John- can you tell us about the challenges in acquiring and importing milsurps?

[Stray03]

Travelling around the world looking for firearms and trying to save them from getting smelted down and turned into some cheap souvenir for tourists, sounds nice, sure 98 percent disappointment and huge bureaucratic nightmares, but that 2% of pure delight in finding stuff, saving it from the smelter, and selling it to people who actually appreciate the firearm, would make it all worth it for me.
(yes this is a major simplification, due to not having any idea how these things are done)

Reminds me of the show where the collector sent a team to find him some ww2 aircraft he needed for his collection. so they busted their arses looking for the wrecks in order to see if they could be brought home.... sad though, its probably easier to bring a plane wreck into the country than it is to bring a shipment of collectable firearms... oh canada.

[lone-wolf]

That day was about 15 years ago.
Lever Arms brought in a container or two from Denmark. I bought two for $150 each, in damn good condition.

stop making me feel sad.

[johnone]

TOOTALL;

Yes that was a good deal, the Danish Governemnt was paid $35.each for them

In fact they received some Canadian surplus aircraft in the deal, enough said.
John

[johnone]

STRAY03;

Yes I have to admit that it is sometimes quite rewarding knowing that some nice pieces of history won't go to the big junk heap in the sky....

On the other hand sometimes it get a little "touchy" when one is in an area of warring parties....

Sometimes in can be unreal, I can recall many times during the war in the Balkans having dinner withing sound of the artillery and mortars....So close yet so far....

I can recall when the UN and NATO mandated us to clean up some areas once the cease fire was in place, we were receiving several 18 wheelers per day of weapons and munitions fresh from the front, hell some of the weapons were still loaded....

John

[tootall]

You really have to write a book, John!

[AMET]

You really have to write a book, John!

agreed +1

[velocipede]

We have a law about this in Canada (maybe it is Quebec only), but no weapons owned by the government can be sold or even given to anyone.

They can transfer weapons between various government organisation, but cannot get them out in any way.

In the past when the SQ sold their shotguns, we were able to buy them. No more of this. All weapons go to the smelter. And when they do a shipment, there's a huge lot of cardboard boxes going out.

[Stray03]

STRAY03;


On the other hand sometimes it get a little "touchy" when one is in an area of warring parties....
Sometimes in can be unreal, I can recall many times during the war in the Balkans having dinner withing sound of the artillery and mortars....So close yet so far....


John

Sounds pretty interesting, a job where the worst thing that can happen isn't just getting canned. Keeps you on your toes. And the travelling isn't the typical fannypacker lets see the touristy part of town kind. You get to see the country for how it is, not hidden behind the BS happiness veil you see in the ads.

Like when I went to cuba, on the bus to Havana the tour guide is guiding everyones attention to the "happy" things along the way, while I was noticing the military firing range, or the training the military was doing with the paragliders. (still don't understand why they were training their soldiers to use them... "hey whats that noise? oh dear it's a guy with a parachute and a fan on his back... quick lets give up before he lands!")

Can't handle that kind of travel (AKA Disney travel), did I visit cuba, yes, did I actually see the real cuba no, just what they want me to see.

[nntw]

TOOTALL;

Yes that was a good deal, the Danish Governemnt was paid $35.each for them....

hmm... and lever arms sold them for $150.

As a % return on investment, that doesn't sound too bad... but John's given us an insight into the work (and risk) that goes on 'behind the scenes'.

[lone-wolf]

hmm... and lever arms sold them for $150.

As a % return on investment, that doesn't sound too bad... but John's given us an insight into the work (and risk) that goes on 'behind the scenes'.

But what were the costs to actually get them to Canada. No way the end cost for each rifle was 35 bucks.