Packaging and Shipping Long Arms

[smoke-eater]

What are your methods of securely packing up a rifle for shipping? I have always packed them in an inexpensive hard plastic gun case (Plano), inside a cardboard box. For extra security, I wrap the gun in bubblewrap and slide a length of foam pool noodle over the barrel. I secure the case with lots of zip-ties. Problem is, it's very bulky and the costs of shipping (UPS) have gone through the roof! Last one I mailed cost $70. . Any more compact, but still secure, ways to pack them up?

 

[mohavesam]

USPS will ship a long gun much cheaper. Get a shipping box from the throw-away bin at a good LGS.

 

[Dantforth]

I use boxes from a local gun store. They are happy to get rid of them. I turn the box inside out and that gives me a clean surface to write on. They usually come with foam inserts which I tailor to the friearm I am shipping. I fill any voids in the box with foam pellets. I have never had one damaged in shipping. I am in Canada but our postal service is cheaper than any of the courier services. I expect the USPS is also cheapest?

 

[Seventy7rs]

A few suggestions:
1. keep box length equal or less than 48 inches. Over 48 inches and there is an oversize surcharge.
2. FedEx ground seems to be cheapest. UPS next. USPS most expensive.
3. You can pack and print labels from home or the main hub (fedex, ups, etc). If you go to a private shipping center they will charge extra, and not all of them have the necessary licenses to accept and hold firearms for shipment.

 

[RoninPA]

I have been receiving and shipping firearms for over 30 years as an FFL and USPS has been, by far, the cheapest method to ship guns. A non FFL can legally ship long arms through the USPS. Even using Priority Mail with insurance an average rifle will go for well under $50. With UPS and FedEx, they now have a lot of hoops to jump through now and typically you have to ship through a hub, you can't use the local UPS or FedEx store as they are franchises and won't accept firearms. In the years I have been doing this I have NEVER had a firearm go missing/stolen when it was shipped (by me or to me) using USPS. I cannot say that about the other two shippers.

Now I will say, if you are a MAJOR user/shipper and have accounts with UPS and FedEx, then you will get discounts that the average person will never get and it can be cheaper. For the average person, USPS is the cheaper way to go (and shipped correctly, it is VERY secure).

 

[JohnFLand]

Consider also www.shipmygun.com.

 

[Chief 101]

All good suggestions. I try to find a box without gun makers brand and make it as short as possible so as not to advertise firearm by the size or label. I you have a breakdown rifle, find a box that will work, or cut down a rifle box. I take it to the main hub of UPS and pack it well...and try not to advertise what it is...

 

[Ruger44fan]

RoninPA above said it perfectly. Also, USPS doesn't get picky about what you use for a box; I often use the ones a 4 foot fluorescent light fixture comes in. If you use UPS they make you show a copy of the FFL license it is going to if you are an individual. Using USPS as an individual is easy and the rates ARE lower than UPS for sure. If you want to mail a handgun, you are forced to use UPS or FedEx if you are an individual mailing to a FFL. For handguns, FedEx is almost 1/2 the cost of UPS. I have experienced this mailing handguns back to the factory. I have also done this for over 40 years and totally agree with RoninPA.

 

[BlkHawk73]

Find your local driveline shop (vehicle driveline, hydraulic drivelines, etc) and see about getting some of their shipping tubes. MUCH more rigid than regular cardboard tubes or boxes. Wrap in a gun sock, and pack accordingly. I like to use a smaller boxes as endocarps to make them square to prevent rolling.

 

[rowdy1972]

Excellant shipping boxs here...


https://www.cameronpackaging.com/gun_boxes.html

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

FWIW, just got back from shipping some things at the post office, and one package was a short rifle. Talked to the guy for a minute, and he suggested shipping valuable items Ground with Special Handling. Apparently it still ships priority, but it gets taken care of better, in it's own area. Plus you don't need insurance so there's another savings there. He couldn't price mine rifle, going to Oregon, because they do it there but I'm sure there's some places they do. He said that's the way people ship TV's, expensive art and such because of the "SPECIAL HANDLING". Anyway it's worth a consideration.

