Really informative, and interesting video.

[mikeym1a]

I happened on this video, quite by accident.

Please watch and evaluate, and then explain to me why we have to pay a hazmat fee when we order ammo.

mikey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlOXowwC4c

[462]

Haz-Mat fees apply to primers and powder, not loaded ammunition.

[62chevy]

Haz-Mat fees apply to primers and powder, not loaded ammunition.

Watching the video ammo was crushed by a bulldozer and then ground into the asphalt. A few rounds where set off but did not set rounds off next to it. They showed crushed casings with crushed primers that did not go off.

Question; what makes primer and powder more dangerous than ammo?

[AricTheRed]

Question; what makes primer and powder more dangerous than ammo?

Assembled ammunition is safer to ship, handle and store than the individual energetic components, the powder and primers. The cartridge case protects the primer and powder from the enviornment. Since primers are able to be set off by a sufficent shock (smashing) and then detonating the rest of the batch and both primers and powder can be easily ignited by fire and are not in seperate fire resistant metal containers each holding from five up to hundreds of grains of powder, and a hundred to thousands of individual explosive primers are packaged together they are less safe to store and transport than loaded ammunition.

Part of the problem is not that they are powder and primers but that other folks packages are being transported with them in a variety of vehicles that are themselves able to catch on fire and/or crash releasing who knows what else in to the area to react with your primers and powder.

Since the loaded ammunition is sealed, each in it's own protective metal (or plastic) shell one round going off by it's self due to fire, electricity, or chemical reaction will likely not set off the entire shipment.

Hope that answers your question.

[Mike W1]

It's just another tax. It ships in the same trucks that everything else ships in so it can't be too hazardous. I think of it along the lines of seat belts in that respect. Fine/tax you if don't wear em' but school buses don't need em'.

[rattletrap1970]

Hazmat on that stuff is just another bunch of **** to separate people from their money. How man instances of mail trucks blowing up happened before hazmat fees?

[Bret4207]

Bic lighters are a hazmat, matches are a hazmat, flour is a hazmat. It all depends on how much, how it's transported under what conditions, etc. Transporting any hazmat over threshold amounts requires a lot of paperwork, licensing, training, etc. That's why we have to pay for it. One primer is one thing, 100,000 primers are another. If you don't believe the stuff is a hazard, then start storing your primers and powder on your woodstove this winter along with your propane tanks and gas cans. . Let me know how that works out for you.

[62chevy]

Assembled ammunition is safer to ship, handle and store than the individual energetic components, the powder and primers. The cartridge case protects the primer and powder from the enviornment. Since primers are able to be set off by a sufficent shock (smashing) and then detonating the rest of the batch and both primers and powder can be easily ignited by fire and are not in seperate fire resistant metal containers each holding from five up to hundreds of grains of powder, and a hundred to thousands of individual explosive primers are packaged together they are less safe to store and transport than loaded ammunition.

Part of the problem is not that they are powder and primers but that other folks packages are being transported with them in a variety of vehicles that are themselves able to catch on fire and/or crash releasing who knows what else in to the area to react with your primers and powder.

Since the loaded ammunition is sealed, each in it's own protective metal (or plastic) shell one round going off by it's self due to fire, electricity, or chemical reaction will likely not set off the entire shipment.

Hope that answers your question.


No it does not because after watching that video I don't buy what you said. Crushed primers that didn't ignite is something to think about.

[mikeym1a]

No it does not because after watching that video I don't buy what you said. Crushed primers that didn't ignite is something to think about.

Agreed. I also noted the part where they shot through cartridges which DID NOT IGNITE. True, if subjected to flame, all bets are off. But I have to feel that the 'hazmat' fee is just another way to separate you from your money, under the guise of 'public safety'. Just another governmental ripoff. :D

[uscra112]

I've wondered what that Haz Mat fee buys us. Does Haz Material have to be handled differently when it goes through sorting and consolidating? Does it get shipped on different vehicles? Is there additional book-keeping and tracking?

I could, for example, see some fear of a package getting crushed in a conveyor jam-up, and either releasing something nasty or in the case of primers blowing up. So HazMat labeled packages get shunted aside for manual handling.

Anybody work for UPS or FedX that can add to the general knowledge base here?

BTW my security software won't let me watch UTube, so I haven't seen the video.

[M-Tecs]

I've wondered what that Haz Mat fee buys us. .

Same as before the Haz Mat fee. Just an other tax. Some items can no longer be shipped by air but the rest is the same.

[Lead Fred]

Ammo is classed Ord-D
Primers used to be Ord-D

The hazmat fee is a lie and a joke, just another fleecing Of the citizens

[Bret4207]

I've wondered what that Haz Mat fee buys us. Does Haz Material have to be handled differently when it goes through sorting and consolidating? Does it get shipped on different vehicles? Is there additional book-keeping and tracking?

I could, for example, see some fear of a package getting crushed in a conveyor jam-up, and either releasing something nasty or in the case of primers blowing up. So HazMat labeled packages get shunted aside for manual handling.

Anybody work for UPS or FedX that can add to the general knowledge base here?

BTW my security software won't let me watch UTube, so I haven't seen the video.

The hazmat fee is the costs associated with the record keeping, training, packaging, marking, labeling, insurance, etc, being passed on to the consumer. When you have enough of certain materials it requires shipping papers and a mess of other stuff to meet the DOT regs and none of it is cheap.

Retired NYSP DOT Inspector.