Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Firefox-FX

barley81 - 13-2-2012 at 04:48

Hello everyone. Firefox-FX seems to have a great selection of chemicals (some rare) for surprisingly low prices including magnesium metal (99.8%), hexachloroethane, potassium permanganate, potassium persulfate, and many more. I called them up and they said they were going to start stocking phosphorus pentoxide in about a month! Downside: you must give them a printed copy of your driver's license.

What are your experiences with this company?

[Edited on 13-2-2012 by barley81]

neptunium - 13-2-2012 at 08:16

looks too good to be true! smells like a set up!

Dr.Bob - 13-2-2012 at 08:56

I believe that they are a legitimate pyrotechnics company. That does not mean that the ATF won't notice the order, as they have been watching them and several other pyro chemical companies for years. Skylighter is similar and has also had the ATF watching them for a long time.

Firefox is very legit...

albqbrian - 16-2-2012 at 00:31

I've dealt with them for over a decade and they are very legit. Those in the "make your own rocket fuel" part of high power rocketry use them as the main source for NH4ClO4 and the polymer/curing chems needed to make composite rocket fuel. The owner, Gary Purrington, is an extremely knowledgeable professional pyrotechnics guy. He's helped me out several times when I called with questions/problems; geberously sharing his time and knowledge.

These poor folks got totally f**ked by the Consumer Products and ATF bunch. After some controlled buys (setups) they were busted for knowingly selling chems to make flashpowder. As part of their plea deal; lots of stuff (mostly fine Al & Mg) is no longer available for sale unless you have an ATF Manufacturers license. Some of the prohibited items are truly absurd, like sulfur! And many chems, mainly oxidizers, have a 1lb a YEAR limit. Even though these chemicals are available at numerous other websites with no restrictions, Firefox is hosed on them. I suppose this is the way TPTB hope to put them out of business.

Lots of their prices are really good. If they have something I need I always try to buy from them as long as the price is reasonable. They've been a great source for we small time folks and it would be a travesty if they get forced out of business.

crazyboy - 16-2-2012 at 01:14

I have ordered from them numerous times, they are reliable and legitimate, however they are a hobby pyrotechnics supply so the purity of their compounds is often technical, rather than reagent grade.

careysub - 10-9-2014 at 11:57

To revive an old topic with new parties: what is the feeling about HobbyChemicals and Pyro Chem Source.

Also legit?

They apparently do not have the legal restrictions of Skylighter and Firefox (which seem to have different restrictions, BTW - different court orders?), and have very low prices.

A bait operation? A bust waiting to happen? I can't believe that they would not get the same treatment as United Nuclear, Skylighter, and Firefox.

Bert - 10-9-2014 at 12:54

As far as I know, Firefox has a court order, Skylighter just had the good sense to restrict the sales to flash powder ingredients to unlicensed people before they had it done for them.


Quote:

WHY ARE THESE RESTRICTIONS SO TIGHT? Simple. To stay in business. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has investigated this company and many others to determine if they are helping people make illegal exploding devices. In most cases, CPSC has succeeded: in either forcing those businesses to close, and/or put their owners in prison, or catastrophically restricted their ability to do business. The only reason Skylighter is still in business is because we continue to comply with all laws and regulations which we operate under.


I contributed to the legal defense against CPSC years ago when they tried to put the hobby pyrotechnic chemical suppliers all out of business. Since then, MANY small suppliers have sprung up, then disappeared. Some are completely legitimate, others less so. Buying from them is a crap shoot- Quality of product? Accuracy of product descriptions? Will they be shut down before your order is shipped?