Scam Business Alert - Supposedly Selling Percussion Caps, Etc

[sheriff john]

Thanks for all your effort to run down scammers. Unless your state has an actual fraud investigation office/unit, the chances of getting your money back is about the same as winning the lottery. Federal charges are filed by a U.S. Attorney, not an enforcement branch.

Scams are in the billions of dollars each year. Crooks know they'll likely never be caught and even in the unlikely event the complicated internet "trail" is unraveled, identifying an individual real person is not going to happen. Welcome to the internet.

All we can do is find some government office that actually handles complaints, file a report, and of course ..let others know about it.

Thanks again to those who share such information.

 

[maillemaker]

I have seen a few of these scam web stores.

If they don't accept credit cards, that is a huge red flag.

 

[BlazingIron]

In Texas too. Isn’t Texas still illegal for weed?

Correct! Felony!

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Agreed on this one, but if you look at Back Creek Gun Shop on googly earth, you'll see an active farm complete with cows in pastures. So is it a scam?


View attachment 152588

Examine the picture and you'll see out in the pasture, and at the end of that long driveway into a pasture- a powder magazine. Just next to the farm, you'll see one of the largest dedicated black powder ranges in the world- Ft Shenandoah of the N-SSA. On googly earth, Back Creek looks just like what it is, an active farm but, this farm sells the holy black and is the goto for the N-SSA. After a bit of an informal poll of fellow N-SSA members, I think I can safely say that the N-SSA consumes more of the holy black than all of the NMLRA and a fair slice of the public at large put together. I go through 30+lbs per year and I only shoot small arms. Add in the artillery guys, and it gets crazy. I know of several that shoot artillery and they each go through more than 300-400lbs per year and they're not outliers either. Think I'm kidding? Well in just the last month, folks near the top of Estes/Goex, Wano, and Scheutzen have visited the range and Back Creek Gun Shop.

While Back Creek might look "odd", it's not a scam. The real indicator of a scam is using cash transfer apps like Zelle, advertising really good prices, advertising plenty in stock all the time. Back Creek has experienced some issues with the supply chain, but when the higher ups of all the major powder manufacturers pay a week long visit, that should tell you something.

I have a huge "red flag" going up anytime I deal with unknowns on the internet. Although I do buy from places like DGW, Track & Log Cabin......there are a lot of others I won't deal with regardless of how cheap the prices are. That also goes for buying guns from individuals on the internet. Its too easy to get scammed out of your money. If I like gun THAT well, I'll take cash with me and make the trip to handle it in person.

The only exceptions are, if I can actually walk into a brick & mortar store to buy products such as the Back Creek place beside the N-SSA.

 

[mosser]

Just got scammed by Calibrated Defense in Aledo , Tx , placed order for black powder, foolishly paid with Zelle, then nothing . Reported to FBI , ATF , and FTC . They act like they can do nothing. Don't pay with Zelle or any other cash instrument . It is probably a scam

 

[longl]

Another website I ran across that looks suspect.

https://powderinc.com/

 

[maillemaker]

Another website I ran across that looks suspect.

https://powderinc.com/

Powder Inc. is a well-known merchant. What was it about their web site that made you suspicious?

 

[SlidePicker]

I fell for a percussion caps scammer. The address they are using is reloadersshop.com . It works just like the original post described. I have it onscreen in another tab right now, advertising smokeless powders. While I was looking a box popped up about someone in Philadelphia just buying 1000 CCI percussion caps. They wanted payment by "friends and family" PayPal. The payment got converted to euros when I clicked "SEND." I contacted them about that, as they claim to have facilities in California and Oregon. They wanted a screenshot of the completed payment and said "It's OK" about the Euros. If you look at their home page, there's a misspelling or two and some grammar that's awkward for a native speaker of U.S. English. Lots of red flags. If it sounds too good to be true... All I can do is warn others.

 

[david w]

Another website I ran across that looks suspect.

https://powderinc.com/

Powder Inc is definitely legitimate. They are about 1-1/2 hour drive from my house, and I've bought from them numerous times.

