Can an overseas visitor bring an airgun on my behalf?

[Mack The Knife]

I have never been very sure about this. Said visitor is not an Indian passport holder.

Monish, penpusher......?

Mack The Knife

[Sujay]

Mack The Knife,

A visitor who is not an Indian passport holder can bring in an Airgun only with prior notice to Indian authorities through his country's sports association / body. On your behalf may mean either of the two

a) On being questioned by customs, he would say that the Airgun is acutally for you , an Indian citizen. ( declares to be your property).

b) On being questioned by Customs, may cite the baggage rules. ( declares to be his property).

In (a), the situation which most probably you are visualising, your status would not matter since it is not you who is bringing the Airgun and in (b), he cannot avail the baggage rules as it is applicable only to returning Indian tourists. Returning tourists mean ordinarily a resident of India, returning after a minimum of 3 days stay abroad.

I am not sure what is applicable to PIOs ( Persons of Inidan Origin), who hold a non Indian passport.

And if the Airgun is actually for you, I have the obvious question ; to ask which I seek your permission

[Mack The Knife]

Hi Sujay,

I was thinking of asking Terry if he could bring one down. However, it all needs to be kosher as I don't want him facing any problems at this end.

As to which airgun? Haven't really decided but I may go for a Rapid Mk.2

For god's sake don't stand on formality with me. Ask anything else you'd like to.

Thanks for the above and now that you know the details, let me know if Terry can bring me one.

Not too bothered about it but if I can get one in, I would like to consider doing so.

Thanks.

Mack The Knife

[penpusher]

Mack The Knife,

Sujay seems to have the answer.Meaning,I know nothing about this.One route ,that nobody seems to have explored, is to have an air rifle sent as a gift.Now, in this case,if the value of the air rifle is equal to or less than the value prescribed for a duty free import of gifts,would no import duty be charged?Sujay,any ideas about this?

Take care,
penpusher

[Mack The Knife]

penpusher,

What you say may be possible but then it may be restricted to .177" calibre.

Incidentally, would you know what is the value below which a gift would be duty free and whether all legal gifts are considered equal? For example, would a airgun be considered in the same light as a guitar?

Mack The Knife

[Sujay]

Mack The Knife,

I was just wondering since you are a member of KSRA , why not import by courier ? Is it the preference for the 0.22 or the memory of Rajesh's experience deterring you ? IMO, a foreigner entering India with an Airgun which the customs is sure to interpret as a "weapon" due to the formidable appearance of these sporters is not a good idea ; during these times. If you do import, try to engage a Clearing & Forwarding Agent.

Have you viewed the latest one from Weihrauch, the HW 100 K ? You are of course the best judge but the cylinder of the HW 100 K would be far more convinient. Price comparison also is 570 GBP vs 795 GBP in HW's favour.
( Ok, I am expecting a little review )

What refilling arrangement are you contemplating ? Will it be the Hill Pressure Pump ?

[Mack The Knife]

I was just wondering since you are a member of KSRA , why not import by courier ? Is it the preference for the 0.22 or the memory of Rajesh's experience deterring you ?

Another friend and member of IFG has imported a match air-rifle recently and it has arrived at postal customs - Bangalore. The buyer has met the Commissioner of Customs and on showing all the relevant documents was told that there wouldn't be a problem and to come back this coming Monday. Mehul knows who I am refering to but I cannot divulge his name at present for certain other reasons. Once he has the rifle, I will put up a detailed post along with pics of all the documents involved. Unfortunately, Rajesh was the first to import from Bangalore and it knocked postal customs for a six. I think the process will be better hereonwards. So, no, it wasn't Rajesh's experience. Fingers crossed nevertheless.

Importing via post or courier would mean a couple of hundred Pounds in postage (I think, I am not sure about this) and I would have no calibre option to choose from.

If you do import, try to engage a Clearing & Forwarding Agent.

That is a very good suggestion. Thanks.

I am extremely fond of the HW100, however, the shot capacity per fill may not be adequate. Let's just leave it at that, aye? Bit too knackered for a review, besides which I do not have any hands on experience of these rifles.

What refilling arrangement are you contemplating ? Will it be the Hill Pressure Pump ?

