We accept orders placed by phone, fax, and e-mail, as well as purchases made in person at our retail location. Money order, wire transfer, and credit card transfers ship immediately. Personal cheques may result in a delay while payment clears the bank. Personal shoppers may also pay by debit (Interac) card. VISA and MasterCard are the only credit cards we currently accept.  We do not ship COD. 

Your website has about a hundred items my husband would be interested in. Do you offer gift certificates?

Yes, gift certificates are available in any specified amount.

Do I pay my provincial tax as well as GST on mail-order purchases?

We charge the 7% GST on all retail sales and orders delivered to Canadian addresses (or 15% combined HST to maritime provinces). We do not collect the provincial sales tax for other provinces.

There is a particular gun that I have been searching for since high school. If I tell you what I’m looking for, can you call me if you find one?

We do not have the ability to keep accurate “wish” lists for people. Please keep checking the firearms lists on this site, and hopefully the six other guys who have been searching for it don’t have faster internet connections than you.

Your gun lists show a gun I’m interested in, but there isn’t a picture of it. Will you be posting a picture of it soon?

Generally, we only provide pictures of guns in certain circumstances. If it is an obscure gun that people may not recognize by description alone, or if its condition is outstanding, or if it is an expensive firearm that really needs to be seen before someone is likely to commit to ordering it, we can email photo's of the firearm to you. We usually do not photograph new guns (since the condition is obvious) or very common guns. However, if you are seriously contemplating the purchase of one of our listed firearms and cannot travel to inspect it in person, please feel free to request that an image be e-mailed to you. Expect a couple of days for us to process the request. Keep in mind that photos sometimes look better than the real item (worn, silvered edges sometimes appear like bright, shiny bluing), and that a photograph is not a guarantee of condition.

What system do you use for grading the condition of a gun?

A very complex one which relies upon the placement of the stars on the preceding Thursday, the price of soybean futures, and careful consultation with the shop dog, Mulder.

Actually, evaluating a firearm’s condition can be a difficult and tricky thing. It is very much a sliding scale, since a modern gun described as “fair” might be in identical shape to a turn-of-the-century antique which rates an “excellent” because of its age and rarity. If anything, our evaluations of condition tend to be conservative – though any eye can potentially overlook a flaw that might change the appraisal by hundreds of dollars. Also, we all have our own areas of interest, and sometimes we don’t know what to look for when inspecting a different class of firearm. If you are seriously interested in any firearm that we list and would like an earnest description of its condition, please call.

I would love to be able to test-fire a gun before I buy it. Do you have a shooting range?

Unfortunately, we do not. All of the staff are shooters, and we would get absolutely no work accomplished if there were a range facility in the shop.

What kind of warranty do you have on used firearms?

We specifically make no warranty whatsoever regarding the accuracy of any firearm, nor its ability to function with all types (or a particular type) of ammunition. However, we will offer a full refund on a used gun if it fails to safely function in the manner in which it was designed, as long as the firearm is returned within a short period of time (one week or less). We strongly recommend that any used firearm be inspected by a gunsmith before being loaded with live ammunition.

Obviously, a new gun must come with a warranty. What do I do if something is wrong?

All warranty issues with regard to new firearms should be addressed to the manufacturer and/or Canadian importer of that firearm, who should be able to name an authorized repair centre in Canada. We are not gunsmiths and are not authorized to perform repairs on behalf of firearm companies.  If you have a warranty issue, our staff will be able to provide you with an address to return the gun for warranty work.  Some manufacturers may not have a repair centre in Canada or even in North America. Others (particularly Asian makers) may not offer any factory warranty at all. Please take careful note that unless proper authorizations is obtained beforehand, sending a gun to the Unites States for repair could result in its confiscation and destruction. You must check to see what permission is required from both governments, ensure that you have proper paperwork proving your ownership, and make certain that the reason for its transport is fully documented.

Some friends are going to the U.S. next month for a hunting trip, and I was thinking of tagging along. Is it tricky to cross the border with a hunting rifle?

As a result of new border policies, special permission is now required to enter the United States with a firearm. This permission must be applied for at least six months in advance. (Once approved, it remains in place for you and your declared firearm for one year.) So it’s not likely that you’ll be making that trip, and neither will your buddies if they haven’t planned half a year ahead.

Do you offer monthly installment plans and layaways?

