Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Moving to Alaska, best way to get guns there

Hello all, brand new to the forum but I've received orders to Alaska and will be moving there in January of next year. I have many guns which are illegal in Canada as well as more than 5,000 rounds (Canadian max allowable amount of ammunition allowed across their border). What experience does anyone have getting their guns legally across to Alaska? I've contemplated the ferry but have been told that the ferry doesn't operate in the winter. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Things are changing constantly and the Canadians are currently unhappy with a bunch of folks that failed to follow their rules...

If things are back to normal by then you can simply drive up. Fill out the proper paperwork ahead of time and you will be fine. Except...
Magazine limits for most long guns 5 and most handguns is 10. They will take them away from you.

Ammo is limited by weight per person.

To avoid hassles you may mail long guns ahead of you, from yourself, to yourself. You are required to open the package on the other end.

Handguns my be shipped the same way, but you cannot mail them, you have to use a "common carrier" such as UPS. They have their own rules about using overnight and such, but those are not law, just their rules.

Ferry boat won't help as you still need to drive thru Canada when you get off in Haines... maybe goes to Whittier, if so prohibitively expensive

Big (or several) crates shipped air freight? Or surface. Insured! Be spendy no doubt. Bring the Canada legal ones up with you, well documented, and handily listed/available for the border folks perusal..... just off the top my head.

You will find the Canadian border folk easy to deal with, almost always - the Americans can be surly. I say "almost" as there is surely one out there by the odds, but I haven't ever met one.

Welcome (I hope! ) to Alaska, and let me be the first to give you our official greeting to the Fire - GFY.

For many years I used Lynden to ship very heavy tool sets from Seattle to various locations in AK, and back in the fall. I thought the pricing was fair and I was never questioned much as to the contents. I used forklift friendly steel containers (think Jobbox, Knaack etc). Besides locking it, I did tack weld the lid. I probably forgot and left a disassembled 870, or a Blackhawk in the toolbox a few times.

You said you got orders so I assume you're military. The only time I let the government ship or store my guns was when I moved to Alaska. When you schedule your HHG shipment they will ask about guns. When the movers come they will inventory all of the guns by SN and box them all in crate #1 so it is easy to find if customs wants to inspect them. I shipped several guns that were illegal in Canada without problem since they were passing through and I wouldn't have access to them. I did drive across the country with my 1911 but mailed it to myself care of my friend just before I crossed in to Canada. Hope this helps.

I moved from Alaska about a year ago. Most of my long guns, along with a few other household goods, were shipped with American Relocation Services from Fairbanks. I was present at the warehouse when everything was inventoried (all guns by make, model, caliber and serial number) and then sealed in the shipping crate. Four weeks later everything was delivered to my door in NM, unsealed and inventoried again. Everything made it undamaged. I was pretty impressed with the whole process. All of my handguns I loaded into two rifle cases and took with me as baggage on Alaska Airlines. I could only have two gun cases, but they didn't care how many guns were in those cases.

On second thought, maybe not an option. Lots of stuff happened since then, middle east inspired terrorism, increased laws on hazardous placarding..the world has changed since the oil boom of the '70's...if you are govt or military, you could get in deep schidt by playing loose with the rules.

Yes, some quick quotes from online for a ferry were right around $4,500. Expensive no doubt. However, for the convenience of not having to go through Canada, being able to keep all of my guns, ammo, reloading components, etc with me, and the fact it'll reduce the driving portion of the trip by about 20 hours (in January) it feels worth it to me. To provide more context, I'll have my girlfriend with me in a FWD Jeep Renegade. Yeah, not the most winter-ready vehicle out there. She's from El Paso, TX as well so has zero experience driving on ice, snow, etc. Looking at the complicated process I may have to suck it up and ship the guns with HHG and leave the bulk of my ammo and components with my parents. If anyone has experience with the ferry though, specifically in the winter I'd be much appreciated. Thanks for all the responses so far!

Ship firearms in household goods.. Also if you want to take the ferry go to transportation office on your installation and they can book it for you. I have heard of folks getting all the paperwork done from the Canadians to bring firearms through that aren’t even legal in Canada. But man those Canadians at the border get awfully nervous. So if you want to bring them through as Sitka said get all paperwork before you show up to the border. I know several who showed up with pistols thinking they could bring them through. One they turned around sent back to U.S found a ffl in sweet grass Montana the other fella they confiscated his pistol.

Ferry from Bellingham to ?

I think it was to Whittier or Haines. But now I know Whittier is a no-go in the winter and apparently even going to Haines will require driving through Canada. Not an ideal situation for gun owners that's for sure.

During my military career and then my wives civilian career we only transferred our guns via a household move. They inventory the guns and package each one. Then unpack them at the new destination.
To do anything else just doesnt make any sense. But if you are convinced you will need the guns as soon as you arrive in Alaska find someone in your unit and mail the long guns to them in care of yourself. No FFL required.

As others have mentioned, move your firearms with household goods. I have never had an issue on May of my PCS moves. I left a couple of guns in Arkansas at my mother’s house. When we go and visit shortly, I’ll bring them back with me as checked baggage on the plane.

Where did you come to this conclusion?

I have found two drastically different limits for ammo being transported, and neither had anything to do with weight. I think for a permanent dwelling in Canada there's a 225 Kilo weight limit of ammo that can be stored but not for transport through Canada by a non-resident. This is what I have found on Canadian government websites:








To the OP:
When I had my transfer paperwork (US government, but not military) I arrived at customs with 4 rifles and a shotgun, a pre-filled out Form 909 and a Continuation Sheet (RCMP GRC 5590). I paid my $25 Canadian and was on my way. They didn't even look at the guns. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe my government paperwork made them feel easy about me. I don't know but I wish I had brought a lot more rifles and shotguns up now. Since I didn't do that, every time I fly back I plan to bring a few more and some handguns with me in an airline approved rifle case.

I purposefully crossed at a small, rural POE and called them beforehand to get their thoughts on the matter, but didn't ask about ammo. I should have but it's a non-issue now.

You can literally ship them to yourself via UPS (i wouldn’t trust USPS)...

Fly up there and pick them up yourself ... without using a FFL... however you have to be in person, and they have to be shipped to you / yourself.

Meaning - pack them up and get the ready to ship. The day before you fly take them to UPS and ship them... then land and pick them up when they arrive at the other end.

After many decades with a FFL in AK I can tell you UPS SUCKS to AK. They charge more, lose more, break more, and are impossible to get in touch with when you have a problem. USPS trumps them all here. UPS in AK is run on contract by others for the most part. I have had scads of issues with UPS and off the top of my head can remember only one with USPS and that was not really their fault.

Not sure where the conflicting other issues are but I have been across the border many times and the Canadians had a weight limit on powder, primers, and loaded ammo combined.

Bought a rifle fella used UPS I get a note from him saying next time need to help with shipping. No problem I asked how much was it? He said $160 bucks holy chit. I said USPS would of been $65 tops. I tracked that rifle leave Seattle go all the way to Sacramento to be flown to Alaska absolutely mind boggling lol. Just shipped a rifle to an ffl in Arizona $62 bucks with $500 in insurance.

I've only crossed the border 11 times, but 5,000 rounds of ammo, or the components for 5,000 rounds of ammo has been the standard I was held to:

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/explosives/...d-transportation-transit-ammunition/9909


On a side note, pure opinion here... I have had bad luck being a military member and dealing with Canadian Border Patrol... Seems like some of them have a hard on for US Mil. I crossed 5 times as a civ with no problems, and 6 times as a mil with full anal cavity search. YMMV