I'd play it safe and ask whatever governing body enforces such laws there. It wouldn't hurt to get a hard copy of the law either, just to be on the safe side.

 

This is from our NFA. It quotes our Criminal Code. If you can make sense of it good for you. If not stick to 18" or better. :

http://www.nfa.ca/node/128

HA

 

I doubt that will help in Canada though, I'm sure they must have some sort of restrictions of their own.

 

I doubt that will help in Canada though, I'm sure they must have some sort of restrictions of their own.

That is Canada's regs.

HA

 

Can someone please advise me of the barrel length restrictions in Canada? I have been led to believe it is 14" by one source, and 18.5" by another. I also heard that anything factory made was OK, but if my barrel was cut off to 16.25" by a gunsmith, that is not allowed. A little clarity would be great, Thanks, Digger

I think this might be of some guidance...

Prohibited firearms, devices, and weapons in Canada are:

* full-automatic firearms
* sawed-off rifles or shotguns with barrel length less than 457mm (18 inches); this does not apply to firearms manufactured with short barrels
* sawed-off rifles or shotguns with overall length less than 660mm (26 inches); this does not apply to firearms manufactured with short stocks or short barrels

I found the info here...

http://www.panda.com/canadaguns/

It would also be wise to confirm this info with Canadian authorities before getting to the U-S Canada border.

 

That is Canada's regs.

HA

OOOPS! My bad, when I saw the "ca" in the linkaddy I mentally linked it to California in my head. :

 

if you have a barrel shortened on a centerfire to under 18.5 by you or a gunsmith it becomes restricted.if it is a production rifle,but not semi auto,under 18.5 it is fine,like a winchester trapper or marlin camp carbine,they have 16 inch barrels.but you can have shotgun with 12.5 barrel if just a pump but overall length is over 27 inches.as for rimfires you can goes as short as 11.5 and have up to 150 rounds magazines.in canada you can only have 5 rounds max in a semi auto rifle and ten in a pistol.unless the rifle is capable of using 10 round pistol magazines,like the barretta cx storm carbines.you can own 30 round magazines but have to pinned to take no more than 5 rounds.also a lot of the fun guns you can use in the states are prohibited here or restricted ,any AR variant restricted.FAL,AK and other variants outlawed unless you have special license .plus there is some different rules for some special firearms.also all handguns that shoot 32 caliber and under are prohibited and all other calibers with a barrel shorter than 4 inchs.overnight some 500,000 weapons were made illegal in canada.but we can buy russian and chinese weapons,sks,svt 40 and cheap handguns.sks here can be bought for 180 and chinese m 14 for 450.also we can send guns though the mail to individuals not to a FFL dealers.this should make it clear as mud ;D

 

So, it's sounding like my new Brockman custom may not be Canada friendly. Hmmmm, guess that means I'll have to have another one when I go there, maybe an LTD? 8)

 

if you are bringing your own private firearm form the USA for a temporary period of time you might be all right as you will be leaving Canada again.but you have to apply for special permit to bring a rifle into canada.are you relocating to canada or coming up for a hunt.i can give you more info then

 

if you are bringing your own private firearm form the USA for a temporary period of time you might be all right as you will be leaving Canada again.but you have to apply for special permit to bring a rifle into canada.are you relocating to canada or coming up for a hunt.i can give you more info then

Just for a hunt someday, not sure when, just thinking ahead. I'm glad if that is the case, but sad also, as I was just ogling an XLR, LOL

 

you should be fine for that.you just have to apply for Non-Resident Firearm Declaration Form.you can get this from the internet or your outfitter service will supply with one.do it ahead of time and there is a fee as well.no handguns are allowed though for hunting or self protection,just competitions.i have given myself a great excuse to buy more marlin 1895 45 70 in the future.i what to shoot 3 different loads,300,405 and 500+.so i can have one for each weight.save money that way but not having to resight my rifle each time ;D would really like one of the brockmans.going to see about getting one imported,i think that is an extra $400 for me

 

blackcie9999, I live in one part of Alaska, southeast but travel through Canada to get to the mainland AK. I have always hesitated bringing anything through because I haven't plowed through the regs to make certain I have my T's crossed.. I know bringing my revolver through is out, because everytime I go through they ask if I own a handgun, and the times I have said yes, but it is at home it was an automatic vehicle search. What about bringing my factory original guide gun through with no plans of using it in Canada? I remember back in the 60's they put a cable through the bore and back around and sealed it with a crimp which needed to be checked when leaving Canada to make sure the seal hadn't been broken. Do they still do that?