On firearms that are in our inventory, we offer a 60-day layaway period with a 20% minimum deposit. On consigned firearms, we limit the layaway period to 30 days as a courtesy to the consignee. We do not offer any payment plans past these layaway terms, except in the case of exceptionally valuable firearms under specific circumstances.  Funds are refundable or transferable if payment has NOT been completed within the required time frame.  Your deposit will be lost and the firearm will be returned to our inventory. 

You have the gun of my dreams, but I’m still waiting for my firearms license. What can I do?

Once the firearm is paid for, we are happy to store it until such time as your license arrives and it can be registered to you. Or a spouse, relative, or friend with a valid license can accompany you at the time of purchase and register it, and then transfer the registration to you once you are licensed.

What exactly happens when the firearm I’m buying is registered to me?

The seller (either a business or an individual) must initiate the phone call to transfer the registration to you. Individuals selling firearms may call 1-800-731-4000, press 1 for English, and press 4 to initiate the transfer. The seller should be able to provide the Registration Certificate number for the firearm being transferred, his license number (Firearms Acquisition Certificate or Possession and Acquisition License), and the serial number of the firearm. In the case of a non-restricted firearm which has not yet been registered, the seller should be prepared to give a complete description of the firearm, including make, model, calibre, and barrel length.

Both the seller and the buyer must provide information about themselves for the purpose of identification, which may include full name, current address (or land location), phone number, date of birth, place of birth, and firearms license number (FAC or PAL).

A Reference Number will be provided at this initial call, and should be recorded and kept by both parties. This provides a means of checking on the status of the transfer application.

If the seller is a retail business, he/she should advise the buyer of the average or expected time taken to complete the transfer. An increase in Firearms Registry Department workload, or a decrease in staffing levels due to layoffs, can extend the average time period. This time period could be a few minutes, a few hours, several days, a week, ten days, two weeks, or more. The transition to complete privatization of the firearms registry might shorten this duration.

If you wish to check the status of the transfer application, call 1-800-731-4000, press 1 for English, and press 2 to enquire about your transfer. Provide the reference number given previously.

Once the application to transfer the registration of the firearm has been completed, two numbers will be issued. A Transfer Authorization Number (TAN) will be provided to the seller as confirmation of the transfer. The same TAN will be provided to the Buyer, along with the new Registration Certificate number (a paper certificate will follow by mail). Both parties should record their respective numbers.

If the firearm is a restricted or prohibited gun, and after the firearm’s registration has been successfully transferred, you must obtain an Authorization to Transport (ATT) to remove the firearm from the seller’s location and transport it to your residence or location of storage. An ATT can be obtained by calling 1-800-731-4000, pressing 1 for English, and pressing 4 to reach the Chief Firearms Office for Northwest Services (located in Edmonton). You may be required to provide the Reference Number, TAN, Certificate Number, and/or serial number of the firearm. Please note: Buyers who are purchasing from a business must apply for their own ATT, as businesses are no longer permitted to request an ATT on behalf of their customers.

You are required to follow all safety and transportation regulations while in transit with your firearm. In the case of a non-restricted firearm, it must be unloaded. It is advisable to place it out of sight inside your vehicle. If you leave the vehicle for any reason, you must place it out of sight in a secure, locked portion of the vehicle.

For a restricted firearm, it must be unloaded, secured with a trigger lock or similar device, and secured (without ammunition) in an opaque locked container. The route must be reasonably direct, and must be completed within the timeframe specified on the Authorization to Transport.

How do I get permission to take my handguns to the range?

The same Authorization to Transport (ATT) described above can be requested for each and every trip from your residence to the shooting range. Or, you can apply for a long-term ATT. The long-term ATT can be obtained as a blanket permission to transport any or all restricted  firearms for which you hold a Registration Certificate. Prohibited firearms (12(6)) can no longer be transported for the purpose of target shooting at approved ranges. It is valid for up to three years, and allows transit to any range within the province. You can request a long-term ATT form by phone at 1-800-731-4000 (press 1 for English and press 2 for “ordering forms”).

Can a hunting license, WIN card, or driver’s license be used in place of a firearms license?

No. For the purpose of purchasing and registering firearms, only a valid Possession and Acquisition License (PAL) may be used. For purchasing ammunition, you may use either of the above license or a Possession Only License (POL).

Can I hunt ducks and geese with my old shotgun if I switch to steel shot?

