Anyone Here Ever Order From Tactical Ammo Powders?

[Mr. Neutron]

Been looking for some IMR 3031 powder to try, as well as some Large Rifle primers. I've totally (I *think*) struck out at most local retailers, and online places as well. Most online places will have either an "In Stock" or "Out Of Stock" designation by whatever item ya look for. Seems I hit the "Out Of Stock" items most of the time......

I went to this place this morning: https://www.tacticalammopowders.com/

For some reason, they don't seem to show whether an item is actually In Stock or Out Of Stock. But, they did advertise selling IMR 3031, so I thought I'd possibly pull the trigger on a pound of it. It's supposed to be a good powder for 30-30s.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I like to attempt to be careful when ordering online. And here's where I got "uncomfortable".

When it came time to pay for it, the options for payment were mostly foreign to me, except for PayPal. I have a PayPal account, so I figured "Okay.". But I was then sent a text message saying I needed to respond in a way for payment that I've never done. If my understanding is correct, they go through something called "PayPal Friends and Family" instead of just the normal PayPal transaction. The text message lists a PayPal email as" beezlebulb1@yahoo.com ", and a PayPal name as Jared Little. This sure raised a Red Flag with me! This text also says "Note:Please send a screenshot of the payment transaction which will be linked to my order for easy identification.". I then received a few emails from them to which I decided to respond "Please cancel my order."

At nearly the same time, I received a fraud recorded phone call from someone posing as my phone carrier (Verizon) that sounded VERY authentic. That has all been worked out, but it's sorta left me gun shy about doing much of anything online. I guess my wwwmidsouthshooterssupply.com account or password got hacked or something recently, which again, has me concerned.

Anyway, has anyone here had dealings with Tactical Ammo Powders, and if so, what was it like?

[Mags]

...

First I don't buy reload materials online that require a hazardous materials fee.

So, it's suspicious

1. that the website does not include the hazmat fee in checkout
2. that Zelle and Bitcoin are offered as payment options

Your experience is confirmation. Good that you cancelled, hopefully before giving them any payment details.

[Mr. Neutron]

Thanks, Mags! (Man, am I ever again thrilled to have such a GREAT Oregon Homey helpin'
me out here!)

No, I stopped everything at the point where they wanted payent info. Just seemed to be a really odd way for what may be a legit operation to do normal biz. They DO have my phone number, email & street addresses, and I'm wishin' I hadnt even given those to them.

Good policy about buying local to avoid hazmat fees. But lately, I've had such a tough time finding primers of most any kind (a recent BiMart deal for Magnum Small Pistol Primers is the one exception) that if I wanted, say, a decent powder for my .30-30 (like the Win 748 I have), I've had to get it through the mail. None of the local vendors I frequent within a 10-15 mile range of my house have seem to get primers or powder in very often, if at all. Again, an exception for my local Sandy BiMart, with three 1 lb. bottles of IMR 4350 in stock yesterday afternoon. If you use that, give me a holler and I'll try to get you some. I use it for my '06, and it works well for that rifle.

[NHshtr]

After coming across a site that showed they had available every scarce item no one else had, - all the primers, all the powders, all the bullets, I looked into their payment plan which was Zelle. I never heard of that, so I looked it up. Money sent that way leaves you no way to cancel payment, nor refund and should only be used if you're sending money to someone such as your kid in college. Money is paid immediately. Pretty clear, this scammer wants your money and won't send you anything.
PayPal Friends and Family is the same. Hence scammers want that form of payment to leave you high and dry. Bitcoin's never gonna happen, so I didn't bother digging up the info on that.

[Mags]

After coming across a site that showed they had available every scarce item no one else had, - all the primers, all the powders, all the bullets, I looked into their payment plan which was Zelle. I never heard of that, so I looked it up. Money sent that way leaves you no way to cancel payment, nor refund and should only be used if you're sending money to someone such as your kid in college. Money is paid immediately. Pretty clear, this scammer wants your money and won't send you anything.
PayPal Friends and Family is the same. Hence scammers want that form of payment to leave you high and dry. Bitcoin's never gonna happen, so I didn't bother digging up the info on that.

Haven't used PayPal Friends and Family so didn't know that. Thanks for the tip there.

[fortyshooter]

Yep I have seen sites like that before that happen to show they have a powder to sell that none of the well knowns have. I only buy powder online if I was getting really low and no locals had it and ONLY from well known sources. When the payment type gets strange it is most likely bogus.

[runnin n gunnin]

Im late to the discussion, but here is my 2 cents worth.

1) If it looks too good to be true, its a scam. NO ONE in the country has this quantity and variety of components
2) I always look at the "Contact Us" link. If there is no hard address, its a scam. In this case, there is no hard address.
3) Even if the show a hard address, I copy the address, paste it in google maps, and look at the location. 99% of the time it is a private mail box service, or an abandoned building.
4) They make a statement on having problems with CC right now, but you can use . . . . All that equals SCAM.

Stick to the main suppliers like midway, brownells, sportsman's warehouse, etc. Find what you want and get on the notification list. I have been very succesful in obtaining what I want in all components,it just takes more time.

Good catch on on hazmat fee. That is none negotiable.

[Oldbrass]

Tactical ammo uses zelle as a payment method and uses a Gmail address RUN away from sites like these that use zelle,zenmo, PayPal friends & family they're scams .

[Mags]

Thanks, Mags! (Man, am I ever again thrilled to have such a GREAT Oregon Homey helpin'
me out here!)

No, I stopped everything at the point where they wanted payent info. Just seemed to be a really odd way for what may be a legit operation to do normal biz. They DO have my phone number, email & street addresses, and I'm wishin' I hadnt even given those to them.

Good policy about buying local to avoid hazmat fees. But lately, I've had such a tough time finding primers of most any kind (a recent BiMart deal for Magnum Small Pistol Primers is the one exception) that if I wanted, say, a decent powder for my .30-30 (like the Win 748 I have), I've had to get it through the mail. None of the local vendors I frequent within a 10-15 mile range of my house have seem to get primers or powder in very often, if at all. Again, an exception for my local Sandy BiMart, with three 1 lb. bottles of IMR 4350 in stock yesterday afternoon. If you use that, give me a holler and I'll try to get you some. I use it for my '06, and it works well for that rifle.

I'm glad you're here in this time zone and active to hob nob with even after everyone further east has called it day. Having a Henry .30-30 in common helps keep the conversation going.

Pre-covid every once in a while a valid online retailer would offer powder for sale with free Hazmat. In those day powder wasn't yet in shortage so that is part of how they tried to compete with local supply.

Thanks for thinking of me for powder. I think I'm ok. Wife had knee replacement last year and went to physical therapy multiple times a week for stretching torture. I'd drive her then do the rounds of the gun stores near there. Over time I acquired plenty of powder. Should last me a while, even longer for lack of primers. The primers I have I'll use up long before the powder.