Hey all-

I recently reviewed the Alcan driving thread. Lots of good information, there. It seems we have a few members who have lived or now live in Alaska.

My family is considering a move to Anchorage (Chugiak, Eagle River, etc) in the next couple of years.

I am seeking advice about moving bulky, heavy items. The guns will most likely fly up. How to move up the ammo and maybe a safe?
I hear of a ferry from Bellingham. Is a heavily loaded truck an option, that way? Cost?

Thanks,

Bruce

When I last went up or down the Alaska Highway, you could bring your guns with you.

From what I hear from my friends and family, TOTE may be your answer.

https://www.totemaritime.com/a.../vehicles-rvs-boats/

^^^Uhhh, the 'Alaska Highway' travels through Canada. While you 'could' travel with certain firearms, MANY firearms legal in the US are NOT legal in Canada, so that's NOT really an option!

The Alaska Marine Highway system (the ferry), stops in canuckistan...and is bankrupt, with an uncertain future. In a few years, it may not exist at all.

Typically, it makes the most sense to sell everything, and start over. Canuckistan invents new rules every few months on the transport of firearms and ammunition (and alcohol, tobacco, vegetables, fruits, meats...) so it is best to plan to wait until right before you move to make those decisions. You will either fly up the firearms and ammunition yourself, or pay and FFL to do it for you. Each airline has their own limits on the ammo, so you may want to start booking trips and moving it now. Ammunition is severely limited, both on the ground and in the air.

If you have enough stuff that you can't part with and replace here in Alaska...you will want to look into the barge option. Buy a connex, fill it and get it to Seattle or another port, then pay for it to be barged up to Anchorage.

Tote is one of those.

You're going to discover that it is much cheaper to sell everything that you can't bring with you on an airplane.

I've moved in and outside Alaska from the lesser 49 now 3 times. The last time it cost me 6 flights plus $28K in doing the drive twice with three vehicles, towing additional trailers each trip. The U-Haul was $10K alone plus fuel at canuckistans God-awful prices, at less than 2 mpg. I believe the fuel bill for the Uhaul was just under $5K for one trip. At today's prices, it would cost you $380 USD to fill a Uhaul tank in Whitehorse (which will get you to Tok, you'll have to do it 8-10 times in canuckistan alone). I would venture that nearly nothing you own is worth the cost of driving it up the alcan when fuel prices are at all time highs.

What are ammo prices like in Anchorage?
That's about the only thing I am focusing on getting up there. The guns will fly or FFL.
Is there a freight option? Can I crate it and send it by ship?
I can't see being able to replace a good sized ammo pile (especially today) at Alaska prices.

Bruce

Not sure which Alcan driving thread you read as there is more than one.

I lived in Anchorage 2009 to 2014, had frequent business trips 2014 to 2016, and in 2009 drove from Houston to Anchorage. Only a few of my previous posts remain:

getting through Can-eh-duh

What do I need to know before driving the ALCAN?

Need a moving company recommendation

AKSuperDually and 2000Z-71 have more recent experiences than me.

One thing to note, some Alaska Airlines flights (check flight #) have a 50 lb ammo limit versus their other flights and their competitors having an 11 lb ammo limit. If I remember correctly, 1000 rounds of 9mm is 29 lbs.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Ugh! Where to begin...

For driving the ALCAN, first off buy this book and start doing your research. TheMilepost is considered, "The Bible" for traveling the ALCAN and a whole lot of other places in Alaska. I used it along with Mapquest and hotels.com to plan my drive up the ALCAN. Made the drive in mid-October, still ran into some weather and a lot of places were closed for the season. A dot on the map, may not have any services available depending on the time of year, one reason why the Milepost is so valuable.

https://themilepost.com

As far as traveling through Canada with firearms, it's a PITA but doable. My initial trip up I packed a combination of 17 rifles, shotguns and handguns in the truck. I did my research well in advance, made a few phone calls to the Canadian government office, had all of my paperwork in order and was very respectful with, "Yes sir", "No sir" at the border. I was able to cross with very little hassle.

My suggestion is to do your own research on the RCMP website. Go directly there rather than following advice from 3rd parties or other websites.

https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/...horization-transport

It's changed some since I came up in 2018. I was able to talk directly with their central office, have my questions answered and apply and process my application for, "Authorization to Transport". Now their website instructs you to contact the Port of Entry where you will be crossing the border.

Basically Canada classifies firearms into 3 categories; Non-Restricted, Restricted and Prohibited. Non-Restricted is your typical hunting rifle or shotgun. Restricted is handguns. Prohibited is "Assault Rifles", handguns with less than a 4.1" barrel and anything with the, "Capacity" to hold more than 10 rounds. I could not get a clear answer from the Canadians if a 226 with a 10 round magazine would be Restricted or Prohibited, so I dd not bring anything that could hold a magazine of greater than 10 rounds.

You can transport Restricted firearms if you have an Authorization to Transport. Everything has to be transported with a trigger lock inside of a locked container. The ATT has to be applied for and approved in advance. Firearms must be listed by model and serial number, they are very specific about using manufacturers exact model names. There is a fee that must be paid at the border, it is a flat fee for all firearms not a gun by gun fee. You must also specify a date of entry and a date of leaving on the ATT. US customers on entering Alaska could've cared less. Their attitude was that if I made it through Canada, there was nothing they needed to worry about.

