I thought you could ship a gun to yourself, skip the FFL recheck?

Eons ago I drove the ALCAN and stop in Beaver Creek, Yk where Canadian customs were. About midnight there a guy banging on the door saying “Are you an American?” He says the customs agent wants to talk to me.
Turns out he was caught with a gun. Told to go back to Alaska, he drove around for a few hours and tried again. Was caught again. He and the customs officer asked me to drive the gun back to AK and drop it off at the FFL just across the border.
The customs agent explained that guns were being tossed into the wood to avoid the fine or having to make the drive. Local kids would search to find them. That was a problem.
Three years later we drove out and I made very sure that we were clean.
Lesson. Don’t mess with Canadian Customs. They are nice but very experiance.

quote:

Originally posted by Icabod:
Eons ago I drove the ALCAN and stop in Beaver Creek, Yk where Canadian customs were. About midnight there a guy banging on the door saying “Are you an American?” He says the customs agent wants to talk to me.
Turns out he was caught with a gun. Told to go back to Alaska, he drove around for a few hours and tried again. Was caught again. He and the customs officer asked me to drive the gun back to AK and drop it off at the FFL just across the border.
The customs agent explained that guns were being tossed into the wood to avoid the fine or having to make the drive. Local kids would search to find them. That was a problem.
Three years later we drove out and I made very sure that we were clean.
Lesson. Don’t mess with Canadian Customs. They are nice but very experiance.

I've driven the ALCAN 7 times, always with guns aboard, both long and short. Never had a problem with Canadian Customs, but the Americans tore me apart looking for something, and I have no idea what it was as they never found it.

Congrats on the move! Are you coming before winter? Some folks do not consider Anchorage to be Alaska. As AKSuperDually pointed out, the Delta area is very nice, I'd live there if I could.

I want to do the drive to Alaska!
So, my online research shows that I can take 5,000 rds of ammo, 5,000 primers, and 8kg of powder. That's good. If most of the ammo is shotgun, that will help me stretch the 50 lb limit when flying.
I picked up the Milepost book. Studying now.
I will put 4 snow tires on the Subaru Legacy. I will probably look for chains or cables.

I'm excited that this is coming together!

Bruce

B, a few things. Moving a young family there. That is in of itself a big thing. Not to mention where you plan to move to. Find a place. Secure what you need. What you might want is a whole nother thing. As obtaining things you and your family might want is not always possible and at the very least. Outrageously expensive. And thinking you are going to move your life from where you are now to AK. just does not work.

I kind of get the impression this may be more of a fantasy vs reality. Work in your field is probably not a problem. Making anywhere near the kind money your making now will be a shocker. Plus the cost of living there will be shocker. Combine those two things and you have a less then great combination.

Then there is the limited road system. Having to drive a long distance to get any place, like work or shopping. Shipping is very expensive. There is a ton of things you have not even mentioned, let alone thought about I am pretty sure. While moving to Alaska might sound like a dream. It can be a nightmare. And you could find yourself divorced or moving your family back to reality after a less than great experience.
Sounds like you have your work cut out for your self to get there. Then if you get there. Carving out some kind of life once there is a whole nother deal all together.

You have not really said why you want to go to AK. One thing you might consider is there are places in the ConUS than can offer a similar experience to AK and actually a better experience in many aspects. Without the challenges that AK will throw at you. Fwiw.

A 5000k drive up in a Subie this time of year just to go up and look around will probably cure you from a move up there . If that is what you are talking about.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: old rugged cross,

We're moving to the Palmer/Wasilla area. Not a metropolitan area, but 2 Costcos within an hour drive isn't what I would call "roughing it".
Do I have any idea what I am in for? Hardly
My wife, on the other hand, spent a year as a public health nurse for the State of Alaska. She has been everywhere from Ketchikan to Nome to Bethel on float planes and ATV. It has been her dream to go back, so here we go. Nevada has turned too blue for either of us to tolerate so a move is necessary. Why not where she wants?

