avalibility and types of Vietnam bring backs in canada.
- Thread starter 7.62xfun
- Start date
Hi,
Any Vietnam 'bring backs' would have first needed to be brought back to the U.S. and then brought up to Canada.
Approx. 60,000 Canadians served in the American military during the conflict but how many returned to Canada and brought captured firearms is probably not large.
I have seen a few pistols including a jungle made 1911 up here in Canada, but nothing compared to the number of WWII bring backs.
I have also only seen a few Korean War 'bring backs'.
I think your best bet is gunbroker or other U.S. auction sites and working with an importer.
Regards,
-Steve
Any Vietnam 'bring backs' would have first needed to be brought back to the U.S. and then brought up to Canada.
Approx. 60,000 Canadians served in the American military during the conflict but how many returned to Canada and brought captured firearms is probably not large.
I have seen a few pistols including a jungle made 1911 up here in Canada, but nothing compared to the number of WWII bring backs.
I have also only seen a few Korean War 'bring backs'.
I think your best bet is gunbroker or other U.S. auction sites and working with an importer.
Regards,
-Steve
Lee Enfield
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Republic of Alberta
My buddy has an SKS with South Viet capture papers and military release
Another guy had a 1911 converted to 7.62 tok
I know theyres a pile in the states and not intrested. im curious about here. Im assuming in the 70s it would have been possible for all kinds of stuff the cross the border. I know they used m44s,tt-33s and sks and all would be able to be owned here jusr curious what else is known
sunraymajor555
Member
- Location
- Hammond, ON
Many Canadian Forces soldiers were in Vietnam as observers of the American Troop withdrawal in and around 1975 and returned with "war trophies" (SKS, AK as well as american service firearms). As this was pre 1978 firearms restrictions, they were brought directly in to Canada by the returning soldiers that had acquired them with minimal scrutiny as the powers that be at the time were more concerned with the potential of them smuggling back drugs..................., none of which was validated, but the war trophies slipped in umimpeded.................
I suppose that depends on your definition of many. It's my understanding that only 248 Canadian personnel ('Peacekeepers') officially went to Vietnam to help monitor such things as ceasefires and the return of prisoners between 1973-1974. It was a very diplomatic mission and they had no combat liability. This is a hot topic and I'm sure some will claim 'things happened we will never know about'. Perhaps you can back your claim and share with us a firearm with solid provenance that was brought back by one of these Canadian observers. I would imagine very few if any exist?
Are there any CF members here on CGN who took part on the observer mission who can shed more light on this? I'm sure there's still many folks on the forum who served during that era.
My experience has always been as originally stated. I've attended a lot of gun shows, seen a lot of collections, and Vietnam bring backs have always been few and far between. I suspect the very little that is here arrived from veterans returning from U.S. military service or back when Canadian gun enthusiasts attended the U.S. shows and were less hassled bringing things back to Canada with them.
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I served with a number of people who were in Vietnam with the ICCS in 1973-74. One of them brought back a deactivated M16 and AK47 which were installed over the bar in the Officer's mess. You can bet that there were no waivers from the ever vigilant Canada Customs folks on bringing home restricted or full auto firearms. Ditto for my first tour in the Middle east in the 1970s.
Basically one(self included) avoided bringing home anything which would get you in ka-ka with the Customs and cause a blight on your career. I had opportunities to buy an AK47 in the Middle East, but just wasn't ready to run the risk of getting it back home. I did, however, buy a nice Beretta o/u shotgun in Lebanon which I used to hunt birds over the course of a 3 year tour and brought home in my personal effects w/o a problem after declaring it to Customs. Hell, you could even buy a shiny as new Mercedes for $10,000 in Lebanon complete with German plates and fresh out of a seacan from Marseilles. You would not have wanted to try to register it at home as the theft and vehicle data would have been well advertised thru Interpol!
Basically one(self included) avoided bringing home anything which would get you in ka-ka with the Customs and cause a blight on your career. I had opportunities to buy an AK47 in the Middle East, but just wasn't ready to run the risk of getting it back home. I did, however, buy a nice Beretta o/u shotgun in Lebanon which I used to hunt birds over the course of a 3 year tour and brought home in my personal effects w/o a problem after declaring it to Customs. Hell, you could even buy a shiny as new Mercedes for $10,000 in Lebanon complete with German plates and fresh out of a seacan from Marseilles. You would not have wanted to try to register it at home as the theft and vehicle data would have been well advertised thru Interpol!
Thanks for the confirmation purple and sharing your experience with us. I think that puts to rest any chance of Canadians soldiers bringing back piles of 'loot' from Vietnam wearing the Canadian uniform.
