The answer is that one can export an 1880 shotgun from the UK under an Open General Export Licence (OGEL) with the unlikely title of 'Historic Military Goods', free of charge, providing that
1. it is a weapon that is covered by the OGEL's specification (most pre-1897 shotguns would be);
2. the exporter is registered to use the OGEL (a simple matter);
3. the gun is being exported to an End User in a country that is not precluded under the OGEL (the USA is okay!);
4. The exporter keeps a record of all items exported under the OGEL.
So that gets round the export licence matter.
Then you have to get it over the pond. This is where the costs start to mount.
There is no facility in the UK to drop the gun into a postal/courier system for direct shipping. They have all deleted firearms from their allowed items. It has to be handled by a shipping agent of some kind who can book the freight movement and get the export 'entry' done for you. From the shipping agent office to the international airport in the USA this might cost between 200 and 400 mainly depending on whether there are any 'economies of scale' that the shipper can access, eg he groups your gun with several others going out.
Once in the USA, you may be able to economise by clearing the gun yourself at the international airport. Some people have achieved this but every int. airport's custom's rules are subtly different and some may insist of you employing a customs broker to clear it for you. Prices range hugely from one State to another and even one airport to another, mainly based on whether the local customs office will allow a 'minimum charge' bond to be written or if it has to be for the full value. This could effect the price by several 100's of $.
It pays to investigate the situation with the supervising customs officer in your airport of choice before committing yourself to that route.
Of course you can use a fully inclusive service offered by several UK based gun dealers but they are not immune to the regulations and costs as listed above so will charge accordingly. Don't expect to get it done for 10's of $, think 100's and probably several 100's at that.
Both Digs (Smallbore) and I offer a rather cheaper method of getting pre-1897 guns out to the US by including them in shipments that we are making to our shows in the US but this usually means fitting in with our time schedules rather than your own.
Please note that a gun MUST be in proof to be legally exported from the UK.