As far as work: She's already got a job offer for 20% more than she is making now. The jobs I am looking at all pay very close to my present salary.
Houses are bigger with more land for the same money as our Vegas house. Property taxes run, depending on the town, $3000 to $7000 a year. That stings but it's doable.

We both know people that live in Anchorage and have been there a while. They're advising us. They say it's been the best move they ever made.
We have done our research, prepared as much as is possible, and now leave it up to whatever god might be watching.


We are excited.

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by Icabod:
Lesson. Don’t mess with Canadian Customs. They are nice but very experiance.

Yes. Twenty years ago my GF and I were nearly hauled into the blockhouse for grilling, detention, and fines because of her tiny expired Mace-on-a-keychain.

Cat and I will likely be in VT / NH / ME this or early next month. Too bad Cat doesn't have her feline "papers". Explorations to St. Lawrence River and Ruisseau-à-Rebours are out of the question.

Learn how to use barges to move big items. Services such as AMS (Alaska marine services)… Full disclosure my neighbor works for them.

Keep your head on a swivel in Alaska… A lot of people running from the law there.


Wonderful place if you’re into individualism and self-provisioning a lot of your own food.

Don’t fool yourself; it’s deadly up there. All kinds of stories - both men and nature. Beautiful too!

Best wishes and congrats.

A quick update for all of my imaginary friends:

Job offers accepted!
House rental found!
House purchase under contract!
House sale under contract!
Wife's Jeep shipped!
Wife flies up on Tuesday!

Off to work, for me

What a ride, this has been.

Bruce

Congrats Bruce. Where did you buy. How are you getting everything up there?
Remember, winter is here.

That's awesome! You're living my dream!

We're in Wasilla, once we close. Renting in Anchorage until then.

We're abandoning most of the bulky stuff. The essentials are going in U-boxes.

If the closing on the Vegas house goes smoothly, I will drive the Alcan. If not, and the winter is closing in, I will put the car on a ship and fly up.

Bruce

Wasilla has been a popular landing zone for folks going there for better than 15 years.

An Or. Wooden Dory builder landed there about then. I really wanted one of his dories before he left. But was not able to pull together. His family might be making them there as a dory would be a very usable fishing vessel in many parts of AK.

Your Gen 1 G17 is staying in the ConUS.

Best of luck Bruce. Going to need some warm clothes,hats,gloves, boots going from vegas

Palmer has a huge population of liberals, enough that I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere near there.

But, to each his own.

The term "Huge population" is not something frequently used in a conversation about Alaska

I'm glad I didn't get rid of any of my winter clothes from the Catskill Mountains and Reno/Tahoe.
I'm going to need them, for sure.

The Rottie pup loves the snow in Utah. The Chihuahua will hate me for taking him back to the cold. I'm interested to see what the cat thinks.

Bruce

When we live in Delta Junction, Alaska / Ft. Greely our little doxie (weenie dog) loved to go out and play in the frozen snow until the tootsies got cold then would alternate lifting up one then the other until she would lay down on her back with all four paws up in the air like a dead roach. Then she would start to howling and yowling which meant come pick me up because I ain"t putting my tootsies back on the ground ........................................................... drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Palmer has a huge population of liberals, enough that I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere near there.

But, to each his own.

Palmer is definitely changing more towards the conservative side lately. They showed BLM their assess and literally escorted them out of town. That said...for the Mat-Su Valley, the weirdos are in Talkeetna, but so is the good beer. The traffic and crazy are in Wasilla, and the whole borough has been the fastest growing region in Alaska, and at times the country, for over 5 years now. Since COVID, a bunch of businesses and conservatives have fled Los Anchorage and moved to the Valley. Once a commuter community, the towns of Wasilla and Palmer can very much stand on their own these days.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Palmer has a huge population of liberals, enough that I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere near there.

But, to each his own.

Huge? There's some hipsters that have been priced out of Girdwood, but other than that it's farmers, methheads and those who find Anchorage to be too metropolitan.