doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Buying guns while overseas- procedure?

I think you might be a little dissapointed with the condition of some of these once you see them up close.

Briley in Houston has been bringing large lots of this from Austraila and most of them are crappers


John

Eightbore:
I thought between my and L Browns posts we'd explained exactly how to legally do this. There's no way you can just carry it back. The way to get it back hassle free, and this is assuming it's a shotgun*, is have it run from the British dealer to an American dealer each of whom who will accept it and prepare the proper paperwork. It shouldn't be all that expensive it just takes patience and time.
* If what you are attempting to import is preceived as some sort of military firearm then all the rules change.
Jim

Briley gets our rubbish, 'cos we like to keep the good ones! Due to various economic and social cirumstances there are some wonderful English guns in Australia, but they are generally tightly held, not horse traded willy-nilly! (I can expand if you like; it actually is a fascinating study). Many of the old English guns in collectors' hands in North America now are, I suspect, of Australian provenenance. It might be a beater, but I bet it's got a fascinating story to tell.
I have emailed Alex; guns are routinely sent from Australia by a couple of dealers; it's just the stateside end which needs worrying about.
RG

eightbore, there's no "storage" inconvenience on the shipping end. The British (or other overseas) dealer holds the gun for you, until you have an import permit. At that point, you notify him and he ships it. The only "storage" issue I can foresee would be if you need to pick the gun up directly from customs, the customs office in question is some distance from you, and you can't get there within a reasonable period of time.

I did have a problem with customs on a gun I bought overseas, when I was working for Uncle Sam back in the early 70's. Other people at the Embassy suggested I simply ship it home with my other household goods, but I decided to follow the letter of the law and ship it to a licensed dealer in my hometown. So advised the licensed dealer, shipped it to them, and it got stuck in customs in NY. Got a nasty letter from them, saying I owed them so much for storage etc. This was fairly early on in the gun control act days, and my dealer wasn't even aware of what forms he needed to get the gun out of customs--and they were not available locally. I pointed that out in a reply to NY customs office, also pointed out that the gun had been purchased on a US military base (sent them documentation to so prove), and eventually received my gun without having to pay any fees.

If you want to avoid any potential hassle, the simple way is to work with a dealer who has an import license. Yes, you'll pay for the service, but you'll also avoid problems.

Since many folks who bought guns from England for example, the gun was sent by Royal mail/Data post. They will no longer accept guns for shipment to the US. Therefore the guns must be shipped via airlines. Currently after 4-5 days storage will start. Normally when I import guns I never send less than 5 guns because of the work and expense involved. IF its a very expensive gun that the cost really does not matter. If I was doing it for myself I would never screw with a 800-$2000 gun

JOhn Boyd

PS: Cadet, you boys sure know how to turn up high mileage guns, getting ride of all your parts guns? I am still amazed at some of this stuff you are sending and amazed even more that poeple are buying it. I think some folks out there would buy a dead dog if its cheap enough!

Italian SxS, I think you misunderstood my point. I am not trying to "carry back" or "smuggle" guns. I am trying to have a purchased gun sent from the UK to a U.S. dealer/importer direct, rather than having to fill out and mail the Form 6 and other ATF and Customs documents, wait weeks or months, and then have to drive to an International Airport to jump through more hoops to retrieve a shotgun. I still haven't successfully gotten anyone to tell me how it is done. I have done the Form 6 ordeal before and am quite familiar with it.

Eightbore:

If you do not want to do all the running around yourself, hire someone to do it. Why do need to be told how it's done if you do not want to do it. That's what you will be paying for, someone to do it.

When I get my cars repaired, I do not need for someone to give me instructions on how to do it, I pay them to know how to do it.

John

OK, John, I guess I understand that even importers have to wait weeks and go to the nearest International Airport to pick up guns from Customs. I didn't realize that was the way it was done. Now maybe someone will answer the question I asked sometime back about how UK dealers at the Vintagers seem to be able to sell guns to U.S. customers. Maybe they get paid, then take them back to the UK and go through the same procedures, I don't know.

I just returned from the UK with 5 antique shotguns (pre-1898). It was a first time for me, so I asked friends and my RFD about the best way.
I used an SKB hardcase (for golf clubs $79.00 on sale)to transport the guns. It meets the requirements of locked/hardcase. It attracts a lot less attention than a standard gun case. The guns were protected in bubble wrap inside. I used a strong bicycle lock around the case in addition to the lame latch locks.
You are limited to 50lbs/23kg per bag now. The SKB case was 21.5 lbs empty. I weighed a pair case at 14 lbs empty. That was over 2 guns of weigh, so no cases came back.

-Have copies of the bill of sale, include serial numbers and appox date of each gun with the documentation of age.
-Keep a copy of paperwork on outside of luggage and with you.
-Your UK registered firearms dealer (RFD) must escort the guns with you to the airport or meet you at the airport with the guns.
-Let your airline agent know you have antique guns. I used the term "disassembled antique shotguns" every time I was asked.
-You and your RFD will be escorted to a police officer who will book the guns out of the UK. He does check paperwork and RFD.
-You have to wait while your package is inspected/xray.
-Once your baggage is accepted, you and the dealer are done. Enjoy the flight.
-I declared the antique guns on my duty card.
-I was flagged for hand inspection at US Customs. No surprise there.
-I explained the documentation and manifest
-I showed them the actions and barrels. They checked serial numbers against my Bill of Sale and documentation of age.
-It took less that 30 minutes once I got to a Customs Officer.

Good documentation is a must. Nigel Brown London/Birmingham books are accepted references. Proof marks and patent dates are a good backup if the makers production numbers are not published.
I had a nice little package of documentation that made it as easy as possible for customs to confirm pre-1898.

I picked an international flight to/from my hometown. I figured that if there were customs problems, I would not be stuck with having to go back and forth to Atlanta or Philly to resolve. Fortunately there were no issues.


Modern guns are another set of rules. The other postings pretty much cover those requirements. The economics of bringing back an antique work pretty well. The economics of modern guns are tough to justify except for the higher value guns. That's why you don't see a lot of sub $1500 English doubles in the US.

Joe in Charlotte

Eightbore:
I know that but please understand I'm NOT trying to give you a hard time here. If I knew of a way to import guns as you describe I'd be more than happy to tell you about it. I tried to PM you on this but that function isn't apparentely working.
Jim