Another thing is that apparently, any traveler before WW1 had to pay full custom duties on guns he had on him. Temporary import permits were not yet invented. The duties were very high, often 50% of the cost of guns (from Modern Sporting Gunnery, by Henry Sharp, 1906), and a fellow visiting numerous counties could save quite a few pennies by making his guns look cheap and claiming less value.

Russian Hunting Shotguns