Shipping powder and primers

[RugerFan]

I’m going to be moving to Alaska next year and I’m wondering how I’m going to get all my powder, primers and loaded ammo there. I’m guessing the Canadian border folks wouldn’t be very amused if I tried to bring it all in the back of my truck as I pass through their country (or would it be somehow permissible???). I hear that mailing live ammo is no big deal, so I could have someone mail that, but what about powder and primers? What kind of a nut roll would that entail? It would have to go "air", so that can complicate things.

[Trey45]

Ship it to yourself and pay the 25 dollar hazmat fee.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Actually I believe it it "Only" $22.50, but . . . don't think you can air ship it . . . and can't mix primers and powder in same box, so two haz-mat fees . . .

How much you got?

Could just load it in a few boxes . . . along with "other household items" and take it up with you . . . or sell it to someone down home, and buy more in AK . . . I'd do the first . . .

Any handguns will have to be shipped . . . Canada will give you a trip to the big house if they catch you with a handgun in thier fair land!

[Muddy Creek Sam]

I believe you have to have a hazmat license to ship it. Not just pay the hazmat fee. At least that is my understanding.

Sam :D

[spqrzilla]

Yep. And ammunition cannot be sent via USPS.

[oneokie]

Find a shipping broker on the west coast and ask about boat shipping from port to port.

[Hip's Ax]

I believe you need to have a Haz Mat contract with UPS to ship powder and primers. Only the reloading suppliers have those. Gun stores don't have them. Unless you have a reloading supplier near you that is willing to ship for you I think you're going to need to sell your powder and primers face to face before you leave and buy new stuff when you get to your new home. You can ship ammo, its ORM D and you can do that at a UPS facility.

I looked into this at length a year ago when Duke Nukem had a few cases of Federal Match primers for sale and I wanted them dearly. There was no way to make it happen. [smilie=b:

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

After reading this http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/legal_info_for_reloaders.html I would not take it myself, nor suggest doing that . . . glad I don't live up there, besides I hear it gets cold up that way!:D

[SciFiJim]

Start casting and reloading now! Ship is all as loaded ammo.

[RugerFan]

Start casting and reloading now! Ship is all as loaded ammo.

Thats what I'm thinking. All my brass will either be loaded or at least primed. I will probably leave the rest of my powder and primers with a relative as should be back in the lower 48 in 3 years time.

[Joneser]

S. Georgia to Alaska. Maybe you can trade some for warm clothing :)

[AkMike]

Actually you can drive alot of ammo and component up if you own them. I forget the numbers but it's impressive. NO handguns in Canada and they sell a permit for rifles IIRC. Check the Canadian customs websites to the actual amounts.

[RugerFan]

Actually you can drive alot of ammo and component up if you own them. I forget the numbers but it's impressive. NO handguns in Canada and they sell a permit for rifles IIRC. Check the Canadian customs websites to the actual amounts.

Thanks, good info. Driving it up myself would be preferable.

[RugerFan]

How much you got?

Could just load it in a few boxes . . . along with "other household items"

Too much for that really.


S. Georgia to Alaska. Maybe you can trade some for warm clothing :)

LOL...yup quite a trek eh.

[ole 5 hole group]

Depending upon how much you have - I think you should be able to bring everything except handguns with you across Canada, as AKMike advised. I forgot the amounts but you should be able to find it somewhere on the RCMP site. A telephone call will get you started and you will probably want to start on the paperwork well in advance of your trip. I would contact the Port of Entry where you anticipate crossing the border and talk with someone there about all the forms etc and establish a contact point - makes life a little easier. Your POE contact point will be with a Canadian Customs Official, not an RCMP member. Good Luck in Alaska.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/fs-fd/visit-visite-eng.htm

[garandsrus]

.50 BMG cases could transport a lot of powder :)

John

[waksupi]

Contact the Provincial Firearms Director for info. If you hold a Canadian PAL Restricted license, you can transport handguns to shoots. You can transport handguns to Alaska, assuming you don't have a record, including DUI. If you have had a DUI, they won't let you across the border. Handguns traveling to Alaska are sealed, and darn well better have the seal when you leave Canada.

[Hip's Ax]

I have friends that compete in Canada, recently one friend who want to start competeing in Canada asked me to get the information he would need to take his rifle with him. Here was the reply.

"Rifle permit is purchased at the customs office, whether at the airport or if driving, at the border.
It must be downloaded from the web and filled out in triplicate, NO SIGNATURE. www.cfc-cafc.gc,ca click ' visitor to Canada ' and download form cafc 909.
If bringing too many guns, then form 910 is also needed, this is a continuation form for the extra rifles.
Last year it cost me $25 Canadian, if more than one person is going in the same vehicle, then can put all the guns in one form and thus avoid extra payments."

I was just up in Canada last week, the exchange rate is darned near 1 to 1, first time since the 70's.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

After reading this http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/legal_info_for_reloaders.html I would not take it myself, nor suggest doing that . . . glad I don't live up there, besides I hear it gets cold up that way!:D

According to this website it only allows 2kg of powder out of the locked safe at a time . . . total of 12kg in the safe. Now I do realise that this is not the Can Gov's website, but a reloaders site advising members . . . doesn't seem like they would let you just drive a truckload through the country . . .

