Best Way To Ship Ammo???

[stoyan79]

I have never sold ammo before now, but at these prices it was tempting and I way over hoarded ...

Long story short I was offered good price for some Yugo 8mm and I agreed to sell it, the problem is, I will have to ship it out of state.

What is the best and most efficient way to ship it? UPS Ground, Fedex Ground, DHL?
Also where can I get the "Small Arms Cartridges" stickers from?
Any other suggestions?

Thanks, and Happy Holidays to Everybody!

[captk]

I have found that Fed Ex offers better rates then UPS. When I have sold ammo, I only charge the actual rate and do not add anything for packaging or my time to drop off the ammo. Since the buyer is paying shipping, I offer either UPS or Fed Ex. Most buyers want the cheapest service unless they have had a problem with either shipper. Both Fed Ex and UPS have retail centers 5 minutes form my home so it is no big deal to go to either one. In your case that may be a deciding factor in who you choose to ship with.

Here are some links to download ORMD lables, in blue, white and black courtesy of links on ParallaxBill's Curio and Relic web site.

black labels http://www.type03.net/ammo/orm-d-black-sheet.pdf

blue labels http://www.type03.net/ammo/orm-d-blue-sheet.pdf

white labels http://www.type03.net/ammo/orm-d-white-sheet.pdf

Hope this helps, Ken

[North Bender]

I've only shipped with UPS, so I don't know how FedEx handles it.

With UPS you usually have to go to the Hub - the corner stores don't seem able to handle ammo shipments. At the hub you enter in the info on the computer and print out the label. Enter in that it's "Small Arms Ammunition". The people at the counter have the ORM-D sticker so you don't need to pre-print that. They have never blinked an eye at any ammo shipment I've made.

[CW]

I have only shipped via UPS and had to go to their hub. The one I go to doesn't have ORM-D stickers, nor do they know where to get any. I've either printed them out myself or have just written ORM-D with a black sharpie pen. Just thought I'd offer my expierences.

[Mikej21]

I gave up all together in trying to ship UPS and FedEX. My dreams of making a killing on Gunbroker.com has come to an end. Nobody will take it here. All believe I need some sort of certification in explosives. Driver won't even take it. I haven't tried the HUB, nearest one 30 miles from here, though on the phone they say, "No way!" Finally sold it off for cheap, (still with somewhat of a profit) to draw out a local and to get it out of my garage.

Good luck.

[North Bender]

Well - CW that's interesting! I thought UPS was a bit standardized - if you label it "Small Arms Ammunition", and then walk up to the counter, your Hub says you have to provide the ORM-D sticker? Our company gets UPS deliveries all the time for various hazardous materials delivered to our laboratory that have ORM-D stickers, and they are UPS stickers, not labels printed by some company. If you went to the counter after declaring it "Small Arms Ammunition" what do they do? Demand you place your own supplied HazMat sitcker? You mean your local hub doesn't have any? You are supposed to label it yourself? You are supposed to know it needs a label?

I guess that paragraph portrays how mystified I am!

[CW]

Sorry NB, I should have been a little more clear.
I had read on this and other gun forums about the ORM-D tag, and had tried to take it to a UPS depot... not quite a hub, but definately a step up from some of the Ma & Pa stores. Brought up to the counter and the cashiier says I need the tag. I said fine, give it to me. He doesn't have one and won't take the package. So I left. Got in contact with a friend and he said that just marking it in ink should do, as long as it's large.
This time I take the package to the main hub, along with a rifle to ship. After a brief question about if it was going to a firearms lic. and if I had a lic. the rifle goes. As for the ammo, I again get the statement of, "it needs a tag". I ask the hub cashier, "where do you get the tag from?". She doesn't know. So I point out that I labeled it on the side. She looks at it for a second... calls over a manager that looks at it. They nod to one another and she says everything is alright and ships the ammo also.
You'd think the hub employees would be on the ball (and most of them have been) but this hub I go to just doesn't have ORM-D tags.
I've since used a jpeg. that I found off of Paralax's site and print it up on my printer and tape it down with clear scotch tape.

[North Bender]

CW, that's kind of amazing! In no way do I say it's not believable; I recognize your long history here and it's in the bank. But - and I'm sorry to ask - where in the Heck are you located? Man it seems like you ran up against a Podunk station.

[ScottSt]

I've done this many times without incident. Easiest way to ship ammo in my experience:

1. Pack ammo within a sturdy cardboard box.
2. Print ORM-D label, cut out and tape to a least one side of box. Now, the problem is where to get one of those. Oh, wait! Here's one!

3. Put box on bathroom scale, or just estimate the weight as accurately as possible.
4. Go online and fill out/print out the shipping label (Registering for account is free). Attach to box. Schedule a pick-up ($4 for pick-up. What's your time worth?). Put box on front step and go to work.

[Youngblood]

I use my online account with UPS to ship ammo.

I set it up as a regular package, add one of the ORM-D stickers that I have saved for years off of such packages and arrange for UPS to pick it up at my front door.

[CW]

CW, that's kind of amazing! In no way do I say it's not believable; I recognize your long history here and it's in the bank. But - and I'm sorry to ask - where in the Heck are you located? Man it seems like you ran up against a Podunk station.

This will make you smile NB, The Podunk Station is the South San Francisco Hub near the international airport!!
I think it's more of a matter of not receiving that type of package all that often :D

[gunluvver]

Once you've prepaid UPS shipping and got your label, you can hand the package to any UPS driver. He'll scan it right there and take it to the hub. One time I did an ammo swap with someone on the board. He mistakenly sent his by USPS with an ORM-D sticker. It never arrived to my house. Of course there was no real way to track it. After around 2 weeks, a lady stops in front of my house and asks if I was expecting a package. She had arrived home from a 2 week trip to find this package on her porch. She lived 2 streets up and one street over from me. Apparently a substitute mail person screwed up royal. After all that, it turns out the postage was about $5 higher to send it USPS than it was to send a similar package back to him by UPS, as well as being a big no-no.

[Spetznatz]

I use Fedex for all my ammo shipping. Their people just seem to be more on the ball than UPS.

[arjppj]

does it cost anything extra to ship ammo? I put in for a 17 lb 8x8x8 box and came up to $17.38 . Is there a $20 hazard fee too?

[creepiE]

does it cost anything extra to ship ammo? I put in for a 17 lb 8x8x8 box and came up to $17.38 . Is there a $20 hazard fee too?

No.

[GUNHEEP]

I Ship All My Ammo And 50bmg Api Bullets Fedex Ground...they Are By Far The Cheapest...and They No Longer Have You Describe The Item Being Shipped On The Ground Forms...just Make Sure You Do Not Have Any Old Orm-d Stickers Or Orange Hazmat Stickers On The Boxes...or You Will Require Additional Paperwork...i Make Sure All Ammo Shipped Is In An Ammo Can, Inside A Cardboard Box...make Sure You Also Fill Any Void Inside The Ammo Can With Bubble-wrap Or Paper, So The Product Does Not Rattle, Inside The Metal Can...

Happy New Year
Andy

[captk]

I opened an account with Fed Ex and have made a number of ammo shipments lately. I print the shipping labels at home and put 4 ORM-D stickers on each box. When I bring it to the Fed Ex center they weigh it and give me a receipt that I dropped it off. No questions or any problems.
Ken