Both Canada and the United States have implemented bans on the use of toxic lead shot for hunting migratory birds (waterfowl). In its place, manufacturers are offering shotgun shells with pellets made of steel, tungsten matrix, or bismuth. There are differing opinions on how you must alter your hunting habits depending on the type of shot you choose. It appears that bismuth or tungsten shot will give you equal (or even superior) performance to lead shot, and can be fired in your old gun without modification. However, it is several times more expensive than traditional ammunition. Steel shot is extremely cost effective per round, but its lighter weight causes it to have a shorter flight path and less penetration. Increasing your shot by two sizes (choosing a lower-numbered shot, such as #4 in place of #6) may help its penetration, but might not increase its range due to increased surface area and wind resistance. And the most critical aspect of steel shot is that it cannot be safely fired in barrels that are not rated for it. In a shotgun barrel, there are typically two places where the shot is restricted or “squeezed”: the forcing cone and the choke. Steel does not compress like lead, and can produce unsafe pressures in unmodified barrels. Steel-rated barrels have a more open choke (nothing more than a modified or “improved cylinder” bore) and may have a more gradual forcing cone. Any shotgun not manufactured within the last five years is likely not steel-ready. Converting an old shotgun to fire steel shot will involve back-boring the choke and possibly the forcing cone. Failure to do so may result in the catastrophic failure of the barrel – after several hundred rounds or perhaps just one – with possible injury to the shooter and bystanders, and probably a complete lack of injury to the duck.

Since this is a continent-wide prohibition on lead shot for ducks and geese, there is a shortage of steel-rated shotgun barrels as millions of hunters try to modernize their guns. The price of a barrel may rival the price of a new shotgun, if a barrel can even be found. And with a surplus of older lead-only shotguns on the market, prices for them have dropped.

Can I shorten the barrel of my obsolete duck gun for use as a bear-defense gun without creating an illegal “sawed-off” shotgun?

The minimum length to which a firearm’s barrel can be cut is 470mm (18_ inches). Any non-restricted firearm whose barrel is cut to less than that minimum length becomes an illegal firearm. However, there are some exceptions. Rimfire rifles and manually-operated (i.e., non semi-automatic) centrefire rifles and shotguns can legally have a barrel of less than 470mm in length if the barrel was factory manufactured at that length. Additionally, the overall length of any non-restricted firearm must remain above 660mm (26 inches). For example: a shotgun with an 18_” barrel and a pistol grip is legal; a factory-made 14”-barreled shotgun is only legal with its full shoulder stock; and a shotgun with a cut-down 16 inch barrel is a prohibited firearm no matter what its overall length.

Do I need to have a gun license to purchase ammunition and reloading supplies like gunpowder and primers?

A firearms license (either an FAC, POL, or PAL) must be shown to purchase loaded ammunition. The components for manufacturing ammunition (brass, bullets, powder, primers, etc.) do not require a license for their purchase. There are currently no legal limits on quantity. We do not record your license or other information, nor will we do so unless forced to by law. Also, while there is currently no provision to restrict ammunition sales to only the calibres of guns for which you have a registration certificate, many people feel that this is one of the next steps in the government’s agenda, slated for soon after the deadline for mandatory gun registration.

Why can’t I find regular old-fashioned blackpowder for my flintlock rifle anymore?

The government has changed the regulations regarding blackpowder, particularly with regard to shipping. We feel that it may be impossible to obtain any future shipments of blackpowder, due to the re-classification of its “explosive” nature. You should be experimenting with blackpowder substitutes such as Pyrodex, ClearShot, and Triple Seven powders to see which works best for you and your firearm.

I’m looking for special 7.62x51mm ammunition for my military rifle. A friend suggested I try .308 Winchester ammo, but that sounds too risky. Any advice?

The two cartridges interchangeable but not identical.  For most applications you will have no problem.  We do caution the use of .308 Win ammunition in military style semi auto rifles such as the M14 (M305). 

Do you sell the clips that hold the bullets for my three-oh-three?

No, we sell the magazines that hold the cartridges for your Lee-Enfield when we have them in stock.

My handgun has a 15-shot magazine. Is this legal?

No. In Canada, the maximum legal capacity for handgun magazines is ten rounds. For semi-automatic centrefire rifles and shotguns, the maximum legal capacity is five rounds. Rifles and shotguns that are not semi-automatic (bolt action, lever action, etc.) have no magazine capacity limits. Rimfire rifles (.22 LR, .22 Mag., etc.) have no magazine capacity limits. Certain exemptions have been granted, such as the M-1 Garand rifle (legal with its eight-round “en bloc” clip loading system) or the Ruger PC-9 carbine (a semi-automatic rifle which utilizes a Ruger pistol magazine and is allowed ten rounds).