[softpoint]

Primers and powder can be shipped together under one hazmat fee. Just did so about 2 weeks ago from a major reloading supplier. UPS has a website that posts the restrictions they have in place. Also, I ordered some powder about 5 years ago, and it was shipped through Roadway Motor Freight with no hazmat, but I had to pick it up at the terminal. I'm not sure about thier service anymore, though I haven't seen any of their trucks in sometime. UPS is such a rip off, that hazmat fee is not based in law(some folks think it is) it's just a way to skim a little more money off folks because they don't have any competition.:lovebooli

[softpoint]

I just went to UPS website, There is no licensing requirement that I can see, I wouldn't have thought they had licensing authority anyway, There are software packages for commercial shippers of hazmat goods, which includes a lot more than just reloading supplies. If you go to a regular UPS terminal they should be able to point you in the right direction, most of the pack and mail locations will turn you down., or as the other posters have suggested, see if you can carry them in your vehicle across Canada.
Als I have know folks who shipped their firearms (handguns,mostly,because of Canadian restrictions) to FFL's in Alaska, and then picked them up from them.

[RugerFan]

Guns aren't the problem. I will have the mover ship all my firearms with my household goods. It's the powder and primers I have to take care of and I may have found the answer @ http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d19/d19-13-2-eng.pdf

Personal importations by non-residents
155. Non-residents may import certain quantities of ammunition. As outlined in Memorandum D2-1-1, Temporary Importation of Baggage and Conveyances by Non-Residents, a non-resident may temporarily import under TI 9803.00.00, duty- and tax-free:
(a) 200 rounds of ammunition; or
(b) 1,500 rounds of ammunition, if the ammunition is for his or her own use at a competition under the auspices of a recognized Canadian shooting or rifle association. The non-resident must prove that he or she is attending a competition, and that the competition is at an approved range (this information can be determined if the range is listed in official directories).
156. Non-residents, who import more than the duty-free allowance of ammunition but not more than the limits listed below, must pay duty and taxes on the excess amount of ammunition.
157. Non-residents can import up to 5000 rounds per shipment, as per the list below, without requiring an Explosive Importation Permit.
(a) 5,000 safety cartridges; or
(b) 5,000 percussion caps (primers) for safety cartridges; or
(c) 5,000 Empty primed safety cartridge cases; or
(d) 8 kg or 17.66 pounds of gunpowder (black powder) in canisters of 500 g (1.10 pounds) or less and smokeless powder in canisters of 4,000 g (8.82 pounds) or less; or
(e) pyrotechnic distress signals and lifesaving devices, any quantity necessary for the safe operation of the aircraft, vessel, train, or vehicle in which they are transported, or for the safety of the occupants.
158. Non-residents may move ammunition in transit through Canada.
159. A single shipment may consist of safety cartridges, primers, gunpowder, etc., up to the quantities listed above.
160. Caps for toy guns may be imported for private use or sale without an Explosives Importation Permit when packed with individual novelties, other than toy guns, and imported in a quantity of not more than 50 per package.
161. Both residents and non-residents importing ammunition must comply with the Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations.


I'm not sure why they use terminology "safety cartridges." 5000 primers and 8+ lbs of powder is a start, but that won't cover it all. I wonder if I can double the quantities since my wife will be along or if it all will count as one shipment. I guess I need to see what it takes to comply with #161 as well.

Edited to add this link: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/F-11.6/SOR-98-210/index.html

[lylejb]

The way I read 157:

It's 17.66 lb of powder. If blackpowder, each can must be 1.1 lb or smaller. If smokless, each can must be 8.66 lb or smaller.

What worries me is all the " or " in that list.

5000 rounds.....OR.......5000 primers....OR.......17.66lb powder. Not sure how much mix and match would be allowed, if any.

[RugerFan]

The way I read 157:

It's 17.66 lb of powder. If blackpowder, each can must be 1.1 lb or smaller. If smokless, each can must be 8.66 lb or smaller.

What worries me is all the " or " in that list.

5000 rounds.....OR.......5000 primers....OR.......17.66lb powder. Not sure how much mix and match would be allowed, if any.

Yes, I believe you're right. 17.66 lbs of powder. I had been thinking that I could bring both powder and primers, but that "or" between 157 c & d makes me think otherwise. Hmmmmm......

[AkMike]

They have phone numbers and emails listed on their websites.. Ask..

[Ekalb2000]

If you hade a DUI you have to pay a fine to cross thier border. You can apply to transport firearms into thier country if you are traveling to Alaska. They are real polite about it. Get ahold of (pm) Yotatrd4x4, he just made the move back in August.

[JIMinPHX]

Walk into your local UPS shop & tell them what you have & what you want to do with it and see what they say. I've found that the answer you get will vary from location to location. In places like parts of New Jerzekistan, UPS will not ship any ammo under any conditions, even though the website says that you can. In some places in Kentucky, they will let you do almost anything that isn't actually dangerous or illegal. Powder & primers get shipped via UPS all the time. There is a way to do it. You just need to talk to the right person.

Because UPS in Parsippany NJ would not accept my ammo, I had to take it in my checked luggage going through Newark airport. The Port Authority gestapo there gave me the third degree about why I was checking so much ammo & why I was in possession of hollow points. Even after I showed them the NJSP ammunition guidelines for HPs with the exemptions for citizens under certain circumstances & after I showed them the airline's ammo limit was 11 pounds, they still detained me until just before my flight left to sweat me out & see if I would pop. In the end, they let me go & I made it home with all my stuff, but it was a real pain in the butt. I really don't like NJ at all.

[WilliamDahl]

I know this thread has been dormant for quite awhile, but I thought I would point out something that maybe some people hadn't considered.

It's entirely possible to "drive" from Washington to Alaska and not touch Canadian soil. They have the "Alaskan Marine Highway System (http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/)" which is basically a ferry system that can get you or you and your vehicle to various places along the Alaskan coast.

Load up your household goods in the back of your truck or whatever and drive onto the ferry at Bellingham, WA and don't get off until you are in Alaska.