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Post by jonesy on Nov 23, 2012 22:08:43 GMT 12
Hey guys, previously I'd posted some questions about a BDU-33 practice bomb which was in my posession.
So I've decided to keep it and have it shipped to Perth with our household stuff, but the word "BOMB" on the paperwork has raised some eyebrows. Now I know its totally inert and as dangerous as a large doorstop (which is what it is..) but can anyone give me some guidance on what wording I could put down to make it any less dodgy sounding? Would the NSN be better?
Not sure how Aust Customs will treat this....
Cheers in advance.
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Post by Luther Moore on Nov 23, 2012 22:26:16 GMT 12
Replica bomb, Toy rocket, Space ship, present for the Mother in law...
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Nov 23, 2012 22:41:16 GMT 12
Inert aerial delivery container.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Nov 23, 2012 22:42:19 GMT 12
Inert attitude adjuster.
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Post by saratoga on Nov 23, 2012 22:57:38 GMT 12
Doorstop?
Good luck with aussie customs ,apparently they are nazis as far as any ordnance items go.
Unless you have an aussie collectors permit (and sufficient reason to have one) they tend to demand the item is 1/2 or 3/4 sectioned or drilled at opposing right angles.Forget about the obvious "its totally inert",if it is or was ordnance they think its live.
Even if you do get it into oz it could raise eyebrows by being in your possession.
Quoting the NSN will probably get you investigated as an arms dealer or trafficer of stolen military weapons.
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Post by lumpy on Nov 23, 2012 23:27:36 GMT 12
Dont even try . Present it for what it is - and see how it goes . Its not worth holding up a whole household worth of items for one " doorstop " .
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Post by thomarse on Nov 24, 2012 6:42:55 GMT 12
Jonesy
PM me if you want a contact in Perth - NZ based company
Cheers
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Glen T
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 85
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Post by Glen T on Nov 24, 2012 7:52:50 GMT 12
Not withstanding all the above, standard practice for Armament clearance of ordnance and the like, is to mark the object with FFF... Free From Explosives. A certificate signed by a competant authority that has checked it could be okay...
However, A BDU in NZ is defence property, so was the BDU33 'used'? .. If it has been dropped by an aircraft... and here in NZ they were dropped from STR, MAC, ORI and SKY.. then it had been loaded with a Spotting Cartridge - A phosphorus charge within, that when the BDU hit the ground the cartridge would drive fwd onto the firing pin and be set off. During the day you see it as a large cloud of white smoke, at night a huge sheet of flame... so that the range chaps can mark/plot it for accuracy on the target. Deadly to whoever might be next to it if it went off...
So this must be checked.. is there remnants of the cartridge still inside.. if the BDU was 'found' before corrosion set in, then it could have been removed easily.. however with risk of possible phosphorous contamination! If it is corroded inside the bomb, likely there can still be phos inside!
Therein lies the next issue. Where was it found? In NZ the ranges used...Raumai, Kaipara, Waiouru.. and earlier White Island and Tekapo.. are all Defence property and it is an offence to remove Range Produce....
Or, if the BDU has not been dropped or used, then it would have still been on inventory somewhere, Ohakea or Whenuapai.. and had to have been accounted for or struck off charge from not being found at a stocktake... these are not just handed out cos they are not used anymore...so how was it 'got'...
Recently the Army took over control of our stocks, and have disposed of a whole bunch of these through a scrap dealer...cos they are too expensive to keep!!! So if they are getting out into the public area this way there will be much explaining to do by someone that should know better.
Possibly proper to hand it in to your local police stn and they can dispose of it to defence people. You do not want a huge over reaction by authorities and have the EOD Squadron called out from WN or AKL who then place a cordon around the property, close the streets and and and .... !! Or you could take it back to one of the ranges and heave it over the fence.. No one would ever know!!
Hope this helps...
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Post by skyhawkdon on Nov 24, 2012 8:06:17 GMT 12
I'm sure Jonsey would have "borrowed it" when he was on 2 Sqn at Ohakea. There were always plenty of new, unused ones (without spotting carts fitted) sitting in the hangar on the Gunnies trailer.  They weren't very "controlled" items back in those days, they used to also have a big box full of them in the back of the hangar. But Glen does raise some good points. These sorts of things turn up under houses etc. quite often and result in the police and EOD guys being called out! |
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Glen T
Flight Lieutenant
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Post by Glen T on Nov 24, 2012 8:10:22 GMT 12
Damn.. I delib did not mention Nowra cos I had to write off heaps of these that I could not find in 2002.. I assumed they just gave them to the museum!
