Importing a shotgun barrel from UK

Slyderx1

Ive seen a spare barrel advertised on the web which would be dead handy . Its on a site of a English RFD. Is it a straightforward matter of me (a) paying him and (b) asking him to send it to my local RFD or am I living in Cloud Cuckoo land? Thanks

juice1304

I would imagine it would require an import licence. What shotgun is it for?

Slyderx1

Thanks Juice..its for a winchester 1300...rare as hens fangs ..do i personally apply or does the RFD for a fee?

juice1304

Well you can apply for an import licence yourself and have it shipped to yourself or you can get an rfd to do it he may charge a fee. I would imagine it's hard to get spares for that alright especially seen as how winchester went bust. Miroku make some of their firearms under licence now for a very pretty penny.

juice1304

The import licence itself is free btw.:)

Slyderx1

juice1304 wrote: »

The import licence itself is free btw.:)

great! Many thanks Juice I know the topic raises its ugly head regularly but the reason I may need a spare barrel is that I'm about to have a stuck choke extracted from the original and its nigh on impossible to deal with American sites.

juice1304

If it doesn't work out and you are stuck you could ring brownells in the states they have the ITAR authorization and can ship parts. It would require an export licence though which costs 250 dollars but at least you might be able to get it. They don't have them listed on their website but they do special orders so they may be able to help you in your quest. Also if you are ordering from the states you don't need an import licence your firearms licence acts as the import licence, Although i would imagine customs would be very interested in the package. :P

Slyderx1

juice1304 wrote: »

If it doesn't work out and you are stuck you could ring brownells in the states they have the ITAR authorization and can ship parts. It would require an export licence though which costs 250 dollars but at least you might be able to get it. They don't have them listed on their website but they do special orders so they may be able to help you in your quest. Also if you are ordering from the states you don't need an import licence your firearms licence acts as the import licence, Although i would imagine customs would be very interested in the package. :P

Thanks no Brownells don't do it unfortunately.

Cass

Here is the individual import form.

Fill it in and have it sent by the weekend. The ladies in the office sort them on Monday, and you should have it by Thursday/Friday. Send it to the dealer in the UK, and he can organise the export on his end. Once he organises a courier it can be shipped directly to you or an RFD of your choice.

Slyderx1

Cass wrote: »

Here is the individual import form.

Fill it in and have it sent by the weekend. The ladies in the office sort them on Monday, and you should have it by Thursday/Friday. Send it to the dealer in the UK, and he can organise the export on his end. Once he organises a courier it can be shipped directly to you or an RFD of your choice.

Thanks Cass I have just completed the form and hopefully adapted the replies to suit that of a barrel simpliciter instead of an entire firearm.

GoodGunsGordon

Slyderx1 wrote: »

Thanks Cass I have just completed the form and hopefully adapted the replies to suit that of a barrel simpliciter instead of an entire firearm.

Hi,
Just came across your thread here. I'm in the process of buying a used 1300 (1989 model) and I've discovered it has a Winchoke barrel but was used without chokes so that's most likely messed up.
What are costs of replacing the barrel? It's a Ranger 12 Gauge.
They are rare. I'm looking around and nothing.. What did you do with yours in the end?

Regards,
GGG

Grizzly 45

My first pump action..And one of the most problematical.
Tip 1.
Take off the wood fore end and check before you buy for any sort of looseness or cracking where the twin operating rods are joined onto the slide tube[Thats the metal bit in the wooden fore end.] That is a notoriously weak joint,done with a very bad solder or glue even.That disintergrated on me once while out shooting a year after I bought the gun.Your only answer is either braze or mig weld them back onto the tube and get them alinged well before doing so,otherwise they bind when working in the reciver slots.
Tip 2.
Pull the trigger group and check for over all functioning,especially the hammer spring,they can be weak,and it might be fun to replace that with genuine Winchester bits.Which were always a PITB to get here .
Tip3
Keep the slide bars well lubed.The gun is a very fast pump action and the reciver is aluminium with steel bars running into its channels,if they arent kept reasonably lubed they start to abrade the housing abit,might keep an eye there for reciver micro cracking too.Dunno if it is a long term problem,I didnt have it long enough to find out.It was nicked out of the house and found a decade later totally ruined.:mad:

Good news the 1200 "should" be compatible for most parts.The 1300XTR was just a fancier gun in the woodwork and blueing depts AFAICT
mine was a fixed full choke so I cant say whether the win choke threads would be damaged or not.That would be a gunsmith job to check.

If you can find an old beater or parts bin gun,I'd advise buying everything bar the reciver for either the 1200 ,the 1200 Ranger ,or the 1300 XTR mods,and thats Tip 4,dont shoot it overly much... They were pretty limited runs by Winchester standards,and not that pouplar either as they were pricey in the 80s.Hence the parts shortages.

