You need to understand the official Canadian government regulations toward guns of any kind, so here goes!
Speaking from my residence in Calgary in 1999 and 2000 while working there (and arranging THAT and living there as an American is another story! Difficult and expensive...intentionally), and a recent hunting visit:
Bringing ANY long gun...rifle, any caliber, or shotgun...is rather iffy. Canada provides its Customs officers with a lot of latitude, and if they choose to, they will prohibit entry even if the rules permit entry. Remember, you are entering a foriegn country, and you have no "rights as an American" there...you have only the rights they choose to allow you to have. Be NICE to the officials...even if they should not be particularly nice or agreeable to you. You have no recourse.
Don't even try to bring in any pistol...it will be confiscated at the border. Canadian citizens have to really jump through the hoops to legally have one. And .25 and .32 Auto pocket pistols are every bit as illegal as full machineguns.
Resident Canadians cannot have or even borrow a long firearm for hunting unless they possess a central government-issued permit. Unless the son has that card, a father cannot legally loan a gun to his son to hunt or shoot. If the father dies, he cannot bequeath his gun to anyone, including family, who do not have a card...the police simply confiscate and destroy them. In order to get one so I could legally have my hunting rifle...which I was VERY lucky that I was allowed to bring in (Thanks, considerate Customs official!!)...I had to take and pass a stringent hunting safety course lasting over a month (40% of the students failed the very stringent government-administered final practical test!), then take the certificate to the local police chief, fill out a three-page application form for the gun permit, including providing three government official personal references, none of which can be family members, and answer such questions as why I felt the need to have a firearm.
Next step! A uniformed policeman will come to your home and interview your family members, asking if it is OK with them if you have a gun. Next they visit your neighbors with the same question. Any "nos" and your quest is denied and over.
If all replies are affirmative, the police chief will then sign your application and mail it off to the central government. Within 6-months you will receive your firearm card in the mail. You must have the card in possession to buy any ammunition, and few places sell ammunition.
Then you can start the process to get a hunting license, good for one only of one specific type of animal....cheapest for deer at about $25-$30, more expensive for other animals. Want two deer? Buy a second license, no discount. But before you can buy any licenses, you must buy a $10 Wildlife Support card...which is a farce, as fewer Canadians are undergoing the hassle and cost to hunt, and the wildlife population is exploding to the point where the deer, elk, ect are being poisoned or shot and let lay by the ranchers. By the way, ranchers have it much easier to possess long guns than the city folk.
On a pre-arranged elk hunting trip to a game farm in northern Sasketchewan last October, at the border entry point we had to present papers from the game farm, have the rifles in separate locked gun cases packed in the car trunk, have the ammunition in a separate locked case, and pay $25/rifle for the permit. Bringing the rifles back into the United States was more bothersome than the entry into Canada!
So there you are...this is the legal situation you will be bringing your guns into. On the other hand, Canada treasures the revenue from visiting American hunters, so papered hunters get special consideration.
