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Shipping Inert Ordnance

C

Correus

Active Member
Hello!

I have a general shipping question and wasn't sure where to place it so here's where I put it.

Now that I'm looking into collecting ordnance I've been surfing the net to see what all's out there. One thing I've noticed, that has left me scratching my head, is shipping to the US.

I've been noticing companies in the UK that WILL ship to the US and some that WONT ship to the US. Why is this? It just because of a shipping hassle or am I missing something? One of the companies is up-front by saying they will ship to the US but are not responsible if an item is confiscated. They then said that items they send have a 99% success rate of reaching the destination.

Anyone have an answer?

Thanks!
Larry
 
It's always a big gamble. Nothing is "shipped" anymore these days , it's all "airplaned". As you will understand the personel at airfields is not specialized in ammo regocnition, so even fully inert objects may cause massive panic and an evacuated airfield in the worst case scenario. Most probably things that are clearly recognizable as ammo (Shell-cases-, handgrenades, riflegrenades) will cause a bigger panic than stuff that is not easily reciognized as ammo (clockwork of a fuze, lots of mine types).
Make however shure there is not a molecule of explosives left before sending stuff by plane, because than you take the big risc of your house being overrrun by FBI, ATF or local police trying to nail you!!
Regards, DJH
 
Shipments from overseas to the US are a gamble. Things "disappear" without explanatioon. From the UK, everything seems to be X-rayed, and big red do not fly stckers are attached to suspected bad things and it is sent by ship-often taking 3 or more months to arrive, Many contenental countries still allow or do not check, and airmail can take as little as a week to get here. If the customs label says anthing remotely about ordnance, the odds go up. Most desk ornaments, candle holders or curios seems to have a quick journey. The big thing is no one tells you that the package was taken or what.I have had probably 250-300 packages sent, and 4 or 5 have been lost. unfortumately, they have included some very rare and expensive items. It is only going to get worse, I am afraid.
 
My latest "loss" arrived with the box empty. Nobodt I contacted owned up to it.
There was no notification in the box which I was told US Custome would have done had they been the culprits.
I've since found out last year that current International Postal regulations prohibit the shipping of ANY inert ordnance in the postal stream.

That only leaves FedEx, UPS and other private couriers.
 
Thanks guys. I did fine the following:

http://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=shipping

The first rule is that LOADED AMMUNITION MAY NEVER BE SHIPPED THROUGH THE US MAIL. The United States Postal Service will not allow shipment of loaded ammunition. Inert ammunition and components may be sent through the mail, but should be clearly marked as inert on a small note included inside the package to prevent a misunderstanding.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Eodtek.

The grenade I'm planning on buying is an inert WWI stick grenade. The shop that has it just doesn't care for the hassle of dealing with shipping out of the UK. However, I have a friend in the UK who owns a small shipping company and they are going to ship to him. We are planning on breaking the the thing down into it's two parts. the head will be shipped in one container and the stick in another. He is also suggesting that it go surface. It will take longer, but he said there would be less chance of confiscation.
 
Just a thought. I think with the current events going on over there with our British friends right now,the Olympics,I would think twice about shipping anything ordnance related anywhere in,out,over or around the UK? Security has to be on a hair trigger Id guess.
 
I agree with Lou. Best to wait after the Olympics when things return to normal.

One problem that I see is that the Customs declaration has to identify the contents of the package. If it's legal, tell the truth. If it's not legal, it may be far worse to lie or make up a phony decription.

JMHO

Ray
 
So, here's what I did. Considering all previous points made, I crafted this letter to include in a package, should the contents be viewed as questionable.
I suspect that the majority of the folks doing the inspecting are not as familiar with these things, and any bit of info is better than nothing. I include my name, address, phone and email at the end of the letter. Any editing, additions or suggestions would be appreciated.
Notice to Postal andCustoms Officials​
The contents of this parcel includenumerous bits and pieces of collectable ordnance and munitions cases,projectiles and fuzes. These items areeither spent/fired or have had any energetic compounds removed (FFE-Free FromExplosives). They have been disassembledto the maximum extent possible. Theseare totally inert. Very minute amountsof these compounds may “gas-out” and present a false positive, activating manymonitoring devices. As well, oil andpreservative coatings may trigger any flammable material monitors.

Any weapons capable of firing any ofthe reassembled components have long since been obsolete and can only be foundin museums. These particular items canbe found in numerous online sites dedicated to collecting these items forhistoric purposes. Online museums, ineffect. The end use of these pieces willbe for display, study and personal collections. The most hazardous aspect isdropping them on your toe.
Please contact me with any questionsor concerns about any piece contained herein.
 
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That is great Rick. I'm going to copy it and use it from now on (with your permission, of course).

I did have an interesting experience with a package of inert small arms that I sent to a mutual friend in another country. I included a note (not nearly as elaborate as yours) and was surprised a couple of weeks later when it was returned to me. Our friend, of course,was mad as hell and started asking questions. It seems that the Customs guy who inspected the package was far from fluent in any language other than his own. He somehow read my note completely wrong and rather than investigate, he simply returned it. You would think that somebody working for Customs would know several languages but that wasn't the case. Or, maybe he was the brother-in-law of some high mucky-muck. I now try to include two notes, one in English and one in the language of the country of destination.

Ray
 
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On that note, and per Ray's suggestion of destination country language; if any of you have the urge to translate this into whatever language, I will make a file of each which can be sent around on request.

Rick
 
raymeketa said:
. It seems that the Customs guy who inspected the package was far from fluent in any language other than his own. He somehow read my note completely wrong and rather than investigate, he simply returned it. You would think that somebody working for Customs would know several languages but that wasn't the case. Or, maybe he was the brother-in-law of some high mucky-muck. I now try to include two notes, one in English and one in the language of the country of destination.

Ray
Click to expand...


Most of the people in those "macjobs" are hardly able to express themselves in their own language, let alone being able to read or write.
 
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