My brother recently sold a hunting rifle and shipped it to the buyer via UPS. He shipped it from Utah to Alabama. It cost him about $82!!!!

That just seems outrageous to me. What are you guys being charged for shipping typically? Is Fed Ex any better than UPS?

Thanks!

Damn !

I mailed parts for a rifle project about a month ago and it was $60 ish with no insurance via USPS.
Too damn much !

Oh yeah, the last few rifles i have sold on the fire have cost me $50+ to ship (Virginia to Georgia and the other Virginia to Oklahoma) and that's with no insurance as UPS insurance policy is a joke and almost impossible to collect on .....Hb

I've shipped to Alaska for about that price and it included insurance.

How long has this been though? Have you shipped lately?.....Hb

Yep, shipped one a couple months ago... Sent it all the way to Soldotna.. Shipping costs have been pretty high for a while.

I've shipped rifles many times, including last fall across the country and I think the most I've paid at USPS has been around $50 or so.

It's important to keep the package as small as possible. If it is even 1/8" over the length, width, or depth allowed in a package pricing level it goes up to the next size pricing level and it sometimes makes a big difference...

USPS Priority Mail is currently the cheapest game in town.

Last week, I shipped a firearm from the East Coast to the Left Coast and it cost me right at $50. Yesterday I shipped a long gun from WV to TX for $35.

I used to ship FedEx and it would run me roughly $50. The last gun I shipped they quoted me $125. And it was only going to the Midwest. I'm done shipping guns

Everything that happens in a provider's network - affects the entire network and prices rise to cover.

That said - we're 2 years in and the excuse of "Covid, lack of infrastructure and labor costs" are just that - an excuse, not a reason now for surcharges.

Small package or parcel is "final mile" logistics where density has a ton to do with cost - and it's hard to drive out costs when you don't have it. Depending on OD pair - you may have seen increases there as well as cost of insurance for a firearm.

UPS is so far in bed with Amazon - when Amazon does their own logistics, it's going to kill them. The new CEO - while making waves, might not be all that great at keeping UPS the juggernaut it is as well. I think Coyote is helping their bottom line by more than a little bit.

Article here on FedEx and surcharges - things referenced are pretty applicable to everyone. FedEx Surcharges

I work for UPS and I use the USPS. Shipped a rifle and packed it WELL to Eddie Fosnaugh in Michigan and it cost me $40.

Have you seen the cost of fuel lately? Don’t think that any of these shipping companies are not gonna pass that onto you as a customer.

Yep.

For UPS, anything over 48" long is an "Oversized" package. The difference between 48" and 49" can double the cost. Also, an FFL dealer operating out of his house is going to cost a lot more to deliver to than a store "in town" on the normal UPS travel route. I've sent stuff cheaper to the West Coast than to a rural address in my own state!

I just shipped a handgun to someone here VIA postal service. The shipping was about 25 bucks and I put 1500 insurance which added another 25 dollars. There was something else, I cant recall without looking at the receipt but I think my total was $54.

I am not going to send an expensive item through any carrier uninsured, especially as frequently as things get screwed up. I know there are plenty here who want to cut corners and be cheap at every opportunity, but I won't risk it.

I tape the living snot out of my packages and I put insurance on everything.

I just shipped 2 rifles in a wooden crate fully insured for 62.00. The key is to. 1 remove stock from action. 2 ship from ups hub. Those 2 things will cut the cost in half. Crate was 39x14 x7 and weighed 36 pounds.

Yep I give guys a heads up when they ship up here. I usually cover the difference. I tell them do not ship UPS last person who did that paid $165 bucks. They told me afterwards, if I pay the difference or I am picking up shipping then it goes usps..

SHIPMYGUNS.com. ................Thank me later.

Shipped one to Alaska last year through USPS for $127.

The best advice I can give is to get a FedEx or UPS account or try to ship through something like Pirateship.com. Never pay full retail as you will get hammered. Actual weight won't kill you but dimensional weight will. Anything over 48" (as mentioned above) gets hammered. I buy boxes from amazon that are 4"x8"x46". My average long gun shipment is under $25 in the CONUS not counting packaging or insurance.

Insurance is smart if you are just shipping a few guns now and then. However, if you ever actually have to file a claim you will learn that the insurance people (for any of the carriers) full time job is to make sure you DON"T get paid. I ship enough guns that it has made more sense to simply open a savings/investment account and put a few bucks into the account for every gun I ship and just self-insure. Actual damage is very rare if guns are packaged properly. The only claims I have had after many 100s of guns shipped were a couple of cracked stocks that I was confident weren't that way when they shipped out. Since I am the insurance company it is way easier to handle claims with offers to return, repair or settle for cash. I have been able to keep buyers happy and not drag things out for weeks waiting on insurance settlements.