Do I have to destroy my high-capacity magazines?

High-capacity magazines must be altered in such a way that they can no longer hold more than the legal limit of cartridges or shells. While no specific guidelines are given, it is accepted that the modification must be at least semi-permanent (that is, requiring the use of a tool or other device to reverse it, such as a steel rivet that would have to be drilled out to be removed). Since virtually any modified magazine can be returned to an illegal condition with enough effort, your intent and the degree of modification performed your magazines may be scrutinized by a court on an individual basis. All of the magazines that we sell are carefully converted to the legal limit.

The United States has laws that limit magazine size, too. Why are people still selling high-capacity magazines in the U.S.?

American laws on magazine capacity have been implemented differently than ours. In the U.S., both handguns and rifles have been limited to ten rounds. Their magazine limits apply to rimfire and manually-operated rifles as well (ours do not). But the major difference is that their laws only affect magazines manufactured after the date of the ban. “Pre-ban” magazines can retain their original capacity.

I am a police officer and have been issued high-capacity magazines for my duty sidearm. How do I go about ordering similar magazines for my personal firearms?

As a law enforcement officer, you are exempted from certain regulations with regard to items that are issued to you for the purpose of fulfilling your duty. However, the regulations that govern the rest of us also apply to you with regard to your personal firearms and your off-duty time. We cannot provide high-capacity magazines or other prohibited items for your personal use.

The item I’m looking for doesn’t appear on your website, and I can’t seem to find it anywhere in Canada. How easy is it to order gun stuff from the United States?

The U.S. government requires “end-user” certificates for the export of firearms and firearms-related products from their country. Even small parts (springs, triggers, etc.), brass cases for reloading, and rifle scopes require these permits. Some items might be exportable without certification if the value is under $100US; others are not. For this reason, most large companies in the United States are refusing to do any business whatsoever with Canadian individuals, because the unlawful export of gun accessories risks their business license.

Okay, so I won’t be ordering the parts I need. What about picking them up in person on my next trip south of the border?

The end-user certificate requirement is not a shipping regulation, it is an export regulation. Even if the items you intend to bring back do not violate any law or import restriction in Canada, they may be subject to seizure by U.S. Customs upon your departure. There is also rumour that Canada Customs officials have been turning Canadian citizens back to U.S. Customs to forfeit gun-related items that were legal for importation and were properly declared at the border.

Although it might seem that Canadian importers and retailers must benefit from this controlled access to gun parts, we don’t think that any Canadian businesses favor these regulations. With a population one-tenth that of the United States, it seems almost impossible that Canadian importers could provide the same broad range of items that is available stateside. We feel that direct cross-border consumer access to such special-interest items is a necessity, and should be allowed for by anybody’s definition of “free” trade.

My uncle in France would love some of the items you sell. Do you export to other countries?

We do ship to other countries. However, it is the buyer’s responsibility to ensure that the items he is ordering do not violate any import laws of his own country. We cannot be responsible for items that are seized by foreign governments. We require cash payment in the form of an international money order or wire transfer (in Canadian or American funds). We cannot offer credit card payment on export orders. Keep in mind that insurance may be limited or unavailable for certain shipping methods and items.

While it is your responsibility to ensure the legality of items you are importing, we are aware of some of the import prohibitions in other countries and we will not knowingly export any item to a country where it is illegal. Yes, this means that we will not send Butler Creek high capacity Ruger 10/22 magazines to the United States.

What about guns – do you send firearms to the United States or abroad?

At this time, we do not offer to export firearms. If you are an American wishing to purchase a firearm from Canada, you must be capable of dealing with a Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder in the U.S. and a licensed firearms dealer in Canada who specializes in exportation. The Canadian exporter can then make arrangements with us for the transfer of the firearm from our inventory to theirs.

If you are a licensed individual residing in Canada, and wish to export a firearm to a friend or relative overseas, you can purchase and register the firearm to your name, and then make application to the government for permission to export it yourself. All of the warnings regarding other exports (import regulations of the destination country, insurance limitations, shipping rules) should be taken very seriously. We recommend air shipping by a direct flight to the destination country, since the government of any country in which that plane lands (even for refueling) might exercise their local laws and seize the shipment accordingly.