 

You'll have to declare it at the border and have it in a locked case and or a cable lock in the action. You'll pay a small fee and fill out the temp registration and you're good to go. Make sure to fill out US Customs form 4457 before you leave so you don't have any issues bringing it back either. Google the RCMP firearms program and you'll get all the info you ever needed. Its really not that bad.

 

You'll have to declare it at the border and have it in a locked case and or a cable lock in the action. You'll pay a small fee and fill out the temp registration and you're good to go. Make sure to fill out US Customs form 4457 before you leave so you don't have any issues bringing it back either. Google the RCMP firearms program and you'll get all the info you ever needed. Its really not that bad.

Thanks for the info. I have been wanting to do a trip up to my old stomping grounds and was planning on taking the GG but just never seem to get my head around finding the regs and interpreting them.

 

If your coming from the states to Canada to hunt you'll have to use a registered guide. I'd contact one of them as they would have to be up on a the legal mumbo jumbo in order for you to bring your firearms across.

Otherwise contact the CFC Canadian Firearms Center.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/index-eng.htm

Tel: 613-993-7267

Good luck.

 

Canada's gun laws are the reason I've never hunted there and never will.

 

Canada's gun laws are the reason I've never hunted there and never will.

Bold statement. The process to get your guns across isen't hard otherwise you wouldn't have thousands upon thousands of american coming to hunt here each year. I don't believe our law are any more or less than America? If you know some please explain. If your referring to handguns you can permits, just not to hunt, but I don't believe every state allows handgun hunting so whats the difference? If you want beautiful scenery and world class big game ( And great beer ;D) Canada is the place to be. Eh.

 

I can't speak to Canada's gun laws because I don't know them, but if what blakcie9999 says is true that they don't need FFL's for individuals to send guns then that would be one biggie in their favor. The biggest gripe I have is their customs agents which I have had hassles with before over nothing and I just don't care for most of them. I can just as easily say the same about our own customs for that matter. I have driven through Canada countless times and once past the border I am always struck by their friendliness and the times when I broke down, at least 4 times over the years, people went out of their way to help get me back on the road. If I ever were to want to hunt there, I would simply figure out the rules of the country and follow them. I seriously doubt gun laws, at least for hunting are any worse there than many state laws such as California.
When in Rome...

 

in canada no FFL needed.goes for handguns and other restricted as well.just have to call in transfer to firearms center than it is good to go in the mail or courier.hunting laws vary from province to province.where i live in BC it is pretty much anything goes.no bans or restrictions on much here,rifles,shotguns,bows,crossbows,muzzleloaders,pellet guns,just certain areas around towns and cities have no shooting or limited to shotgun.

 

Some of you are extremely naive or extremely lucky. I WOULDN'T ATTEMPT TO TAKE ANY GUN ACROSS THE CANADIAN BORDER IF I WANTED TO KEEP IT.

Try crossing that border with TX or CA plates, or a TX DL. I know from more than one experience it will not be an easy crossing. One time I got so fed up I asked if maybe I could change my mind and not go spend my american dollars in thier country. Apparently that arouse even more suspicion, but after 3 hours of them looking through my rent car that I got at teh boston airport I was kind of tired and had already missed dinner in Canada.

We were up in vermont doing some design work for the US customs office BEFORE 911. WE had even gone to tour the Canadian border station that very day to see how they did it. These morans knew us. Knew we were in Vermnt on bussiness and knew from our conversations with them just hours before that we were going to Canada to eat because there really wasn't much in that part of Vermont. Hell they even recommended the restaurant. They decided we were smuggling hand guns and detained us an hour that time while they again took apart a MASS plated rent car. They figure a TX DL means handgun smuggler.

If you attempt to cross the border with ONE 30-06 bolt action rifle you are probably looking at an hour detainment. They take you SS#, TDL#, and the serial nuber of the gun and send it to the BATF. This was confirmed by teh US customs office as they said they get a copy from Canada and toss it in the round file.

