Atten: M1 garand Barrels stuck in Customs from Greece

When I ordered M-14 parts out of the US from Treeline, Randy included copies of the applicable laws and regulations in the package in the [likely] event that the border folks would open the parcel and have questions (i.e. he assumed correctly that most of them don't know the specifics of what can and can't be imported). The result: his goods make to us with little or no delays.

On the other hand, it sounds like Constantine has been dealing with Canadian border-induced shipping delays for over a year and still hasn't learnt that perhaps there are steps he can take in the labelling/packaging of his parts that would reduce delays and confiscations. I, as a seller on ebay, find his $hit show unacceptable when considering that the majority of the items he ships are gun parts and he should by now know that his stuff creates panic with CBSA/CP and should therefore be a little more proactive by including photocopied proof that his goods are legal to import into Canada.
 
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dirtytwo said:
When I ordered M-14 parts out of the US from Treeline, Randy included copies of the applicable laws and regulations in the package in the [likely] event that the border folks would open the parcel and have questions (i.e. he assumed correctly that most of them don't know the specifics of what can and can't be imported). The result: his goods make to us with little or no delays.

On the other hand, it sounds like Constantine has been dealing with Canadian border-induced shipping delays for over a year and still hasn't learnt that perhaps there are steps he can take in the labelling/packaging of his parts that would reduce delays and confiscations. I, as a seller on ebay, find his $hit show unacceptable when considering that the majority of the items he ships are gun parts and he should by now that his stuff creates panic with CBSA/CP and should therefore be a little more proactive by including photocopied proof that his goods are legal to import into Canada.
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There is no legal requirement to do that what so ever. If goods are seized you can fight it. Now the problem is it costs money to fight it.

Now here is the funky part... Machine gun parts aren't illegal to own....

Once again it's the part that is the gun that matters anything else is just parts....

The problem is the controlled good act now it's legal to own a rocket launcher no problems with that getting it across the border is a whole other can of worms as they say it's the controlled goods act even though it's just an empty tube.
 
haha49 said:
There is no legal requirement to do that what so ever. If goods are seized you can fight it.
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Never said it was a legal requirement. What I am saying, however, is that you can be a little proactive knowing that the parts you're legally exporting into a different country may raise some concerns with CBSA folks who may not have taken the time to be up on the legality concerning gun parts by actually including the pertinent documentation in the package to get the green light. It's like having your passport and receipts organized and sorted out before you drive through the border in order to expedite your crossing.
 
I recently spoke with someone from the CBSA Weapons Group about the Garand bolt I ordered from Constantine back in early November. The agent I spoke with was very helpful and frank, noting that Constantine's packages are often mislabeled, improperly declared, and undervalued. For example, my bolt was labelled as 'machine parts' and valued at 11 euros, even though I paid around $75 US for it.

Moreover, the agent said that Constantine is suspected in dealing in misappropriated parts, which isn't helped by his suspicious packaging. At any rate, the CBSA agent was very helpful and was happy to release my bolt once I spoke to him.
 
zxcv said:
I recently spoke with someone from the CBSA Weapons Group about the Garand bolt I ordered from Constantine back in early November. The agent I spoke with was very helpful and frank, noting that Constantine's packages are often mislabeled, improperly declared, and undervalued. For example, my bolt was labelled as 'machine parts' and valued at 11 euros, even though I paid around $75 US for it.

Moreover, the agent said that Constantine is suspected in dealing in misappropriated parts, which isn't helped by his suspicious packaging. At any rate, the CBSA agent was very helpful and was happy to release my bolt once I spoke to him.
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Please tell me how you spoke to that very person.

Thanks
 
I spoke to an agent today and she claimed they don't have it and Canada Post is wrong in saying they do. Canada Post says I need to ask Constantine to start an investigation on his end with Greek Post so Canada Post can look into it. The run around is strong. I think my bolt is gone, but I will wait to get that part last if need be.

You should also stop giving Constantine negative feedback on ebay. He tries and what is happening really isn't his fault. Must be some new agents at CBSA trying to get on that reality show Boarder Security.
 
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ex2ppcli said:
I spoke to an agent today and she claimed they don't have it and Canada Post is wrong in saying they do. Canada Post says I need to ask Constantine to start an investigation on his end with Greek Post so Canada Post can look into it. The run around is strong. I think my bolt is gone, but I will wait to get that part last if need be.