 

[RoninPA]

FWIW, just got back from shipping some things at the post office, and one package was a short rifle. Talked to the guy for a minute, and he suggested shipping valuable items Ground with Special Handling. Apparently it still ships priority, but it gets taken care of better, in it's own area. Plus you don't need insurance so there's another savings there. He couldn't price mine rifle, going to Oregon, because they do it there but I'm sure there's some places they do. He said that's the way people ship TV's, expensive art and such because of the "SPECIAL HANDLING". Anyway it's worth a consideration.

I don't understand the "no insurance"? What if it gets stolen or destroyed? Who pays? What do they pay? How do they know the value? Priority Mail also gets "Special Handling" as it is tracked (annotated at each location) each step of the way (sometimes goes in very strange directions but it is tracked).

I have been shipping firearms for over 20 years via Priority Mail with insurance (the amount that it would take to replace the item) and have never had anything go wrong. And if it did, you file a claim and get paid up to the amount of the insurance you bought.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Ron, obviously I'm going to have to ask more questions. I didn't get all the information because 1. I was sending a rifle to Oregon and that didn't apply to Oregon, not sure if it was because it was so close or what. 2. There were people in line at the post office waiting on me and I talked to him long enough to hold them up. That's the first time I've heard of all that and I've been shipping rifles for years. Mine were mostly out of Alaska and maybe that's not something offered there either. I will try to get more answers.

 

[RoninPA]

Thanks,
I'll talk to my PO folks too. It's a small PO and not typically busy when I go to get my mail so they always take the time to answer all my questions when I ask. It's just that I had never heard of that way of shipping through them and it raised a lot of questions. A lot would depend on the cost, I can ship an average size rifle Priority Mail with $500 insurance for about $40 to any of the lower 48. Haven't had to ship a firearm to AK or HI yet so I don't know the additional cost.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I made it to the post office today, and asked him about the special shipping, and why no insurance. He said you could insure it if you want to, but those packages are handled delicately. It's the same way people mail live chicks, and other things of high value, they want handled carefully. Supposedly they ship it in some kind of separate crate so nothing get's damaged.
As far as insurance goes it's my opinion that the post office will try to do everything they can to keep from paying the insurance. I had a guy ship me a Marlin rifle and apparently dropped the gun on the but where the plastic butt plate is and broke that as well as chipping the heel of the stock. It took a good long while but they finally coughed up the less than $100 it cost to replace. I shipped a guy a rifle and it literally looked to me (from the pictures) the rifle went in one of those trucks with the roll down doors and someone laid the rifle on the floor of the truck and slammed the roll down door on it. Broke the synthetic stock at the grip. The guy I sent it to said he'd take care of it because he "knew someone at the post office." It still took 6 months he said before they coughed up the money. In all the years I've been dealing with guns I've only had one gun stolen in shippment, and apparently it was a mail carrier. Anyway when they came by to confirm I hadn't got it, they were obviously investigating someone.
Anymore I seldom get insurance for the entire value of the firearm (at least on rifles) because they are harder to steal I would think anyway. But apparently they are pretty easy to damage if the carrier has a mind to damage it. Bottom line is I don't have a lot of confidence in any of the carriers to pay out insurance in a timely fashion should something happen. Maybe someone has some inside information they'd like to share with the rest of us.
Anyway I hope that answers your question. What kind of answer did you get? I'm surprised it took so many years to even hear about that option.

 

[RoninPA]

Talked to my postal folks today and they said the "Special Handling" was actually "Special Handling-Fragile" and was/is typically used to ship items like live chicks, animals, etc. or other really fragile things (like art work, pottery, etc). It does get special handling but it is not insured at all. You can buy insurance but it get expensive. I would not think that the USPS would allow a firearm to be shipped that way but who knows.

They told me, that for firearms, the best way possible (not necessarily the cheapest) is Priority Mail with insurance. It gets also special handling in that anyone who touches the package has to sign for it and they are the first packages that are loaded/unloaded. They did say that yes, an insurance claim may take a while but the people who investigate the claims are like a PD Internal Affairs office, they are independent of the postal service per se, they just want to find out what happened, and who caused the loss/damage. The postmaster said they do a full investigation to make sure the USPS is not being scammed and they want to be fair to the shipper and receiver.

I haven't have any problems in over 20 years of shipping with USPS so I'll probably stick with them.

This has been interesting because FFLs and non-FFLs alike always want to be able to ship firearms the quickest.