There I was ranting away on a gun forum last night about how I could not understand why someone would have gone to Gander Mountain to purchase ammunition at $69.99 per range-pack of 180 rounds when I had just found an online dealer selling it for $43 per box plus shipping. I really don't care where you spend your money, go ahead and pay more at a place like Gander Mountain, heck I shop there at times just not usually for ammo. Where you shop is up to you though as is how much you spend, so do not let me dissuade you from shopping at Gander Mountain. However, if you are looking to save money - read on.
The thing was, just before I got into that forum discussion, I had just ordered six range-packs of seemingly the same ammunition (that the guy had recommended buying from Gander Mtn.) from Widener's at a total cost of $287.00, including shipping. Then there was this guy on the forum recommending Gander Mountain where the same ammo would have cost me $419.94 plus tax. Yes, I will have to pay an additional $10 transfer fee to my local FFL because the NY SAFE Act requires an ammo shipment to go through an FFL but for all I know Gander Mountain may charge the same. Even if they did not charge the transfer fee and if they did not charge tax, I saved $132.94 (without figuring in the transfer fee) or $122.94 (if the fee is considered). That is a big savings for what either is, or is essentially, the same ammo. I say it that way because what I purchased was made in Romania and the stuff at Gander Mountain could have been made in the Ukraine or in Romania as I understand; it did not specify in their ad at the time I checked it. Yet, the ammo is, as far as I am aware, essentially the same.
What I bought, according to my email receipt, was "Red Army Standard, Romanian, 7.62x39 123gr FMJ Ammunition" (which is steel cased). What Gander Mountain offered was "Red Army Standard Steel Case Rifle Ammo Range Pack, 7.62x39MM, 123-gr., FMJ" - all it seemed to be missing was the word 'Romanian'. Bear in mind, the prices I mentioned above were valid at the time I wrote this. I just could not fathom why anyone would pay that much more for the same ammo and I stuck my foot in my mouth by saying so in that online gun forum. The other forum member replied to my post saying that he had been unable to find a local FFL who was willing to do the necessary ammo transfer. I felt like a horse's ass when I read that and I decided to do some checking to see how he, or anyone else, in that situation could facilitate finding a local FFL dealer who would do the required ammo transfers here in the Extremely Socialist Repooblika of New Yorkistan.
What I found was called an FFL locator or finder. It was on the site at GunBroker.com at this address:
http://www.gunbroker.com/ffl/searchforffl.aspx
I typed in my own zip code and up popped about 10 FFLs within about 10 miles of my home. They were all shown on a map too. That was nice but when I had run a Google search of FFL Finder, a larger list other than just GunBroker came up so I tried another too.
That other one is at www.fflgundealers.net. On the FFLGunDealers site, I was able to enter my zip code and the radius within which wanted the search conducted or I could have just clicked on the state name I wanted to search. I opted for the zip code method and selected 10 miles and a whopping 41 FFL holders came up within that distance from my location. There was no map but on this site all the dealers were listed in ascending order by distance from my zip code. You can also check the entire state by clicking on the state name of that site's home page. They list 2,233 FFLs in New York (I have no idea if that is all inclusive or up to date).
I figured that was just about good enough but still perused the list that came up on Google and found that some other sites list FFLs throughout the country. Now while all of that was well and good, I was actually looking for something a little different so I typed this into my browser bar: Ammo Transfer FFL Locator NY. That brought me to LuckyGunner and its chart of FFLs in NY willing to do ammo transfers at this address:
http://www.luckygunner.com/new-york-ammo-sales
I doubt the list is all inclusive, my guess is that the chart shows those NY FFLs on already file with LuckyGunner but as I said that is a guess. The thing about that is, you might decide to buy amo at a different online dealer who does not have the same FFLs on file. That is easily remedied by having your local FFL (who may have been on LuckyGunner's list or found at one of the FFL locaters) contact the dealer with his FFL info. I think the FFL has to fax or email a copy of his license to the dealer.
As for the chart of FFLs shown at LuckyGunner, they list the FFLs by city first, then by name and address and also show how much they supposedly charge for an ammo transfer. The state has imposed a $10 limit per transfer (any sized order) but some dealers listed in that chart were shown with fees from zero to $10 to $25 and even up to $100 per transfer. Go figure but as you can see, if you locate a dealer who will do a transfer, do not assume they will only charge the $10 they are allowed to charge by law. Make sure to ask, ahead of time, what they charge for the transfer and if there is a limit to how much ammo can be charged per fee.
