Neil Simpson has been spared custody after he did not know it was illegal to keep ammunition he had cleared from a warehouse.
The 38-year-old, a media engineer who enjoys the outdoors and camping, had hundreds of cartridges in his caravan in a back yard in Croydon Road, Radford.
Police chanced on the illegal collection, only lawfully held with a firearms certificate, when they spotted a dead cannabis plant in the area of his home, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
When detectives spoke to Simpson, he revealed he had discovered a number of plants and thought he would have a go at growing them.
But his confession led police to look into his caravan and background further and they discovered all the bullets and a small amount of cannabis.
Ninety-four 7mm bullets were soft-points, designed to expand on impact and often used for killing deer.
A cache of 164 bulleted cartridges were recovered from the caravan, two Magnum bulleted revolver cartridges and a bulleted rifle cartridge were found.
Simpson had £50 worth of cannabis for personal use and an air rifle during the search on March 31, the court was told on November 10.
Steven Ramsell, mitigating, revealed how the items had been recovered after a gun club had stored them at the warehouse.
"He [Simpson] was essentially told he could have anything that was not worth selling," explained Mr Ramsell.
His client first picked up a rifle when he was ten years old and his hobby has developed since.
But now, after the court case, Mr Ramsell revealed:"He has since come to the decision not to come into contact with any air rifle."
Simpson pleaded guilty yesterday (10.11)to possessing the ammunition, cannabis and the air rifle, which was not compatible with the bullets.
Prosecutor Sarah Munro said the rifle belonged to Simpson, who had no previous convictions or cautions.
"The ammunition was from a factory he cleared but he didn't know it was against the law to have them and he had no firearms certificate."
He denied possessing a British Military-issue flare and no evidence was offered on that charge.
Now living in Erewash Gardens, Top Valley, Simpson left court with a £150 fine, a 12-month community order and 180 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Michael Stokes QC stressed to him ignorance of the law was no excuse.
"The court is always very concerned when someone is found in possession of expanding, or indeed any ammunition, when there is no firearms certificate to justify the position.
"In your favour you have no previous convictions of any kind. The weapon in your possession was not capable of using any of the ammunition and the military flare it is now conceded is simply that...a flare.
"There is force in Mr Ramsell's submission that you have learned a hard lesson by being brought before the court."
