Shipping Containers

K

Kenneth L. Walters

New member
I need to ship a rather expensive gun to a buyer in Alaska. The only practical way to do that is via the Post Office. UPS would charge almost twice and that is just out of the question.

I'm been rather impressed with the Postal Service lately. I recently bought an old, solid iron bullet mould, again from another fellow in Alaska. The handles were solid iron at least a quarter inch thick. The mould was well packaged. Broke the handles like they were twiggs.

I need to get a sturdy shipping container for the rifle. I need to get something that can withstand the Postal Service's determination to break iron. It would be nice if this case wasn't EXTREMELY expensive.

Suggestions as to where and what to buy would be appreciated.
 
If this is a rifle, I'd check the Bushmaster site and buy one of their hard cases. They're cheap, but I can't imagine damaging a gun inside the case and inside the carton they ship in. I use these to ship guns around, and my batting average is 1000.
 
Remember that foam they used to sell with the dimples in it? I think they called it "eggcrate" or something like that. It was called that because the dimples were the size of an egg. I think that if you rolled a rifle up in some of that before boxing it you should be OK. :)
 
Ken,
Pack it up the best you can...then add 50% more packing material!

Two rifles that I most recently bought were broken by UPS; the first was a one-of a kind 03" Mannlicher in a hard case, the second was a beautiful Cooper rifle in a UPS authorized shipping container. Both showed up with broken stocks. I ended up not accepting the rifles and sent them back to the dealer, but UPS's insurance agent was very difficult to deal with and I'm not sure if they ever settled the claims.

Maybe the USPS is better to deal with, but personally I'd go with FedX nowdays.

Only way that I'll ship a rifle now is in a pelican
-R
 
I'd like to know how the hell they break them in a hard case! I've seen a hard case with a gun in it dropped down a long flight of stairs, end over end. The case had a couple of dents in it, but the rifle was just fine.
 
I'm not sure I'd flip for the Pelican but I'd definately recommend a hard case like the Dosckil or similar...

UPS recently managed to break a substantial stock of mine at the wrist through a soft case, bubble wrapped, taped and packed in a sturdy cardboard box with fiberglass tape.

In sum, they can break anything. Especially guns. Do they Xray and identify the guns for abuse? Gun haters?

Better safe than sorry (and sorry is having to go through the aftermath trying to make a claim for damages).

On second thought, if the gun is particularly dear to you, screw it and go Pelican...
 
The Pelican cases are pretty expensive, more than $100, about $180 for a rifle case as I recall. I sure wouldn't buy one to ship a rifle around...
 
Go to Dick's Sporting Goods, Wally World, or somesuch that sells inexpensive, foam lined gun cases. Get one of the ones from inventory that is still in its cardboard box. Consider removing the barreled action from the stock so there is less leverage on either part. Wrap them separately in foam or bubble wrap, stick them in the gun case, then put the case in back in the cardboard box. Then send the whole thing FedEx.
 
Second vote for a large PVC Pipe with end caps.

This should be at least as sturdy as any hard gun case and is less recognizable as such.

And, it will only cost you a few bucks--less than even the cheapest hard case you can find.
 
I think if you go price PVC pipe large enough in diameter to ship a rifle, the price may not be as attractive as you might imagine. Also, I don't give a rats behind if they recognize it as a gun, because I'm sure going to insure it for full value!
 
I've got one in the garage right now waiting for me to find some packing material for a rifle shipment to a smith.

I don't remember what I paid for it--I think that's a pretty good endorsement for its low cost.

For the length you'll need, you can probably buy a piece of scrap.

The initial post didn't mention a scope--things would be a bit different with a scope.
 
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