Can someone here give me a rundown on this process, and also on the typical border crossing, and how it plays out.
Fill out the F6NIA application... Don't worry about the hunting lic./match invitation sections... Leave them blank.
Submit to BATFE imports branch.
Wait for approved permit to arrive via email.
When you cross the border it's a good idea to have with you an "invitation" or match flyer to show the BPO just in case they ask for "something" to support your "stated reason" for entering the US. If you're a member of a US shooting club I bet your membership card would suffice.
Most of my crossings have gone something like:
Where you going?
To ### to shoot a ### match.
How many guns you have with you..?
This many...
'You have your BATFE papers?
Yup... (Hand 'em over)
BPO looks at F6NIA... asks which of the guns listed are coming in...?
I tell him/her THis one that one and that other one..
BPO hand back the F6NIA
"Have a nice day"
Out of the many times I've gone to the US to shoot I've been sent "inside" maybe three times... Each time it was a minor delay, but uneventful. Basically digressed into a show and tell session with the officers who wish they could go shoot the match too.