Getting Empty, Unprimed Brass To Canada

[Guy La Pourque]

$%#@^&!!!!

I tried to buy some 45-75 empty brass from the folks at Jamison but they apparently can't get brass across the border. So I contacted the folks at Buffalo Arms and they are telling me the same thing!

Just curious...are there any Canucks here with the same problem? How did you get around it...?

[olereb]

I'm guessing they buy from individuals in the states that don't declare whats really inside the box,just a guess though.

[longbow]

As long as the outfit or individual has an FFL they can export to Canada.

I haven't tried to buy brass so don't know who fits in there but this is US laws restricting exports of reloading and firearms related products which include brass and bullets even though they are inert. Even parts considered gun enhancements are included in these rules.

I used to drive to Colville Washington to buy reloading supplies for a long time after it was apparently illegal for a non-citizen to possess and "export". Didn't know and no-one said anything. Our local gun club president was the one that passed on the "new" rules. There are some pretty significant penalties for violation so I stopped shopping in the States as soon as I found out.

So, find an outfit in the States that has an FFL and you should be good to go. Otherwise you are stuck with finding a Canadian outfit that has all the documentation required. Not easy where I live!

Good luck!

Longbow

[pressonregardless]

The issue is not with the Canadian government, the US is the one that's the problem. Just having an FFL will not do the trick, they will need an export license also.

[marvelshooter]

I'm guessing they buy from individuals in the states that don't declare whats really inside the box,just a guess though.
I agree. People are probably sending "brass tubes " or some such thing. I would not want to be the one to have my package inspected.

[olereb]

I agree. People are probably sending "brass tubes " or some such thing. I would not want to be the one to have my package inspected.

Sending out of the country is not the problem(they don't really look on this end),its the customs in the receiving country. I have a friend that has a friend that lives in Germany and he sends stuff to him all the time,every now and then the germans catch it but its not a issue of leaving the u.s. Granted were not talking big time illegal stuff but rather odds and ends that are really expensive there but cheap here,they just want the duty money there.

[KirkD]

Canada customs has no problem whatsoever with unprimed brass being shipped here to Canada. As has already been mentioned, it is the US that has the problem shipping brass to Canada. Your best bet is to find a retailer here in Canada that sells Jamison brass.

[longbow]

You are wrong there olreb. It is the US laws that prohibit exporting ammunition, reloading supplies and even gun parts and accessories if you do not have correct documentation/licensing.

Check out the two attachments.

As long as I pay duty the goods are allowed into Canada but the American that sends them could be in big trouble if his government finds out and he does not have an FFL and export license.

Longbow

PS: Not sure why one attachment shows open and the other doesn't but it opens when you click it.

[Gunlaker]

Look up a fellow named Jerry Teo at Mystic Precision. He is in B.C. And has brought in brass for me in the past including Jamison.

Chris.

[starmac]

If it is only U.S. laws and canadian customs doesn't care, how would the U.S. even know if a guy drove over and brought back brass and related items??
I know the Canidians do not care if I pass through, thet rarely even ask how much ammo I have and sure don't wright it down. Usually when I tell them I have some they just ask, you don't have over 5 thousand rounds or something of the nature. I have never had them want to look at it, and the U.S. customs never even knows.

[Ford SD]

sent you a pm
for one of many contacts in Canada for supplies

not as low cost as USA Brass

but it will arrive with out the hassle of going across the border and should arrive in less than a week

USA orders take 18-21 days or more with customs unless you pay MEGA BUCKS $$ in shipping

[longbow]

starmac:

It isn't customs who cares ~ US or Canadian ~ it is Homeland Security. Apparently they set up check points at border crossings and check Canadian cars headed for Canada.

I have never been through one but I know people who have. Also, I am told some local Canadians were stopped and had a shotgun barrel and scope confiscated.

In my opinion, it is not worth the risk of getting caught.

I had shopped regularly in the States for several years after the new laws because I did not know about them (being an alien and all we don't get too much update on US laws and the stores were happy to take my dollars). Anyway, I was told by a Canadian gun dealer and figured he was just trying to get the business even though he did not have what I wanted. Shortly after the gun club sent out the "Clark's handout". I quit shopping in the States at that point.

I do not want to be stopped with something I should not have. It is not worth it to upset government agencies that can do with you what they want.

Longbow

[starmac]

Interesting, the only time I ever stop at U.S. customs, leaving the U.S., is when I have firearms. They record the serial # and do not even ask what else I have. I take that back, anytime I have hauled a vehicle I was suppose to stop at customs and show them the registration, but passed on by several times before I knew it with no problems.

[imashooter2]

Brass in individual consumer lots is ITAR controlled by the US same as if it was a 10 million case order for a foreign government. ITAR controls a lot of items that make little sense in consumer quantities. Oh well.

I also suspect that our Alaskan friends would find a much different border experience if they were crossing at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.

[smithywess]

Brownell's wouldn't even ship me a Marbles tang sight !!

[robertbank]

You can thank Allan Rock and his GD Liberals. The US offered Canada an exemption to this under NAFTA and Rock declined. Lobby your MP and maybe Harper could get one of his ministers to request the exemption. PITA for all concerned. Homeland Security is the worst boondoggle that ever came down the pike. If ever there was a waste of money. Glad I don't pay taxes down there or I would have two ulcers.

Take Care

Bob

[Guy La Pourque]

I have no love for those gun grabbing liberal morons either, Bob.

Boys, I am skunked. I have searched high and low and if there is any factory brass in Canada I will be darned if I can find it. Some sympathetic suppliers are telling me to fab the brass from 50-90 cases. Apparently it is a case of annealing them, trimming them and firing them. Have any of you guys ever done it? Do you trim first before running it through the resizer? I have never done wildcats or necking brass up or down before...and it appears that I am going to have to learn....

[robertbank]

Guy where do you live. It is illegal as hell but nobody is going to jump on you if you bought a hundred cases and brought them back. Bad advice I know but it is what it is.

Incident;y it must be a one way street because I have sent brass down to my friends south of the border and the packages have always been delivered. I also declare them properly as well as once fired X caliber brass. I have also received brass from guys down there as well.

Take Care

Bob

[imashooter2]

ITAR began in the late 1970s, many years before the DHS was created. The United States Munitions List (the stuff that is regulated under ITAR) is available online in PDF format. Take a look at some of the stuff that is on it. "Hand loading" equipment is specifically exempted, but bullets, brass, propellants, firearms parts and much, much more are verboten.

I build Chinooks, and even a technical conversation with one of our Canadian Suppliers can count as an export. You have to be very careful.

[robertbank]

Yes it began there back then but what you are referring to was not included until more recently. More in the Clinton/Bush era.

Tale Care

Bob

[longbow]

Yeah Bob sending stuff to the States is okay. It is US citizens without proper paperwork/licensing sending stuff out that is the problem. Like I said, I shooed for several years in teh States in ignorance of the laws and the stores even knew I was Canadian and didn't say anything.

I even took some shotgun slugs down to send to Greg Sappington and I stopped to declare them at US customs and they didn't say anything even though technically I was committing a crime by being in possession.

Go figure!

I don't risk it now that I know.

Longbow

[Victor N TN]

We had been exporting benchrest bullets until the Home Land Security law was passed, (2002?). The initial permit is high. Then you have to have a separate ad on permit for each country you want to export to.

Check with Sinclair's and Kelbley's http://www.sinclairintl.com/ http://kelbly.com/

I know both used to export. An American faces serious charges if caught.