doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Revisiting the importing guns from England

Given the current exchange rate (1 US dollar = !.259 British Pounds) and the apparent fall off in what quality double guns are worth, is it now more affordably to buy and import guns from Holts and the other British auctions sites that sell doubles?

I'll presume that fees paid to the people who do the paperwork and shipping have not gone down.

I don't have a specific gun in mind, I'm just wondering if it was more feasible now then 5 or 10 years ago.

I just did and found it considerably cheaper than purchasing the same gun domestically. The only downside was that it took nearly a year for it to get here. Overall, I would do it again.

Changes to EU export laws have indeed slowed the process down. Holt's is one of the few remaining in the UK trade with an open export license. Things are typically taking around 3-4 months for to get all paperwork in place. Dan's gun took longer than expected due to several hang ups with the new system in the UK. Fees have not gone down, nor has overhead. Prices are 550$, plus 1% of the value for insurance, duty and then shipping from my shop to you. Discount for volume imports.

Thanks for the responses

Shouldn't you be selling your shotgun importing services in the For Sale section, and paying the customary fee for using this site to sell things?

I get why you posted Keith but he's really just answering the OP's question with specifics.

SKB just did a gun for me. I highly recommend letting him or another dealer who knows the ins and out of importing guns into the US do all the heavy lifting. Also try to do your gun with a group. Cheaper and more efficient in the long run. But it is not cost effective to do on guns below a certain value. You can�t pay $550 to bring in a gun which is worth a grand if you pay top much for it at auction. Buyers premium, the cost of getting Holts to ship it all adds up on top of your bid price.

About eight years ago I did import a gun myself. In theory it�s fairly straight forwards. It was an antique, clearly pre 1898, should have been the easy. It was until Custom wanted to change me full duty on it.

They kept wanting to charge me duty on it when it should have been duty free. Then it was a big ticket item and I did not want to pay a tax I should not have to pay. Anyways it took multiple trips to get it through Customs without paying any duty.

While my time off is �free� there are things I�d rather do than deal with someone who decides to not accept facts if they conflict with their views. They wanted a letter from the maker stating date of manufacture. The fact this firm closed a hundred plus years earlier did not get me anywhere. I had to show multiple documents, from several different sources to confirm the DOM. In the end I got the gun but decided the hassle exceed the money saved.

Didn't you know liberals get a free pass.

There are few things in life that are predictable. However one thing we can all count on is that however straightforward a post may be, these two guys will screw it up.

Canvasback, to answer your question, Stevie went way beyond answering the OP's question with specifics when he included pricing for his own services. It would have been much different if he was someone who was passing on a link to an importer they had successfully used. But Stevie is profiting financially from his importing services. Truthfully, how long do you think I would get away with the same thing without a rash of complaints to Dave??? And how long do you think jOe would get away with it? Truthfully... knowing the hypocritical bullshit that masquerades as civility and decorum here.

And wouldn't you know... Liberal Birds of a Feather Flock Together!



rocky mtn bill very recently did much the same thing as SKB when he sold some Springfield actions in the Classic and Custom Rifle forum.

Billy avoiding the $10.00 fee for using this site to sell guns

I'm just wondering... where are all the Thread Police and Self Appointed Moderators who whine about rules, when their little friends violate the rules on a regular basis? I never cared much until I became a target of their hypocrisy.

Speaking of which, did you see nca225's recent NRA bashing thread that was disguised as a Memorial Thread for George H.W. Bush in the Silent Doubles forum?