Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters USPS Shipping

PSA if you are buying and selling in the free classifieds on this forum just a little story about USPS, Untined States Postal Shipping, ground! I traded a rifle to a member from Saltville VA and shipped a Remington 700 in 17 Remington UPS $34.00 he got his rifle in 2 days! He sent mine out the same day, sent me tracking # cost him $23 got it today! Took two weeks and at first the tracking showed only "in transit!" Very poor consideration for someone to use this shipping if you value being good to you fellow fire member! I have had two deals in the past weeks and neither of these members ever told me they received the the gun!

I have sold three rifles in the last 2 weeks and all were shipped USPS Priority Insured.All were received within 4 days.A big tip on shipping USPS is to ship on Fridays.Most always the rifle arrives by Tuesday at the latest.

As Gringo Loco points, UPS isn't always handy. The one where I can drop off rifles is a 65-mile round-trip drive, and they're only open to walk-in customers 4 days a week for one hour each day. Which is one reason I mostly use USPS to ship firearms--and I ship several each year.

Also, UPS isn't immune to problems. This year they delivered a rifle to "me," except took it to another address down the street, and the driver did NOT ask for identification from the guy who answered the door, who signed for it, wondering what the heck it was. Luckily we live in a small town, and after opening the package he quickly figured out what happened, and contacted me.

Some people are cheap, that’s why he sent it the way he did. I’ve had people do me that way before too. I always ship things priority and I make sure the person gets the tracking number.

I have shipped stuff through USPS and will continue to do so. I always ship priority, it is only a few $ more and gets sent twice as fast or faster. As much as government can screw things up, the Post Office beats UPS and FedEx hands down...

Interesting. I've always avoided shipping so that the gun is sitting somewhere over the weekend. Figured it was more likely to be stolen. I'd rather ship on Monday.

Only issue I ever had was when the PO clerk put the wrong zip code on a rifle and it wound up in the wrong state. That one caused some concern. That was before I started printing my own shipping labels.

I couldn't say why, but it seems to me that ALL the shipping services' tracking has sucked badly the last couple of months. Maybe it's just because commerce has been booming and they're overwhelmed.

Living in Alaska is a blessing to me and I thank God for it. Sometimes having stuff shipped to Alaska can end up being like a trip through the twilight zone.

I much prefer FedEx.

Last rifle I shipped was with FEDEX, $84.00.. Nothing special, no overnight etc just $2400 in insurance. FFL would ship for $35.00. Unfortunately not a businessman, unlike the prior owner and they folded.

I live in rural Alaska and FedEx is among the worst options available, it's the most expensive and longest in delivery . UPS isn't horrible, but it's about double the cost of USPS to my zip code and wil take several days extra shipping time. I've never had an issue with USPS, but I've only sent a few dozen long guns through the post office so perhaps my sample size is too small. I may be wrong, but I think all firearms must be sent via USPS Priority Mail (or faster) and to ship a handgun requires it to go from an FFL to an FFL. I've never had it take more than 5 days to get a firearm to somewhere on the east coast, though it often takes a bit longer for me to receive a firearm or anything else for that matter. When I lived in the L48, UPS was a bit of a hassle for a private individual to ship firearms and I've never had an issue with the USPS.

I almost always in the past have used the USPS, experience in the past has taught me that you have to get a tracking #. had 3 packages in a row sent to my son in Thatcher Az. none made it. that was in 2016 (still never showed up). Shipping priority every package to him has made it in 3 to 4 days.
This year the USPS has really disappointed me. I had a package I sent Express from Orem Utah to Edmonton Alberta, Canada guaranteed to be there in 2 days........I checked the tracking# in 2 days and my package was in LONDON !!!!!!! after 12 phone calls and being on hold countless hours my package made it to Edmonton 19 days after I mailed it, not a FU not a sure sorry about that......nothing.
At about the same time I send a monthly material payment to a P.O. Box in San Francisco, Ca Priorty mail. in Feb. and March neither priority letter ever arrived even to this date, USPS denies every claim without hesitation or consideration. I now have to drive 100 miles the first Monday of every month to make a direct payment since the USPS can never deliver.

F the USPS

Have one dithering around the USPS system right now.

Shipped from Tucson to (near) Milwaukee, WI on 4/25. Was scheduled to be here on 5/1.

Ground shipping, at a cost of $62 insured.

On 4/30 it arrived in Los Angeles (wrong-way, dummies).

Tonight it arrived in Chicago, 100 miles away. It would be hard to imagine it wouldn't be here Wednesday, but I am not holding my breath.



Had another one I shipped to Montana that took forever. It landed in Des Moines, Chicago, Des Moines (again), Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, Billings, and finally Kali.


USPS ground routing SUCKS!

I may have failed to state it was USPS ground uninsured! Maybe that will give me some other opinions! Not saying he was a cheap azz but, when you ship to podunk AR! Use the better options than butt budget! Got the rifle it's awesome and am happy! Was not in a bind to this lever gun just wanted it to get here! I ship stuff of all kinds everyday with A1 reputation just know what it takes to be an A1 shipper!

Same here. Good communication goes a long way toward a good transaction.

I have had very good luck shipping with USPS. Occasionally packages will take an extra day or two for no apparent reason (even with priority mail) but no significant problems. I always buy insurance and will ship priority if its only an extra few dollars.
It seems that most buyers are in the Midwest or west so shipping from the east coast is expensive. With insurance, it's rare to spend less than $40 to ship a long gun.

Did you specify shipping conditions before the deal?

+1

No I didn't, but email said surely it can't two weeks, but it did to the day! All I'm saying is give consideration to your customers and don't be a cheap azz!

I've shipped a bunch of guns USPS Priority Mail, with signature confirmation. Never had a problem. I worked as a rural mall carrier at USPS for 31 years. Yes, mistakes happen, but most people have no idea how many pieces of mail and packages are handled each day. That is no excuse, and I'm not saying it is, but like everyone else, the post office is not perfect.

However, I will say this, and it's not directed towards anyone in particular. I found that many times when people complained that a certain piece of mail or a package, had not gotten to were it was supposed to go, that when and if the truth was known, the mail or package in question had either failed to be addressed properly or did not have the correct amount of postage.