 

[Generous-1]

I am a new black powder shooter and a new forum member. This is not an ideal time to enter the sport due to difficulties in obtaining percussion caps. Having found everything necessary to shoot except caps, my desperation drove me to attempt a purchase from an on-line retailer that claimed to have #11 caps in stock ready for shipment. The price was $79.99 for 1,000 CCI caps plus $25 shipping. I was hesitant because of the weird payment requirements, Zelle, Paypal Friends and Family, etc., but decided to take the risk. After verifying my payment I was told that the order would be shipped directly. The next day I received an email from Sky Express Lines informing me that a $100 HazMat refundable deposit would be required prior to shipping. To make a long story shorter, after exchanging several more emails with Sky Express Lines, I opted to chase my initial questionable purchase with an additional $100 deposit, knowing that I was probably being scammed. They assured me that a tracking number would be forthcoming and that delivery would be within 48 hours. Surprise, surprise, that was the last I have heard from either the seller or the express service. Hopefully, this current shortage of percussion caps will ease soon and I hope that, unlike me, other potential victims will read this thread and be forewarned. I found this forum too late for me to profit from other’s experience in this matter. For your information, the retailer in this incident is HOME and the carrier web page is Sky Express lines – Sky Express lines. I am enjoying this forum and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from all of you with more knowledge and experience in this sport.

 

[TrapperDude]

Tactical Firearms and Archery is also another scam site. I was looking for percussion caps a couple months ago, and they popped up at the top of the Google search. They still do if I type in "CCI #11 Percussion Caps."

I was immediately suspicious when I saw that they had 1000-cap cases in stock at pre-pandemic prices. When I did a search on the legitimacy of the site just by typing in the site's name and "is it legitimate?", I got a BBB page with several complaints from people who'd been ripped off at that site. Here is the BBB page with testimonials from victims:

https://www.bbb.org/us/nh/freedom/p...ms-and-archery-0051-92058289/customer-reviews
My recommendation is to stick with known dealers, and if you see a site you've never heard of but want to check its validity, just search on whether it is legitimate. Believe me when I say that people who've been ripped off will post about it somewhere.

 

[Salty]

Another website I ran across that looks suspect.

https://powderinc.com/

I purchased powder from PowderInc. Paid with CC. No problem. Got 10 pounds Swiss.

 

[Okie Hog]

Powder, Inc is a good legitimate company. Had many dealings with Powder, Inc.

 

[Joemolf]

I am a new black powder shooter and a new forum member. This is not an ideal time to enter the sport due to difficulties in obtaining percussion caps. Having found everything necessary to shoot except caps, my desperation drove me to attempt a purchase from an on-line retailer that claimed to have #11 caps in stock ready for shipment. The price was $79.99 for 1,000 CCI caps plus $25 shipping. I was hesitant because of the weird payment requirements, Zelle, Paypal Friends and Family, etc., but decided to take the risk. After verifying my payment I was told that the order would be shipped directly. The next day I received an email from Sky Express Lines informing me that a $100 HazMat refundable deposit would be required prior to shipping. To make a long story shorter, after exchanging several more emails with Sky Express Lines, I opted to chase my initial questionable purchase with an additional $100 deposit, knowing that I was probably being scammed. They assured me that a tracking number would be forthcoming and that delivery would be within 48 hours. Surprise, surprise, that was the last I have heard from either the seller or the express service. Hopefully, this current shortage of percussion caps will ease soon and I hope that, unlike me, other potential victims will read this thread and be forewarned. I found this forum too late for me to profit from other’s experience in this matter. For your information, the retailer in this incident is HOME and the carrier web page is Sky Express lines – Sky Express lines. I am enjoying this forum and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from all of you with more knowledge and experience in this sport.

The only thing I can offer is to stay away from these so called stores unless you did business with them before. I’d rather pay more to midway Buffalo Arms Grafs and other. Maybe some one can put together a list of reputable dealers. I use Grafs alot Powder Valley Buffalo Arms all good reputable stores.

