Up the page a bit in the African Hunting forum is an interesting discussion about the rental of camp rifles. As many of you know, Argentina has made the temporary import of firearms an onerous process. While many Argentine outfitters have offered rental guns for years, most clients preferred to bring their own. That no longer seems to be the case.

I have 2 points. First, I think that using one's own gun is a huge part of the overall experience. And like many others, I've invested a lot in my shotguns over the years. Many have been purchased expressly for use in Argentina. Using a beat up auto for ducks or dove may be one thing, using a fine SXS or OU for perdiz and decoyed pigeon is entirely another.

Secondly, inserting rental guns into the process has become another revenue stream for the outfitters, sometimes adding as much as $100 per day to the cost of the hunt. And although we hear sympathetic words from everyone in Argentina about this, it's apparent that this is now the norm, rather than the exception.

I've been in lodges in recent years where the rental guns have been crap. I've also seen some very good gun rooms, with quality guns. It's a gamble.

To be fair, it's also a problem for the outfitter. He needs a ratio of 1.5 guns to every gun actually in the field, just to keep up with the parts/maintenance/replacement program. So he's constantly buying and replacing guns.

It's just another way in which the travel / hunting industry, like any other, is changing, and becoming more costly, and in some cases less enjoyable, each passing season.

The overall experience of a traditional wingshooting trip to a fine South American estancia has been diminished by all this.

The gun rental scam in Argentina has pissed me off so much, that I said to hell with that country. The outfitters blame the government for the gun import issues, but how hard to they try to change it when they now rent guns for a hefty charge. No thanks...

The last time I did it, it wasn't that bad omce we got over the issue of the notarization of the papers. Argentina wanted some sort of weirdo certification from the state that the notary was in fact a notary . After that , it was not that big of a deal . It was harder than need be especially when one considers that the exact same guns have been down about 15 times.

It is annoying . It is pointless . I have partially gotten around it by gifting my gun to a friend in Argentina .

It seems this should be easy to make better. There seems to be little motivation to do so.

Larry:

Trouble with that is, will it be used up by the time you get back? what happens then?

George

George:

I really don’t care as I shot that gun there only.

A new semi auto Beretta is $1200 so doesn't take many days to recoup the cost of a new gun. A modern auto is capable of doing a million odd cartridges id think.

Hunt Inter: I have been told by several sources in Argentina that by the time one pays all the fees and taxes, the final cost of a basic Beretta / Benelli entry-level auto-loader will be $4K USD. But even at that price, an outfitter can quickly recoup the cost in a single season. Nobody down there is in a hurry to change this system.

Dear gentlemen a good Franchi is about 1800us a beretta a400 2400 us -3000 us depending the model ,very easy to replace even for the local guides .
Some guides include the shotguns in the final price .
Cheers Juan