Shipping a Rifle from England to USA?

[IdahoMo]

Hey Folks! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm a southpaw and thus finding rifles can sometimes be a challenge. I've found just what I've been looking for, but its in England. I live in Idaho. Could any of you tell me what the process is like when purchasing a firearm online in England and having it shipped to the US?

Thanks!

 

[mdsalern]

Importing a firearm from England is about $3200. If that doesn’t dissuade you, I’ll repost the links.

 

[baxterb]

Call Griffin and Howe.

 

[IdahoMo]

@mdsalern, Owe! $3200! Yes, please repost the links anyways.

 

[sierraone]

I imported from London to Little Rock in 2016. The import costs were about $1440.

 

[mdsalern]

Import/Export - Griffin & Howe

griffinhowe.com

Home - London Gun Company

Located in London’s Chelsea, we provide the complete range of gun services for game shooters combined with exemplary customer care.

londonguncompany.co.uk

London Gun Co. quoted £1700 to get permits, air freight, etc. to Griffin and Howe.

 

[WAB]

I’ve imported twice. Did all the paperwork myself without any issue. It’s been a while so things may have changed but I doubt that I spent much over $100 per gun.

 

[IdahoMo]

@WAB, Interesting. When I read the ATFs guidance on importation here,https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-383?language=en_US, it seemed straight forward other than a lot of waiting. If you did your importing from England, what sort of paperwork did you have to sort out on that end?

 

[WAB]

I’m not certain, Bob Battaglia at Park street guns handled that end on one and a friend at H&H the other. Both at no cost.

 

[sierraone]

Import/Export - Griffin & Howe

griffinhowe.com

Home - London Gun Company

Located in London’s Chelsea, we provide the complete range of gun services for game shooters combined with exemplary customer care.

londonguncompany.co.uk

London Gun Co. quoted £1700 to get permits, air freight, etc. to Griffin and Howe.

And then there will be additional costs from Griffin and Howe to take care of the U.S. import requirements then sending it to your FFL. I have no idea how to do it myself as @WAB suggested.

 

[mdsalern]

I would like to know more about doing it yourself too! As far as I’ve seen, as the CBP website says it has to be someone registered as an importer.

 

[sierraone]

I would like to know more about doing it yourself too! As far as I’ve seen, as the CBP website says it has to be someone registered as an importer.

In my case that was Griffin and Howe.

 

[WAB]

Hmmm, it’s been a lot of years, but I just went on the BATF website, filled in the forms, found an accommodating FFL and executed. It was pretty seamless. It sounds like the system my have changed.

 

[Huvius]

Get ahold of Steve Bertram - Bertram & CO.
He brings in lots of rifles from England.
Nothing near $3200

 

[JPetroni]

Hey Folks! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm a southpaw and thus finding rifles can sometimes be a challenge. I've found just what I've been looking for, but its in England. I live in Idaho. Could any of you tell me what the process is like when purchasing a firearm online in England and having it shipped to the US?

Thanks!

IdahoMoe,

First off let me say I feel your pain, I am a lefty as well. As to the import/export, I have just gone through the process with a new rifle from the UK. My experience is with a newly manufactured firearm, although it would be similar for a used firearm. I have no personal experience though on a used transaction.

I would strongly suggest that you use a licensed Importer, I used Griffin&Howe. There are numerous rules and regulations and agencies on both sides along with export permits from the UK along with Import permits in the US. There are possible VAT taxes in the UK and then you have Customs import taxes here in the US. Things are not as easy as it might have been in years past. There are also import taxes on cases and scopes, shipping etc. Also by Federal Law the imported firearms must be marked or engraved with the importers name.

My experience with Griffin&Howe was flawless and easy, they took care of everything and have exporters in the UK you can use or you might have your own licensed Exporter already, that they can deal with, I have not received the total bill just yet but whatever it is, it’s worth it not having to navigate through all of the regulatory agencies on both side of the pond. I believe Sierraone gave you a link to G&H. I do know that what they charge is nominal compared to the taxes.
Give them a call at least and talk real numbers, can’t hurt and there was another importer mentioned as well. One last reason that G&H was used is that they are able to nicely engrave their importer information very small and looks good to be honest. Some others may just use a stamp type marking. But either way it has to be marked.

Best of luck on your new acquisition and the journey ahead of you. Enjoy it. If you love the rifle it will be worth it.

JP

 

[JPetroni]

Hey Folks! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm a southpaw and thus finding rifles can sometimes be a challenge. I've found just what I've been looking for, but its in England. I live in Idaho. Could any of you tell me what the process is like when purchasing a firearm online in England and having it shipped to the US?

Thanks!

IdahoMo,

Just to follow up for you. I have received the final billing for my Rifle export from the UK to the US As follows,

1. Import Shipping Charges, Shipping and Handling fees from the UK to the US
at $858.39

2. Import Duty Based on actual value of Firearms, Cases and Scopes. Griffin&Howe can give you this information once they have the total cost of what you wish to Import, and the cost for engraving of the Importer information.

3. Customs Clearance Fees at $367.50

4. Broker License and Processing Fees at $150.00

5. Shipping Rifle to My Dealer on the East Coast $741.77

6. Shipping to my Dealer on the West Coast $1,988.08 This was my choice to ship overnight air to me. You could use a more economical shipping if you so choose. Shipping weight was 101 pounds, as all was Crated for International standards of shipping.

I sincerely hope that the above information is helpful in your quest to acquire that Left Handed Rifle from the UK. Again all the importing was done by Griffin&Howe. I did not deal with them Personally, however my Local Dealer said everything went extremely smooth. As far as I am concerned the whole process from my perspective was super easy.

All the Best
JP

 

[Spartan5]

I am working on importing one right now. The cost varies based on value of the rifle, but mine is estimated to be about $1000-1200. I am using TR Imports. I looked at several companies to import and they were one of the most reasonable. You can do it yourself as “an occasional importer” with a Form 6 from the ATF, I have links for some instructions on both below:
TR Imports https://www.trimports.com/import-services/
I will look for the DIY instructions I found and post them here later.

 

[IdahoMo]

Everyone, thanks so much for the valuable input. Unfortunately the gun shop in England said they would not sell a firearm to be exported! Either way I hope this thread helps some other folks out. I’ve been looking at just building me a LH 375 h&h and think this is the final straw. When I get to getting it built I will share the process. Should be fun to talk about.