Has anyone popped across the border to purchase primers? I called a few gun shops up there and both said they don't ask for ID if you're just buying primers.

I ran across that when I found primers online last week and was able to get to checkout before the company said they do not sell to USA. I wonder if it is illegal to bring them back to the US, but do not know if that is the case??

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Gary
SWCA 2515

there is probably a Homeland/Customs prohibition on bringing in explosives, and I'm sure primers qualify.

I'd be tempted to try if I had a current passport. Claim ignorance, and tell them to please dispose of them, I didn't mean to. Honest.

Great question, can a person bring primers back from Canada?

This page enumerates things controlled by ITAR:
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)

And it says:
(10) Primers other than Boxer, Berdan, or shotshell types;

I don't know if that means you can carry boxer, berdan and shotshell primers back and forth or not.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

The law, the rules? No idea. I do have a lot of experience crossing that particular border and let me just say that in my life time, anything you do, say, act, smell, look like, sound like, give off the aura of, no matter WHAT we are talking about...

You are in a much better and easier position if you are an American returning home than if you are an American entering Canada.

The land border is closed for non-essential travel... Problem is more getting into Canada than it is getting back here.

Customs wise, I don’t think there is anything extra... but worst case would be an ATF Form 6, Part 1. I’m not too familiar with primer manufacturer (country of origin), but if you go over strictly for them, you likely are going to be charged duty.

ATF and Federal law really don’t distinguish much between ammunition and ammunition components. I’ve seen spots where you’d consider the complete cartridge as ammunition, and other spots where the components are considered ammunition.

IF they are allowed in, they will be subject to "Duty" and maybe "Excise tax" which should be around 15% each. Figure that into your costs. Since they are leaving Canada you should get you 17% health care tax back. (should means Good-Luck!)

Ivan

Excise tax applies only to complete, ready to fire ammunition, not to components. Primers would not be subject to excise tax.

After many disappointments I saw an 'IN STOCK' notice. But I was let down again when the big "WE DO NOT SHIP TO THE USA" thingy popped up.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Duty still applies, since you left the US specifically to buy them...

That being said, if the country of origin is Canada, then they are duty free. Made somewhere else... you’d have to look it up (HTS 9306.90.0080).

Who has primers?
All my local sources have been out of stock for weeks.

Coming back from Toronto I was asked what I'd bought and absent-mindedly replied "Just a few magazines"...

His eyes lit up and I think he was already picturing disassembling my car looking for other contraband... until I handed him the Led Zeppelin fan magazines I'd gotten at ZepFest.

Now THOSE aren't clips!

To my knowledge,we in Canada don't have a primer manufacturer.
Besides,yes,most retailers have primers but when I tell them I want 5000,some tell me that they are allowed to sell me only 1000.
I bring my wife along and show them both our shooting club membership card so I can at least come out with 2000.

If you know somebody in Illinois, you might try there. The State FOID card keeps out-of-staters from poaching the supply. I was there during the last shortage and it was somewhat better than other States. Hey....I think I still have a valid FOID....

Most places don't ask for the card for primers.

My younger brother in law has a regular weekly truck delivery into BC from Seattle. His trips are considered essential. I wonder if he can snag his limit every trip and stock us up.

Good thing I have an emergency supply. Two hundred pounds of Kentucky cave dirt will yield a pound of saltpeter.

Why does this thread conger images of Eliot Ness?

Bootleg primers smuggled across the Canadian border

That figures, they always did for me.

A pound of Spectracide Stump remover will also yield a pound of saltpeter. I'd bet it's less work, too...

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Just Say No - To Social Media

Excellent idea, importing controlled items into the US by car....you are in for a loooong day coming back. I find the Canadian guys on the border particularly 'smart' and they will figure right away what you did there with your pick-up and Leupold sticker on rear window. The stores in CA are aware by now and yes they WILL check your credentials and WILL NOT sell you a single primer period.

Do you know for a fact that primers are controlled? I posted a link above that seems to say differently. It would be easy enough to ask the CBP people on your way out of the US to get them.

Nobody here is advocating illegal activity.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

I seem to recall many hundreds of miles of the border, with border crossing checkpoints only at a few places. Thousands of unimproved roads crossing the border with so little traffic that no monitoring is even attempted.

There are also the Great Lakes with hundreds of cities and towns along both the US and Canadian sides. Lots of boats, too.

Just thinking out loud here. No plans for long hikes or boat trips.

It is not only our guys on the canadian border that are smart.In fact,only our gun grabber premier doesn't qualify for the being smart.

I'm a Canadian in border town and the shop I buy my primers and powder from do not ask for my PAL but they do ask for my drivers licence to confirm my address.

So, the definitive answer is ... it depends.

What I've found is that there are multiple laws involved, varying interpretations and a little ambiguity for good measure.

The bottom line is it's the luck of the draw if nobody bats an eyelash over a couple thousand primers or you get charged with trying to import explosives. Either case could be made.

It's just not worth the risk.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

I thought no one could own a gun in Canada. Why do they sell primers?

I would have thought they would bring out the drug sniffy dogs when you told him where you had been.

I found two Canadian websites while searching online for primers. Both had plenty, neither would ship to the US. In any case, the listed prices were over double, including the exchange rate, that the same primers sell for here. I'm low, but not out; certainly not willing to pay the price, whether legal or not.

