Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds BOLO: Lost/Stolen Guns

I had problems with FedEx doing similar $hit. Sold and shipped to Iowa from Mi. It arrives in Iowa and the package is opened up, with the box all but destroyed. The receiving FFl (rightly) refuses to accept the delivery. Being new to the game, I was watching the tracking about 35 times a day, so when he refused it, I immediately called the buyer to ask what for? Buyer goes STRAIGHT TO THE FEDEX HUB, the same day, and the gun had already been rerouted to Ohio! Turns out, because the gun was addressed to an obvious FFL, the ATF "assumes" that an employee opened it up, and knew the procedure for refusing acceptance, and actually got in the computer and changed the address to Ohio....Of course, I was lucky because I was on top of the tracking, and ATF was waiting in the driveway of the new address! I second the advise stated above : make the package look like anything OTHER than a gun, and be discreet with the shipping address!
And good luck with getting the money for it. Mine was fully insured, and they admitted wrong doing, but said the gun was damaged because it wasn't packed properly. I had it in a soft gun case, then wrapped in bubble wrap to fill the voids in a cardboard box. The gun could fall off the truck and not had a scratch on it if the POS hadn't destroyed all that to see what it was. Sorry for the troubles you are about to go through

Insurance?! Surely you jest.

What a scam these shippers are running. They charge you twice, once to ship it and again to insure it, then they either break it or steal it and deny the claim for insurance that you paid for!

Honest to God thieves.

Several years back I purchased an older J frame from an out of state FFL that did not arrive at my LGS when scheduled. Days went by and still no delivery so I continued the barrage of phone calls to the hub where it was last scanned in. Mysteriously it showed up at my FFL about 31 days past a 2 day delivery FYI. I hope your friend has the same luck.

Dinny: Copied - thanks for the comeback.
Good luck in this regard.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I received some good news today. Both guns have been recovered by UPS but they're in two separate locations. The revolver was packed inside another box inside the longer rifle box. UPS is sending them both back to the gunsmith via overnight air. He will repackage and send them separately this time, requesting adult over 21 signatures, and they'll be insured for $1K+ each. The $1K insurance guarantees chain of custody handling, supervisor signatures, and that they'll be locked in a secure location if either have to remain overnight anywhere.

Let's just hope they come back in one piece.

That's good to hear. Hopefully things will go good this time.

Good to hear they were located

Great news.

First time in my LIFE I have ever heard a happy ending to something like this. I am happy for you.

All Norwegians I see.

Byron Burke, 19, Jalen Green, 19, Dishon Kinney, 18, Kenyon Peters, 18, and Tre'von Williams, 19, face charges.

GREAT NEWS.

Good deal!

Dinny,
I was Glad to hear that they were found. Your too good a Guy, and a Stand up one at that to go through this!!!

HS58

Sincerely glad they were found.

This ordeal is far from over. The ATF contractors following the report of stolen/missing firearms wanted my local PD to remove the rifle from the stolen list now that my gunsmith received it.

My local PD wanted "eyes on" to verify it has been returned to me and to verify the SN.

The gunsmith, more worried about ATF who controls their license, won't ship it to me until it's removed.

My local PD suggested I called the gunsmith's local PD to suggest I know where my missing/stolen firearm is.

Finally cooler heads prevailed (2 day process) and my PD removed it from the stolen list.

Now the rifle, which was damaged by UPS mishandling, will be shipped back to me tomorrow.

I'm hoping the damages are only cosmetic and the same force didn't crack the new stock. I was told I'll know when I shoot it with some full power 30-06 loads. 🤯

Meanwhile UPS has supposedly located the pistol and it's being shipped to their investigator in....wait for it...New Jersey. Once it arrives he will verify it's my missing Ruger and overnight it back to the gunsmith in OR.

Then we'll start the ordeal of who reports it recovered again.

I will never again ship a firearm through UPS without insuring it for $1000+ dollars (chain of custody minimum). I will also insist that no namea of business, etc will be listed that has any resemblance to a firearms business. Shipping in a shorter box might also help make it look like anything else other than a firearm too.

I have a sneeking suspicion that my package may have been targeted and that's why it was damaged and perhaps someone was either trying to dispose of or steal the contents

My rifle was packed by the gunsmith inside a hard plastic gun case inside a plain cardboard box. When it returned to the gunsmith the gun case was missing. The UPS investigator said it was destroyed beyond use again and disposed of. 😡

Latest and quite possibly the last update to this saga. UPS has once again lost the pistol. It was listed as enroute to UPS Lost and Found in NEW JERSEY but now has been listed as lost. UPS is paying the claim but I'm afraid all I'll get is $100. The gunsmith seems like he's willing to replace it so at least he's taking responsibility and remains a stand-up guy in my book. I'm sure I'll eventually get another one put together as well as that Ruger was.