Thread: Import bullets

Originally Posted by 30.06king

It's something I have done several times.
It's not illegal here, any sporting type bullet is perfectly OK to import as a personal item. I assume military application types ( incendiary, explosive etc ) types are a big NO NO.
If you have USA based friends you could ask them to obtain on your behalf and send. I believe they could do so without any license requirement but it would pay to check as each state in the USA may have their own local regulations covering this.
One thing to be aware of is some postal and / or courier carriers won't handle firearms related products / components. How you describe bullets on the US Customs Delaration form filled out for a parcel will matter. You can be vague but not dishonest. US Customs does check some parcels. Once I had a parcel intercepted by US Customs in Chicago ( noted by following the parcel tracking ) and thought maybe it would be returned to the sender. But, after delaying a couple of weeks the parcel was released and sent on.
Be honest in declared values. If the total value exceeds NZD $1000.00 you could be charged duties and gst on arrival here.
Be prepared for highish shipping costs. Bullets are heavy and even the cheapest shipping options are not so cheap anymore. But maybe still worthwhile if the bullets you want are unobtainable here.
If all this is too much to contemplate then the next best option as suggested by others is to ask Reloading International to arrange shipping for you. They are licensed exporters and for what they do have reasonable charges. They will give you cost estimates if you ask. I'm speaking here from personal experience.
Try and buy as best you can in the USA. Currently the exchange rate sucks which has a big bearing on final, landed costs here.

All of this has worked for me.