I would think that between the FFL finders at GunBroker and FFLGunDealer and the chart at LuckyGunner anyone in NY state, in a similar situation to the forum user who could not find a FFL willing to do ammo transfers, could probably easily find a local FFL willing to do the transfers by using these resources. Good luck to all of you who are still looking for a way to procure ammunition at reasonable prices from online dealers outside of NY. There is hope for you to buy less expensive ammo - and remember, if you vote there is also hope we can overcome this Draconian law known as the NY SAFE Act
All the best,
Glenn B
The thing was, just before I got into that forum discussion, I had just ordered six range-packs of seemingly the same ammunition (that the guy had recommended buying from Gander Mtn.) from Widener's at a total cost of $287.00, including shipping. Then there was this guy on the forum recommending Gander Mountain where the same ammo would have cost me $419.94 plus tax. Yes, I will have to pay an additional $10 transfer fee to my local FFL because the NY SAFE Act requires an ammo shipment to go through an FFL but for all I know Gander Mountain may charge the same. Even if they did not charge the transfer fee and if they did not charge tax, I saved $132.94 (without figuring in the transfer fee) or $122.94 (if the fee is considered). That is a big savings for what either is, or is essentially, the same ammo. I say it that way because what I purchased was made in Romania and the stuff at Gander Mountain could have been made in the Ukraine or in Romania as I understand; it did not specify in their ad at the time I checked it. Yet, the ammo is, as far as I am aware, essentially the same.
What I bought, according to my email receipt, was "Red Army Standard, Romanian, 7.62x39 123gr FMJ Ammunition" (which is steel cased). What Gander Mountain offered was "Red Army Standard Steel Case Rifle Ammo Range Pack, 7.62x39MM, 123-gr., FMJ" - all it seemed to be missing was the word 'Romanian'. Bear in mind, the prices I mentioned above were valid at the time I wrote this. I just could not fathom why anyone would pay that much more for the same ammo and I stuck my foot in my mouth by saying so in that online gun forum. The other forum member replied to my post saying that he had been unable to find a local FFL who was willing to do the necessary ammo transfer. I felt like a horse's ass when I read that and I decided to do some checking to see how he, or anyone else, in that situation could facilitate finding a local FFL dealer who would do the required ammo transfers here in the Extremely Socialist Repooblika of New Yorkistan.
What I found was called an FFL locator or finder. It was on the site at GunBroker.com at this address:
http://www.gunbroker.com/ffl/searchforffl.aspx
I typed in my own zip code and up popped about 10 FFLs within about 10 miles of my home. They were all shown on a map too. That was nice but when I had run a Google search of FFL Finder, a larger list other than just GunBroker came up so I tried another too.
That other one is at www.fflgundealers.net. On the FFLGunDealers site, I was able to enter my zip code and the radius within which wanted the search conducted or I could have just clicked on the state name I wanted to search. I opted for the zip code method and selected 10 miles and a whopping 41 FFL holders came up within that distance from my location. There was no map but on this site all the dealers were listed in ascending order by distance from my zip code. You can also check the entire state by clicking on the state name of that site's home page. They list 2,233 FFLs in New York (I have no idea if that is all inclusive or up to date).
I figured that was just about good enough but still perused the list that came up on Google and found that some other sites list FFLs throughout the country. Now while all of that was well and good, I was actually looking for something a little different so I typed this into my browser bar: Ammo Transfer FFL Locator NY. That brought me to LuckyGunner and its chart of FFLs in NY willing to do ammo transfers at this address:
http://www.luckygunner.com/new-york-ammo-sales
I doubt the list is all inclusive, my guess is that the chart shows those NY FFLs on already file with LuckyGunner but as I said that is a guess. The thing about that is, you might decide to buy amo at a different online dealer who does not have the same FFLs on file. That is easily remedied by having your local FFL (who may have been on LuckyGunner's list or found at one of the FFL locaters) contact the dealer with his FFL info. I think the FFL has to fax or email a copy of his license to the dealer.
As for the chart of FFLs shown at LuckyGunner, they list the FFLs by city first, then by name and address and also show how much they supposedly charge for an ammo transfer. The state has imposed a $10 limit per transfer (any sized order) but some dealers listed in that chart were shown with fees from zero to $10 to $25 and even up to $100 per transfer. Go figure but as you can see, if you locate a dealer who will do a transfer, do not assume they will only charge the $10 they are allowed to charge by law. Make sure to ask, ahead of time, what they charge for the transfer and if there is a limit to how much ammo can be charged per fee.
I would think that between the FFL finders at GunBroker and FFLGunDealer and the chart at LuckyGunner anyone in NY state, in a similar situation to the forum user who could not find a FFL willing to do ammo transfers, could probably easily find a local FFL willing to do the transfers by using these resources. Good luck to all of you who are still looking for a way to procure ammunition at reasonable prices from online dealers outside of NY. There is hope for you to buy less expensive ammo - and remember, if you vote there is also hope we can overcome this Draconian law known as the NY SAFE Act
All the best,
Glenn B
2 comments:
Yep, you're right Glenn.
That list on the Lucky Gunner website is just FFLs who have agreed to transfer ammo from Lucky Gunner. (Basically, you can use any FFL who is willing, we just ask for a transfer agreement from them to help protect customers from ordering and getting stuck with an FFL who isn't cooperative).
I'll have to check on that $10 transfer limit. I thought it was just for firearms. I'm not a lawyer though! :)
Take care up there!
-Anthony at Lucky Gunner
This is a great resource! Thanks for doing the legwork. There is so much bureaucratic red tape already out there when it comes to trying to find a decent price for ammo and firearms and it's nice to be able to have an alternative option. Doesn't look like ammo prices are coming down anytime soon, so I will be checking these out. Also good point about checking in advance about the fees. Could easily be a bait and switch type deal.
Post a Comment