One horror story...a good friend is a custom rifle builder. He built a high end rifle off of a new Rem 700. Insured it for the full sales price of the custom ($4-5K if I remember correctly). UPS or Fedex truck rolls and bends the rifle...no question they caused the damage. They only pay him $700 to cover the retail cost of replacing a Rem 700 at the time. So he is out the difference despite paying extra for full insurance on this and many other rifles.

I sold something on gunbroker just last week. It was going to be $19.50 to ship it ground, however I opted to get $4000 insurance increasing the price to $69.03. Seemed somewhat reasonable to me given the value of the item and fuel prices.

Elk Snort is referring to me...

12.35 lbs actual weight...

22.00 lbs billable weight...

50x14x5" dimensions...

$700 insured...



Charges:

$53.70 Ground Commercial

$8.05 Service Options

$20.50 Additional Handling

$82.25 Total

One of those last 2 charges is insurance (not sure). What I am sure of is that the 3 service agents at the main shipping hub were all new and completely inept.

This will be the last time I cover shipping. I prefer local transactions anyway. Guess I got popped for the length of the package. I was standing in line thinking I shouldn't have double-boxed the package, or maybe disassembled the gun, but I didn't want to repackage the shipment. Oh yeah, 40 miles round trip on my dime to ship out of the main shipping hub, passing countless UPS Stores because of their rediculous policy not allowing shipping firearms from those locations. Live and learn.

I shipped one from Kentucky to Iowa a couple of weeks ago for less than $25, and that was with $500 insurance, USPS Priority Mail. I don't know where some of you are coming up with these prices, but they sound out of line.

Weight, actual package dimensions, and destination all make a huge difference.

Fed-Ex? Avoid them like you'd avoid the plague!


How was it boxed? What did it weigh? Did the buyer ask for insurance?

I had to ship a customer's rifle to FL a few years ago.. A VERY heavy solid case and rifle.. Insured (his preference).. A tad over $100..

ElkSnort: The price for "shipping" anything these days is horrific!
I try NOT to use UPS, FED-EX and the usps whenever possible.
ESPECIALLY the horrible, irresponsible, lackadaisical, useless, slow as snot, bordering on criminal, we don't care because we don't have to, bankrupt, usps!
And, sadly, its gonna get worse under china joe biden and his ho.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

When it comes to common carrier - DIMS, weight and insurance all play a role as does actual pick and delivery location. Again, density in their network. USPS is pretty much flat rate - other's are much more dynamic in pricing structure.

UPS, USPS, and Fed-Ex all have websites where you can compute prices, shipping has gotten more expensive from all of them though. I don't know how folks are shipping rifles for $25 - $35 like some have posted, nothing that I can find lets a person ship that cheaply.

drover

$80-$100 to ship from here.

When possible, I like to transfer through my FFL and have him ship USPS, especially with handguns!

UPS has a $15 surcharge for items over 48". Seems this was specifically to target guns and get more money from gun shipments. That started 3-4 years ago.

I too have gotta wonder how this is being done so cheaply. When I've tried to ship through U.S. Postal Service, they said they couldn't do it unless I was a FFL holder sending to an FFL. So, I was left to believe FedEx and UPS were my only options (as a non-FFL).

Are you guys getting it done so cheaply not using insurance? And if you're using insurance, are you omitting that it's a firearm you're sending? Yea, I know it's none of their business. But I can guarantee the insurance won't cover it if they found out it was a firearm after the fact.

Regardless which service you use, they act like they don't want your business (even if they CAN ship guns legally)!

Some may be using an intermediary to get it cheaper. Think of a Costco for shipping - they do a lot of volume so get a break on the price and pass that along to gain even more volume.

It's why often it's cheaper for me to use a broker to ship LTL vs calling Old Dominion myself.

The last rifle I shipped was labeled machine parts. I really didn't much care if I got the piece of schitt back or not. Mossberg ATR100.

Only an FFL can ship a handgun through USPS. Anyone can ship a long gun through USPS. ...of course shipping has to be to an FFL or a resident in state....or yourself.

I have shipped rifles or shotguns to an out of state FFL many times. Take them down so they fit in a short box. $30 to $50 depending how heavy and how far it's going and how fast you need it there.

