Importing airguns into India

[highland sniper]

you can bring a .22 with you, bring all the receipts with rifle serial number shown etc. duty is i believe is 35%.

Hi Nagarifle, I remember you mentioning in one of the posts about you getting an airgun in two pieces. Which airport did you enter from? Would you like to share your experience?

If I'm mixing this with someone elses post, please ignore this.

Best

[striker]

hi
i am a newbie here.. i am currently studying in aberdeen, u.k. i need help in deciding which air rifle to buy.. i saw bsa tactical xl and Weihrauch hw 97 which is a underlever and wood stock with scope. it retails abt 400 quid. bsa has a weatherproof stock and looks small. hw97 is nice but a bit heavy. i need some help in deiciding on a good air rifle to get it when i come to india in nov. i am jus goin to use it for target shooting. i am not a member in any rifle club.. am based in chennai. i have a few doubts:

1. can i bring .22 air rifle legally?

2. is scope allowed in to india?

3. can i dismantle it and put it in my hard case suitcase with my clothes, etc or what shld i do??

4. how much duty will i be paying?

5. incase they confiscate whats the solution?

kindly help me out with these guy...

hi Gocool
If you plan to land in chennai airport ,people in white strictly follow the exim policy ie the passenger who carries the .177 airgun (will be verified by forensic for deal wood test )should have the club membeship.no .22 cal is allowed as per these Guys.

1. can i bring .22 air rifle legally?
Not at all possible in chennai airport

2. is scope allowed in to india?
yes allowed in luggage .

3. can i dismantle it and put it in my hard case suitcase with my clothes, etc or what shld i do??
Get a TSA approved hardcase to avoid problems.

4. how much duty will i be paying?
.177 airrifle with club member card the duty is zero .the necessary exim doc to be submitted to get the benefit.

5. incase they confiscate whats the solution?
If the confiscated item is .22cal then its better to forget the item .If its .177 the item will be issued soon after the formality provided it satisfy the exim poilcy and dealwood test.

cheers
sankar

[Vikram]

Hi,
without a club membership ur in big trouble.from gocool you will become NOCOOL
u cant bring a.22 legally.In chennai its sent to forensics dept which will classify it a s a firearm and send a report on based ft.lbs muzzle energy,which will require you to have a firearm licence.
Scope also prblm with customs,as it is a restricted item-grease their palms.
Dont dismantle,bring in fully assembled.
if .22 ur not going to get it back in all probability.Customs always on the lookout for free crumbs.
if .177 and club membership you will walk thru free.
regards

Gunrunner, I understand you are trying to help but consider your choice of words before you post.

Lack of knowledge on part of Customs Officials does not mean that the items cannot be brought in provided you take the required precautions.

Rife scopes are restricted but not prohibited.You can bring it in baggage and not mounted on the rifle.

Gocool, please g through the Imports experience thread for all the required information.In your case, since you want to get into target shooting, get a .177 would be my suggestion.

PM me your phone number.I live in UK too at the moment.Will give you a call if you would like me to.

Best-
Vikram

[gunrunner]

Hi Vikram,
Till you havent gone thrugh it you havent experienced it.
I had brought a cp99 outer shell of plastic at chennai.
The men in white sent it to FSL chennai,which sent a report to the customs that because it was not a full airgun only a part of it it s categorised as a firearm.(inspite of showing the catalogue)
Eventually it was confiscated and my appeal was also rejected.Resulting in absolute confiscation.
No .22 cal airgun is released without satisfying the the obsolete and defunct arms act.The deal wood test.
Going by which one cannot get a new age powerful airgun released.Which imported air rifle of today would pass the deal wood test.If it did who would want it.
Dont believe me, try your luck.
Chennai is the worst airport in the department of commonsense.
Vikram i travel every fortnight out of india.Have used literally all airports,there's non like chennai.
Only saving grace for gocool will be that he is a local.
Which may help him in some way.
The men in hite always look for confiscated items at dirt cheap prices.
Technically a confiscated item should be auctioned,but sadly it is taken away at the first chance and some old obsolete replacement is arranged for.
If that not the case,the airgun is sold even before the auction bidding has started.
Sweetheart Vikram,Gocool this happens only in INDIA.I have gone thru all this.
Best of luck gocool.
Regards
Gunrunner

[pistolero]

Dear Gunrunner,

What is your experience at Mumbai Airport.

If you bring in a .177 Air Rifle and dont have a club membership, do they allow it?

Regards,
Aditya

[nagarifle]

i once brought a air rifle dissembled(dissembled does not look as threatening and saves on space.) from UK, in my suitcase, the reason for this is that one is allowed to do this thus saves on extra cases etc.

i flew into Delhi, the gents in white were most helpful and had no problems as they were happy that it was only a airrifle and not something stronger.

end of the day there is no sure way, you can have everything in the place and one gent in white who is unhappy because his missus said no to him last night, he will give you a hard time.

i think in this thread if one takes time, one can get all the info piece meal by piece meal on bring airguns via baggage route.

it does not make sense to go over and over the same thing.
all the best.

[andy_65_in]

can i say that delhi is the coolest airport as far as allowing airgun imports is concerned.

[vijayraghavan menon]

Pl give contact number of kasmirigate dealer-importer of Diana air rifle /gun

[vmanicks]

Here is some good news for those wanting to import an airgun.

