I will chime in with some personal experience and a family experience. I have competed in rifle competitions in Canada for over 30 years and it has gone from being as easy as stating that "I am going to a competition, or I am going hunting", to requiring paperwork on both sides of the border these days.
Taking a rifle into Canada while not overly difficult can be a bit daunting to someone who has not done it before. First you need to stop at U.S. Customs and fill out a form listing the rifle along with its serial number, at this point they will run a check to see if it has been reported as stolen, if so it will be taken from you. If there are no issues then your next stop will be Canadian customs where you will fill out another form and pay a fee of $35 (the fee rate changes from time to time), at this point you can take your rifle into Canada. Be aware that they have very strict safe-keeping requirements for firearms, even when traveling. I suggest going to the CFC website for a full explanation of the procedure.
Two years ago my brother was going to Alaska, he had a CZ 22 with him that had been purchased from a very well known gunstore in S.D. When the serial number was checked at U.S. Customs the rifle was reported as being stolen in California five years before, needless to say it was taken from him. Fortunately there was no real hassling of him personally because the gunstore verified that he had legally purchased it and the proper paperwork had been done, but it did cost him a days delay and a great deal of stress. The good part of the story was that Customs let him keep his scope which was on it. And the best part of the story is that the gunstore offer him a refund of the purchase price or an equal amount of credit for his loss of the rifle.
Go on line to the BATF and CFC sites and familiarize yourself with the proper procedures so you, hopefully, won't encounter any surprises.
A couple of other things - if you do take your own rifle download and prefill the forms that Canadian Customs require, it makes them happier and easier to deal with.
The other thing to be aware of is to be prepared for a possible hassle at U.S. Customs when re-entering the states. This seems to be dependant on the individual officer you encounter on re-entry. My sense on this is that there are so many agents now that most of them are trying to make a mark and will hassle folks over anything just to be sure that they are getting noticed. I have never had any trouble coming or going from the Canadians but it has reached the point with U.S. Customs that I limit myself to just a few major matches there rather than put up with some surly Customs agent.
I am not trying to discourage you but am offering real world advice. Hopefully it all goes smoothly regardless of which avenue you choose.
drover
