Gentlemen:
Your words of encouragement are heartening!
1. As for bringing only "antique" firearms: yes, I could do that ... and have definitely been considering it as an option ... but am unclear whether I can also bring in the ammunition I would need for them. If so, I will likely adopt that expedient, since I can certainly bring back anything I take down. (... Canadian firearms laws and restrictions are much less onerous than most Americans realize - almost all of my hassles with attending Musters, or other shooting events in the US, originate with
US laws and restrictions.)
HOWEVER, if I can't also bring ammunition for my firearms, the ability to bring in the firearms is of little or no benefit to me ...
My uniforms are, of course, all "British Empire"(almost exclusively Canadian) but, for a shot at another Brigade Champion award, using borrowed firearms which are not appropriate to the uniform would disqualify me, I understand ...
(I readily admit that I have aspirations to enter the exclusive "maximum of three Brigade Champion Awards" club, with either my Pattern 1863 Canadian Militia Infantry uniform - worn at the last Muster I was able to attend, although I couldn't place with it because I was judging that year - or my brand new Pattern 1863 Canadian Militia Rifles uniform ... for which this would be the debut appearance.)
The Skirmish category I
intended to shoot is "Military Single Shot - black powder", for which I would need suitable black powder cartridges - either .577 Snider or .577/.450 Martini-Henry - and also for a suitable .450/.455/.476 British revolver - extremely unlikely I'd be able to buy, beg, borrow or steal sufficient suitable cartridges for either rifle on that side of the border. Revolver might be a little less problematic, but still somewhat of a challenge.
2.
Perhaps I could make it a bit easier for myself if I switched to another military category - e.g. Rifleman or Handgunner - I'll have to give that some thought. So, for example, if Col. Drydock could actually provide enough ammunition to permit me to shoot through the entire Skirmish component, that might be a possible option .... I could actually bring my own revolver(s) as I do have several which qualify as "antique" on both sides of the border, thus evading the import problems .... (One nice thing about the cutoff year for "antique status" in Canada actually being one year earlier than in the US - i.e. such a firearm must be "pre-1899" up here, rather than "pre-1900" - is that the official written confirmation of "antique" status which I have from the National Firearms Centre run by the RCMP for each such revolver is, of course, accepted as sufficient proof of "antique" status in the US ....)
3. Neiderlander, my friend, I might well want to take you up on your kind offer regarding the Long Lee and ammunition for at least the Sharpshooter match (and possibly the revolver as well ...)