Freedom Munitions 9mm ammunition warning

It appears that freedom munitions has applied for Chapter 11

https://www.outdoorhub.com/news/201...arent-company-file-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/

I know that this topic has been necro'd a couple of times, but I thought it was important enough to add this article and a reply from a guy that lives near there.

I am going to edit the reply just enough to eliminate some of the language. I will also add a direct link to the post itself for reference if anyone wants to read the original unedited version:
http://nfatalk.org/forum/showthread.php?p=274150#post274150

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Today, 03:28 PM #10
Bowen1911


David Howell is a turd burglar.

They had the bright idea a few years ago after buying Ammoload to test what would happen if a spark got in the powder hopper. They went out of town, filled the hopper with powder, stuck a fuse in the top, and lit it. As you can imagine, it just burned and everything was neato. They got back to the shop, and had the bright idea to try it again, but with the fire originating at the bottom of the hopper. Since the 15 minute drive was too much to bear, they decided to do it on the shop floor. They drilled a hole in the bottom of the hopper, inserted a fuse, filled with powder, and lit the fuse.


Boom.


F______ morons. A friend of mine was working there when it happened, and noped the f___ out of there when he was told what was about to happen. Lucky bastards could have killed numerous people, but no one was hurt. Dave apparently sucked enough ____ at the local paper and got them to downplay the entire situation, and people in Lewiston don't even remember the explosion.

And now the link to the news story that he referred to and I put bold where I am adding emphasis at how dumb you would have to be to try something so blatently stupid:
http://sip-trunking.tmcnet.com/news/...05/4309572.htm

[August 05, 2009]
Lewiston acts to prevent more downtown blasts: Test of ammunition loading equipment at downtown location sent shrapnel flying, knocked out windshields
Aug 05, 2009 (The Lewiston Morning Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Lewiston city officials are working with an ammunitions maker to ensure an explosion like the one that rocked the downtown area last week doesn't happen again.

An equipment test at Howell Machine on the 800 block of D Street ended when gunpowder ignited and exploded Friday, sending shrapnel 200 feet away. No one was injured, but the incident prompted the city to require Howell to cease testing of any machine containing gunpowder at its downtown location and require notification of all future tests.

"We're cooperating with the fire department fully on analysis and expectation," Howell operations manager Stuart Davis said Tuesday.

Friday's test was not part of the ammunitions loading process, Davis said. The company was documenting what would happen when powder in a flask within the ammunition machine ignites. They opted to make a video of the test for documentation purposes as part of a city permitting process, he said.

"We made the ignition happen," Davis said, noting the company would have never done the test there if they thought an explosion would occur.

The test was prompted by the fire department, said Lewiston Fire Inspector Julian Sorrell, to determine the safety of ammunitions loading equipment as part of the permitting for a newly formed company called Twin River Contract Loading on Southport Avenue in the Lewiston Orchards. It's one of three companies Howell officials are forming.

"They have done some other testing, and had done some testing outside of the city, and it led them to a false impression as to the actual safety of it," Sorrell said. The company decided to test the equipment at its downtown location because all the components were there.

Officials said the test knocked windshields out of vehicles in the company's parking lot and blew shrapnel through an adjacent shop building and a nearby trailer. No citations were issued.

The fire department understood the test would be conducted elsewhere, and Sorrell said the test was not approved downtown. The test was requested to prove their equipment was safe to operate in order to meet requirements of the international fire code.

"They have a fire protection engineer from out of state who's working with them on this process of approval," Sorrell said. "They are taking the steps necessary to evaluate the steps as far as safety." Davis said previous tests of the worst-case scenario resulted in a controlled burn. The company expected a vertical column of flame, as occurred in previous tests. Davis added that test was his decision.

"We demonstrated quite clearly what the worst-case scenario will be," Davis said. He called the test a success on that score.

In addition to Twin River Contract Loading, Howell has been working with the fire department on permitting for Lewis-Clark Ammunition Components on D Street and Clearwater Bullets on Southport Avenue.

"The only one of those three businesses that involves powder in any way is Twin River Contract Loading," Davis said.

John Smith, city building official, confirmed the city has been working with Howell since this spring on the permitting process. Smith said his office will begin working with architects once the permitting process has been determined.

The fire department asked Howell to discontinue any testing with powder because of Friday's incident. Davis said the company is planning future tests of the equipment, but those tests will be conducted with fire department notification, outside the city limits at a location not yet determined.

"We're going to need to sit down and talk about the parameters for any future testing," Sorrell said, adding the company is doing what it can to protect themselves and the general public.

Gary may be contacted at bgary@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2262.

To see more of The Lewiston Morning Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lmtribune.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Lewiston Morning Tribune, Idaho Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

WTF!!!

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