Bubble wrap and don't send heavy crap with it.

Some people could make tying their shoes into an ordeal.

Priority mail and they will pay a claim because it is legal to ship long guns through them

Today was a prime example. I handle GunBroker at work. I shipped a Remington 700 in an old Tikka box. The box inside a shipping box measured 49.5". Cost was $48 and change and we get a discounted rate. I performed some box surgery and got it down to 46". Cost dropped to $28.

Shipped a rifle NJ to MT this week thru UPS. $85. Shipped another to Arkansas $65. From here out, shipping costs are on the buyer.

I see a lot of guys shopping for guns lately and they tell me that they find a fair amount of guns cheaper online than in local shops. I tell them to always check the shipping an FFL fees before hitting the buy it now button. Some FFLs charge a lot more than other FFLs to receive/ship a gun.

Guys, U.S. Postal Service charged just $90.10 on a rifle that UPS wanted $475 to ship!!! That included Insurance coverage of $8,600 yes $8,600. The route was Florida to central Virginia. The U.S. Postal Service status assigned to the package was two-fold: PRIORITY and REGISTERED, (plus I added Return Receipt Requested, which was NOT required by the post office). The REGISTERED status was what allowed for the insurance to be above $5,000. The REGISTERED status required that the item had to be signed for by each person along the way who handled the item. This DID slow the progress of the box in its travels, but I felt it was necessary for the integrity of the shipment. The post office at the starting point has to see the FFL of the recipient. Easy!

Well, for our liberal friends on this site let me just say, "Thank God companies would never do that with higher taxes or mandatory minimum wage hikes!".

I do one extra thing when I buy a gun or sell a gun that has to be shipped. I always put a gun in a cheap plastic case like the Walmart single gun cases you can pick up for $15 on sale and I insist on the seller do the same when sending to me. I also offer to pay for the cheap case if necessary. I then wrap the case in a cardboard box so the plastic case can't be seen for shipping purposes. I have heard too many horror stories about stocks being broken and other problems and this eliminates at least one problem.

Just curious how many of you guys do this for peace of mind?

One other footnote- always, always, always take the bolt out so it isn't a leverage point when the gorillas at the shipping points load a ton of things on top of your shipment. I'm convinced this is how most stocks are broken at the wrist.... and insist the seller do the same for you...



Bob

I always remove the bolt and typically the scope and/or rings.

My ffl ships a long gun UPS with $500 insurance, including his fee for about $70.

It cost me close to $100 to ship the last shotgun. Then I read where MD suggested taking the gun apart and sending in a shorter box.
I took the last rifle to the post office and I believe that cost was around $30 - $35. The clerk there is a friend. I asked him what’s the deal?
He said they measure the shipping container if it measures over one square foot the prices go up. Then they take into account the weight. They also take into account the distance. If the box has to go on an airplane the USPS has to pay depending on weight, distance and size.

So, I used to put guns I sold into a hard gun case and shipped it that way. Cost equals price of gun case and the over-sized (>1 square foot) case etc.

From personal experience - bullchit...

My experience as well.

So you have had them turn you down because it was a firearm?

No. I had them turn down claims because they said it wasn’t adequately packaged - when it was obvious from the damage to the package that it could have been in a vault and it wouldn’t have mattered. Their insurance is a joke - good luck getting them to pay a claim.

I had a claim paid a month or so ago. One of their employees opened a box I mailed and took a buck knife from it and resealed it and the guy on the other end was short one knife.

I sent them a pic and an ad for it so they knew how much they owed me and I filed a claim and they sent me $49 in a couple weeks.

Maybe they just try to weasel out of the bigger claims?

tag

I bought a Remington 11-87 off Gunbroker. The seller boxed it up in a box that another gun had come in, the weight was 9 lbs. and 3 ozs. He shipped it USPS Priority Mail and the cost was $18.75. I took a pic of the shipping label, and could post it and show it here. I have sold several firearms lately myself, and shipped them all that way, and that's pretty much in line with what my costs were. I usually add some insurance, and was disappointed that the person I bought the gun from did not, as I paid a good price for the gun.

I don't understand why some of the shipping prices quoted on here are so high, unless it has to do with insurance costs. I always ship through USPS, and have never shipped anything that was a costly as some of the prices I'm seeing here. I even go overboard when I package something up, and do it in a way that adds weight to it, just to make it more sturdy and damage proof.