You should also stop giving Constantine negative feedback on ebay. He tries and what is happening really isn't his fault. Must be some new agents at CBSA trying to get on that reality show Boarder Security.
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Same story they gave me on my missing bolts il have to call them again
 
Are any Cdn vendors stocking Criterion Garand barrels at present? These are on par with the NOS GI barrels in terms of both fitting and accuracy. With all of the interest in building up rifles in the cheap receivers I'm surprised that we aren't hearing much about these. They should sell well if priced @ $300-$350.
 
purple said:
Are any Cdn vendors stocking Criterion Garand barrels at present? These are on par with the NOS GI barrels in terms of both fitting and accuracy. With all of the interest in building up rifles in the cheap receivers I'm surprised that we aren't hearing much about these. They should sell well if priced @ $300-$350.
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I think there would be more than mild interest at that price point. I paid $400 for a new criterion in 7.62 NATO from the CGN EE a month or so ago and was glad to have it right away.
 
ex2ppcli said:
You should also stop giving Constantine negative feedback on ebay. He tries and what is happening really isn't his fault. Must be some new agents at CBSA trying to get on that reality show Boarder Security.
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I haven't left feedback for him yet, but I have escalated my claim through (FRAUD ALERT) as I have not heard from him in a while and CP has no record of my package arriving in Canada. That said, if what zxcv said above is true, he deserves loads of negative feedback as it would appear that he's the cause of a lot of this mess. If you received your bolt or bbl from Constantine, I'm sure you think he walks on water, but for me, 13 lost/confiscated bolts is a significant margin of error and he needs to clean up his act. At the very least he should set aside some spare bolts/funds to compensate those who will likely never get their parts.
 
I disagree.
He wasn't doing anything malicious. Almost everyone undervalues a declared item it saves some tax $. A Garand bolt is a machine part of sorts a machine that fires bullets. This is really a Customs SNAFU. He communicates well with me. My bolt is hung up. I did not give feedback. I have shipped stuff out that was lost and was given negative feedback. Not my fault I packaged and shipped it out addressed properly.
 
Megaclocker said:
Please tell me how you spoke to that very person.

Thanks
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I called the Border Information Service at 1-800-461-9999, and followed the various prompts. I then spoke to an agent who took my tracking number and discovered that the bolt was held up at a Missasauga, Ontario warehouse. She gave me a number to call the warehouse, and I left a message on their answering machine. They then put me in contact with the Weapons people.

Again, the Weapons guy was great and he was well aware of the Constantine drama on online (methinks he is a gun-nutter). He said that Constantine has raised a lot of suspicion for a bunch of reasons, including:
  • Declaring obvious gun parts under titles like 'machine parts' and 'spare parts'.
  • Declaring values far below the actual selling value.
  • Sending parts for prohibs improperly declared (the CBSA guy said he was sending BREN parts with false declarations).
  • Improperly marking addresses on packages.

Now that's just what the CBSA guy said. He was very good though, and he even corrected the improperly marked address on my package. Apparently Constantine has a history of marking packages so poorly that the CBSA doesn't even know where they're going. Again, that's just what the guy said, but he was very helpful and forthcoming, so I really trust what he was saying.

Constantine on the other hand, was evasive and rude. It took repeated emails before he would even give me a tracking number. Despite the deals he offers, I'm not going to do any business with him in the future. It's just not worth the risk.
 
zxcv said:
I called the Border Information Service at 1-800-461-9999, and followed the various prompts. I then spoke to an agent who took my tracking number and discovered that the bolt was held up at a Missasauga, Ontario warehouse. She gave me a number to call the warehouse, and I left a message on their answering machine. They then put me in contact with the Weapons people.

Again, the Weapons guy was great and he was well aware of the Constantine drama on online (methinks he is a gun-nutter). He said that Constantine has raised a lot of suspicion for a bunch of reasons, including:
  • Declaring obvious gun parts under titles like 'machine parts' and 'spare parts'.
  • Declaring values far below the actual selling value.
  • Sending parts for prohibs improperly declared (the CBSA guy said he was sending BREN parts with false declarations).
  • Improperly marking addresses on packages.

Now that's just what the CBSA guy said. He was very good though, and he even corrected the improperly marked address on my package. Apparently Constantine has a history of marking packages so poorly that the CBSA doesn't even know where they're going. Again, that's just what the guy said, but he was very helpful and forthcoming, so I really trust what he was saying.

Constantine on the other hand, was evasive and rude. It took repeated emails before he would even give me a tracking number. Despite the deals he offers, I'm not going to do any business with him in the future. It's just not worth the risk.
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Will try again tomorrow. but in english this time. Seems the french people were not very helpful.
 
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smeagol said:
Call this guy, he said it was cool to post his contact info here. He is the Officer in Mississauga that deals with all the firearms stuff, and it's just him.

contact CBSA Officer Hatfield (905)625-7037 with your tracking number and he will help sort you out

also, see my other post here for further info about the situation that as he reported it:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/989563-The-M1-Garand-Build-Thread?p=9603678&viewfull=1#post9603678
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I called today and talked to officer Hatfield, he is more than willing to help out. He told me he was the only guy processing this stuff, he said bolts are not the problem, its the barrels. He said the government knows that they are worth around the 300 mark. And like everyone else they want their fare share. Hatfield is a stand up guy in my books.
 
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