I understand that a handgun may only be temporarily imported to South Africa for hunting purposes. Can someone please point me to where I could find the legal requirements on the type of pistol? I imagine that a scoped, large calibre revolver is "obviously" for hunting. What about a 4 or 5" 357 without a scope, etc.? I'm not talking about the effectiveness of various pistol types, but what is considered acceptable for import by the authorities. Thanks.
@edward is an authority on everything handgun hunting around here. My understanding is they must have an optic attached to be imported for hunting.
@IdaRam took his 44 last year and can help also.
Howdy
@Laniarius & Cody. I may be able to help out a bit.
You can definitely take a revolver of just about any flavor to SA, but it must have an optic mounted on it when you clear SAPS (South African Police Service). I put an Ultra Dot on my .44 Mag last year. There is no requirement that the optic has magnification, at least that I am aware of.
SAPS is very hit or miss how closely they scrutinize your paperwork or your firearms. I have been checked thoroughly before and last year they never even glanced at my guns. About 30 seconds to see if I had paperwork and out of there.
You will also need a proper Letter of Motivation from your Outfitter. This will require pre-approval by SAPS. I believe you must submit it 30 days in advance, but I can’t remember for sure. Your outfitter should be able to advise on this. Or if you engage the services of Henry Durheim with Riflepermits.com he can guide you.
Your LOI should say something to the effect of, you hunt with a handgun internationally for the purpose of securing trophies eligible for the record book in the handgun category. It must NOT in any way refer to personal defense.
The following is a general statement and I’m sure there might be some exceptions, but semi-auto handguns are pretty strictly forbidden.
Single shot hanguns such as TC Contender, Encore or Remington XP-100 should be no problem, so long as equipped with a scope.
As for pointing you to the regs, you should probably contact someone like Henry referenced above. I would be very confident in getting accurate and up to date info from him.
Also, I flew Emirates Airlines last year with my handgun and I highly reccommend them! They are one of the very best airlines when it comes to NOT losing your guns and they are very easy to deal with.
I hope this helps! Keep us posted on your adventure amd good luck.
