Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Questions about Federal gun laws covering all of Australia. Importing / exporting firearms and ammunition. Dealing with Australian Border Force, Customs etc.

Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Jaxxa87 » 12 Mar 2019, 7:26 pm

I'm chasing a Nikon 16329 ProStaff Rimfire II Scope, 3-9x40mm, BDC 150 Reticle Rifle Scope. I've contact 6 different dealers, and all are giving me various reason ranging from them not being able to source them currently, to some models being restricted to the USA due to ITAR regulations.

If I have a mate currently living in the US, is it legal to have him post it to me?
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Bill » 12 Mar 2019, 7:40 pm

Contact Jon at The optics zone as they sell them for 119 US, he also seems to have discount available so ask him

They sell em, order 2 scopes to save a bit on shipping cost

https://shop.theopticzone.com/nikon-1/? ... egory=1155
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by bladeracer » 13 Mar 2019, 4:28 am

Jaxxa87 wrote:I'm chasing a Nikon 16329 ProStaff Rimfire II Scope, 3-9x40mm, BDC 150 Reticle Rifle Scope. I've contact 6 different dealers, and all are giving me various reason ranging from them not being able to source them currently, to some models being restricted to the USA due to ITAR regulations.

If I have a mate currently living in the US, is it legal to have him post it to me?


If your mate has an export licence he can send it to you, but you're probably still up for the US$250 export fee.
Can Brownells.com.au get the scope for you?
Or Ebay?
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Nigel » 16 Mar 2019, 11:08 am

This scope is likely to be export restricted due to the 'military style' reticle. I doubt it will be worthwhile getting this direct from the States through any compliant channel.

The Trump administration is making significant changes to ITAR. It will start getting much easier to order firearm related items from the US in the not to distant future. Basically it will much much cheaper and easier for sellers in the US the export anything that is commonly available in retail stores in the USA.
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by rossfrb » 17 Mar 2019, 8:37 pm

I used EuroOptic in the states back in mid 2013 when the AUD was still close to parity with the USD with no problems. Postage for a scope back then was ~50USD.
Unsure if anything has changed since then - apart from the value of the AUD against the USD:(
https://www.eurooptic.com/Nikon-PROSTAF ... 16329.aspx
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by bladeracer » 18 Mar 2019, 9:38 am

rossfrb wrote:I used EuroOptic in the states back in mid 2013 when the AUD was still close to parity with the USD with no problems. Postage for a scope back then was ~50USD.
Unsure if anything has changed since then - apart from the value of the AUD against the USD:(
https://www.eurooptic.com/Nikon-PROSTAF ... 16329.aspx


ITAR came in in April 2017.
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by marksman » 20 Mar 2019, 1:27 pm

give Scot an email he will look after you :thumbsup: :drinks:

http://www.theriflescopestore.com/
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Gamerancher » 20 Mar 2019, 3:53 pm

ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) and the EAR (Export Administration Regulations) are export control regulations run by different departments of the US Government. Both of them are designed to help ensure that defense related technology does not get into the wrong hands.
ITAR was enacted in 1976 during the Cold War.
( U.S. Government website.)

"Obummer" widened its application in a deliberate attack on the firearms industry to restrict their business. A whole range of firearms, parts and supplies were added to the list of restricted items despite the fact that they are not "defense technology". This, along with other measures that his administration introduced to generally make life hard for the firearms industry, saw a lot of sellers decide that it was easier and safer ( rather than losing their licence and facing penalties ), to stop exporting than to go through the registration process / costs and to keep track of what is or isn't involved. :allegedly:

Some U.S sellers will still export to Australia, it depends what on you want, wether they are up to date with the regs, and if they can be bothered. ( Also depends on wether a certain Australian importer has an agreement with the O.E.M to restrict individual imports, try getting a Leupold for e.g. ) :silent:
Last edited by Gamerancher on 21 Mar 2019, 10:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Geech » 20 Mar 2019, 8:23 pm

marksman wrote:give Scot an email he will look after you :thumbsup: :drinks:

http://www.theriflescopestore.com/


Seconded. I’ve ordered a few things through Scott, and couldn’t fault his service. The particular scope you’re looking for is listed on his website, but is listed out of stock - so worth shooting him an email to find out if it’s still available.
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Jaxxa87 » 30 Mar 2019, 5:01 pm

Thanks boys, ordered one through The optics zone and had zero issues. Turned up on Wednesday.
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by marksman » 30 Mar 2019, 8:00 pm

there is no problem with buying a scope from the US
the problem is with shops who are distributors for the product you want eg... Leupold rifle scope, where the manufacturer made agreements with the Australian distributor/sellers that the US distributor/sellers would not sell to Australian customers so we have to buy off the Australian seller
apparently Obuma and the Abbot had something to do with this

eg.. optics planet will not sell you a leupold scope because they are distributors but the rifle scope store will because they are not
and it's another reason you can buy all this gear on E-bay but have a hassle from an actual shop that is a distributor/seller
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Re: Importing a Rifle Scope from the USA

Post by Gamerancher » 01 Apr 2019, 4:27 pm

Isn't that what I've already said?????
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