Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles shipping to an FFL

Anyone have recent price comparisons for long guns at FedEx, USPS, UPS? I need to ship a rifle to a friend's FFL in another state. (I am not an FFL.)

Any other tips/advice welcome.

A long gun in a 48" length or longer box, shipped insured and with adult signature required will most likely run over $40, probably closer to $50 and could go even higher for someone without a business account. I recently shipped a Model 700 from Idaho to upstate NY and it had to go in a box 51" long. Insurance was only $600 but it still cost $65 via FedEx. USPS Priority was a little bit higher as was UPS, both of those would have been over $70 IIRC. A Ruger 77 in a 48" box with $900 insurance going a shorter distance to the Midwest was $51. That was also FedEx, USPS and UPS again would have been a bit higher.

If it's possible to separate the stock and barreled action you can ship it in a 36" or thereabouts length box and get the price down to around $35-40 maybe, that's with insurance and signature required. They really get you on overall cubic inches as much if not more so than weight so try to get that down as much as possible. It also depends on the shipping address - rural locations are higher than high density urban areas.

Obviously YMMV a little bit but those numbers should be in the ball park and are recent within the past 4-6 weeks.

You can look into www.shipmygun.com and they will save you a few bucks on a handgun but they have a maximum size for boxes and most bolt action rifles go over that maximum size. I checked there for both of my rifles and couldn't use them because of that.

Use UPS, regardless of price. The other two are crap.

That's an opinion and everybody has one. Some people love UPS, I hate UPS. The only company who ever broke a rifle stock on me was UPS. I've never had a problem with FedEx but other folks have and they hate them. A very well known fellow who used to post here and who ships some very expensive firearms will use nothing but USPS.

I've dealt with UPS customer service three times, once for that broken stock and two other times for lost or misrouted packages. Each time the customer service rep was very polite and each time the response was the same - yes, we freely admit that it's our fault entirely and no, we're not going to lift a finger to help you. Yes, we know exactly where your package is (on a trailer in a parking lot a few miles from me) and no, we're not going to do one thing to get it to you - we're going to take it a thousand miles away from you, sort out everything and then send it back to you two weeks late. "Is there anything else we can do to help you today?"

They are all a crap shoot and you can find horror stories about shitty customer service for each of them. But each of them manages to successfully deliver literally millions of packages each day - on time and undamaged. So take your pick, pay your money and take your chances with any of them.

iHmmm UPS is no guarantee either. I know a consignment dealer that had 2 very expensive Weatherby Mark V's boxes run over during shipment, both stocks broken at the wrist and action area. UPS paid after 3 months and this happened within the last 6 months.

For long guns, I don't know about price, but USPS is the least hassle, especially if you use "Click-N-Ship." With Click-N-Ship, you box the firearm at home, pay for shipping on line, and then drop off at your nearest Post Office. No need to answers any silly questions about you shipping a gun. I suppose you could even hand the box to your postal carrier, but I'd transport to the Post Office myself so the firearm is not setting in an unsecured mail truck all day.

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

If your friend happens to be in AK, do him a favor and use USPS. The other two are nearly double the price for shipping up here ...

Veering off topic a bit (gee, no thread ever does that ), those USPS Regional Rate A and B boxes are a bargain. They are free and can be ordered online at the USPS website. They each come in two sizes, one sort of flat and wider and the other more "boxy" and are roughly the same size as a medium flat rate priority mail box. Like the flat rate priority mail, if it fits it ships. Sent out some heavy items a few weeks ago and a medium flat rate box was close to $14, a regional rate A box was $8.

For smaller to medium packages USPS beats everybody. There's a break point in size and weight where UPS or FedEx beat the Post Office, but obviously even that varies by location. I ordered a half dozen each of priority mail boxes, padded envelopes, A and B boxes of both styles and use whichever makes the most sense for what's being shipped. Also, hang onto those plastic padded envelopes Midway or Amazon and others use. For small items up to I think 18 ounces USPS parcel post rates are the best and you can re-use those plastic envelopes. Or, you can put your item(s) in a used smaller plastic envelope then put that inside a USPS padded flat rate envelope. It gives double padding and keeps the item stabilized inside the larger envelope.

Buy a cheap plastic Plano case and ship the rifle in that case in a cardboard box. Don’t worry about cost, worry about it getting there safe. UPS or USPS and FEDEX as a last choice. Just my opinions.

I have had good luck with USPS.
I would't ship a fat babys pecker through Fed Ex
I have never used UPS because a firearm has to be shipped from a UPS hub. The UPS stores are a franchise and won't accept a gun. Its 70 miles round trip for me to a hub, so that ain't happening.

Had a rifle barrel incoming via UPS three weeks ago. Tracking said delivery Thursday be end of day. No delivery. Stayed home to foil porch pirates. Tracking said delivery by end of day Friday. No delivery. Tracking Sat and Sun said check later. Monday tracking said delivery by end of day. No delivery. Tuesday Ups delivered at 11:15am. Asked driver if they were backed up with packages. She rudely said "do you want to send it back to the shipper" and drove off. All this time it was at their local facility. I'm done with UPS.

All the available shipping services work great.........until they don't.

It's actually 2 guns. One going in a plano, the other in its original box. (That is, as long as his FFL will accept it from a non-FFL.) Most I've encounteted do, but some around here won't.

Wouldn't ship a bag of chit with FedEx unless they were the last resort. In this area they're the biggest bunch of morons with zero consistency besides that.

It pains me that these are a bass pro exclusive, but these work really well if the barrel is not too long – the whole package is much shorter and generally ships for cheaper.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/plano-se-series-tactical-single-rifle-case

I shipped four long guns from CO to PA last summer via USPS, Cost was right at $50 each for shipping and insurance of $500/gun.
I shipped a ML this spring from CO to VT and it was $35 ,but insurance as only for $300.I think Fedex is the ighest.

I just shipped a rifle from Virginia to Texas using USPS and the total cost with $1300 of insurance was $61. I believe shipping alone was about $42. It took 3 days to get there.

I have had great results thipping through these guys. They offer their own insurance was well. Fast and easy. They us UPS and are a division of Bud's Guns.

https://www.shipmygun.com/go/

If your FFL holder is not there every day all day to sign for it ship USPS.