Firearms and firearms law

Acquisition and storage

You must be 18 to acquire a hunting firearm, and you apply to the police for a licence. To hunt, you must be entered in the hunter registry.

Registered firearms — or a vital part of them — must be kept in an FG-approved gun cabinet. Ammunition is kept separately. Away from home, for example at a cabin, you take the bolt with you and keep it under your supervision.

• A vital part is the bolt, the receiver or the barrel — on a bolt-action rifle it is the bolt
• The firearm must always be empty when not in use
• In transport it must be unloaded and supervised, and preferably taken apart or in a case

Ammunition for big game

For moose, red deer, wild boar and wild reindeer the law requires an expanding bullet (soft point, hollow point and the like) and a bullet weight of at least 9 grams.

If the bullet is between 9 and 10 grams, the impact energy must be at least 2,700 joules measured at 100 metres (E100). If the bullet is 10 grams or more, the requirement is at least 2,200 joules at 100 metres.

For roe deer and lynx the requirement is at least 980 joules at 100 metres, also with an expanding bullet.

Semi-automatics and shotguns

A semi-automatic rifle may be used for moose, red deer and roe deer with at most three rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. For wild reindeer, wild boar and lynx the limit is two in the magazine and one in the chamber.

The shotgun is the small game weapon. For big game a shotgun is only allowed in the special cases the regulations name — as a rule, big game is taken with a rifle.