Shipping to Australia

[trooperdan]

A friend in Oz wants a .223 magazine for a
Browning lever action; I have one, not a problem I
think. Wrong! First, he has to obtain an import
permit for said magazine! That is bad enough but
rather understandable. With the recent changes in
AusPost (no firearms parts whatsoever) we thought we
could rely on good old UPS. They want $130 for a
package weighing less than a pound! It isn't even a
matter of it being a firearm part, that is their rate
period! Fed Ex and DHL were consistent, $85 each!
Has the world gone mad? Those rates are in good old
US dollars!

[gutshot_again]

Try USPS. They have small and large global priority flat rate envelopes for $5.25 and $9.50. The weight limit is 4 lbs on either and thier web site says it's for various items including light-weight merchandise.

[trooperdan]

The problem with USPS is on the other end. The Australian post, AusPost last month issued an edict they no firearms parts could travel via their postal system I think they have relaxed their initial ban but there is so much confusion about it right now I'm afraid to trust them, even with an import cert from the Australian police.

[OldBob]

I wanted to ship some .50 cal REAL bullets to a friend in Canada a few weeks ago and made some calls to try to do it legally. First problem was finding anyone who had any idea what in H*** they were doing, didn't get far so I called a friend in Customs/Immigration , he made some inquiries for me and in the end the easiest way was to take them across the border and mail them in Canada...........it would be cheaper for my friend to buy the mould and try it !

[Bullshop]

We use international flat rate mailers. They can be orderd free from USPS and will come right to your house.
BIC/BS

[versifier]

Package it and label it as specialty foods. Put it in a one pint glass canning jar with a metal lid, tape another lid to the bottom of the jar, and surround it with cans of soup on all sides. You shouldn't have any problem with the postal services on either end.

[StarMetal]

Versi Versi, my goodness. With the way things are in this country because of the 911 attack, I don't think I would mess with trying to fool the authorities, just not worth the risk.

Joe

[versifier]

I'm a good boy now, squeaky clean and upstanding, but Mama didn't raise a fool. Postal workers are never paid enough to care. Less than 1% of shipped packages are checked in any way. If it doesn't smell like explosives or drugs, and an x-ray doesn't show any telltale profiles, what they don't know won't hurt them. 911 or no, I have (in my allegedly checkered past) managed to ship all kinds of strange parts, items, and other things all over the world without problems, including odd and rare ammunition to collectors in the UK. Nobody bothers with food. Put "Glass Do Not Drop" and/or "Fragile - Glass" stickers on it with a printed return address label that reads something like "Joe's Specialty Foods". It will get where it's going without incident. There is no risk to the recipient here as it is not anything illegal to own or possess in the country of destination, (no drugs, live ammo, firearms, or explosives), merely a technical violation of some bureaucratic rules of the shipper.
Now, I have kids, a good reputation in my community, and the respect of my peers, but while you can take the boy out of the city, you can never really take the city out of the boy. There's always a way around an idiot, or an idiotic policy, one merely must thing creatively and "out of the box" to acheive one's goals.
Any opinions from you boys down under?