As I reported a few months ago Amazon was selling ammonium nitrate. I ordered some and last weekend I finally got around to testing it in reactive targets. I didn’t do any low velocity tests but it worked fine from 30 yards away with .223 ammunition.
What is a little more interesting is the sheet of paper I found in the box:
I don’t know what the “new regulations” or if they have gone into effect or not. But Amazon is still selling AN at a price people wanting to make their own reactive targets can afford. And if Amazon stops selling it there is still Ammonium Nitrate For Sale which also has exploding target mix.
Interesting. I’d been under the impression that AN which was useful for our sort of recreation was more-or-less unavailable / restricted / regulated out of existence since McVey used it in OK, except in reagent-grade small (and relatively expensive) packages.
I was too (mostly, some people in the Midwest were reporting they could still get it at local farm stores). But then I saw it for sale on Amazon. Hmmm… I bought some and it worked just fine so it’s not that big of a deal. At least in moderate quantities.
My hypothesis regarding the situation is as follows.
Brother Doug is on the board of directors for a farm Co-Op and he told me they couldn’t get AN because insurance rates were too high for the truckers. The insurance companies were afraid someone would hijack a truck and blow up a city block or something. Selling 50 pounds, shipped via mail, probably doesn’t involve the same level of risk.
Here in glorious, flyover Arkansas, where this company is located, one can still buy bulk AN, but yes, not as easily as in the past. Likewise, bulk storage in unsecured locations is frowned upon but still happens.