finally bought my scope....
03-31-2003, 10:28 AM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Calgary ab Canada
Posts: 972
finally bought my scope....
After months of second guessing myself I finally bought (drumroll)...........[
]
The Zeiss! Yes sir...Conquest 3.5-10x44. I was going to go for the 3-9 but there was a sale on and basically I got new rings for free. It really is a wedding gift from my bride to be, so as long as it was within the $1000.00 range, it was mine. I (she)
paid $999.99 can. I figured go big or go home. Going out next weekend to sight it in, i' ll keep you posted on how well it works. Thanks for all the input (especially Woodseye)
]The Zeiss! Yes sir...Conquest 3.5-10x44. I was going to go for the 3-9 but there was a sale on and basically I got new rings for free. It really is a wedding gift from my bride to be, so as long as it was within the $1000.00 range, it was mine. I (she)
paid $999.99 can. I figured go big or go home. Going out next weekend to sight it in, i' ll keep you posted on how well it works. Thanks for all the input (especially Woodseye)
04-01-2003, 12:30 AM
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Posts: 20
RE: finally bought my scope....
Handloader1,
The reason Zeiss scopes are so expensive in Canada is that there is only 3 retailers in western Canada who are selling the Zeiss conquest line, and the 3 of these dealers SIR, Wholesalesports, and Farmers Supply often fix prices when ever possible. Even when you take into the exchange rate, paying $1000 CDN dollars works out to be $689.80 US based on rates from March 31/03. That is why many Canucks living within a couple hours of the US border will purchase optics in the US, because there is NO duty on American made or assembled telescopes, binoculars or rifle scopes, thanks to N.A.F.T.A. Unfortunately there is a lot of bullsh*t flying around bulletin boards which suggests Canadians are not permitted by neither the US or CDN governments to export/import rifle scopes into Canada. A person need only phone the local customs office to get it from the horses mouth. Thus if a CDN orders a 3.5X10-44 Zeiss Conquest through a mail-order house in the US, ie Bearbasin, and has it shipped to a mail box at the border they would only pay $744.31 CDN or $499 US for the same scope. Plus they would save an additional $24.50 CDN on the GST which would come close to covering the cost of gas.
The reason Zeiss scopes are so expensive in Canada is that there is only 3 retailers in western Canada who are selling the Zeiss conquest line, and the 3 of these dealers SIR, Wholesalesports, and Farmers Supply often fix prices when ever possible. Even when you take into the exchange rate, paying $1000 CDN dollars works out to be $689.80 US based on rates from March 31/03. That is why many Canucks living within a couple hours of the US border will purchase optics in the US, because there is NO duty on American made or assembled telescopes, binoculars or rifle scopes, thanks to N.A.F.T.A. Unfortunately there is a lot of bullsh*t flying around bulletin boards which suggests Canadians are not permitted by neither the US or CDN governments to export/import rifle scopes into Canada. A person need only phone the local customs office to get it from the horses mouth. Thus if a CDN orders a 3.5X10-44 Zeiss Conquest through a mail-order house in the US, ie Bearbasin, and has it shipped to a mail box at the border they would only pay $744.31 CDN or $499 US for the same scope. Plus they would save an additional $24.50 CDN on the GST which would come close to covering the cost of gas.
04-01-2003, 03:07 AM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Newport Maine USA
Posts: 389
RE: finally bought my scope....
I' m confidant you will like it a lot.They are the best in their class optically and offer a lot of other advantages that make hunting with them an easier experience.Happy hunting and shooting!
woods
woods
04-01-2003, 08:51 AM
#7
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Calgary ab Canada
Posts: 972
RE: finally bought my scope....
VINCE....I looked at buying it from Cabelas and Bear Basin and got the same response from both companies. " We don' t ship scopes to Canada anymore" . I tried to look on the government website for importing scopes but it says nothing at all. I e-mailed someone at Cabelas and told them that, they said the laws are different in each province so we decided to stop shipping them to Canada period. I figured if something went wrong with the scope it would be a pain to send it back to the dealer so I just paid a bit more. Damn that loonie!
04-01-2003, 10:07 PM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Posts: 20
RE: finally bought my scope....
JD,
My post certainly wasn' t meant as a shot at yourself. Rather the 3 stores that I mentioned in my post. As for confusing information you are absolutely correct. I agree that the CDN & ATF website, literature, and even the 1-800-???-???? were all pretty much useless. I always phone straight to the customs guys who are working the border to get it straight from the person who would be making the stink at the border. You are correct that Cabela' s and Bear Basin will NOT ship into Canada. But they will ship to the US/CDN border, often for free on bigger purchases. There are a number of business that will rent a PO box to which any US dealer will ship to as it is still in the US. The fee for this service is usually around $10 (max). Then it is a simple trip down to the US for about 10 minutes. If you explain to both the US and CDN customs guys what you are doing its a fairly simple procedure. Bringing it back to AB you would only pay the GST on the purchase price. However, given recent events, I wouldn' t bother if I wore a wrap around cowboy hat.
As far as your comment on trying to send the scope back to the US if there is a problem it' s painless. Last year I purchased a pair of Zeiss Victory bino' s from Cabela' s at a CDN at par sale. Due to my eyes being so different in strength I had to have Zeiss adjust the diopter (middle knob?) adjustment. I only had to send them to Toronto to the CDN Zeiss importer and they took care of all the customs papers and shipping into the US. I had them back in 2 weeks. I' m fairly certain SIR would have them in their shipping dept for a month before they would send them out.
Excellent choice on the Zeiss!
My post certainly wasn' t meant as a shot at yourself. Rather the 3 stores that I mentioned in my post. As for confusing information you are absolutely correct. I agree that the CDN & ATF website, literature, and even the 1-800-???-???? were all pretty much useless. I always phone straight to the customs guys who are working the border to get it straight from the person who would be making the stink at the border. You are correct that Cabela' s and Bear Basin will NOT ship into Canada. But they will ship to the US/CDN border, often for free on bigger purchases. There are a number of business that will rent a PO box to which any US dealer will ship to as it is still in the US. The fee for this service is usually around $10 (max). Then it is a simple trip down to the US for about 10 minutes. If you explain to both the US and CDN customs guys what you are doing its a fairly simple procedure. Bringing it back to AB you would only pay the GST on the purchase price. However, given recent events, I wouldn' t bother if I wore a wrap around cowboy hat.
As far as your comment on trying to send the scope back to the US if there is a problem it' s painless. Last year I purchased a pair of Zeiss Victory bino' s from Cabela' s at a CDN at par sale. Due to my eyes being so different in strength I had to have Zeiss adjust the diopter (middle knob?) adjustment. I only had to send them to Toronto to the CDN Zeiss importer and they took care of all the customs papers and shipping into the US. I had them back in 2 weeks. I' m fairly certain SIR would have them in their shipping dept for a month before they would send them out.
Excellent choice on the Zeiss!