwise) do you want to take on the responsibility that the person(s) you are loading for has a rifle that isn't going to blow up in his face? Even if your ammunition was good? How would you prove it wasn't your ammunition? You will be held liable. I assume since you are not going to get an FFL 07 in order to manufacture ammo that you will also not go out and get insurance to cover your ass in case of an accident? If your customer (and those nearby) was hurt badly you stand to lose a big chunk of change. And if worse, you stand to lose everything you own and maybe be in debt the rest of your life. As a customer, would you want to trust a guy who is not willing to get the proper licensing and insurance to make sure his reloads (or otherwise) are going to work well in your gun? He is not a business, his reloading practices are completely unknown to you. You have no idea if he is even reloading for this cartridge currently, do you? Would you trust someone to get the proper load data which can be hard to find in published form from the Internet, like a forum or blog? How would he test the loads if he doesn't have the same rifle? Do you want your gun to be used as a test mule? You have no idea if he has 5 different powders on his bench when he loads cartridges and can easily get them mixed up. You don't know if he uses a scoop to measure powder, or if he uses a powder measure that has static cling if he is getting consistent charges since you don't know if he is hand weighing each one or not. If he is making more than a few cartridges for you I doubt he is going to hand weigh a few hundred cartridges. Do you want to take that chance with your rifle? Or your health? Or worse? And just think how either one of you will feel if an innocent bystander got hurt because of the decisions you made?

Just remember, this is my opinion only and if you still want to do this, then it is your decision. Just remember I do not mean this as an insult or criticism. Just trying to do a reality check here.

Now, there are ways to get ammo for your gun. The best way IMHO is to reload it yourself. I will be happy to help you get set up and properly reload for this cartridge. I am sure Old Fart would be happy to help as well. You can also bring some back from a mainland trip or have friends and family from the mainland bring you some. You can also buy a pallet of it and have it sent to you. Maybe you can get others to share the cost of it. Maybe OGC will place a prepaid order for you? Maybe Henry at Prime Sports will place a prepaid order for you?

Agree with all. Reloading is a risky endeavor especially when the owner is starting out and is not intimate with their rifle yet. There's a bit of trial and error and hopefully we make safe decisions. If I didn't accept the risk, then I'd buy a pallet of ammo for about $10k instead.

Liability is a concern which is presumably why the government regulates it. Sometimes big government makes sense, sometimes not so much.

From my reading, it's all based on intent (just ask Comey!).

If you reload 500 rounds, test fire half, then post 250 rounds for sale, that's okay.  You were reloading for yourself, not with the intent to sell it.

If you reload ammo with the intent to make money or trade for other goods, then you are "in the business of" manufacturing ammunition which requires business licensing, an FFL, and whatever else the state may require like liability insurance.

That comes from other forums citing ATF rules.

From my reading, it's all based on intent (just ask Comey!).

If you reload 500 rounds, test fire half, then post 250 rounds for sale, that's okay.  You were reloading for yourself, not with the intent to sell it.

If you reload ammo with the intent to make money or trade for other goods, then you are "in the business of" manufacturing ammunition which requires business licensing, an FFL, and whatever else the state may require like liability insurance.

That comes from other forums citing ATF rules.

Good to know. Still leaves the liability issue that Inspector mentions. Personally I would be okay with it if I was there with them at the range.

Good to know. Still leaves the liability issue that Inspector mentions. Personally I would be okay with it if I was there with them at the range.

That's a personal decision.  If you want to trust your life and firearms to someone's reloads, that's your own choice.  A private individual has no legal responsibility short of intentional conduct to ensure his reloaded ammo is safe for you.  Accidents happen.  You can't claim negligence if he was reloading for himself, and you bought the surplus.

That's a personal decision.  If you want to trust your life and firearms to someone's reloads, that's your own choice.  A private individual has no legal responsibility short of intentional conduct to ensure his reloaded ammo is safe for you.  Accidents happen.  You can't claim negligence if he was reloading for himself, and you bought the surplus.

The thing is, and I can't speak for RKLAPP, but I don't recall him ever saying he owns a Japanese rifle in 7.7 Japanese. He may already have one and is reloading for it. He has not mentioned it here. So can it be assumed that RKLAPP would then be buying dies and equipment specifically to load this cartridge? If so, then he cannot be reloading for himself. So RK, do you have a rifle in 7.7 Japanese?

I'm not saying RKLAPP would do anything illegal. Just speculating.

Very sage advise from Inspector.  It would be prudent to follow it - too much risk involved for all parties IMHO.

Good thread with best intentions and safety for all concerned.  Sage advice indeed.

The thing is, and I can't speak for RKLAPP, but I don't recall him ever saying he owns a Japanese rifle in 7.7 Japanese. He may already have one and is reloading for it. He has not mentioned it here. So can it be assumed that RKLAPP would then be buying dies and equipment specifically to load this cartridge? If so, then he cannot be reloading for himself. So RK, do you have a rifle in 7.7 Japanese?
I'm not saying RKLAPP would do anything illegal. Just speculating.

Not 7.7 but I have been asked for 54r. Look, someone has to start somewhere and wouldn't it be better to walk someone through the initial setup of reloading rather than run and hide. That's where I'm coming from.

When I started reloading for the MN, I stumbled through it and would rather have had someone tell me if I'm doing it right rather than watch endless YouTube videos. I became weary of videos saying to do this and others saying the opposite with no justification except that's how they were taught to reload. Eventually, I found my own style based on what makes sense to me.

There's no one way to reload. Lee has the hand loader, classic loader, progressive loaders, turret loaders. There are hundreds of tools you can use for priming, trimming, deburing. There are different ways to polish the cases with Lemishine, tumblers, steel pins, etc. I'm always looking for new techniques to try that won't break my bank.