Bringing a large stash of ammo through Canada is a nogo. You can bring small amounts. I made the initial trip then on subsequent flights back to visit family and friends I'd fly down with 2 empty SKB 4 rifle cases, pack them in Arizona, pay the oversized/overweight baggage fees and fly back with them. My ammo stash I've been bringing back a little at time when I fly down. Once your here, apply for Club 49 with Alaska Airlines. It's their rewards program and only open to Alaska residents. It allows 2 free bags and up to 50lbs. of ammo to be transported on your flight for free. It also offers reduced rates for cargo on your flight.

As far as the safe, I gifted mine to a friend in Arizona who agreed to allow me to store my firearms in it while I was transporting them up here on later trips as well as storing my ammo stash. I bought a new one up here.

Other options are the Alaska Marine Highway and shipping. As mentioned the Alaska ferry system has all kinds of issues right now. You can pack firearms and ammo in your vehicle and transport from Bellingham, Washington to Whittier, Alaska. It's expensive figure around $3,500. I used U-Haul's U-Box to move a lot of my things up here. Basically pack the box, they store it and ship it up by barge when you're ready. It was more cost effective than other options at the time. Read the fine print and it says no firearms or ammunition. That said, a buddy of mine packed his inside of dressers and refrigerators and moved his up inside them anyway. Not that I'm recommending that.

Check Alaska Ammo for availability and prices. Availability up here right now sucks. You'll also find that a lot of online sellers will not ship to Alaska.

https://www.alaskaammogroup.com

Yes, moving to Alaska is a PITA, but it is worth it. Let me know if you've got specific questions and feel free to PM me.

I’ve lived up here for several years now. Feel free to email me any questions you have.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Not sure which Alcan driving thread you read as there is more than one.

I lived in Anchorage 2009 to 2014, had frequent business trips 2014 to 2016, and in 2009 drove from Houston to Anchorage. Only a few of my previous posts remain:

getting through Can-eh-duh

What do I need to know before driving the ALCAN?

Need a moving company recommendation

AKSuperDually and 2000Z-71 have more recent experiences than me.

One thing to note, some Alaska Airlines flights (check flight #) have a 50 lb ammo limit versus their other flights and their competitors having an 11 lb ammo limit. If I remember correctly, 1000 rounds of 9mm is 29 lbs.

Whatever. The fact remains that there is NO way to drive from the lower-48 to Alaska without going through some paret of Canada. Your post could be read to make it sound as if there is.

flashguy

When we moved up here in 2019 we were able to carry 10k rounds of ammo each (20k for 2 people)
I had a 9mm 1911 and a pump shotgun that cam through CA and did the required paperwork, but laws have changed and I'm starting to dread our move next year...

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
Whatever. The fact remains that there is NO way to drive from the lower-48 to Alaska without going through some paret of Canada. Your post could be read to make it sound as if there is.

flashguy

Technically, there is. Drive on the ferry in Bellingham, Washington and off the ferry after docking in Alaska bypassing Canada completely.

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
Whatever. The fact remains that there is NO way to drive from the lower-48 to Alaska without going through some paret of Canada. Your post could be read to make it sound as if there is.

flashguy

Technically, there is. Drive on the ferry in Bellingham, Washington and off the ferry after docking in Alaska bypassing Canada completely.

I was a corporate relocation both moving there and moving away, but chose not to elaborate since it doesn’t sound like the OP’s situation. My situation moving out is extremely unlikely to be OP’s situation.

On the way up, the moving company moved everything except ammo. I signed a bunch if forms on both ends for the firearms. They loaded my worldly possessions in a conex, drove it to the rail yard, railed it to Washington state, loaded the conex on a commercial barge (main method of moving goods from L48 to Alaska), it floated across the Pacific, and after getting offloaded in a port was driven to my home. Meanwhile, my Dad and I drove the cats and 4980 rounds of ammo (I linked about this) up the ALCAN. At the Canadian border, border patrol made me show them the forms that I had transferred all of my firearms via the moving company and I had to go into detail on how they were shipping them across the Pacific.

Moving out of Alaska, I was moving to Canada so most of my guns were class of permit unobtainable for expat. We took all of the guns and ammo to a now defunct company who palletized them and then shipped them via truck, barge, and rail to Dad’s house in Upper Midwest. Bunch of forms to sign on both ends for this. I say now defunct because when you moved up to Alaska, I looked back into them hoping to be helpful but they had gotten out of the firearm and ammo shipping business. Meanwhile:

all of my household goods were driven by a moving company to my new place in Canada

dad, my cat, and I got on a plane and flew to Canada.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
^^^Uhhh, the 'Alaska Highway' travels through Canada. While you 'could' travel with certain firearms, MANY firearms legal in the US are NOT legal in Canada, so that's NOT really an option!

Didn't say it was. I said the last time I went. That's why I advised the OP to look at TOTE.

