New Restrictions on Nitromethane in the U.S.?

[Vitalis]

I just received word from the guy I bought Nitro from that there are new restrictions on the 99.9% Nitro and he can't get it for me anymore.

I haven't been able to find any information on this anywhere else and was wondering if anyone else had heard of any new restrictions?

[Charles Owlen Picket]

MANY times middlemen (especially with chemicals or related materials) have someone tell them to "cool it" and they make up some story. This is occasionally done to milk MORE $$$ from a last sale. They often believe themselves to be in potential trouble or at risk & thus curtail their sales, etc..... And make up some BS in the process. OR it may be that THEY were told that something is no longer available for ambiguous reasons.

99 is not 95%....TTBoMK 95 is still available , etc. There are varying laws (Fed & State) that may need to be researched but the use of 'fuel" grade NM has not been too much of an issue. But on a State level you may have a separate issue.

NM is not explosive and has no shipping restrictions that gasoline does not have...HOWEVER, there can be new legislation passed every day & I MAY BE WRONG. -> Nothing is posted regarding this issue that I can find.

I have long said that what you can buy today; you had better hoard because it may not be available tomorrow! Fuel grade NM be be in the same boat with 99%. Al powder will eventually be non-existent, as will MOST energetic related chemicals. Right now there is no restrictions on MANY energetic precursors; if we have another tragedy....kiss it goodbye. Notice the flow of legislation....it occurs AFTER a a tragedy (such as the assassinations in 1968 in the USA & the school shootings in AUS.)

Many things "energetic" getting much harder to find. The general thrust toward energy conservation has made HIGH VOLTAGE materials MUCH harder to find. Now that monitors and TV's are going flat screen, you won't be able to even find any flyback transformers anymore (let alone any neon transformers)!!!!

My point here is that while NM (@ 99% or 95%) may be simply tougher to access...it MAY be legislated at a State level. If that has started....it will become as difficult to find as a pound of phosphorus & realgar (or HgNO3). Both gone for two distinct reasons. If you have a gallon of NM....I would hold on to it and not waste it what so ever. If I were someone with unique items stashed away, I would save them, treating them like potential barter material.

[Vitalis]

Sounds like that could be what's happening here. I'm glad I realized I needed to hoard years ago, that's good advice.

[MetalAndy]

They really are effectively banning ammonium nitrate, so nitromethane can't be too far behind. See H.R.1680 at www.govtrack.us/. Everything the government does pisses me off.

[Logic Probe]

If that has started....it will become as difficult to find as a pound of phosphorus & realgar (or HgNO3).

I was about to post that you were right about phosphorus and mercurous anything, but that Skylighter still has realgar, but I just checked, and I would have been wr... wroo... less than correct! Even United Nuclear isn't listing it, and he carries some iffy goods (bless him!).

This seriously sucks, and even though sucking can be quite good, I mean that in a bad way. In one of way too many hobbies, I make furniture, in a style that passed on (officially) about a hundred years ago. One of their hallmarks was a finish that used ammonia to color white oak a nice brown. I tried to obtain an ammonium solution that was stronger than the cleaning solution, and I thought the folks at the blueprint plant were going to call the Gestapo on me (they didn't, though, and I've made that gallon make a lot of good wood better).

Pyrotechnics recipes that list any sort of phosphorus might as well require a pound of unobtainium (which can't be had, since the mines closed down). All because someone else might have too good a time from it.

I agree that hoarding may be the best strategy, if you have the opportunity, but it is still just clawing the door as they push you out the hatch, in my opinion. Better than nothing, but there has to be something better than that.

BTW, I'm not hoarding much aluminum, since a small ball mill will turn foil into good powder in a week or two, but I am stocking up on oxidants, perchlorates in particular. I'm chemically ignorant enough to need that, although, if I'm allowed to lurk here long enough, I'll learn how to obtain them, too.

Lastly, this is my first post here, am I banned yet?

[Charles Owlen Picket]

Logic Probe:
Actually, If you had put money or a good dinner on the fact that Skyligher had realgar: I would have hopped on that train!

There is a story that circulated awhile back about the pyro companies that actually has more that a grain of truth to it....David Koresh (or Waco fame) bought a Hell of a lot of Al powder from one of the major companies (the one that got a serious ass-kicking from the CPSC) & it was that incident that actually got most of the negative government attention paid to those small firms.

Hoarding is a good thing but manufacturing may be even better. If you feel confident with the use of your ball mill then expand your manufacturing resources! There is a large and long thread on chlorate/perchlorate production & the folks that perfected very workable home manufacturing techniques are not Graduate-level chemists but practical thinkers & active hobbyists! You may really want to read that thread with this whole concept as an overview. It's only an opinion, but right now we are sitting at the crossroads of access to materials of this nature.





And NO you're not going to get banned for making contributions, discussing issues in an intelligent polite manner, or having an opinion. The Forum is rather strict compared to others that discuss similar material: the Forum demands that one follows the Rules & does one's homework first.
It's the largest, oldest, & most widely read & that attracts a lot of people who either waste other's time or simply don't read the rules and them act in a manner of childish churlishness.

[Vitalis]

I may be digging up a semi-old topic here but I assume since this is the water cooler the admins and mods will suffer my necromancy.

I've found a few suppliers of the dreaded 99.9% Nitromethane, but who knows how long they will be around. Search and ye shall find, for now.

Now is a good time to remind the serious members of the forum to stockpile. You should have been doing it and continue to do it until it is no longer possible.

Stockpile all these "horrible", "evil" chemicals and weapons, keep them away from your home if at all possible in a safe location where you can access them quickly in an emergency.

All signs point to an imminent and very harsh crackdown, and one must be prepared. Time is quickly running out.

Stay safe, yet prepared.

[Cobalt.45]

I just received word from the guy I bought Nitro from that there are new restrictions on the 99.9% Nitro and he can't get it for me anymore.

I haven't been able to find any information on this anywhere else and was wondering if anyone else had heard of any new restrictions?

I first heard about this when the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) recently imposed a ban on between-race testing for two of their professional drag racing classes- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car. Both of these classes use nitro for fuel, mixed 90/10 with methanol.

This restriction was brought about not due to any federally mandated bans, but due to the world-wide demand for nitromethane being on the upswing (ag and chem industries, mainly in China, seem to be at the root of it).

Fuel for R/C cars/planes, etc. (also nitro-based) is in short supply as well.

So, no bans or restrictions per se. Looks more like a case of supply short, demand high.