It hasn't got that bad yet but our utopian Prime Minister and his cronies are certainly working on it, although they won't admit it.
That's because they've already been imported from the US, with all the attendant duties and the exchange rate. One of my local suppliers lists CCI Small Pistol Primers @CDN $57.00/1000, which is about $43 USD. Ouch!

1986-Motorcycle trip to Montreal: We went to Americade in Lake George early so we could visit Montreal. As we approached the Canadian check point (100 yards away minimum) in between US and Canadian crossings (no mans land) I raised up my 35mm camera to take a picture of the Canadian border crossing. I did this while moving on my 1983 Electra Glide (about 30 mph, bike was dead stable smooth with no hands). There were no cars at all the lanes that looked like a giant toll booth. When we stopped, a female border agent approached me and said give me the film now! I said why and no I would not? She said you took a picture with me in it (100 yards away reminder). I said it had my wife, kids, and dad on it before we left Virginia. She said I will tear apart everything you have on that bike if you don't! And I mean she was ferocious too! I gave her the film, boy was I shocked and sad.

Returning to the USA 2 days later: Another female border agent (US). Why were you only in Canada for 2 days? Are you running drugs? Do you have heroine in your bike? Holy sh#t are you kidding me!! Since I was a US citizen I let her have it good..explained we were from the Americade rally and what Canada already did and if you want to search me then do it because I'm fed the hell up with all this treatment! She let us go. Sheesh the 3rd degree. I haven't been back since.

Foot note: Montreal had some of the nicest strip clubs and gorgeous women I've ever seen! Craziest drivers too.

And someone wants to buy primers and bring them back? YIKES

And that ain't the whole story. As we crossed the St. Lawrence river and approached Montreal, a HUGE giant crowd had the road blocked, I mean it was massive! They were beating on cars as they were inching their way through. I looked at Pat and said I can get 2 tops as we inched up on our bikes. I cracked the throttle and all of a sudden and I sh#t you not, a gap opened, like Moses parting the sea, and everyone patted us on the back and let us through! I'll never forget that, I was scared sh#tless. Then they went back to rioting, burning cars that night, etc. They had WON the Stanley cup!

Attached Images

Hog1.jpg (104.2 KB, 34 views)

We take hockey VERY seriously up here! (Well, I don't, but I'm just weird.) For a more recent and deplorable example, google "Stanley Cup riot, Vancouver". Vancouver Canucks vs. Boston Bruins.) Glad I had moved out to the boonies by then.

From what I’ve seen lately, that’s a heck of a bargain. They are being scalped locally for anywhere from $.08 to .12 per primer. I’m going to a local show this morning mainly to see what reloading supplies are available and at what price.

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

At least you have something worth rioting about. The people that have been rioting in the US sure as hell don't a good reason!

In '96 my 12 year old daughter and I drove up to the US northern border with the intent of spending the night in Montreal and do some shopping. Our Canadian border guard was as pretty as they come and I thought I'd be funny. She asked 'What brings you to Canada today' and I said 'My Car!". She said ''OK put your car in that parking space and go in that door!''

Rats.

This French accented uniformed guard begins to harang me about every thing isn't funny and we're serious here and he may not allow us to continue our trip!

I said "I'll bet if there was a draft going on down there you'd welcome me with open arms"

He says ''I'm denying you entry into Canada today, but please keep in mind I could always detain you. And your daughter"

I'm like YIKES!

I’ve got a basic question: why are primers available, even in limited quantities, in Canada but not in the US?

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"Your other right........."

YIKES, indeed. (And they weren't even armed back then; that only happened a few years ago, and many older guards weren't happy about it. I think they now carry Beretta PX4 9mm.)

We're pretty friendly but athough we may not be a major world power our guards, like yours, have a country to protect and we do get some pretty dodgy characters wanting to get in. (Present online company excepted, of course!) And most of the guns used in crime up here are smuggled in from the US, so they have to be cautious. A cheeky guy and his daughter "visiting Montreal" could have a dozen guns stashed in the car.

In the dozen years that I've been driving to Bellingham to visit my gf (well, until last March, anyway), I've had very few problems crossing either way, aside from a couple of snarky US guards many years ago who just wanted to prove they could be difficult. In that time I've been pulled over for routine inspection I think 4 or 5 times, which I have no problem with. Never a problem coming back into Canada. I guess they've had lots of time to check me out over the years. There was one fellow I nicknamed "Mr. Friendly" whom I used to see from time to time. One exchange went:

- "What's the purpose of your trip?"
- "Visiting my gf in Bellingham."
- "That's the same thing you said last week".
- "Well, I know how important it is to have a consistent story."
- (Laughs) "OK, have a nice visit"

Hmmmm..... I'd hazard a guess of a vastly larger proportion of gun owners, combined with a lot of uncertainty about civil unrest has created a much higher demand. Our demand up here hasn't changed much as far as I can see, although our suppliers of course are now having trouble getting orders from the US, which is the source of just about everything gun-related.

In my area (Southern Ontario) the only shortage seen recently is pistol primers from brick and morter stores. On-line, everything is available. We don't have the same volume of shooters/reloaders as in the U.S., at least in my experiance.

You don't need a FOID card if you have an out of state ID.

Every store I have ever been to in my 20 years living there has asked for it for powder/primers but never projectiles (and obviously firearms and ammunition)

Unless you fly over the border, the land border for cars has been closed for a year and it will remain closed at least until April 21st. Unless you possess a Canadian Firearms Licence you will not be allowed to purchase primers.

Pretty much answers the questions in the original post.