Airgun Import - Distributor Route

[bishu57]

When i decided to invest in an air pistol for myself, I first read thru all the posts and threads on the Forum here (they were an invaluable help, will explain later).

In addition to the import route of courier / personal baggage, now one more option is to go to the official distributor direct. In my case this was more by chance than by plan.
Having decided to buy a Steyr, I wrote directly to the Steyr office and asked for a quote , to my pleasant surprise they wrote back the same day that they would not sell direct in India and I should get in touch with their India representative - Syndicate Innovations in Delhi.

So shot off a second mail to Syndicate innovations for details and within the hour got their quote - they give you two options - first is they will get the AP till the airport you request and from then on custom clearance etc is the buyers responsibility. Second option the AP is delivered to your residence address and they will do all clearances and charge for the same. (Clearance charges are quoted at 20K but open to negotiations)

To confirm the order you pay an advance amount and your order is placed. Once the AP is ready for dispatch from Steyr factory the distributor wants two documents from you

1. Letter from the Rifle association you are a member of - stating that 1. You are a bonafide member from so-and-so date, your membership number - and that your AP be cleared by customs as per rules

2. Shooter ID - now this is where reading on the forum helped. They were insistent that one needs a shooter Id for smooth clearance - Initially i was not sure but re-reading thru the posts gave me confidence (and also guided by MRA) spoke to the distributor and Steyr that as per law only the letter was mandatory - sent them the relevant notifications and also hinted that in case they insisted on a shooter ID for AP import then would write a strong letter to Steyr as to why they were complicating matters and asking for more documentation etc etc

I do not know what worked but within the day they said that if I could provide the rifle association membership letter in "Original" then there would not be any hassles in clearance

Promptly mailed the letter to them by courier and they confirmed receipt the next day. The AP has been shipped from Frankfurt airport and should hit indian shores on Monday (15th Apr)
Post which there is two days of clearance time and should have the AP delivered to me by Friday

Total time taken from initial query to final delivery is 3 weeks 4 days.

Found this route to be efficient hence sharing with the forum.

Warm regards

[supershaji]

Thanks for sharing the info, it gives a lot of confidence to others like me to go ahead and import.

I was under the impression that furnishing the Shooting Club ID card (in copy) was mandatory and NOT the letter from the club.

Well, thanks for the enlightenment.

It would be nice if you could share the documents / references' details which may help us in carrying out a smooth import as well.

[bishu57]

Hi Supershaji

The notification extract is as follows (Exact word document you will find in the threads related to import of AP)
For your reference

The Dept. Of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India vide it's Notification No. 12 (RE-2005)/2004-09 Dated 04 July 2005 ALLOWED the import of .177 calibre airguns/ air-pistols by shooters registered with Rifle Clubs or District/ State/ National Rifle Association(s).

Please note the conditions for importing via this route:
1. The importer MUST be a current member of a Rifle Club/ Shooting Association as mentioned above.
2. The airguns/ air-pistols imported can ONLY be in .177 calibre

The draft letter from the rifle association would be in the following format (this could be diff for diff rifle clubs but the gist would be the same)

To,
Asst. Commissioner of Customs,
Indira Gandhi International Airport
Cargo Complex,
New Delhi.

Sub: Clearance of .177/4.5mm Air Pistol

This is to certify that Mr. ____________ residing at _______________ B- 103, Oberoi
_________________________________________________________, is a Member of
Maharashtra Rifle Association (Apex State Body for the target Shooting in
Maharashtra State). Membership no: ________ since ____________.

His .177/ 4.5 Air Pistol may be cleared as per rules.

This certificate is valid for the period of 1 month from the date of issue.

Yours Faithfully,


(Gen Secy of the relevant rifle association)

The story on the shooter id is as follows - They were asking for the NRAI shooter card , and as per my understanding you can apply for the same only when you have shot for any of the competitions. So not all shooters have this card.

Hence only the letter is mandatory.

Glad to be of help

Warm regards

[AgentDoubleS]

The story on the shooter id is as follows - They were asking for the NRAI shooter card , and as per my understanding you can apply for the same only when you have shot for any of the competitions. So not all shooters have this card.

Bishu, one can get a shooter id card even if s/he has not participated in any competition. The request can be forwarded through your state rifle association to NRAI. Though as you rightly pointed out, it's not necessary to have it to import an AP.

Regards,
SS

[supershaji]

thanks for the info friend.

btw, I have a club membership card and I have never participated in any competition yet.

[renjith747]

very informative thanks bishu..

Regards
Renjith

[bishu57]

Dear All,
Further update. The distibutor (in this case Syndicate Innovation) gets a notification from Steyr Austria that the AP is ready for shipment. They then send you the AWB copy and ask you to submit your PAN card and Residence proof details for custom clearance. The same is submitted by them to the airport customs for clearance of the AP.

Once you get the AWB its a simple exercise to track the shipment till it arrives at the airport so you know that your AP has arrived. (Nothing but just more anxiety of the wait till you get it in your hand )

Anyways here there is a 48 hour wait to get the customs to clear it ( Why? No logic )
If the consignment arrives on a Saturday (mine did) then you have to wait till Monday (Nothing you can do about it). After that its either local courier or overnight courier in case you are in another city. Price quoted for the courier is 2K but if you remain inflexible the same can be waived off

Thats it for now. Will update when I have the AP finally

regards

[bishu57]

Apologies, In the excitement of receiving my AP I created a new post about the Steyr AP. Thanks to Syndicate Innovations , mine was probably the most painless and smooth import experience for an AP. The team there is professional and very prompt in service issues. Would recommend them to anyone who wants to import their AP _ They deal with Steyr and Morini.

Regards

Bishu57