I ordered a Crosman Phantom 1000x from Pyramidair.com on the 11th.
2 boxes of pellets 500x2 - Free
1 Winchester scope
1 Gasram

I finally received them on the 30th.

Docs submitted -
KSRA membership - Attested and couriered to UPS
Competition participation certificate. - no idea why they asked for that.
DGFT notification for pellets and Air Rifle.

UPS forced me to pay an additional 2088/- Rs claiming that it was required and that caused a few days delay but finally i did get it.
/S/

Hello Sniper,

I tried sending you a PM. I am not sure if you had received it.

Can you give more clarity on the Crossman Phantom that you imported?

Did Pyramid Air mount the scope on the rifle?

How easy was it to deal with the UPS guys as the rifle had the scope and pellets shipped together?

I just got off a call from Pyramid Air and the customer service rep mentioned that they have sent several consignments with scopes and pellets. Also they mentioned today that a renowned customer of Pyramid Air from India has placed an order for Rifle with pellets.

So I guess there are several other shooters in India who have been importing rifles with scopes and pellets regularly.

Regards,
Manicks

[Cerfkid]

I m planning to import a airsoft electric gun into Mumbai. Airsoft gun is used in a military simulation sport in which players participate in mock combat with military-style mock weapons and tactics. The gun uses 6 mm BBs and paintballs. Can anyone suggest is it legal to import it. And how I can clear it through customs.thanks

[vmanicks]

I doubt if Mumbai customs will let that toy.

Even carrying a strange toy in personal baggage might get you into trouble.

Regards,
Manickavel

[daintgautam]

What in case I want to get by hand through someone an .177 air pistol of Amarex (Mill Type of Model Walther) from Athens while he would arrive at New Delhi Airport... I am curious to know if it would not be a question of trouble for him or if it is not a restricted item as per law" Please help me on this subject... While the cost of That Air pistol in Greece I confirmed is just 220 Euros while it is not available in Pubjab Market...

Please help me on that

I didn't say .22 cal are not allowed, I simply stated how the new notification is being interpreted by customs personnel in some places... this does not mean that their interpretation is correct, it is simply a warning that people should be prepared to battle it out... and if they are not prepared to do so, they should stick to .177 cal...

As I have posted earlier, airguns which satisfy the deal wood test (irrespective of calibre) are exempt from all provisions of the arms act and are therefore not covered under the ban on arms imports. But do keep in mind the fact that under baggage rules the customs officer on duty has wide ranging discretionary powers and would be well within his rights to detain your items on mere suspicion/ doubt of them not being allowed. Once this happens the onus is on you to prove him/ them wrong before you can get your items released.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

-- 10 Apr 2009 12:40 am --

Hi Guys,

Would be importing my air rifle, however I have heard from few people who have already imported that as per 1st April 2009. I would be able to import only 2 rifle per annual year, so there should be a gap of 6 months before I import the 2nd one.

As I am new to importing please advise me on this so that I would be able to plan as per that.

Thanks,

Chris

Interesting question, and one on which I fielded a phone call just today As per law there is NO limitation as to the no. of air-rifles / air-pistols you can import - so long as they are for personal use... that's all the notification specifies... However, it's a bit of a grey area and is open to interpretation. People who have pooled together and imported more than one airgun in one consignment (to save on freight) have previously been asked to produce all individual importers with their club membership cards etc., but in all fairness on doing so the consignment has almost always been released without further ado.

Could someone who imports more than 1 or 2 airguns per year be called in to explain? Well I guess so, but unless there is any clinching evidence to the contrary I don't see how the customs people could detain the consignment if it is stated to be for personal use... Of course nothing is ever simple while dealing with govt. departments, and is ever so dependant on the temperament of the officer on duty - a good example is the rather sorry experience that Delhi members have had over the past month or two....

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[king234]

helloo,
i dont know if this has been asked before, but my parents are bringing a gamo p800 .177 cal air pistol to india from uk, they would be bringing it via airindia. Do they have to pay taxes for the guns?. does anyone know weather airindia allows this type of pistol in check in baggage or hand baggage?. i would be really helpful. Oh and btw i dont have a rifle club member ship but my father is colonel in the india army(territorial army) will it help?
thanks,
Adway

[nagarifle]

helloo,
i dont know if this has been asked before, but my parents are bringing a gamo p800 .177 cal air pistol to india from uk, they would be bringing it via airindia. Do they have to pay taxes for the guns?. does anyone know weather airindia allows this type of pistol in check in baggage or hand baggage?. i would be really helpful. Oh and btw i dont have a rifle club member ship but my father is colonel in the india army(territorial army) will it help?
thanks,
Adway

tax yes
air india check website
check in baggage only

father a col. not unless he comes in full uniform and may not help as custom duty is for all. but it would be good to see dad in full uniform at the airport.

[king234]

but i think the custom duties have been exempted according to http://www.eximtimes.in/cexim/budget2008/exnotecus.pdf Even http://cenexcisenagpur.nic.in/tradenotice/tn_2008-1.htm

Chapters 90 to 96
90.1. Customs duty and CV duty have been exempted on air guns of 0.177 calibre (air
rifles and air pistols) of Chapter 93. Consequently, these goods are also exempted from 4%
special additional duty of customs (S.No. 582 of notification No. 21/2002-Customs,
inserted vide notification No.21/2008-Customs, refers).