The same that was used for the Steyr - a scuba cylinder. Fill a 400 cc buddy bottle with a manual pump? You must be joking!

Mack The Knife

[Sujay]

penpusher,

The concept of duty free import will not be applicable to Airguns because they are in the ' Restricted Items' category. Even if there is ( not sure) a monetary limit on the value of goods positioned by the recipient as a gift, only items not falling under ' Restricted' or ' Prohibited' list would come in. In other words, no body can gift restricted or prohibited items.

Let us say that the conditions of such restriction is removed ( in this case by a membership of a Rifle Association). Even then, it would be treated as straightforward import and duty levied because there is no relationship between the sender and receiver to qualify the Airgun as a gift. Some relationship like father-son , husband-wife etc will be required. Else we all will take up membership of RAs and ask Mehul to start shipping ARs ( of course after wiring the moolah) making him the most prolific donator of ARs.

In case the AR actually comes in as a gift (without the relationship), the value of the AR needs to be declared as income in the tax return.

Imposition of duty is highly arbitrary by customs and in real life, all items sent as gifts by NRIs are delivered as DPD ( duty paid delivery). Some merchants collect duty upfront and refund the client abroad if the Indian customs does not levy duty.

Sujay

PS: This is my interpretation of the customs and IT rules which might not be 100% accurate.

[Sujay]

Mack The Knife,

I have double checked the postage. It is nowhere near the figure you apprehend. Checked even with this German Website which ships to India.

[Mack The Knife]

That is probably surface mail and would take about three months to reach India.

It's not just weight but length as well that matters.

I am looking at importing a fishing rod that breaks down to 6'-0". The quote was GBP 80.00 for the rod and GBP 15.00 for the reel.

Have to go out now but will look up the Parcel Force sight later in the day or you could if you like. Assume a parcel weight of 5kgs and a box measuring 4'x1'.

Actually, I should speak to Lloyd about getting me a quote.

Mack The Knife

[Sujay]

A) Guaranteed 8 days Tracked £153.65

B) Guaranteed 9 Days Tracked £131.60

C) Delivery Aim 7-11 days Not Tracked £113.25

D) Delivery Aim 45-48 Days Not Tracked £68.70

The days for ( A) and ( B) will be 4 & 5 respectively for Account Holders.

My experience:--

Gunnersalley charged $ 25.32 for the shooting glasses and targetsports.co.uk shipped 2 tins of RWS Superdome for 3 GBP.
The pellets are in custody of Mumbai customs though. I only received an inland letter asking for " justification for the import".



Edit-- Llyod once quoted 17 GBP to ship a Webley Hurricane and Pilkguns
$ 45 to ship the Baikal.

[mehulkamdar]

Gentlemen,

Hopefully, Mark and I will be visiting India early in 2007 to attend a wedding at Mumbai and if you need something, we shall be happy to do what we legally can. Do check the rules out and let me know. It would be a pleasure to do this for you.

If this trip is worked out and we could have a speed shooting air rifle match in India somewhere, I would be most happy to sponsor some very attractive prizes when I am there on behalf of IFG.

Cheers!

[denzilmatthew]

Hi sanjay,

Do let me know what all we have to do to get the pellets for .177 and .22 Air rifle. Did u got those two tins of RWS pellets. I also want for my Air Gun. What is the total cost after getting shipped to india.

Thanks,

Denzil

[sat]

Fill a 400 cc buddy bottle with a manual pump? You must be joking!

Rusty, would be very good exercise for you... why dont you make it part of your 'get fit' programme...

Looking forward to your post on airgun bbs with the good wicket haul at the champions trophy at Jaipur.

sat

[Sujay]

Hi Denzil,

The total cost including shipping was 11+ GBP ( postage was 3GBP) . It took 20 days to reach Mumbai. By all indications, the notice from customs is an invitation to pay penalty and get the stuff but I cannot afford to visit Mumbai to get stuff worth 900/- cleared.

The best chance of getting pellets ( foreign make) is from the likes of Murtaza or any acquintance with NRAI guys. . A returning Indian visitor is allowed to bring 4 tins ( 2000 Nos) pellets in the checked in baggage.

Till then, you have to be content with the G Smiths. You may try calling some dealers from the database of this forum.

Sujay