I have bought three scopes from the US by mail order, and am looking to buy another. The prices and range available are hugely attractive, but I suppose that should be no surprise when the US market is so much larger than ours.
The main problem seems to be that a number of US mail-order houses refuse to ship scopes to us. The issue seems to be that the export of rifle scopes from the US to
some countries is restricted, under the US Export Administration Regulations. According to information available via the US Bureau of Industry and Security however, Australia is not one of those countries.
It appears that rather than go to the trouble of looking up the classification for ordinary riflescopes (ECCN 0A987), the Commerce Controls for that classification (CC and FC) and then check the Commerce Country Chart to confirm that these controls do not apply to Australia (or a number of other countries for that matter) these suppliers seem content to refuse the business :banghead:
There are however a number of US suppliers who are happy to sell scopes to us foreigners.
The Optic Zone is one, and they've done a fair bit of business with Australians. D&R Sports and Natchez Shooters Supplies also seem happy to sell to us, and no doubt there are others too.
As far as customs here is concerned there's no issue with importing scopes. You don't need a B709 or anything like that. One thing to be wary of though: get your scopes sent by US Post, not by DHL/Fed Ex etc. The reasons for this are that when you import goods by post you will not be required to pay any GST provided they are valued at $1000 or less, but if they come in by DHL etc you'll not only be slugged the GST (regardless of value) but these couriers will charge you customs brokerage fees, which add significantly to the cost.
HTH
