Finally got my 2A1's!!!

happydude

happydude

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Location
Victoria, BC, Canada
My first foray into import/export through IRunGuns is over and these two arrived today! They're both Ishapre 2A1's in 7.62x51. One is obviously in better shape but they both look like good shooters. Tough call which one to keep!

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It's definitely not a fast, or cheap process but using IRunGuns is about as easy as it gets for importing firearms from the USA. So first, I made a Gunbroker account because it seemed like an auction was my best bet. I then had to find a seller willing to prepare the firearm for export to Canada, they have to be willing to ship to IRunGuns' FFL in Arizona, and you must have a way of getting them their money (Gunbroker has a payment system that allows credit cards to be used to pay sellers, but you'll likely have to call your credit card company as the charges often get declined initially). This generally excludes private sellers who often ask for a USPS money order for payment, and I don't know how one goes about buying and mailing those but most private sellers don't want to deal with the export process anyway. The sellers (broker company/gun shop) I used were fine with it. IRunGuns makes the seller print off an export invoice that must be shipped along with your rifle to IRunGun's Arizona location in order to export it. IRunGuns initially charged me $175 for one and $225 for the other You have to pay shipping from your seller to IRunGuns in Arizona. You then pay for shipping, and duty, from IRunGuns in Arizona to IRunGuns in Alberta (they do this once a month on the 15th). IRunGuns then ships the rifle from Edmonton to you. I won these two auctions at the end of May, when the dollar was around .74 or so, and just received them today.

I won the two auctions for $375 and $580 respectively. In total, these two guns cost me $2000, which ballparks their individual costs at around $1250 and $750 respectively. Basically, the cost of the rifles more than doubled the US auction prices. These almost never come up on the EE and when they do, they're snatched up quickly. It was quite the process, but now I have one rifle to keep and someone else has a crack at the other without having to wait two months.
 
WoW !!..that's whatcha call top dollar.
But ya know , if you hang onto them for awhile , shoot'em , clean them up abit ...you'll probably get what you have into them , back ( or more ) ...time flies when your hav'n fun.
So , a big congrats to your successful mission ! :rockOn:
I really like mine and it's always a gawker around other shooters'.
Be on the look-out for 7.62Nato ammo
 
Yea, not a cheap process by an means. The cost of shipping them 3 times sure doesn't help with that, plus the import fees and loss on the dollar. I wouldn't recommend importing firearms for your average model, but I've been looking for one of these for years and only remember two up on the EE that sold within minutes for a very hefty price. Having said that, I would highly recommend using IRunGuns, they made the process very easy.

I was told they were both 2A1's and the both have the 800m rear site so that's what I'm going with!
 
Just like the K31's are right now, some guns are inexplicably high priced for what you get. The 2A series are run of the mill down south but to the best of my knowledge there's never been a large import of these up here and so command a premium. I may have overpaid, but there were little options for buying them up here.
 
happydude said:
Just like the K31's are right now, some guns are inexplicably high priced for what you get. The 2A series are run of the mill down south but to the best of my knowledge there's never been a large import of these up here and so command a premium. I may have overpaid, but there were little options for buying them up here.
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I don't think you overpaid at all.

And at the end of the day once you become a serious collector it becomes harder and harder to find the guns you're looking for. We've all had a rare gun get away and it hunts us for years. You're smart as might as well get 2 rifles instead of 1 if you're going through all the extra hassles of importing.

Nice rifles BTW, I've also been passively looking for one over the years and you're right. They aren't common and they get snapped up quick.
 
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