Transporting BP cartridges long distance

[glassparman]

In my process of moving to Oklahoma, I have sorted out the BP loaded cartridges from the nitro stuff.

Does anybody have experience with the proper way to transport BP cartridges?

I don't have a lot of BP but what I do have is all in the normal blue flip top cartridge boxes. Would I assume they are safe from static build up while rattling around from road vibration?

Everything is going in an enclosed trailer but I want to make sure I'm not going to be a fireball from static buildup.

Mike

 

[L Ross]

Never going to happen, ever, no way. We have hauled loaded BP ammo all over, hundreds of miles to shoots, to hunts. No danger period.

 

[smokeywolf]

I'm no expert on this, but brass is a pretty poor conductor of electricity and the black powder within that brass can't shake around since it is compressed.
I'm guessing that hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of rounds of BP cartridges were hauled hundreds and thousands of miles in the back of horse drawn wagons between the 1860s and 1920(ish). Haven't read everything on this subject, but I don't remember ever reading about any explosions attributed to static electricity build-up.

 

[Ian]

static electricity doesn't have anywhere near enough energy or duration to ignite black powder.

 

[Jeff H]

I think to be safe, you need to stow the cartridges in leather or canvas cartridge boxes, tossed into a leather saddle-bag thrown across a horse's or mule's butt and transported at an average of roughly four miles per hour to their final destination.

I mean, that would be SO much more fun anyway, so why not?


I should probably stay off the Internet today. I feel one of those ever-more frequent, severe smart-alecky, old-guy days coming on.

 

[Missionary]

Horse ??? Are you eating banana peals ?
Mules are for hauling and serious travel.

 

[Jeff H]

Horse ??? Are you eating banana peals ?
Mules are for hauling and serious travel.

He said he "doesn't have a lot of BP cartridges."

 

[glassparman]

Thanks Jeff! I needed a good laugh!

Thanks to every one else for their input.

So . . . now, how about hauling the BP itself? Most is in the original Goex canisters but I do have an old Winchester 3# round can with a bunch of BP salvaged from vintage Kropatschek cartridges.

Just taking the guns and ammo to a free state right now. The powder and primers will go a different trip.

 

[glassparman]

Just a side note, my ammo alone weighed in at 2000 pounds. We have not weighed my sons yet but he has almost as much.

 

[JustJim]

So . . . now, how about hauling the BP itself? Most is in the original Goex canisters but I do have an old Winchester 3# round can with a bunch of BP salvaged from vintage Kropatschek cartridges.

Well. . . I recommend not smoking if you have the powder stacked up on the seat with you.

When I moved my stash I loaded it into the cases it came in, with the thought that if it was good enough to ship in once it would probably be OK for the move. Stuff like odd lots of old powders, partial cans and kegs of DuPont/Goex/Meteor/C&H/etc were sealed and packed in old milsurp wooden boxes that originally held various mortar etc rounds, with packing material (rolls of scrap cardboard) to keep the cans from bouncing around.

 

[Jeff H]

Just a note: USDOT considers smokeless powder and primers safe to ship in the containers they're shipped in.

How ironic. USDOT and the manufacturers worked to make this a functional thing - to ship or transport this stuff safely.

It was a concession to the UN (yes, the United Nations) that we ended up with the bogus "hazmat" fee and all associated suppositions and superstitions regarding transporting this stuff. This stuff is not really (by our own standards) "hazardous material," as we know hazardous material. It's not like we're transporting nuclear waste.

Now, that might sound or seem "political," but the fact that USDOT and UN have different feelings about how and what we do with what we have, it has a direct bearing on the actions we might take regarding a currently very expensive commodity when moving a considerable distance.

 

[fiver]

i'd be more worried about having enough compression on the loads.

 

[Ian]

Have fun at the immigration check points!

The salvaged BP isn't technically kosher to transport in its current state. This has to do with "rules" regarding explosives transport license which forbid just about anything except factory powder in their original containers so they can make you obtain a license.