Gewehr 1871 - Need to be registered ?

Nabs

Nabs

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Hello all,

Quick question while I am on the hunt for an Amberg marked Gewehr 1871, are these rifles required to be registered ? Just to be sure, I am not talking about the 71/84 but it's earlier predecessor dated between ~1872 and the early 1880s.

The 1871 is chambered for .43 Mauser but since Dominion ammo is worth more unfired and is not common, can the age of the rifle play a factor here ?

I have two 71/84s that are registered but I wanted to check on the 1871 as I may have to dip down into the U.S. for one and would love to claim antique status on both sides of the border.

Thank you all for your assistance.
 
As long as they are not "magazine fed", and over .35 calibre, they qualify as antique. However, the U.S. government and various State Departments, and the BATF seem to take issue with us nasty foreigners taking possesion of guns down there. Check with these agencies on what paperwork needs to be done and/or the easiest way to go about it.
 
Very interesting as the 1871 is single shot too. That also explains why my 71/84s have to registered with their magazine tube. I thought it was because you could still stumble upon the dominion ammo at gun shows.

Has anyone imported an antique from the U.S. that was also considered an antique up here ? I would greatly appreciate the shared experience.
 
teapot, age is a factor. To be deemed antique, the rifle has to be single shot, built before 1898 and 33 calibre or larger. Some pistols are exempt as well.
 
Nabs said:
Hello all,

Quick question while I am on the hunt for an Amberg marked Gewehr 1871, are these rifles required to be registered ? Just to be sure, I am not talking about the 71/84 but it's earlier predecessor dated between ~1872 and the early 1880s.

The 1871 is chambered for .43 Mauser but since Dominion ammo is worth more unfired and is not common, can the age of the rifle play a factor here ?

I have two 71/84s that are registered but I wanted to check on the 1871 as I may have to dip down into the U.S. for one and would love to claim antique status on both sides of the border.

Thank you all for your assistance.
Click to expand...

You didn't come right out and say it, but you alluded to the fact that the rarity of the ammo has something to do with the firearm being considered an antique. Many have suggested that - it's not true.

Ammo is not that difficult to assemble. Over time you could accumulate Dominion brass, and "Mysticplayer" sells nice new Jamison brass. Lee makes dies! Bullets can be bought from MT Chambers (Ben Hunchak), although for the M71, you can usually use appropriately sized down 45 Cal cast bullets - I have even sized them down to 0.448" for the M71/84 and they maintained sufficient lube. Using 45-70 "Trapdoor" loads, produces a nice mild load.

The M71 Rifle seems to be much more scarce than the M71 Carbine. I have only seem one, which I quickly bought. You might have to go to the US to find one, and even then it might not be easy.
 
Good thing for me as I plan to shoot the 71 when I do go after one in the near future.

I saw an Amberg marked 1877 beauty (looked mint!!) on Gunboards and the acquisition price of ~$300 made me cry. I am hoping to strike a similar deal south of the border as well. The planning begins.
 
Short Knife Johnson said:
As long as they are not "magazine fed", and over .35 calibre, they qualify as antique. However, the U.S. government and various State Departments, and the BATF seem to take issue with us nasty foreigners taking possesion of guns down there. Check with these agencies on what paperwork needs to be done and/or the easiest way to go about it.
Click to expand...

From CFC site, an antique rifle is defined as •manufactured before 1898 that can discharge centre-fire cartridges (whether with a smooth or rifled bore), have a bore diameter of 8.3 mm or greater, measured from land to land in the case of a rifled bore, with the exception of a repeating firearm fed by any type of cartridge magazine. A model 71 in 43 mauser meets this definition irrespective of ammo availability.

I have imported antiques and restricted firearms from the states. As long as you can verify status with something like a RCMP antique status letter, historical book reference or even point to the date of manufacture on the breech you won't have any issues with State department or BATF, they have no interest in antique firearms, no other paperwork is required unless you are shipping from weird gun control states like NJ, California, etc. These states may only allow transfer from FFL to FFL dealers and you would likely need to get an importer involved.
 
Thank you, that is very helpful. I have received some very good tips from some other CGNers here as well as far as making sure my import is a relatively smooth one.

Would someone know of a list of States that require antiques to transfer between licensed dealers ? I will keep those in mind when looking south of the border.

Again, thank you all, I can almost hold that Gewehr 71.
 
I think it is federal law that antiques don't have to be shipped through FFL dealers. I bought an antique shotgun and it went through the mail just like a DVD. Handguns are more touchy, and obtaining a RCMP antique status letter beforehand, so that the seller can ship the gun with it will help a great deal.

For a long gun it should just be put in the regular mail and hope that customs don't play with it too much when they check on it. My shotgun arrived with one hammer cocked and this one has a wiggle. I'm pretty certain it was not packaged like that...
 
I did get a Gewehr 98 barrel from the U.S. with all the proper paper work with it and CBSA still opened the package for inspection. They tapped the package up "CBSA" yellow tape after they were done with it.

I know CBSA will open and look at a Gewehr 71 when it passes through but it shouldn't be too hard to realize it isn't a modern day "killing machine".
 
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