 

[barnettshale]

https://percussioncaps10.store/shop/
Just did a search and came up with this one. They want you to text them or do a whatsapp (Share on WhatsApp) to order I didn't check out the phone number yet. Got this when I searched by the phone number.


Text +1(404)480-0590


Powder in stock (even Goex) Caps in stock. How do they get away with this?

 

[SDSmlf]

https://percussioncaps10.store/shop/
Just did a search and came up with this one. They want you to text them or do a whatsapp (Share on WhatsApp) to order I didn't check out the phone number yet. Got this when I searched by the phone number.


Text +1(404)480-0590


Powder in stock (even Goex) Caps in stock. How do they get away with this?

They seem to have plenty of caps. I put 10,000 tins in my cart with no trouble. Now I need to find the $1.2 million to complete the scam.

 

[Brazos John]

Let me know when they arrive, and I'll come to NC to buy some!
If I leave now, I bet I'll get there before the caps arrive.

 

[michacooks]

DO NOT FALL FOR THIS. I know a few guys that were real excited that a store in Texas has plenty of powders, percussion caps and other stuff to load guns in stock. They placed pretty big orders. What they told me did not add up. The website is somewhat impressive. There is a physical address and a phone #. If you use the "Chat" feature on the website someone will engage you. First, I know the area and the zip code is not in the area of the address. There is also no commercial businesses in this particular area. I did three things......1) used the chat feature. Whatever I asked about they said they have and on sale. They were eager to take the order to ship it right out. I asked about shipping cost. They said there is none. I asked what carrier. They said whatever is cheapest. This does NOT jive with HazMat requirements and costs! A few days later I called the #. Someone answered. I asked questions about percussion caps and they could only say the info is on the website. I said my FLINTLOCK needs a powerful PERCUSSION CAP and the guy told me these will work just fine. Later, I used a TracPhone and text that same #. Asked about powder. No minimum amount, no shipping, never mentioned HazMat. I said "let me give you my credit card #". They texted "we only take cash app or Zelle to keep your costs down". I said, never mind I'll just come by the store. They texted "ok then". Today another friend with a different phone texted about something they said is in stock. He knew how to do a fake cash app account. They ran it and said the order didn't process. He said never mind, I'm right nearby in Houston. They said "we are far away near AUSTIN" and "we will save you time and money by shipping it". Then he said "what town again"? They said North Bellville. Well - there is no such place. Just plain old Bellville. I figured the idiots stole the address and don't even realize the ROAD is HWY 36 NORTH. They think there alleged address is HWY 36 and the town is NORTH BELLVILLE. So lastly, since this has been fun so far, we got in the car and drove 2.5 hours to the address. The poor older couple that lives in the 2 Bedroom house on the 5 acres at that address have been there since 2011. There's no business nearby and they never heard of this. When showed their address on the website they were shocked! The website instructions even say , Send all returns to .... the address! Then we called and said, "hey we're here, where's the store. They hung up on us. BEWARE - You need to know what site I'm talking about so I am providing it below. I think you can harmlessly go to the site and see their B.S. but I am not putting the site here for you to look at, just to avoid.

www.protacticalreload.com

Never trust a gun site that has everything you want at a reasonable price

 

[BlackRock52]

Another website I ran across that looks suspect.

https://powderinc.com/

I recently received 5# from them. I had a backorder and when their shipment arrived from Europe they called me to say it was on the way. Great folks in my experience

 

[necchi]

Powder Inc. is a well-known merchant. What was it about their web site that made you suspicious?

Their website is flagged by malware programs as having an infectious form of a Trojan program.
For those of us that are home computer security conscious it's a red flag to stay away.
I know Powder Inc is legit with a long history providing BP components.
I'm surprised the web-site is in this condition. It could be in a video they have or in a link they have associated with the site.
It could be that some other entity has tried to hack or copy their web-site.