Owning firearms in Germany requires a reason; either Hunting or Sport Shooting, for which you may APPLY for Membership in a Club and then again; APPLY to obtain a firearm(s) (additional restrictions apply here, too). Memebership in a Sport Shooting Club, either Hangdun or Shotgun disciplines would be possible for a FOREIGNER, although additional restrictions may apply here as well. A Reloading License could be applied for as well for Sport Shooting. Naturaly German nationals go through this ordeal, some consider it just the way the world ought to be colored and others would prefer regulations to be liberalized.

The easier way to obtain firearms, amunition and also to additionally APPLY for a Reloading License is by being in possession of a German Hunting License which is very difficult to obtain for a foreigner who does not speak German fluently and have @ two years to spend. 1 year supposedly being "Mentored" in a Hunting Lease which in reality means being a Hunting "Flunky" & Step'n Fetch-it for the Lease Owner and another year going through a Classroom and Practical Hunting Course with a Shooting, Firearms Safety, Practical, Written & Oral Examinations (over a two week period) on a magnitude of obtaining a Post Graduate Degree. There are some caveats. There are accredited "Hunting Schools" for the well-heeled to forego the tedious Long-Way, making it a Short-Way; although this is naturally compensated for by judicious applications of Euros to expedite the process, read: Really Expensive. The American Military can still train & qualify their own hunting students to obtain a German Hunting License although now the US Military Hunting Instructors are now trained & accredited by Germans. Diplomats are a law unto themselves and get their stuff sorted out posthaste.

The Relaoding License requires a two-three day course w/Written Exam and has some seriously cumbersome beaurocratic restrictions on Obtaining, Storage, Using and Destroying Black & Smokeless Powder. You are limited to certain amounts within a 5-year period, both Black & Smokelss amounts are negotiated with your local authorites, normally to 10 kilograms of Powder every 5 years and yes, Martha there are ways to obtain extentions and increase quantities - pure beaurocracy.


Reloading equipment; virtually all of American manufacture, RCBS, Lyman, Lee, Redding, Forester, all the American names we know & love so well are available here. Of course, being imported and requiring Imoport Duties, extensive Shipping & Handling increases prices accordingly. Componets are commonly available also, Nosler, Barnes, Speer, Sierra, Hornady, etc. and also Remington, W-W, RWS, Fiochi, Lapua, Norma too. Powders are a law unto themsleves V-V being the easiest by far to obtain in the Fatherland.

Oh - the orginal question. Hardly anyone loads shotgun shells because they are so much more reasonably priced in Germany than in the US and 12 Guage is IT for both popularity and price, followed by 16 Gauge and then 20. For other gauges you may want to consider reloading or be independantly wealthy.