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Post by jonesy on Nov 24, 2012 9:22:45 GMT 12
I'm sure Jonsey would have "borrowed it" when he was on 2 Sqn at Ohakea. There were always plenty of new, unused ones (without spotting carts fitted) sitting in the hangar on the Gunnies trailer. They weren't very "controlled" items back in those days, they used to also have a big box full of them in the back of the hangar. But Glen does raise some good points. These sorts of things turn up under houses etc. quite often and result in the police and EOD guys being called out! Yeah, almost correct Don!! It was in my MQ flat in Devon Dive when I turned up. I assumed posession when I moved out. Doesnt have a spotting cart, so its basically a lump of metal. Might just have to leave it in NZ, or get the missus to try carry-on luggage (now that would be fun). |
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Post by sparrow on Nov 24, 2012 9:41:36 GMT 12
Reminds me of bringing several tea chests home from Scotland 10 years ago. Got a call they had arrived in Auckland, and ready to pick up. Drove up from Tauranga to collect, worried all the way that I would be charged a fortune for the gallons of whisky in them, only to be confronted by a near hysteric woman at the desk jumping up and down about the 'western revolver' declared on the paperwork. I explained it wasn't real, but merely an imitation a lad I worked with had given me. This didn't appease her though, and a lengthy conversation ensued. Eventually she asked "Can it be loaded and fired", to which I replied (stupidly) "Well, I 'spose you could stick a round in it, but if you pulled the trigger you'd be a bit more of a mess than the fella you're pointing it at". "Oh, so it IS real, you CAN load and fire it!" "No, you can't" "But you just said you can" and on it went for sometime more. Eventually she asked "Is it a replica then?" "Yes", "Well just write 'replica western firearm' on there then". Once I did that, the tea chests were handed over, without being checked.
It could have been a real revolver, no-one ever checked! And that whisky, well it's good stuff, several of them worth several hundred pounds last time I priced them.
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Post by jonesy on Nov 24, 2012 11:41:05 GMT 12
Ahhh yes the old "tea chests" scenario...we shipped out stuff back from London nearly 20 years ago the same way. Had a tray full of spices from Zanzibar (probably highly illegal) in one of them but somehow it got thru. The good old pre-911 days.....
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Post by sparrow on Nov 24, 2012 12:13:10 GMT 12
'pre -911'? I flew from Dublin-Heathrow on 1/1/2002 (as airports were going mad about post 9-11 security) and halfway across the Irish Sea realised I had a Swiss Army knife in my pocket. Crapped myself, as I was checked through to Capetown via Jo'burg. Got through all the way. Airline security?, what a load of tosh, the alarm goes off(ie signalling that something has set it off), you get a quick pat down and waved through. So what set it off, whatever did, is now on the plane.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Nov 24, 2012 17:17:32 GMT 12
My late-Dad told me that when they returned from Italy at the end of WW2 (he served in the 6th Field Ambulance), they packed all the booty in crates which they then wrapped up in chicken wire (the mind boggles where they got that from in war-torn Italy), then encased the whole lot in plaster of paris. The idea was to make it so difficult to inspect that NZ Customs would simply flag the idea of digging into what was inside the crates.
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Post by ngatimozart on Nov 24, 2012 20:56:54 GMT 12
My late-Dad told me that when they returned from Italy at the end of WW2 (he served in the 6th Field Ambulance), they packed all the booty in crates which they then wrapped up in chicken wire (the mind boggles where they got that from in war-torn Italy), then encased the whole lot in plaster of paris. The idea was to make it so difficult to inspect that NZ Customs would simply flag the idea of digging into what was inside the crates. They were Tiny Freybergs 40,000 thieves  so chicken wire would've been no problem. One lot bought back a whole altar from a catholic Church that has only been recently returned. I wouldn't want to hazard a guess how much German & Italian fire arms etc., made it into NZ unknown to authorities. |
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kiwiwreckdiver
Squadron Leader
Still military and aviation history mad
Posts: 116
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Post by kiwiwreckdiver on Mar 13, 2013 19:53:14 GMT 12
Anyone shippin anything over from Europe this year (Aug/Sept) Living in Norway and wanting to ship back as much of my stuff as posable. He111 parts are a little too big to fit into my over head baggage. Would share costs in shipping |
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They weren't very "controlled" items back in those days, they used to also have a big box full of them in the back of the hangar.
so chicken wire would've been no problem. One lot bought back a whole altar from a catholic Church that has only been recently returned. I wouldn't want to hazard a guess how much German & Italian fire arms etc., made it into NZ unknown to authorities.