You can set up an account with USPS and tell exactly what you're shipping is going to be.....you can run it for different weights, shipping options, locations, etc. One thing that matters is box size, so you need to know that.

For the ones of you in this thread that posted about reducing the box size, God bless you.

I shipped a shotgun yesterday from WV to NC, not a great distance, but I went to a smaller box; one which required the shotgun to be disassembled. US Priority Mail cost me $14 and some change. Thanks!!

Nope... It 'was out for delivery' and never seen again... Records from the USPS at that city showed the driver took the box for delivery.. Somehow, it never returned, and the recipient never got it, never saw it, never signed for it... I sent every record I had showing the costs involved with making this custom rifle... They didn't GAS, even with paid coverage for $2500... They sent a check for $399.. I bitched, called my Congressman, filed for an appeal etc.... Ever try to CALL the USPS and get a human?? Bwahahahahahah... The finally sent another check for $200 and said 'it's all you're gonna get', period...

Even my local postmaster was pissed, and tried to help.. But when yer dealing with a gov't office, good luck - cuz yer gonna need it.. Since that time I refuse to buy any insurance from USPS... They can KMRRA...

I only now ship firearms via UPS..

Be careful with FedEx. Their shipping calculator is off. Last gun I shipped came out about $12 cheaper than UPS and $10 less the USPS. When I got to the shipping counter it rang up over $17 higher than the calculated price. I complained about it but was told it’s only an estimate. The estimate used to be within a couple dollars.

When shipping a firearm from one state to another state, aren't you required to send said firearm to an FFL holder? Aren't you also required to declare that you are sending a firearm? The last time I tried to send a rifle through USPS, I was told they could NOT send it out unless I was also an FFL holder! I was told i had to use UPS. So I'm wondering how you guys are sending out with USPS???? Should I NOT be telling them it's a gun????

I'm now wondering if the person at the post office just didn't know what the hell they were doing!

A lot of people at the USPS don't know what they are talking about. All the rules and regulations about shipping through the USPS are on line but it doesn't really matter- if some dumbass behind the counter doesn't want to ship your rifle they won't. It is legal to ship a rifle through the USPS and you don't have to be an FFL to ship, but it must be shipped to another FFL or to yourself and you are the only one who can open the package if it is shipped to yourself- for a hunting trip, for instance.

Another thing is they aren't technically allowed to ask you what is in the box and you aren't required to tell them . I've been lucky in that my Post Office never gives me grief when I send guns , but a few of the new people have looked at me sideways a couple times lately when I would answer their inane questions with some obscure answer.... one guy at the USPS counter asked me a few months ago - "is this what I think it is?" and I told him, "yup, it's a big box with something in it".. and he immediately stopped asking me questions...

Years ago, when I was working for USPS as a rural mail carrier, I mailed a rifle to an out of state buyer, at my local post office. The postmaster told me that he needed a copy of my FFL on file before he could accept the package and mail it. Now, at that time my late brother and I had our FFL and he was running the business. I told him that I needed a copy so I could mail a gun, and he told me to tell that fat-azz postmaster that he was full of chit, that we didn't have to show him anything. I did, and went on to tell the postmaster, who was also my boss, that I wanted to see in writing where the post office said I needed to provide them with a copy of my FFL in order to mail a rifle.

Now, at this time, my wife was also working for USPS as a postmaster at another office, and she had done some research and told me that I did not have to show anything to mail it. I could have easily given her the package to mail for me, but I wanted to see fat-azz have to eat his words........which he did, after he couldn't prove to me that USPS required a copy of an FFL in order for someone to mail a long gun.

The post office that I use now, which is the same one that I used to work at, has never asked me what was in a box I was mailing except does the package contain anything perishable, fragile, or potentially hazardous. I mailed a shotgun to Colorado yesterday, that I had packaged very well, using a hard case, and double cardboard boxes, giving a total weight of 16 pounds, and it cost $32 in postage. I'm still at a loss to figure out why some of you are paying such high prices.

I guess it depends on where you are from. I live in a small town with only one shipping place. They are outrageous. During the ammo shortages, I wanted to sell off some unusual and over stocked 30-30 ammo. Plenty of buyers for my FMJ 30-30's and Buffalo Bore's but the price to ship 3 boxes. no insurance, cheapest freight was $49. The package only weighed 3# and was only 8" square.

I recently shipped an over/under shotgun from NY to OK via UPS for about $28. The price included $700 insurance. I shipped it through shipmygun.com (Bud's Gunshop). I'll use them again.