GoodGunsGordon

Thanks. That's both good and detailed advice Grizzly. Nothing's ever simple really is it? For under a couple of hundred more I can pick up a new SXP albeit without that beautiful classic pump action look which seems to have taken two polar roads: to a) full tactical in black and b) the gentleman field look non scary type pump.
I want this gun but having driven Alfa Romeos for years.. Do I need the headaches?
Fine if parts were available.

Grizzly 45

Looking at the pic.I'd say all you have to do is find a good quality 1300XTR wood stock and fore grip and change them over on the 1200 and none would be the wiser. Go the full hog and change the bolt group,that was jewelled on the 1300.I saw someplace that did do replacement stocks for the 1300,that was really the only differences between them.
Of course you could pick up a Remmy 870 or Mossberg and " Barbieify" them into a total sporting gun too,and be assured of a gun that wont be tempermental,has lots of spares ad your grand kids will be shooting too.

GoodGunsGordon

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Looking at the pic.I'd say all you have to do is find a good quality 1300XTR wood stock and fore grip and change them over on the 1200 and none would be the wiser. Go the full hog and change the bolt group,that was jewelled on the 1300.I saw someplace that did do replacement stocks for the 1300,that was really the only differences between them.
Of course you could pick up a Remmy 870 or Mossberg and " Barbieify" them into a total sporting gun too,and be assured of a gun that wont be tempermental,has lots of spares ad your grand kids will be shooting too.

That's still a real possibility if there are any doubts when I get it given the once over by a gunsmith. I was told a Benelli Nova might be a better buy?

Grizzly 45

I got a M3 Benelli pump /semi last year.Had it out at a clay shoot today.
If the M4 model is becoming the NATO standard shotgun
I dont think you can go too wrong with the Benelli. Just make sure you buy the model you really like,replacement barrels are expensive for them.Like 350 euros for a slug barrel.:eek:

GoodGunsGordon

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

I got a M3 Benelli pump /semi last year.Had it out at a clay shoot today.
If the M4 model is becoming the NATO standard shotgun
I dont think you can go too wrong with the Benelli. Just make sure you buy the model you really like,replacement barrels are expensive for them.Like 350 euros for a slug barrel.:eek:

Chap at Griffin Hawe couldn't say enough about them. He may be stocking them soon but not sure on price yet. What kind of money Grizzly? Are there any floating about on the secondhand market?

Grizzly 45

Be prepared to pay about 1650 new on the Continent,so about 1800 +/- in Ireland for an M3.:(
I was lucky and got mine here of a fellow poster on the boards for 650 2nd hand. The m3 isnt very common in Ireland on the 2nd hand market ,it took me the bones of three years to hunt one down. Either that says those that have them hold onto them,or that they arent that many about.
There are a good few M1 and the civillian sporting version around.But like anything Italian it can be expensive...:)
I was skeptical about how good these guns were supposed to be,but I have to say the M3 is one gun that fitted me straight off from the moment I picked it up,and once you get to know what it likes to eat,or not in ammo.
[Just about everything,but can get picky if grubby and not cleaned on 28 grams clay loads and has shot a lot of them on semi in quick succession.Switch to PA and continue...:)] And its other little quirks ,like stuff the mag,cycle action to put one in battery,and then top off the mag.
Also,they are a VERY fast semi auto...compared to what I used to shoot[Remmy 1100] and light too,so that might translate into OUCH for some folks.
So best try before you buy ,if you can.:)

GoodGunsGordon

Grizzly, that's a few quid alright no matter where you get them. I shot a shed load of clays yesterday and really enjoyed the 1300, it's feel, weight and balance. I'm going to go for it at this stage and maybe I'll add to it later but I reckon I'll be keeping it. Just wish I could find a spare barrel. It turns out on examining it yesterday that it was literally de choked by a gunsmith to a full bore albeit a little shorter. I wouldn't have done that myself but maybe there was damage to the choke at some stage and amputation was the best fix.
It felt really natural to cycle the rounds even taking a second shot at the first 'bird' tester day was effortless.

Grizzly 45

Told you they are a very fast cycling pump.
Well go for it then if you feel good with it.:D At least you know what to watch out for too if things go SPROING! instead of BANG .
A barrel will turn up eventually.I'd ask the good folks at Gunparts.com as well if they have any in stock.Yes they are in the US,but they will ship parts to the EU if they arent ITAR problematic.Sporting shotgun barrells over 18ins ASFIK are still OK.Like I said before,keep an eye out for a junker in a gunsmiths part box.You might be lucky and just buy all the parts for yours there and then IFIWY.:)

GoodGunsGordon

Ps I looked up Gunparts.com and got a page for sale type thing. Is that correct adders for sure? Could be I did something wrong.