Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors More shipping fun

Thanks Doug. I do similar. My friend is a printer and he gets card board cylinders that are about an inch thick, that rolls of paper 4' high come on, with big plugs in the end. I think I read on one they have a 1200 pound per square inch crush point. I use then for scopes and barrels. The only way I found them he was throwing one away. Now we keep a stock of 8-10 in my shipping supply's. Sometimes you have to literally think outside the box.

Poconojack,

I bought mine from a local plastic pipe supply house. Green 8" sewer pipe. I also use as much bubble wrap as necessary.

Doug

If you ship in a hard case, should it be paper wrapped, so it does not look like a gun case? Many years ago Walmart cases came in a cardboard box. Now you have to find something to put the case in on your own.

I did receive a rifle in a cheap hardcase that was not wrapped or even locked. The closest thing to a lock was a 3/4" strip of tape through the handles.

Here's a 1915 250-3000 action getting ready to got to Texas. When I say bubble wrap is not the best shipping material for rifles, that's in cardboard boxes, it does not add rigidity. In tubes, the crush strength is in the tube, so bubble wrap is the perfect material. It keeps the object from moving. With these tubes the plugs tap in flush with the tube. I glue one end in. With scopes I have wrapped them in old hand towels, bubble wrap, or like here, shredded paper in zip lock's. Our new shedder does not make long strings. It makes little squares like old computer punch cards. I pack it in so it's tight enough it can't move. I put the top plug in and use 3, 1 1/4" torx deck screw. Screw them in till they are below the surface so they wont snag, then tape both ends with Gorilla shipping tape. Before closing it up I do block the holes in the plugs. One of the tools for opening a paint can works good for pulling the plugs out, any stiff tool with a hook works.






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My FFL received one rifle for me that was thrown in a cardboard box with no, zero, nada, none of anything else. Packaged by a gun shop no less.

Uline sells heavy cardboard gun boxes sized to fit the plastic gun cases.

I've gotten two in the past few weeks in the plastic case with no box. One had a hole for a pad lock and it had a zip tie in it, I was good with that. I prefer to put a couple turns around the latches with Gorilla tape. If I had a sleeve to slide the case in I'd use it, but a lot of the sleeves have a picture of a gun case on them anyway, so I don't sweat that.

Thanks for the Uline tip. Three of the guns I got around the time of John wright's sales came in very sturdy gun size boxes that I really liked. I wondered where they got them?

Still trying to wrap my head around how having a gun broke in half can somehow be my fault.

just for ghits and shiggles, here is a stock i received via usps. exactly as shipped.

I was betrayed by the light plastic gun case idea when I shipped my grandpa's 1927 '95 Winchester to myself years ago and the USPS broke it. Since then I've had very good results with the high quality padded boxes made by Cameron Packaging. surrounded by a 1x4 frame which is then covered over with either more cardboard or plywood. For shipping an original 1861 Springfield I made a case out of insulation foam with a wood frame covered in plywood. It was heavy and expensive to ship, but the peace of mind and good results were worth it.

I like Longbeard King's use of the plano all weather case. Does anyone have any experience with these in regards to ruggedness and waterproof-ness?

There is very little "waterproof-ness in ANY hard case. That Crescent grade gun was shipped as seen in the picture. That plano case is the most rugged case I have ever seen, with the exception of a welded aluminum case that DiamondJim shipped me my solid Frame K. Both guns had bulletproof shipping. BOTH were also shipped in heavy corrugated boxes that I believe were fabricated by the sellers themselves. Thank you Jim and Bob. BTW, Longbeardking did NOT use the plano. The seller thought enough of the item to do everything in his power to ensure a safe trip for that item. I have never sold a gun that needed shipping.

a long box 50+" does not take a genus to figure out its a gun

Pelican cases are very waterproof. Also very pricey.

My friend, I told you that a damage is not always caused buy you. I specifically told you about the cast iron pipe factory that made elbows to hook fire hydrants to the main feed lines. They started putting them in card board boxes and hand writing 69 pounds on them, to keep from paying the over weight surcharge, for being over 70 pounds. If one of those gets in the load and shifts, it crushes every thing on the way down. You would hope the loader would send it to the clerk for inspection. But, even if he did, as I think it was Randy that said, it still wouldn't make it unbroke.

The thing that bothers me more than the damage is how all shippers jump on any loop hole to get out of paying the insurance.

The reality is they are trying. When I started in 1986, full timers got 1 eight hour day of training. Part timers got 1 four hour day of training. Now Part timers get 2 weeks, of eight hour days of training. That's 4 hours to 80 hours. That is a BIG effort.

I make my own box. I tape 3 1/2 of these medium rate boxes together end to end, I block out the "Medium flate rate" with permanent marker. The homemade box covers the Walmart gun case perfectly. The PO measures it, weighs it and ships it.

I’ve got to agree with Joe. Pack items as securely as possible.

Remember the old tv commercial where Samsonite luggage is being thrown around by a gorilla? Just assume that your package is going to get the same rough treatment. Not to imply that delivery employees are intentionally abusing packages, but recognize the risks when thousands of packages are being handled as expeditiously as possible.

Thanks again Randy, we need to get you to do a video.

Forest, you reminded me of the Gateway computer add where a suit and tie guy is tell of all the advantages of their product, when a black and white cow box falls from above him and bounces on the floor. he said something like this doesn't hurt them. Just for fun I'm going to see if I can find that add.

It seems like the manufacturers found that a chunk of styrofoam cut to fit the product is the best way.

Anytime I sell/ship a gun I go to Walmart and purchase the cheapest hard-guncase that they have. I don't wrap that case but I do have it taped shut when I am at the UPS terminal. Those cases were around $22 last time I did this and I add it to the shipping cost to the buyer. Never had one get busted yet.

Well, no matter where you fall on the packaging spectrum, this will be an interesting case study on insurance policies that you pay extra for. You pay them once to do their job, then you pay them again to protect yourself from them doing their job. Now we'll see if their insurance policy is worth a schit.

BTW, haven't heard a peep from UPS since filing the claim.

Yep, paying them extra for insurance to protect you from them. What a scam. Wish I had thought of that. It would be like a client paying me up front to build them a dining room table, and then me asking for extra on top of that as a guarantee that I won't screw it up.

It should be a given that each and every package will be accorded due respect. To not do that is slovenliness on their part and a breach of the implied contract. Whatever happened to basic human respect for other's property? At the end of the day I want myself and my goods to be treated correctly, not hornswoggled with excuses. If they need better/more employees and safer/less injurious systems it's up to them to figure out how, not me, and I shouldn't have to plot how to thwart their hornyhandedness.

That $22 hardcase from Walmart with writing all over the cardboard slip cover? Meh. Four minutes on Amazon to order a $30 one (shipped to your door and arrives in like 3 days) and you get a slipcase with no writing on it and you save the gas, time, and miss rubbing elbows with the skeevy denizens of Walmart. No brainer to me.