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Shipping ammo by United Parcel Service


Carlos

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Had about 500 rounds of factory Federal 55 grn .223 laying around. I bought it for $180 per 1000 in 2005. Price has since doubled.

Decided to sell it for market value & use the $$ to buy reloading supplies.

So I advertized on Arfcom, but did not think ahead of time about how to ship it. Turns out they have a thread on ammo shipping by common carrier:

LINK TO ARFCOM AMMO SHIPPING THREAD

I knew that the ONLY requirement is marking box with the proper "ORM-D" lable. Simple enough, right?

Well that thread explains that even if you mark the box properly, you are likely to run into hassles with the counter monkeys at the local United Parcel Service shipping center because they DON'T KNOW THEIR OWN REGULATIONS ON AMMO SHIPPING.

Simple solution?

In 10 min. I set up a UPS account online using my home address (our condo in Arlington) and I paid for the shippiing using my debit/credit card; at the end of the process, I clicked "print" and out popped a shipping lable - complete with both addresses, a tracking number & a bar code showing I'd paid for shipping! I simply left the box (original from Federal and with the factory ORM-D label on it) at my condo office & they picked it up the next day.

Kinda hard for the UPS monkey to argue with you when:

1) You are not there, and

2) You already paid for the services!

I will never visit another UPS office again!

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Carlos,

What markings did the box have? Where the ORM-D lables on all sides? and the top?

Thanks!

Chuck

Working from memory here, but I am fairly certain that Federal only put the "ORM-D" stamp on the front face of the box. It was a Federal facotry 500 round box that I shipped it in; no wrapper; just clear tape to seal it and attach the UPS lable. At the link above, there is a print-able copy of the lable, though I think you even permitted to simply write "ORM-D" on the box with a pen. I believe ORM-D stands for "consumer goods." Any UPS employees here with more info?

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yep monkeys for sure, walked into a fedex, with a properly boxed handgun I had sold online, I had an original signed in red ink copy of FFL with matching address, I read rules on websight knew I had to ship air. and said hey I need to mail this handgun, I couldnt even finish my sentence before I got oh you cant do that, you cant do this, when the talking head paused for a breath I said if you'd shut up for a minute, I know I can ship it you need to get your supervisor, well you need a signed ffl, You mean like this one in my hand ? finally shipped it but yeh they dont know there own rules any better than Hawaiian airline counter atendants.

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Using an existing box is a good way to go. UPS pickup #2-- the drivers don't really care what's in them, and assume you know how to do it right.

Saw in the post office the other day that USPS won't take boxes with ORM-D markings on them, even if reused..

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I wish you luck. I had someone ship me ammo the same way, I never received it, he never got it back and UPS did not pay for it. This was a couple of years ago and as far as I know the seller never got his money from UPS.

I agree. If all goes well and there are no issues, then no big deal. However, if something does happen, then the fact that you didn't follow their guidelines gives them the perfect out to deny your insurance claim.

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We shipped 5K rounds to our hotel in CA for Steel Challenge. The boxes were marked ORM-D Small Arms Ammunition. The clerk weighed the boxes, took my $100 and the hotel accepted the shipment 4 days later and put them in storage until we get there. No hassle.

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Here is the "official" propaganda from UPS. Their Customer Support sent this along with other documentation.

When I was looking into shipping a firearm back to the manufacture for repairs for the first time.

Ammunition:

UPS accepts domestic ground and air shipments of ammunition that have been classified by the shipper

as "Cartridges, small arms", or "ORM-D" (Other Regulated Material).

The package must be properly marked according to the requirements of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR).

A Hazardous Materials Transportation Contract may be required to ship such packages with UPS.

Contact the Hazardous Material Support Center at 1-800-554-9964 for details on regulatory information.

Edited by Heavy Barrel
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Other Regulated Materials, Domestic

Got it - thanks!

So far so good - although I picked up my 1st HazMat-marked package I have ever had delivered to my condo's management office this morning. HazMat is a whole different ball game and they REALLY advertise the fact that its HazMat - there were warning lables ALL over the outside of the box! :surprise:

Its easy to overlook the ORM-D lable. In contrast, its really hard to miss the HazMat warnings.

Still, they did not say a word other than "Have a nice day Mr. Johnson." :cheers:

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