A Federal Senator says Army reservists in North Queensland have resorted to pretending to fire their weapons and saying "bang, bang" because of budget cuts.

Senator Ian McDonald says he has been told by reservists they were unable to practice firing weapons using blank ammunition because it is too expensive.

Senator McDonald says it is important to have access to ammunition for magazine training drills and to learn how to properly fire weapons.

He says reservists were using sound effects to keep the training effective.

"Because there's no bucks, you've got to provide your own bang now if you're a reservist," he said.

"Just last weekend in a North Queensland, training area reservists were told there would be no blank ammunition, usually they use blanks."

But a Government spokesman says the claims are untrue and there is no ammunition shortage within the Army.