Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Should I mail my rifle to myself or check it at the airport?

I've been to Alaska several times and always checked my guns. I would still do that before I shipped it...

That ain't always an option going to Alaska

you should just hike to Alaska, with your gun, and avoid this whole thread.

However, start a new thread to see if the damn Canucks will mount you for stepping over the border heavy.

USPS faster more reliable in AK may not be true down below but always let down with UPS and Fed EX up here.

First question I ask when ordering something is how do you ship!

Nada, y'all got it all wrong. Put scope and mounts in carry-on and buy yer rifle at cabelas in anchorage.

You have this very wrong... while running charters off Kodiak I had quite a few people arrive before their guns or other bags and waited for them before shoving off. On one occasion we missed a weather window waiting for bags for 2 days.

If verification is made the guns arrived that is one less thing to worry about while traveling.

As to USPS, they simply get the job done up here. I have had an FFL for over 30 years and have had one issue with a firearm shipment with them. I have had multiple issues with FedEx and UPS gun shipments over the years.

Unless TSA has changed in the last few years they won't allow a scope in carry-on. Checked, yes..

Are you sure about this? I've done it four or five times in the last few years and they haven't said a peep about it. Then again, some of the TSA folks don't seem to know what a scope is.

Fedex doesn't require you to ship a rifle overnight, if someone told you that then ask for their boss, if he won't do it then keep going up the chain until you get someone who knows the rules. They don't get to just make up their own rules, they have to follow company policy. Same with UPS, I once had a butthead tell me I couldn't ship a rifle to a gunsmith so I held up the line until I got someone who wasn't an idiot & they shipped it. You can legally ship a rifle to yourself care of someone else by USPS, UPS, or Fedex. Don't let some minimum wage twerp with an anti-gun agenda try to convince you otherwise.

Actually I did! Really went up several layers and the manager of that store finally allowed it. I went back to work at my job as a buyer. I get a visit about an hour later from their sales rep who really wanted the companies' business. I told her that my package was in no way tied to our company, but Fed Ex was blowing BS & I knew it

She ended up admitting that they did not trust their employees so were enforcing that rule. I pushed it farther up but the district mgr backed it

As USPS was cheaper & easier to deal with, I find it easier to use them

Be prepared to bleed anally if you ship anything UPS or FedEx to Alaska. They like to hose us on shipping.

I don't know what airline you're flying but I've never had a problem checking firearms with Alaska or United. I've had the long Seattle layovers and my guns always arrived back in AK with me or at my lower 48 destinations.

I have flown back and forth from Alaska with firearms so many times I can't remember. Nary a problem. Back and forth across the US as well. One time I did see from the aircraft window a baggage handler pitch from the cargo door to the pavement. Case still has a crushed corner.
But that's it.

Maybe just lucky

Lefty C

Mailing firearms is now covered in USPS Publication 52 - not the DMM as I previously stated.

here is the link to the applicable section -


http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c4_009.htm

The tighter accountability control of using registered mail makes it worth your while in my opinion as I've done this quite a few times.

432.3 Rifles and Shotguns

Except under 431.2, unloaded rifles and shotguns are mailable. Mailers must comply with the rules and regulations under 27 CFR, Part 478, as well as state and local laws. The mailer may be required by the USPS to establish, by opening the parcel or by written certification, that the rifle or shotgun is unloaded and not ineligible for mailing. The following conditions also apply:

Subject to state, territory, or district regulations, rifles and shotguns may be mailed without restriction when sent within the same state of mailing. These items must:
Bear a “Return Service Requested” endorsement.
Be sent by Priority Mail Express (“signature required” must be used at delivery) or Registered Mail.
Include either insured mail service (for more than $200) requiring a signature at delivery or Signature Confirmation service.
A shotgun or rifle owned by a non-FFL may be mailed outside the owner's state of residence by the owner to himself or herself, in care of another person in the other state where he or she intends to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity. These mailpieces must:
Be addressed to the owner.

Include the “in the care of” endorsement immediately preceding the name of the applicable temporary custodian.
Be opened by the rifle or shotgun owner only.
Be mailed using services described in 432.3a.
Mailing of rifles and shotguns between licensed FFL dealers, manufacturers, or importers are not restricted. USPS recommends these items be mailed using those services described in 432.3a.

Rifles and shotguns may be mailed by a non-FFL owner domestically to a FFL dealer, manufacturer, or importer in any state. USPS recommends these items be mailed using those services described in 432.3a.

Except as described in 432.2a, licensed curio and relic collectors may mail firearms meeting the definition of curios or relics under 27 CFR 478.11 domestically to licensed FFL curio and relic collectors in any state. USPS recommends these items be mailed using those services described in 432.3a.

Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, state, or federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest may be accepted for mailing without restriction.

Air guns that do not fall within the definition of firearms under 431.1a are mailable. A shipment containing an air gun with a muzzle velocity of 400 or more feet per second (fps) must include an Adult Signature service under DMM 503.9.0. Mailers must additionally comply with all applicable state and local regulations.

Thats some good info for all of us , Thanks

I am just a sample of one - TSA supervisor said no firearm parts including scopes were allowed through the security checkpoint. Fortunately I was able to find a postoffice in the airport and mail it from there.

Oops.. just found on tsa.gov that scopes are allowed in carry-on. So either it changed, or I encountered an idiot. More likely the latter.
https://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/firearms-and-ammunition

Glad to hear that it's explicitly allowed.

Thanks for the responses. As usual there is semi-legal advice in abundance.
After 6 trips to AK I just thought I'd see what others have done or have as advice.
Before I decide, I'll make sure what shippers frequent the guides home. I've shipped clothes both ways but never a rifle. I certainly am a fan of takedown cases with a reliable rifle that will return to zero.
If I do ship, I"ll do so two weeks before so the guide can confirm its there.
I suppose I can forego the whole thing and use his Savage 375 H&H.
But I'd rather use my own rifle.

Crow: While you are correct it is LEGAL to ship a firearm to yourself as per the BATF FAQ section on the website, it is a violation of both UPS and FEDEX terms of service for a non FFL holder to tender a firearm for shipment unless it is going to a licencee (FFL). This fact is clearly defined on both the UPS and FEDEX websites by reading the Firearms section of their respective terms of service.

Hey Joe. I'm a little jealous so why don't you give the rifle to me and I will be your porter. All you have to do is buy me a plane ticket, food, and a couple of tags and I will gladly personally see your rifle makes it to your destination.

Call me and we can arrange the details

FWIW, FedEx arrives via USPS after hitting a major Alaskan hub (often Anchorage) where it can languish as low priority mail. UPS.....well, you can track it to Anchorage, and then you can only guess where it is sitting, whether indoors or outside on a shrink-wrapped pallet, and where... Is it at a major, relatively secure hub, or is it on the ramp of one of the smaller hubs where some local miscreant might probe almost at will?

USPS is good to go, especially with the required tracking and signature stuff.