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
What are ammo prices like in Anchorage?
That's about the only thing I am focusing on getting up there. The guns will fly or FFL.
Is there a freight option? Can I crate it and send it by ship?
I can't see being able to replace a good sized ammo pile (especially today) at Alaska prices.

Bruce

Prices are slightly more than lesser 49, but availability is the issue. Nothing you want is in stock, and the 40% of Alaska who is retired...camps out and grabs the 2 boxes that might get stocked once a week on Thursday at 10am...
Actually, it's getting better. Alaskan markets lag the lesser 49 in pretty much every way.

I suspect the crate option won't be legal, but is commonly done as others mentioned. When I first moved to Alaska, the military moved me. We had no idea what was or wasn't legal in canuckistan...didn't care. Movers packed my guns, ammo, powder, primers, bullets....everything but my alcohol. It was delivered to my base housing unit when I got there 2 months later. Probably wasn't legal then. I do know that I had 2 suitcases of good liquor, having made rum runs to PR & South America, & regular rotations to Greece and Germany every couple of weeks for several years. They made me pour out all but 2 or 3 bottles at the border. Back then...they didn't publish stuff on the internet, and being barely 21 we didn't research such things very well.

You need to find a friend to store your ammo, and just start flying it up. Watch for stupid cheap ticket sales. Another route, might be to find a buddy with a private airplane. When I moved back down to Oregon for a few years, I was crew on a herk. I moved a lot of stuff that I couldn't take through canuckistan that way. Most people won't have access to that, or the connections to make it happen. You need a plane capable of not stopping in Canada. Most light twins will do the trick. The cost will probably be close to what you have in the ammo, but might be a lot cheaper than replacement cost in Alaska. Shipping companies can do it, you can pay the hazmat charge. It's just difficult to find one that will talk real numbers with you about it.

When I moved up I had 4 gun cases packed to the limit with my hunting guns and ammo. It was like Tetris with all the Ammo I packed in there. Whenever I head south, I take a rifle case since it flies free with club 49 and I pack it with Ammo (when possible) and bring it back up.

Luckily I got into hand loading a few years ago and obsessively bought components so in addition to all the Ammo I bought here and brought up, I have a fairly ridiculous amount of reloading supplies.

Keep in mind you have to buy reloading components in state, you can’t bring those in gun cases.

Moved there December 1973 since Uncle Sam was my travel agent going to FT. Greely / Delta Junction on military travel orders traveling by private vehicle. No problem with rifle and shotgun but pistol and ammo was placed in a heavy plastic bag with a seal at the border crossing going into Canada from Washington state with a card filled out to be presented at he outgoing border on the other end crossing back into Alaska.. The Mounties instructions were if for any reason that I broke the seal on the pistol and ammo for any reason that I needed to go out of my way and find a Mountie (canadan police) and explain my actions and that the pistol could be re-sealed until exiting Canada at which time they took pistol out of bag and said all was good . Same thing happened on our exit travel in the fall of 1979 when returning back into the United States. I am sure that things are just as strict if not stronger. Be on the up and up because once that you cross the border your are subject to the Canadian laws. ......................... drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
Moved there December 1973 since Uncle Sam was my travel agent going to FT. Greely / Delta Junction on military travel orders traveling by private vehicle. No problem with rifle and shotgun but pistol and ammo was placed in a heavy plastic bag with a seal at the border crossing going into Canada from Washington state with a card filled out to be presented at he outgoing border on the other end crossing back into Alaska.. The Mounties instructions were if for any reason that I broke the seal on the pistol and ammo for any reason that I needed to go out of my way and find a Mountie (canadan police) and explain my actions and that the pistol could be re-sealed until exiting Canada at which time they took pistol out of bag and said all was good . Same thing happened on our exit travel in the fall of 1979 when returning back into the United States. I am sure that things are just as strict if not stronger. Be on the up and up because once that you cross the border your are subject to the Canadian laws. ......................... drill sgt.

I really wish that was how it still worked. When I received my PCS orders to Alaska in 2002, several of my co-workers had explained that was how it worked. So my guess is prior to 9/11, it was probably still that way.

I sure like that Delta area...we keep looking at property up there. I've performed 3 commercial appraisals up in Delta Junction, and another recently in Tok. A lot of people are moving up there right now, and there's a new mine coming in soon. The area is kinda exploding in a remote Alaskan sort of way.

My timeline has just moved up. The wife flew up to look at houses, this past weekend!

I found a local FFL willing to handle the rifles for $100 total plus actual shipping. Considering the number, that is a gift.

The U-Haul box looks like the best option for the household items. About $3200 for a 5'x7'x8' container. I will be selling pretty much everything that won't fit in that.
We're looking at the possibility of selling the wife's Jeep here and buying a new one, there. $3000+ to transport it, if we don't.

Holy cow, I'm moving to Alaska!

Bruce

Congrats, I'll buy you a beer once you getup here. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
Congrats, I'll buy you a beer once you getup here. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

Sounds like you're going to be in the Los Anchorage area....they seem to enjoy their petty tyranny overmuch down there.....but if you get up to the Interior, it'd be my pleasure to buy you a beer here in the Fairbanks area as well.