http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/09/charges_dropped_against_alabam.html#incart_related_stories

Great! $1 says no one will continue selling them regardless. They were never illegal anyway, just those which had been improperly sold in violation of a contract.

There must have been an interesting cluster fuck in the behind the scenes discussions of the U.S.Attorney's office for that to happen.  Two guys ready to plead guilty (one already had) and be sentenced and the Government drops all charges and lets them walk.  I can't remember the last time I heard of something like that happening.  

I never felt these were illegal by NFA DD regs, but BATF seems to have a lot more control via the explosives rules and regulations lately.  Their recent take that just about any powder or pyrotechnic chemical was controlled unless specifically exempted by use in small arms ammunition is a big reach. Maybe the actual statutes they would cite weren't strong enough for a criminal conviction.  But it's not like BATF hasn't bluffed its way through a lot of other court cases and gotten convictions with questionable evidence.  Kind of makes me wish I have Copley and Smith's attorneys on retainer in case I ever get in trouble.

Uh i feel like this is incorrect.

So far as I know, it is incorrect.

They are not illegal, only regulated and controlled as much as possible. There are still a few ways to legally obtain these items. No, I won't elaborate. The fuZes that were taken back were sold illegally. You can still possess them with smoke grenades (in the case of the M201 fuzes) or practice grenade bodies in the case of the HG fuzes.

FYI- fuSe is the stuff you light with a match, fuZe is the name of items that are mechanical in nature...

GROG

 Grog, correct me if i;m wrong, but from what i was told by ALS, BATFE essentially said, "police yourselves and stop selling these to the general public or we WILL make them all NFA", so they stopped selling to non agency or .Gov.

Implied maybe, but I don't think the BATFE was so blunt about it. "To avoid the need for regulations, police your sales of these" is the gist most likely, but as the law is right now I don't see how they could be regulated as explosive devices. They're just fuzes containing a primer and black powder. Some other devices, also legal, have things like a few grams of RDX, and it also isn't an issue.

I think that most pyrotechnic devices and non-sporting ammunition greater than .50 cal. are going to face greater scrutiny in the future, other than specifically exempted stuff like shotgun shells and signal flares.  That is based on a lot of hints BATFE has been throwing out and changes made to their published explosive compounds list.

Please take a look and draw your own conclusions....

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-10-07/pdf/2014-23870.pdf

For years the accepted rule among shooters of registered DD cannon firing solid shot was that ammo was uncontrolled.  You only needed to worry if you had too much bulk powder for reloading that put you over the storage limit and necessitated a magazine and explosives license.  The work-around was to load that powder into fixed ammunition and bypass the powder storage regs.  

But in the last year I've been told by two different shooters that ATF told them they could not store such fixed ammo for a DD without a magazine and license for the location. They don't care if it is loaded in a 75mm or 90mm case and has an inert projectile, they're now viewing it as explosive compounds not specifically exempted as small arms ammunition.  

Yes, I think it's BS, too, as they seem to have given themselves the power to rewrite their explosives list at will and include whatever substances deemed dangerous and needing control this week.  Obviously, some perceived violations are easier to pursue with other legal hammers, like improperly transferred fuzes or M992 IR flares.  But they DO seem to be tightening the noose on all of the stuff we like by whatever methods possible and I think it's only a matter of time until they play their hand.

Im sure they were more Polite about it.....but the effect speaks for itself

Indeed it does, and it's a damn shame.

I hope that you're wrong. I fear that you're right.

Safety fuse requires an FEL and storage magazine????

I hope I'm reading that PDF wrong.

You're not.

There's a quantity amount, I forget what it is, but 1/4" Time fuse IIRC requires a LEUP to store.  Visco-type or "Cannon" Fuse does NOT

An exemption which can be changed pretty easily. Right now, it's ambiguous as to whether safety fuse will remain available without an FEL. That's pretty outrageous.

Also, that explains why I can only ever buy 25' of 1/4" time fuse at a time. I never looked into the reason behind it.

Just out of curiosity, can you even get an FEL as a hobbiest?

You can get a "Low Explosives  Users Permit" without too much hassle iirc, I looked into it when I was dabbling with high power rockets some of the fuel and progeny required it, also a lot of hobby fireworks makers have LEUPs, since you need one to have more than iirc 25 lb of black powder on hand.

Yes, absolutely. You need to have a minimum distance to other buildings and roads, but about a ten acre property would allow you to get the required magazine for manufacturing and storage depending on quantity and type.

Lol in the comments.


 

So,


the real (other) question is...

Will I be able to pick up some cheap now that this has passed, or are we still one sting away from a felony?

Which is funny because the military lists them (40MM) specifically as "Small Arms Ammunition"... on the data sheets, and for transportation.

I got lucky, as the company I bought my paras from reimbursed me 100% for everything ATF took back. (Ohio Ordnance, really decent of them.) This ammounted to over 1.5K of Grog's funds, which for an old retired guy is a lot of green. I will reinvest the money back into their company in a future purchase. I like their BARs, a lot.

As far as needing a storage magazine, and the storage requirements for flares, and other pyro 40mm rounds (NOT including M781 practice) most collectors and users know those requirements... GROG

Oh, and as far as ALS being told to police themselves, yes, they were, and also the items are, by contract, not to be sold to the public. If they do this, it would violate the contract, which could leave the company open to lawsuits, losing the contract, or cancellation of their insurance (which prohibits public sales of certain items... for liability reasons.)

BUMP for any new news??