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UPS has caved to the current administration’s threats and will not accept firearms for shipment by non-licensees. And UPS requires the shipper to have an account with UPS and UPS must pick up the box — no walk-in handovers.
As a practical matter, when thinning my modest collection, there is no alternative to USPS. Of course, this means long guns only:
1. I pack the gun in a Cameron Custom Rifle Kit, which is what I think Lou was describing. It is not bulletproof but the three layers are made of cross-linked foam, which is what ships’ docking fenders are made of. The outer cardboard carton is of a very heavy gauge. Cost per box, with tax and shipping [to me], is about $50 USD, and is charged to the lucky bidder plus the postage to his FFL and insurance. The box is over 50 inches long, 3 inches high, and almost 10 inches wide. It doesn’t look like a gun box, particularly, but it does have to pay the $15 overlength fee.
2. I use Pirateship.com to buy discounted Priority Mail postage and private third party insurance. The label I print displays the USPS tracking number. No mention of insurance. Pirateship will notify the addressee via email of the tracking number. They charge my Amex and provide useful accounting tools.
3. Registered Mail is theoretically safest but I can’t buy it except at the P.O. and it is now charged on a sliding value based scale. Nothing I’ve ever sold and shipped has been lost or damaged or stolen. But most have been insured for less than $2500. I guess if I ever shipped anything worth a lot more than that, I’d ship it registered. Registered Mail is labor intensive for the PO because it’s supposed to be segregated, locked off, and logged and signed for every time it changes custody. All the box seams have to be taped with PAPER tape, not polymer, even though the PO doesn’t sell it. The clerk applies a red stamp all along every box seam, at close intervals. Nobody knows why but they insist on it. Needless to say, Registered Priority Mail is more about the registered than the priority and slows the transit time by several days. I think the PO dislikes it and makes it a PITA to use.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Zebulon said All the box seams have to be taped with PAPER tape, not polymer, even though the PO doesn’t sell it. The clerk applies a red stamp all along every box seam, at close intervals. Nobody knows why but they insist on it. Needless to say, Registered Priority Mail is more about the registered than the priority and slows the transit time by several days.
UPS is the enemy of all gun owners. The dealers who will ONLY ship UPS are colluding with the enemy. I recently endeavored in vain to persuade CCI to send me a shipment by FedEx, but they wouldn’t consider it; they too are colluding with the enemy. (And also supporting Biden’s war against Russia, by the way, by supplying ammo to Ukraine.)
The red stamp won’t adhere to plastic–it can be rubbed off with a solvent. Also paper tape requires somewhat more effort to strip off–it has to be soaked in water. Stamping along every seam is supposed to make it more difficult for thieves to open the box & re-seal it. Better to sacrifice transit time than security.
I bought a gun from the East coast and had it shipped Registered. Like you said Bill, its signed at every transfer of custody and locked up when not in transit. It doubled the shipping time but it is very safe.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
clarence said
Zebulon said All the box seams have to be taped with PAPER tape, not polymer, even though the PO doesn’t sell it. The clerk applies a red stamp all along every box seam, at close intervals. Nobody knows why but they insist on it. Needless to say, Registered Priority Mail is more about the registered than the priority and slows the transit time by several days.
UPS is the enemy of all gun owners. The dealers who will ONLY ship UPS are colluding with the enemy. I recently endeavored in vain to persuade CCI to send me a shipment by FedEx, but they wouldn’t consider it; they too are colluding with the enemy. (And also supporting Biden’s war against Russia, by the way, by supplying ammo to Ukraine.)
The red stamp won’t adhere to plastic–it can be rubbed off with a solvent. Also paper tape requires somewhat more effort to strip off–it has to be soaked in water. Stamping along every seam is supposed to make it more difficult for thieves to open the box & re-seal it. Better to sacrifice transit time than security.
If that is the case, which sounds like it, the PO is essentially protecting the shipper from USPS employees, who are the only ones supposed to have controlled access to the shipment. Based on what I’ve seen of some of them, the stamped paper tape thing may be more than sufficient..
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Zebulon said
If that is the case, which sounds like it, the PO is essentially protecting the shipper from USPS employees, who are the only ones supposed to have controlled access to the shipment.
Of course! But not your Postmaster, mail-carrier or other local employees. From thieves in the bulk mail centers, which go out of their way to recruit DEI hires.
That would seem the more likely point of risk: lots and lots of packages and I think the regional centers run 24/7 or nearly. Registered Mail is not completely risk free and USPS is shy about releasing loss percentages. However, from looking at a rare coin forum where the question was asked: “Have you ever suffered a lost/stolen RM shipment?” — a couple of people said yes but got paid for it. The common response was to the contrary, some saying not in the 30 or 40 years in business, shipping thousands of RM packages. All agreed it really slowed delivery times, sometimes because only one person at a facility was authorized to sign off on a transfer and was on vacation. Several said give them at least 3 weeks.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Zebulon said All agreed it really slowed delivery times, sometimes because only one person at a facility was authorized to sign off on a transfer and was on vacation. Several said give them at least 3 weeks.
Surprised anyone would consider this more than a trivial objection. You’ve lived your whole life without that coin or gun, so what’s the hurry now? If it’s really urgent, go pick it up yourself, or hire someone to do it for you.
Always heard, though without verification, that Registered is the way diamond & gem dealers ship their stones.
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