Bidding on antiques from the USA? Anyone ever do this?

[u/StrictTrust44]

[u/EnvironmentBright697 → u/[deleted]]

Very easy, they have to ship them to FFL’s anyway. Just find an importer like irunguns and tell them to ship it to your FFL (irunguns). IRG takes care of the rest.

[u/crazydsb → u/EnvironmentBright697]

This. I have used IRG multiple times in the past with no issues. The process is long but not due to any shortcomings of IRG. It is the border and it’s now more complicated due to that orange ass-hat in power.

[u/Psyex → u/crazydsb]

Well when your busy pissing off half the planet, I suppose you have to be careful.

[u/SumthinFishe → u/[deleted]]

Best bet would be to have it shipped to an importer like IRUNGUNS they were super easy to use when I bought my M1 from the US cost me extra obviously but worth not having to deal with the headache of paper work plus most guys won’t sell unless it’s going to someone with an FFL

Edit:spelling

[u/No_Win_9797 → u/[deleted]]

IRUNGUNS imports from the states and is willing to do so, including restricted They have a write up on their website saying so I just imported a Gen 2 ruger American in 5.56

[u/Acceptable_Visit_115]

A quick search on this sub would tell you that a lot of people have done it before, either by themselves or via a broker.

[u/mwmwmwmwmmdw → u/Acceptable_Visit_115]

and its one of the few guns id say is worth it to import since it can sometimes be thousands in savings and also adds another antique to the finite amount currently in canada

[u/PizzaExisting9878 → u/Acceptable_Visit_115]

Ok but maybe there’s people who hadnt thought of this and would be otherwise unaware it’s an option.

[u/Content_Sky_2676]

You usually need to get it sent through an importer because they're understandably leery of shipping over the border, which is an additional cost.

Also in my experience they're often listed based on historical condition, not shootability, so fail to mention things that make it unshootable, mostly because in their market it's a collector piece, not a regular shooter.

Lastly, the colt 1892s are notorious for going out of time, so beware.

[u/IGnuGnat]

Yep you can go through Prophet River or irunguns

This is my favorite, I've collected .44 Russian brass, primers, black powder and reloading equipment but haven't had a chance to roll my own cartridges yet.

https://imgur.com/a/russian-contract-smith-wesson-no-3-second-model-revolver-2y496nG

[u/Purple-Character8206 → u/IGnuGnat]

If you don't mind answering how was the price from importing from U.S. compared to getting one already in Canada?

[u/IGnuGnat → u/Purple-Character8206]

When you factor in the exchange rate, and I'm fairly certain there were border taxes of some kind (this was before the current tariff situation Ihave no idea how that factors in) the price ended up being fairly close. I might have saved 5%. I think the main difference is the wide variety, selection and the potential quality of the antiques is better in the US. If you find a good auction house that rates the antique in detail it's just easier to find a high quality example of what you want with no pitting in the barrel, in the US

[u/UsernameIllRemeber]

Bought a British bulldog revolver off gun broker a few years ago, seller shipped it straight to me without issue. Had him print out a page from the frt showing the model as antique and put it in the box. As far as I understand, antiques are not considered firearms in either US or Canada, and no paperwork is required to ship them over the border. On the other hand I trust CBSA about as far as I can throw them, and if they happen to check your package I would probably expect a fight.

[u/westleysnipes604]

I had a video on it but YouTube deleted them for illegal content after the buyback launched. Even though it's not illegal and you can still buy guns from the states.

[u/Psyex]

Antique is an Antique. Just make sure you have the proper paperwork. Also the Canadian definition of Antique can be different than the US so make double sure. Cover you bases more than you think you have to and you should be good.

[u/escv_69420]

In the US. antiques don't need FFLs. Sellers in the US know this, and often know our antique laws too (which is why .41 SAAs are $7k). The good ones will ship straight to you and it'll just be a totally normal package. You may want to send the auction pictures and serial numbers to the RCMP lab to get it papered as an antique before you even have it sent here.

If the seller is unfamiliar with antique laws or thinks your being sketchy when you inform them, have it sent to IRG. I don't know how IRG deals with antiques but there shouldn't be any paperwork on their end.

I've bought several from reputable antique soecialists and they always just get sent here no problem.

[u/imnotm3h]

Anyone got a website they recommend for the auctions to then get it setup with irunguns? Or maybe a simple breakdown on how to go about this? Also do you have to look for a specific year or pm me some details I didn’t even know this was a thing