Unbelievable.
In the us the “antique” year is also 1898 but in many cases a reproduction of an antique is still considered an antique. So a brand new pedersoli cap and ball revolver is still considered not a firearm there. Here it has to actually be manufactured before 1898. Additionally, in Canada the gun has to be chambered in an obsolete calibre to be considered an antique, in the us it does not. This is why in Canada colt revolvers in 41 colt are antiques but not an identical gun in 45lc
Don't bother going through an importer /exporter it's not required for an antique. If the seller will ship internationally get them to ship the gun internationally to you. Preferably via USPS but UPS will also do it but they will murder you on Customs Brokerage though and there's a good chance they'll probably screw it up anyways. If you do have to go through an FFL exporter it'll cost you a minimum of $200 but with GST and shipment within Canada from the exporter you're looking more at the price range of 300 to 400. If you happen to know someone in the US who's willing to reship it to you that's an option. If you happen to live near a border crossing you may have to look into getting yourself a US PO Box, however many gun sellers will not ship guns to a PO Box in the US even antiques. There are many companies along the border that act as receiving addresses, with the overwhelming majority of their customers being Canadians. And you can pay them to receive your packages for you and then you just go pick them up and pay them a fee some places is as little as five US dollars per package. This is what I do for the antique guns that I buy for myself and for my dad too. I have a receiving address in the US I ship the antique guns there. I cleared it with the owner of the establishment beforehand and they're fine with it. And when I have a weekday off every once in a while I'll go down and pick up my stuff. You just need to prepare your paperwork beforehand. The frt documents are usually enough and pay your duty and your hunky dory. The cap and ball black powder gun from the Civil War is a pretty easy import with just frt document copy. If it's a more modern looking gun you may need to get an email from the lab technicians at the RCMP and print that off as well.
Double check your facts. I believe the US cut off year is 1899.
