Restricted Magazine Limit Question

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nickia

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Hi all,

In order to comply with the regulation, do I need to buy a specifically modified magazine which can only physically hold 3 rounds?

Can't I purchase a regular 30-rounds AR magazine and just put two rounds in to be considered as legal?

I'm kind of confused.
 
Mags designed for Semi-Auto centerfire rifle are 5 round limits. It's not a hunting reg, it's a legal requirement that the mag cannot hold more than 5 rounds.

Mags designed for handguns are 10 round limits.

Sadly, our government does not rely on our good nature, so they need to be blocked to their limits. If the government relied on our good nature, these stupid mag limits wouldn't be needed.
 
nickia said:
Can't I purchase a regular 30-rounds AR magazine and just put two rounds in to be considered as legal?
Click to expand...

No, the magazine has to be permanently altered so that it cannot accept more than 5 rounds (if the magazine is designed for a semi-auto rifle)

Approved methods for altering mags are described in the regs.

BTW, any person in possession of a magazine that holds more than 5 rounds (semi-auto rifle) or 10 rounds (handgun) is in fact in possession of a prohibited device, not a good situation to be in.
 
AFAIK most any mag you purchase in Canada for a semi-auto centre fire (restricted or not) will be pinned to 5 rounds.

Rimfire are not limited to any mag restrictions.

Here is a quote from the excellent Newbie FAQ from tootall:
Q: How many rounds can I have in my gun?
A: This is a never ending source of confusion. Pay attention, I'll try to sort it out.

SHORT ANSWER:
Rimfire rifle magazines - no limits
Magazines designed for centerfire or rimfire pistols - 10 rounds
Magazines designed for centerfire bolt/pump/lever firearms - no limit.
Magazines designed for centerfire semi-automatic rifles - 5 rounds

LONG ANSWER:
First thing to understand is that there is FEDERAL FIREARMS LAW, there is FEDERAL HUNTING LAW (Migratory game birds, ducks and geese), and there are different PROVINCIAL HUNTING LAWS.
First up, the federal firearms laws. This is the one we all have to follow, whether we hunt or not.

-For rifles with any type of action other than semi-auto, there is no limit! NONE, ZERO, ZILTCH, NADA.
Same for .22 rimfire, even if it is semi-auto. No Limit. A 50 round mag for a R***r 10-22 is fine.

-For semi-auto centrefire rifles, the limit is 5 rounds.
Note that this is 5 rounds in the mag, and does not include the one in the chamber. 6 rounds total, if the design permits it.
The one exception is for the M1 Garand, as it uses 8 round clips.
Also, any belt/link designed for belt fed machine guns designed before 1945 is exempted from the 5 rounds rule. A .223 belt would not qualify, based on age.

-For handguns, the mag limit is 10 rounds. Again, 10 plus one in the tube, 11 total.

Strangely enough, the wording is such, that the limits are on what the mag was designed for, rather than what it is used in at the moment. So if a rifle and a handgun use the SAME mag, and you switch them around, the mag that came out of the rifle would still be limited to 5, even if used in a handgun, while the 10 round handgun mag would in this case be OK in a rifle.
I don't make the rules, I just report them.:confused:

A good part of the confusion rests with the Fed FA laws getting confused with hunting laws, both Federal and provincial.

Migratory bird hunting is subject to federal rules. These laws state that the gun (a shotgun, obviously) be limited to 3 rounds total. That is a total of three, as in one in the chamber and two in the magazine. Most semi-auto shotguns have a removeable plug that allows you have 5 rounds when you are not hunting migratory birds. If you want to hunt crows, starlings, etc. or if you want to do a Tactical shoot, the Migratory rules do not apply. However the Federal Firearms Laws still do, so 5 rounds max for a semi. (No limit for a pump shotty!)

Provincial hunting rules differ across the country. Check in your area.

As with the full metal jacket ammo issue above, some Firearm instructors started by teaching hunting courses, so have the habit of mixing hunting and firearms law together, incorrectly.
Another source of confusion is the bizarre legal language the federal laws use. An example of this is the case of the Lee-Enfield magazine. It is a 10 rounder. As it is used in a bolt action, there are NO size limits. However, during WW2, there was a training gun made from old Lee-Enfields converted to Full-Auto fire (it can be done, but it was a pig-ugly contraption).
http://ww w.guncity.co.nz/303-charlt...idp129426.html
Consequently, the laws make a specific exemption for the L-E mag, even though it is not neccesary to do so, as the mag was designed for the bolt action L-E rifle.
Not easy to follow, and I may well be corrected myself. (Twice, so far!)
Click to expand...
 
