Buying a .22 (in the US?)

spideog7

Hey all, I do alot of shotgun shooting, all hunting. I've been thinking about buying a rifle for a good while and now it's the right time of year... and I have some money
So I'm thinking of starting out fairly small with a .22winmag, might try and look for one second hand, hopefully they have come down a bit with the "advent" of the .177HMR.
Then today I was reading an article about the Euro's new all time high against the dollar, and then I thought of the the general availability and "cheapness" of guns in the states and it occurred to me that it might be cheaper to buy one over there.
Basically what I want to know is on a nice secondhand CZ .22WMR I doubt you'd be paying much more than E400 so is it really worth the hassle of trying to get one in the states, I'll probably try and get a nice scope there anyway.
(On a side point I heard Simmons are good - Any ideas ? )
What should I look for in a secondhand rifle, I doubt many gun dealers would try and screw me over but I don't want to just walk in and go towards the shiniest one !!!

Regards,
Pat

cantona

The amount of hassle and paperwork not to mention being screwed by Customs and Excise make this a no-go for most items.

Firearms and parts require an end user certificate(smallbore may be easier but fullbore next to impossible-they don't want them used against themselves

Scopes can be got (except mildot-Not a chance), but expect to be screwed by tax +VAT+Excise Duty(30%+ even on postage and insurance)

US dealers like Brownells, BrazosCustom, 1911Store limit orders to $100 or $150 and will not send serial numbered items or frames or barrells etc.

Even stores like Dawson Precision who used to send items albeit up to $150 have now stopped due to the overall hassle involved.

I'm afraid you are stuck with European suppliers

spideog7

Yea I thought that alright. Of course customs <cough> need not know about your lickle purchase , "I brought that rifle scope on holidays with me, I use it for bird watching". I take it an importation licence is not needed for a scope ?
Yea too much paperwork I'd imagine on anything else, of course buying from Irish dealers is also a lot of paperwork

rrpc

spideog7 wrote:

Yea I thought that alright. Of course customs <cough> need not know about your lickle purchase , "I brought that rifle scope on holidays with me, I use it for bird watching".

And sir has the original receipt for it? Dreadfully sorry sir, but we'll have to hold onto that until we can see the receipt. :rolleyes:

spideog7 wrote:

I take it an importation licence is not needed for a scope ?
Yea too much paperwork I'd imagine on anything else, of course buying from Irish dealers is also a lot of paperwork

You can also buy from europe y'know.

Clare gunner

Not quite.You have to export the gun thru a dealer that has out of CONUS export facilities.There is a crowd in Colarado I used[ ETSS inc.].They will do the US State dept export permit work ,etc.Price is reasonable enough appx 450USD for their service and having it deliverd by a special courier company to a main airport of your choice in Ireland.You collect it.Customs is not as bad as you think,if you buy a 2nd hand gun,it is substantially less.I paid them 50 euros[which was I think more for them to do the paperwork in a day,not a week].What classifies as 2nd hand?Fire the gun once,that is enough.And if you are getting a scope fitted,well it will have to be shot in to zero wont it?;) .Thing is;is this worth doing for a 22lr rifle???

Parts;YES they WILL ship.DEPENDING on the stores policy.you just have to shop around.They will ship up to 150USD[inc Shipping price].Some are just not intrested in the hassle in the small orders situation
What they WILL NOT ship without the paperwork is; 100% compleated Recivers [The reciver is THE FIREARM under US law] You can buy no problem 80% finished recivers,no problem and export them, as BATFE considers them unfinished products[IE a lump of metal].Small parts,springs,hammers,mags,etc so long as it is within the 150 USD.No problem

Barrells,some will ship shotgun barrels no problem,others will not.Rifle barrels ditto.An order for a custom 308 match barrel is totally different to a 300 order of M16 barrels.:D Just shop around on the net.

Optics,no problem at all.You can bring them in no sweat.Exporting thermal scopes from the US,althought you can buy them openly[appx 10,000 ]might be a different matter.:)
This nonsense about them being used against US troops is a paranoid cop out. Or the fact that the US armed forces personel have precedence in getting theirs first from Uncle Sam,or from private buys by US Gis[And proper order too,INMHO]
You can buy the exact same units that S&B,etc advertise in the US in the EU for twice the money in any gun store.If it is freely for sale publically,it is not current milspec equipment.

Rosahane

spideog7 - I've sent you a PM

spideog7

Nope, I didn't get any

Rosahane

I've tried again