It has become so complicated and the various countries have become so over reactive, that the squeeze isn't worth the juice. While I feel sorry for our friends in those countries, it really is up to them to change their laws and not for us to try to skirt them.
I had several sidelock leaf mainsprings for my SxS shotguns sit in Spain for months on end, before the sender could get the export permission from the Spanish Guardia Civil.....even though the springs were not a restricted item to import to the USA.
It is mind boggling. Some retailers in the USA require you to certify you will not be exporting your parts purchase (an end user statement/certificate). While we don't classify muzzleloader parts that way, most countries do and Australia is one of them.
Hell, you even have to go through a FFL holder to send muzzleloaders to some States in the USA. God forbid you try to take any type of gun part on your carry on luggage in the USA, muzzleloader or not.
For example read below:
International purchase information
Brownells
Part 1: General Information, International
There are a number of items which Brownells sells that may require either US State Department approval or Department of Commerce approval and an export license is necessary before they can be shipped out of the United States. The regulations are complex and constantly changing but our staff is here to help you understand what is needed and will gladly work with you to correctly accomplish the task.
Generally speaking, items which need a license are:
- Firearms
- Firearms Parts
- Optical Sights
- Reloading Components
Licenses from the US State Department and the Department of Commerce take time to receive. It can easily take 30-60 days to obtain an export license, so plan ahead accordingly.
Brownells has an obligation to monitor our shipments for both direct and indirect exports. A direct export is when an order is placed by someone outside of the United States and then ships out of the US when all the required licenses and have been successfully issued for that order. An indirect export is where an order is placed by a customer outside of the US and then is shipped to another location within the United States. Both of these examples could need an export license to take place. Generally speaking it is Brownells policy not to ship any order to a known forwarder or carrier within the United States that is not preapproved by us.
For firearms, firearms parts, on some other items you will be required to provide an
import permit or certificate from your government for us to include along with the export application for you order. If your country does not require an import license, you will need to post us a certified letter reflecting this information.