Blurr[SOAR] said:
As far as hunting is concerned, well...that's a whole other ball of wax. For shotguns I think you're only allowed 3 shots (2 in the mag, 1 in the chamber) and you MUST have a plug in the shotgun to only allow 2 to be inserted.
Click to expand...

That'll depend on the province most likely. In Ontario, shotguns must be plugged to accept only 3 rounds (2+1). I don't think there are restrictions on rifles other than ones prescribed by the firearms act.

I'm not sure if the shotgun plugging only applies to certain types of game/hunting though....been meaning to check the regs, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
Onagoth said:
That'll depend on the province most likely. In Ontario, shotguns must be plugged to accept only 3 rounds (2+1). I don't think there are restrictions on rifles other than ones prescribed by the firearms act.

I'm not sure if the shotgun plugging only applies to certain types of game/hunting though....been meaning to check the regs, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Click to expand...

Damn, you pegged me right before I edited my post to take that out! :D
 
Onagoth said:
That'll depend on the province most likely. In Ontario, shotguns must be plugged to accept only 3 rounds (2+1). I don't think there are restrictions on rifles other than ones prescribed by the firearms act.

I'm not sure if the shotgun plugging only applies to certain types of game/hunting though....been meaning to check the regs, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Click to expand...

The plugging only applies to game/hunting. A non-semi shotgun can hold as many rounds as possible for target use. For example, a lot of 870's have the 2 or 3 mag extensions on them so they can hold 7 or 8 rounds for target practice/competition, but must be limited in Ontario for hunting particular game. Even if you are just target shooting in an area with a season on that game, you need to limit the mag, BUT I could be wrong on this last point.
 
I think that's a grey area in the regs. Like for instant if your hunting rabbits and your in an area that has ducks and no seasons on some CO's will be fine with

If ducks are in season you need the plug and you forgot the plug. Now you have an issue. I'd plug the shottie unless it's only for the range. Or only take the plug out for range work. Or predator control on your own property. Kinda seems to me though that 3 rounds of 12G should be enough unless in competition.
 
AR mags that hold 10 rounds were designed by RRA and imported by Questar in the last year or so, it has nothing to do with "being available at one time".

The concept is simple, make a mag for a pistol it will be limited to 10 rounds, make a mag for a centerfire semi-auto rifle it will be limited to 5 rounds. It matters not in which firearm it's used, the laws controlling mags has nothing to do with firearms.

10 round mag designed for pistol, 5 round centerfire semi-auto mag designed for rifle, use them where ever they fit makes no difference.
 
"...purchase a regular 30-rounds AR magazine and just put two rounds in..." No. As mentioned, a 30 round rifle mag is prohibited all by itself. You can't have 'em unless it is pinned. Nor can you import a 30 round mag that isn't pinned to 5. It's 5 rounds for a centrefire rifle and the pinning must be permanent. Has nothing to do with hunting regs.
"...a grey area in the regs..." Nothing grey about it in the Ontario hunting regs. Ontario's MNR has decided that shotguns must be plugged so they only hold 3 rounds, in the gun, for hunting anything. It's 3 rounds everywhere for hunting migratory birds by Federal law. It's actually an International treaty between us, Mexico and the States. Our legislation is the Migratory Bird Act.
"...AR mags for .223 and 9mm can legally hold 10 rounds..." Not in a rifle.
"...you forgot the plug..." Easily fixed with a tree branch cut to size. Nobody cares if the plug is the one that came with the shotgun. Only that you can't put more than 2 in the mag.
 
So can I be reasonably assured that most of the magazines sold in Canada has been physically altered?

Thanks
 
I've always been curious, would someone be able to take the pinning out of a mag? I mean, I can't see it as being that difficult. Mind you I've never seen a pinned mag before...all my mags are 10 rounders (for my pistol) and the only semi-auto I have is a Garand which, obviously, has 8 round enbloc clips.
 
yes, but it's typically a backwoods Sask farm thing where you're just not going to get caught.

It's a bad idea for the most part as prohibited class things are also grenades and nunchucks, etc. All of which the court system, made up of people who probably don't shoot and certainly never made and played with nunchuks when they were 14, find pretty evil and they will slap your pee pee for posessing.
 
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