I went hunting in BC about 10 years ago and will not ever again. The local guide told me not to even bother trying to bring my own rifle acroos the border but to use his. His weren't sited in very well. But from conversations with others from here in TX that have gone up there too, they do not take their own guns.

If you choose to take a 16 1/2" barrelled lever gun across the border I will bet a dime to a doughnut you do not get it back without a lot of paperwork. They will probalby confiscate it and send it to the BATF. Of course the BATF has no proocol for dealing with something that is sent to them that was legal in the US. If you ahve ever dealt with the BATF you know you are better off just giving up so they will go away.

 

Border guards on either side can be a terrible or pleasant experience for that matter. If your paper work is in order you have nothing to worry about, if your legal they can't just keep them. I suspect if you give them attitude or sarcastic remarks then they can make life difficult.

I also very much doubt that guides recommend foreign clients not to bring their own firearms over to hunt with. That case if true is would be an exception to the rule. Nobody would come here if it were fact. Thousands do every year (without losing their firearms) so?.....

I know too many guide outfitters and see too many US plates to know different.

 

This may be drifting off topic, but my Internet research shows that a US citizen can NOT keep a loaded long gun close at hand in his vehicle or RV - and the only legal way to carry a loaded gun is to have a visitor's hunting license AND be accompanied by either a Canadian resident with a license or by a hired professional hunting guide.

So this "legally" rules out keeping a loaded rifle nearby when you camp in Big Brown Bear country. An unloaded, cased rifle with a cable lock running through the bore is less than useless if a bear gets unruly.

My question to you Canadians is: is this enforced in the western Provinces? Can I keep my 45/70 loaded, but not chambered, and close at hand in my RV, while camping outside of a park, without risk of a serious confrontation with a Mountie?

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

I have hunted twice in New Brunswick Ca. for spring black bear. I drove from Long Iland N.Y. crossing the Maine border. Both times required filing out paperwork, the rifle paper work is good for ever . Once they have the the rifle registered you can use it [for that rifle] over again. Never had a problem everybody was nice ,sucked having to pay the $50.00 though Now for what it's work both times I went ,some hunters at the camp had major issue s. The first year had a carload of NY hunters where 1 was not allowed to enter Canada because of traffic tickets! They ended up paying a few hundred dollars to cross . They were there for hours. The second time a father son from NY had problems. The grown son had been arrested as a young man due to a bar fight. That was many years ago and they refused to let him into CA. They had to drive to Bangor Maine to put the son on a plane home, as he insisted that his father continue to the hunt. If you have any arrests no matter how old, address them beforehand with Ca. Because if you show up at the border you may not be allowed to enter

 

This may be drifting off topic, but my Internet research shows that a US citizen can NOT keep a loaded long gun close at hand in his vehicle or RV - and the only legal way to carry a loaded gun is to have a visitor's hunting license AND be accompanied by either a Canadian resident with a license or by a hired professional hunting guide.

So this "legally" rules out keeping a loaded rifle nearby when you camp in Big Brown Bear country. An unloaded, cased rifle with a cable lock running through the bore is less than useless if a bear gets unruly.

My question to you Canadians is: is this enforced in the western Provinces? Can I keep my 45/70 loaded, but not chambered, and close at hand in my RV, while camping outside of a park, without risk of a serious confrontation with a Mountie?

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Hey John,

The chances of running into an officer are slim depending where you go but legally you'd have to abide by the law. Honestly if you were miles out in the middle of know where I wouldn't worry about. It would probably be what we call a Conservation Officer (CO) out in the woods and I wouldn't want to be in the wrong. Now if you were to have a citizen with you then you'd be ok.

Fox trapper,

Glad you had better experiences than some. I too know many people who have been denied entrance to the States due to old records, (DUI, fights) that haven't been pardoned. I believe its 5 years and your name can be cleared. If not you will never gain access to either country. My uncle who is born in California, fought overseas (US Navy), and now lives here hasn't got a pardon since he got a dui when he was 19, (60's now) and can't cross the border. Gotta be legal.

 

I think drinking and driving offenses are a 10 year wait or you did some special papper work to enter early.