Applying for RCMP Antique Letters

Old Guns Canada

Old Guns Canada

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All my imported antiques have to be verified by the RCMP Technical division in order to complete the importation process. This may not apply to private individuals but business importers all have to follow this procedure, no matter the age of the firearm. Once I have completed the process, the RCMP Technical Division will e-mail me a PDF of an antique letter specific to the serial number of the gun I have submitted. Any one can, at no charge (as I write this, anyway), apply for an antique declaration for any qualifying antique firearm. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Take a full-on, high resolution picture of each side of the gun.
2. Take a picture of the barrel with a ruler along side of it, from the end of the cylinder (revolvers) or breech (pistols) to the muzzle, to indicate the length of the barrel.
3. Take a picture of the muzzle with a ruler or calipers across it to indicate the diameter of the bore.
4. Take close-up pictures of all markings, barrel address and maker's name, if present.
5. Take a picture of the serial number, if it has one.
6. In the body of your e-mail to the Technical Division, list the make, model, serial number, caliber and number of shots of your piece, together with your contact information. E-mail all this to firearmident@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
In due time you will receive a reply asking you to go onto the RCMP website to enter the information provided by the verifier. Once your application has been submitted, they will review this and eventually send you a declaration of antique status specific to your gun. Only this letter is definite proof of antique status. It should be noted, however, that the letter comes with a disclaimer stating that it was issued based on the information you have submitted. In other words, if you submit false information to obtain an antique letter for a gun which does not qualify, the letter is void and useless...
 
So, after supplying all the information described, you log onto the RCMP website and enter information supplied by a verifier. This is in addition to all the information you already supplied in steps 1 through 6? The verifier is confirming the information you previously supplied?

Keep in mind that if you are applying for an antique letter for a piece already in Canada, there are additional concerns. If the piece is currently registered as restricted or as 12(6) prohibited and you are trying to get it reclassified as antique and if the RCMP determine that it does not qualify as antique, nothing changes; it is still registered. If the piece has never been registered and a determination is made that it is not antique, it will be considered to be either unregistered restricted or unregistered prohibited. Given the handgun freeze it is probably not able to be registered.
 
Yep, that's about it. Once you have supplied the information to the verifier, the verifier enters it on the RCMP website as having been verified. With this information pre-filled in by the verifier, you can now apply for the letter. As far as your other concerns go, I have no idea. I don't deal in restricted, maybe-antique or other questionable legal status guns.
 
No, it is not a requirement. As long as I am satisfied that it is antique, I will take it on. I have had to turn a few down in the past because the evidence was not conclusive. For example, a customer had a copy of a S&W made by Orbeas Hermanos which looked like it would be antique, however, since Spain does not have a government proofing system, and Orbeas Hermanos are still in business today, there was no proof that this gun would be antique.
 
Old Guns Canada said:
No, it is not a requirement. As long as I am satisfied that it is antique, I will take it on. I have had to turn a few down in the past because the evidence was not conclusive. For example, a customer had a copy of a S&W made by Orbeas Hermanos which looked like it would be antique, however, since Spain does not have a government proofing system, and Orbeas Hermanos are still in business today, there was no proof that this gun would be antique.
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Spain has two proof houses, just like England, one in the region or town of Eibar (the first and oldest) and the other in Barcelona.

And Spanish proof might go as far back as to 16th century. While the first of two government proof houses appeared in 1844 in Eibar.

Prior to that, each gun maker had their own proofing marks and system.

Pick up any era of Spanish shotguns for example and you will find them covered with proofing marks.

They used the last two numbers of the year proofed up till 1927 when they all followed a government laid out coding letter to show the year.


Spain Proof Marks.jpg


full


Spain Proof Marks date codes.jpg
 
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Arctic said:
What's the case where one has no access to a verifier? Being in the NWT I've repeatedly questioned our CFO (in Edmonton) only to be told there is none.
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You don't need access to a verifier. The RCMP (actually, the Canadian Firearm Registry Technical Division, as the email name suggests) staffers are all verifiers. They will provide you with their verifier's number for you to enter into the CFP portal.
 
Thank you, Mkrnl for this information on Spanish proof marks. I should have been more specific in so far that none of the Spanish marks can be used to ascertain the age of the gun. Yes, they have a proofing system - mostly for shotguns and long arms - however it is (or was) voluntary, and does not tell you how old a gun is, unlike the Belgian system. British and German proofs are a similar problem. They span across the 1898 cut-off.
 
Old Guns Canada said:
Thank you, Mkrnl for this information on Spanish proof marks. I should have been more specific in so far that none of the Spanish marks can be used to ascertain the age of the gun. Yes, they have a proofing system - mostly for shotguns and long arms - however it is (or was) voluntary, and does not tell you how old a gun is, unlike the Belgian system. British and German proofs are a similar problem. They span across the 1898 cut-off.
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I believe it was voluntary among the smaller home or village based makers (which there used to be many) but became mandatory for all just before WW1 when the Spanish firearms manufacture industry really started to grow and expand in size.
 
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