I have been reading about these "cheap" powders on this forum. How can they be "cheap" if you have a hazmat fee of 25 dollars or more?
ACC
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I have been reading about these "cheap" powders on this forum. How can they be "cheap" if you have a hazmat fee of 25 dollars or more?
ACC
If you’re talking about surplus pulldown powder, I buy 32+ pounds at a time.
Most buy in Bulk, like above in JimB. s post. Bulk amounts of powder, as well as primers make the cost easier to deal with.
Some like me, save up & then buy a bunch at on time, while others who have local friends who reload will pool together to save on the hazmat with one buying a bulk amount of what they want & the other(s) buying what they need, all together in one order sent to one of them & then divvied out to each according to their order, to save the hazmat that would be for each if they ordered by themselves. Saves on shipping sometimes as well.
;)
The only other "cheap" powder that might allow for hazmat is some of the powders like Shooters World, that seem to be a newer/smaller powder manufacturer or dealer & they usually are cheaper per pound than the "name brand" type powders like Alliant, Hodgden, etc., & thus the hazmat is easier to deal with since there is savings in the actual purchase of such powders.
I find it best to try to wait until I have saved up to buy the bulk amounts of powder, or primers I want, or both, & then wait for a Free Hazmat" deal offered, before I buy.
For just single pounds of powder or a couple pounds, I just travel to a source to get them. ( 30 miles is the closest for me, one way, to get them, so when I do go get small amounts of powder or primers, I really have to have a "need" for them.)
I hope that answered your question about things regarding paying hazmat fees, how many folks do it, & what some folks consider "cheap" in egard to buying powder( & primers).
2 8 lb caddy's of powder plus 5 to 10k primers splits that hazmat down to a pretty small chunk per pound.
Buy from a good company like Ballistic's Products and your total cost including hazmat and shipping can still be well under 30$ a pound.
Promo especially tends to be very reasonable. But I still buy some Red Dot just because I can tell what it is when I see it.
Bartlett is just up the road from me, though I've not bought any from him yet.
For me the answer is only buy when they waive the hazmat fee. Powder Valley is the only place I've found that makes buying online worth it. I have bought once from Precision Reloading too. Powder Valley is usually far below what you see in stores. Last order I had they did $12 hazmat special. Powder turned out to be $18 a pound, and you can't hardly find it under $25 a pound in a store.
When you live on an island in SE Alaska a simple thing like a hazmat fee is the least of your worrys.�� D.C.
Around in my neck of the woods one can pay haz mat and freight on 8 lbs of powder and still come out ahead of LGS. Even more so if one throws in 5 thousand primers. Powders typically run from 26 to 35 a lb, primers 40 a thou and don't even think about buying just the bullet. Yesterday in Birmingham a box of 100 Sierra 30cal 170gr bullets was pushing $38. Love my cast boolits. Without them and the ability to order online, my shooting sessions would be few and far apart
Graf and Sons often have a no hazmat Vectan power deal where if you purchase eight 1/2 kilo (1.1 lbs) bottles of Vectan powder you can add other powder/primers to the order (up to the 50 lb limit for one hazmat fee) and their shipping fee is $9.95 for any order. Otherwise their hazmat is $12.50.
Remember when HasMat fees were $3?
Gas was .23 @ gal for PremiumQuote:
Originally Posted by Hickory
Grafs is offering "No Hazmat Fee" right now if you purchase $150 in hazmat items (expires 21 Nov). With their flat rate shipping of $10 and decent prices, it's easy to beat local prices (as well as many online offerings).
Actually, before the 1980's there were no HazMat fees.
We complained about the cost of shipping.
save up your money and buy big. look for free hazmat and/or free shipping. now you will have to pay tax, so you lose some money there. do the math and most time you will come out cheaper buying on line. got a local reloading business that sales shooters world powder at the internet sale rate. cheap very cheap even with tax.
I think that depends on the state you live in. If you buy in a local store, I would think most states would charge a sales tax. I don't pay one cent when I buy from Powder Valley. I just looked up my last order. $592.60 of powder and primers, $15.95 shipping, $9.98 hazmat (sale), Adult signature required $4.50, Tax $0.00.Quote:
Originally Posted by frankmako
I did some quick math, and that comes out to be about $19 per pound for Bluedot with everything together. I don't think I could find Bluedot for less than $25 a pound plus tax and gas to get there locally.
I had also Goex blackpowder on that order, which is probably the best deal going for buying online. Lot's of places don't even sell real black powder.
Primers are not a monumental savings online, but the #11 percussion caps were.
Hazmat fees are just another unconstitutional TAX. :-(
Not a tax it is a fee buy the shippers.
I would rather pay it than spend 50 bucks in gas and 5 hrs driving back and forth to get to a store that has only overpriced 1 pounders.
I just got my Midway flyer and they have a sale with no hazmat or shipping fees on Ramshot, Accurate, Norma and Blackhorn 209 powders for orders over $99.00. I could do that on Accurate powders alone. GF
I don't know how it got set up, or what kind of license is in play, but I belong to a good sized club here that has an account with a major wholesaler. Club members can browse the catalog, add to the list, pay up front and the order is shipped to the club. We can order anything from primers to gun safes. We have to pay the sales tax but I believe they said the wholesaler covers hazmat and shipping. Orders only go out a few times a year so it's mostly for supplies. On my recent powder order I paid less (including tax) than the best prices I could find online (product only - no hazmat/shipping). Not sure how many clubs out there offer such benefits but it might be worth looking into. This is the second club I've been a member with that offered this.
I started using Vectan powders just to try since price is just silly low. I started playing with Vectan GM3 and A0 and for plinking ammo you cant beat that price for aroung $15/1.1lb.Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftyDon
Hazmat sales are here and there on and off so I stock up when i see one just like everybody else since this stuff doesnt really go bad when stored properly.
Mid South, Graf’s and Midway all have No or Low Hazmat sales from time to time.
Brownells also has Hazmat free shipping from time to time.