If a person were to be in Europe and happen to find themselves in Finland and just happened to discover a nice little Sako rifle (.222, .243) for sale, what sort of bureaucratic nightmare would a person be faced with to get the piece home?

I'm assuming there are some sort of Gun shops in Finland.
I'm assuming foriegn visitors may purchase firearms and ship them home.
I'm assuming the exchange rate would not be such that it would be more economical to buy one in this country at the prices we see these days.

If any of you guys, or gals, have some experience to share on this topic, I would welcome your comments.

Doug

This is from Gunbroker's FAQ page. It outlines the procedures for importing firearms into the US. Maybe this would be of interest??

quote:

Importing Firearms into the US

If you live outside the US and wish to sell an item on GunBroker.com to a US resident, the item will need to be legally imported into the US. Any Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder can import a firearm for personal use or on behalf of an unlicensed person by filling out the proper paperwork. According to the ATF:

(L1) May a licensed dealer who does not have an importer's license make an occasional importation?

Yes. A licensee may make an occasional importation of a firearm for a nonlicensee or for the licensee's personal use (not for resale). The licensee must first submit a ATF Form 6, Part I to the Imports Branch for approval. The licensee may then present the approved Form 6 and completed ATF Form 6A to the U.S. Customs Service. Contact the Bureau of ATF, Imports Branch, Washington, DC 20226, (202) 927-8320 for forms.

There are a great many items that cannot be imported into the US. These include 'armor piercing' ammo, high-capacity magazines, and so-called 'assault weapons'. Please contact your FFL to make import arrangements and verify the legality of the item you are attempting to import before placing a bid on an item.

If the item is not a firearm (such as scopes, holsters, etc.) then the item can be sent into the US without any special importation procedure other than filling out a standard US Customs form.

There is a great deal of additional information on the ATF web site at: http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/index.htm

All this naturally assumes the Finns will let you leave the country with the rifle. In theory, you probably need to apply for a Finnish export permit. That seems to be the regular procedure in most countries - including the US.

- mike

My wife is from Europe. When we visit her family I like to stop at the local gun shops. I have never found anything there that was better priced on their shelf. I think there is a large tax added to the guns.
I did have a friend from Italy that had a Ducati 916 motorcycle in Italy. We worked together in California, one evening we stopped by a Ducati motorcycle dealer to look at new bikes. Including the cash conversion (dollar to Euro) the new 916's were about two thousand dollars cheeper in the US! In the case of the motorcycle there is no reason to go thru the importing hassle when someone else will do it for you.

MHO and HAIRTRIGGER,

Thanks for your input on this. We won't be heading to Europe for at least a couple of years but when we do , I want to be prepared to take advantage of an opportunity if one should appear. It may be the case that it would be too much hassle to bother with. I'll investigate further.

I've got a message out to a shooter in Finland to get his take on this. Have yet to get an answer. Maybe he is too busy dealing with the internal red tape just to keep his rifles.

Thanks, Doug

quote:

Originally posted by Hairtrigger:
My wife is from Europe. When we visit her family I like to stop at the local gun shops. I have never found anything there that was better priced on their shelf. I think there is a large tax added to the guns.
I did have a friend from Italy that had a Ducati 916 motorcycle in Italy. We worked together in California, one evening we stopped by a Ducati motorcycle dealer to look at new bikes. Including the cash conversion (dollar to Euro) the new 916's were about two thousand dollars cheeper in the US! In the case of the motorcycle there is no reason to go thru the importing hassle when someone else will do it for you.

That would be the VAT taxes that are paid in most european countries.

Now here's the interesting thing, if you are a foreigner buying the item to take out of the country they will usually refund the VAT taxes.

Most people aren't aware of this however...

Even stuff like Hotel bills contain a large proportion of taxes to which you as a foreigner/tourist are not subject....
I always love staying in canada and getting the refund check, though you MUST actually apply for those refunds....

SAVE receipts for everything!

AllanD

Allan,
your suggestion is correct, but I would like to know if final prices differ, and of course how much differs, also taking in consideration taxes.
For example I was considering to buy a Zbrojovka Brno rifle( not a CZ), in Itlay the price suggested by the importer is 399€ for the base versionn, discounted it is possible to have it paying 360€, final price, taxes (20%) included.

How much does it cost it in USA?

If you want to take a look open Zbrojovka Brno

Doug:

Make sure you take the tour at Sako factory, seems like it's at Rynmakie, or some such in Finland. I went there while in the Army in 72 and was amazed at how they went overboard treating me right when I said that I was looking to buy some rifles.
Which I did from the Gun Club at Wiesbaden, Ger. Don't think anyone not on active duty can buy there. Might be worth the time to drop in and find out though.

I only had to get permission from my CO and that sure wasn't hard as he was a member of the Colt firearm's family.
I bought a Sako Vixen .222RemMag, and ordered a .300Win Finnbear, but, by then was too short a time for it to get in so believing there wasn't much difference, bought a 7mmag in the same. Since getting home and studying the loading books I've discovered the 7mmag isn't as much gun as the old 06 is.

I also ordered a Colt .45 SAA, Ruger .30 Carbine Blackhawk, and Rem 1100 12ga. Before they got in, headquarters came down with a new rule Enlisted people are now limited to two guns per tour of duty"

Well damn it anyway, by then I had built wooden crates and already shipped the two Sako's, the CO couldn't do anything about the others, I had to cancel these orders and bought them after I got home.

What was amazing, I paid $105 for the Vixen and $165 for the Finnbear. Call your dealer and be shocked!! Then it was about $775 here for each one.

The .222mag came right thru, the 7mm was delayed for months, then the crate had been opened and stock scratched, crate I had steel banded 5 ways was taped closed, instead of banded. Wasn't anything I could about it. You know how it is to have something this fine and not be the one to put the first scratch on, right?

Good luck with it, hope this helps some.
Just make sure you go there, FN plant, and along the French coasts go visit the US Military cemeteries and salute our many troops buried there. It will humble you.

George