Shipping Rifles

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Shipping Rifles

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

I hope in the near-future to be ready to send my 336 to be rebored. So a question for those who have shipped a rifle to a distant gunsmith. FedEx or UPS? Do they want to see the rifle and verified serial number etc or can I take it in ready to go? I'm looking for a source for a good shipping container to send it in as I don't have the box for it. We used t have a box store here, but they're long gone.

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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by Ranch Dog »

The best source of a rifle box is a gun shop; they are usually happy to get rid of them. The box should be one box inside the other, not just the box that they hand you when you buy a gun. Typically they have an outer shipping box.

I've always shipped my long guns USPS Priority Mail. Before that is questioned, I researched it, and in that, I live in a small town where you can personally ask the Postmaster, and she said, not an issue. I sent three rifles to JES; all three went USPS.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by GasGuzzler »

If the PM let's you that's cool.

Any PO should within your State. Outside of your State USPS says they won't allow it unless its overnight by an FFL......unless your PM let's you anyway. :)

The very few times I've bought new I've always asked for the boxes and sometimes got both.

You could make a very nice box with a large piece of cardboard, sharp knife, large straightedge, and a square. I e done it many times for hundreds of different items.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by Ranch Dog »

GasGuzzler wrote:If the PM let's you that's cool.

Any PO should within your State. Outside of your State USPS says they won't allow it unless its overnight by an FFL......unless your PM let's you anyway. :)
Sorry, but that is not correct. It would be if he was transferring ownership but he is not. He is sending it to a gunsmith (a licensee) for work, not transferring it.
18 U.S.C. 1715, 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A); 27 CFR 478.31 wrote:A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another State. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by GasGuzzler »

And that's why your PM let it go.

Thanks.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by akuser47 »

I've been shipping rifle USPS for a long time cheaper then the alternatives. Be carful some postmasters don't know the law and will dictate by their beliefs. Just have the laws looked up on your phone on the Usps website. Then show them it's what I had to do.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by Ranch Dog »

What I specifically dislike about FedEx and USPS, other than their poor service and high prices, is they ALWAYS ask "what's in the box?" It is none of their damn business what's in the box. USPS will never ask that, and you are under no obligation to tell them what's in the box other than if it is fragile, liquid, perishable, or a listed Hazardous Material.

When I was in the mold business, I sent approximately 5K packages through USPS in 3 years and did not lose a single one. One took two weeks to arrive during Sandy, and other was stolen in Russian once their postal system signed for it, but that is not on the USPS. I did ship four firearms via USPS Priority Mail last year without any issue, and they all arrived at their destinations two days later, safe and sound.

Another option for O3W in that he needs a box is to ask his FFL about shipping it for him. The FFL is probably some level of a commercial UPS customer and might pack and ship it for him for just cost or a small additional fee.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

I'm thinking seriously of taking it to the local UPS store and have them pack and ship, but I'm going to talk with them first.

Thanks for the info.

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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by Archer »

Interesting.
I was under the impression that a functional firearm was not to be shipped through the mail and that as a rule outside of a DCM/CMP gun they would not knowingly deliver one to a private citizen. I do know that 20+ years ago when I got my DCM Garand through the post office it freaked them out.

Here in CA, the idiot politicians have I think made it illegal for us to follow federal regulations where we can ship to a FFL holder or receive back from one a firearm we already own without going through an existing FFL shop at our end as well.
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Re: Shipping Rifles

Post by Ranch Dog »

Ohio3Wheels wrote:I'm thinking seriously of taking it to the local UPS store and have them pack and ship, but I'm going to talk with them first.

Thanks for the info.

Curt
There is no way I would tell them what is in the box or have them pack it, especially at a UPS Store. They probably won't ship it and if they do the odds of seeing it again are nil. If you want someone to pack and ship it, go to an FFL and pay the fee.
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