Best way to ship a K98 Rifle ?

What is the best wat to ship a K98 Rifle? USPS. UPS? And what do you tell them when shipping the rifle, and do you send it registered? Do you mark rifle on the box.? I have never shipped a rifle before and was wondering how would I do it . Thanks,

I've used Ship My Gun for long guns and pistols. Really great service that takes a lot of the guess work out of the equation. They have a contract with UPS. Once you get your label, you just drop off at a UPS facility (not a UPS store). I've also scheduled driver pick up without issue.

I have shipped USPS most often. I am not a FFL holder. Do not write anything on the box concerning firearms. I usually bring a copy of the FFL with me to the post office to prove it is going to a licensed dealer You must disclose to the post offices a firearm is in the box. They can even ask you to prove it is unloaded.

I second USPS but the more important issue is how you pack the rifle. Should be wrapped tightly with ample bubble wrap, with EXTRA padding between the end of the stock and the box, as well as the muzzle and the box. Can be paper, bubble wrap, whatever. This is to prevent the stock from breaking and the muzzle from poking out the top. Once everything is packed there should be no movement of the rifle whatsoever when the box is handled.

Register mail typically takes forever and there really is NO guarantees. I have used USPS in the past priority with signature. NEVER i mean never put anything on the box identifying what's in the box. If going to a gun shop.
I always abbreviate or put the owners name on the label . Not joes gun shop. Use his name. Anything that will distract. Its more about theft or destruction. Stealing or breaking up a package from some libtard driver is probably more likely the cause. Theft was wide spread in UPS and usps and I think it has slowed as bit. Pack it as if it will be thrown off a three story building I was always told by a UPS driver. Take out the bolt wrap it separately and tape it to the rifle.
The bolt and stock are your two damage prone areas.

Good luck !

In my experience, the best way to ship rifles is UPS 2nd Day Air. It can be pricey, but it's the best way to ensure the minimum amount of handling and time in transit.

Historically I have done USPS but I am on a boycott anymore. Luckily the last time I shipped rifles I was living in South Dakota and declaring that it was a rifle was no big deal. However, they've screwed the pooch on so many shipments lately that I don't trust them. Lost packages and shipments that would normally be 5-8 business days taking 1-3 months. About the only luck I've had to is to put absurd insurance on the package.

I don't know what's going on in their St. Louis hub, but I can only imagine a gigantic mess worthy of a Dr. Suess book...

Bought a Gewehr 88 from @Common.Ally earlier this year. Shipped via USPS and the rifle took about a month to get to me. Fortunately his packaging-fu is top level and it survived the trip. Long story short, he wrapped the muzzle area and rear of the stock with so much bubble wrap that it just barely fit in the box. The ends of the gun didn't touch either end of the box and it was completely unable to move back and forth. He also took the bolt out and put it in a separate envelope taped to the inside of the box. I was quite impressed and will be copying that next time I have to ship a long gun.

I would highly recommend not using the postal service. I'm still waiting on two rifles to be delivered and it has been almost 40 days now!

Recently received a couple of similar arms. This is how mine were shipped. Slightly smaller box added as extension and sleeved into the larger one. My FFL recipient had a huge bag of bubble wrap which had cocooned each rifle (in it's own box) and said it took half an hour to remove the wrapping before they could be logged in. Needless to say, both arrived in perfect condition. The boxes and padding alone weighed approximately 10 pounds each and are very sturdy as well. Whom would use a poor box and/or mediocre padding to save a few bucks and potentially risk receiving a rifle valued in the the thousands, with a busted stock or missing parts. BTW, box dimensions are:
48 in. L X 13 in. W X 8 in. H. Oh yes... Both were fully+ insured as well.

Best ship in a hard case and in a double cardboard box and what others say. Two guns: one broken stock in a box and a stock cracked in bent box cracked M1 carbine stock. Lots of luck take photos of packing and how it was packed for insu that they never want to pay out. Most say you did not package correctly. Have proof. It takes about $100 to package.

see https://www.gunboards.com/threads/s...erial.1264332/?post_id=11480123#post-11480123

When I was doing RC restorations (turns out that was eventually not the better things to do) I used click and ship from home put it by the front door and done and never had a problem.
Taking into the PO was always fun. One guy wanted to have me arrested for bringing a rifle into the PO Federal offense he said
Took it to a different PO and the woman said we don't ship guns that is illegal.
I asked her why on the huge wall there was a section on how to ship firearms. She was shocked apologized and got the supervisor who said sorry why don't you use click and ship and say nothing. I did about 100 times without a single problem but I did tell the carrier boxes like this are firearms and I left a copy of the FFL with the address taped on the door so he could see that was the destination
What I finally ended up doing for the muzzle was to take a small piece of wood, drill out enough to get the muzzle in and once the rest of the rifle was secure tape that heavily to keep it tight. Thick cardboard wrapped around the muzzle also worked but I was looking to best that one gorilla that was determined to accept the challenge and they seem to be a favorite USPS hire

As for the few stocks I shipped the first was a 33 Standardmodell stock broke in half Insured for more than he paid so he got his money and kept the stock and repaired it for display use).
After that I spliced wood strips on either side and once I used 2 PFC pipes to protect it.
I just sold 10s of thousands of 38/45 istol brass cases on arf in large priority boxes and some arriving 7-15 days late. DEI hires simply do not pick them up to move them along and wait for a "man" to finally get them going. One DEI lady was seen on door cam just pushing the box out of the vehicle onto the ground at the street and driving off. I glue those boxes together and put double bottoms in them and wrap heavy shipping tape and I get messages of thanks as the contents got there but boy did they try to wreck the box.

Shipping is a real jungle and not a friendly one

The best way is UPS 2nd day Air but that's not always practical due to the hub locations. With that being said, I've used USPS for 99% of my shipments over the last 24 years without any issues. Both as a licensee and a non-licensee.

... i buy new gun cases on ebay. then ship them empty in plain brown box with only license copy & cashiers check inside to the person who is sending a rifle to me. . signature required. no outside markings & you do not tell the mailman anything. the only question the mailman can ask is battery, food, liquid, etc..... ;; ...........then.......... they send the un-marked box with rifle back to me usps 'priority mail express'. which is over-night mail air. signature required,,with sufficent insurance, that will cost you about 150 to 250. i sleep better at night knowing it will be delivered. i got my last one last month... that was about 600 miles & that return to me by express/air ,,,,.... 18 hours.............. t

This may not be true…I have read this, and believe it is probably true: there are certain hubs or facilities of USPS, UPS, and FedEx that are good and that are bad. Any of the three can have a good or bad facility. So, maybe check with the person on the other end to which carrier has problems where he is.

Be sure to use a site like pirateship or shippo. Retail rates are outrageous. Shippo has USPS, UPS, and FedEx. Pirateship USPS and UPS. Also better to have it picked up as technically UPS and FedEx banned shipment of firearms from non-FFL's or even FFLs that don't have a special contract. If you have a friend with a gunstore that doesn't mind have them pick it up from there.

tbied2 said:

... i buy new gun cases on ebay. then ship them empty in plain brown box with only license copy & cashiers check inside to the person who is sending a rifle to me. . signature required. no outside markings & you do not tell the mailman anything. the only question the mailman can ask is battery, food, liquid, etc..... ;; ...........then.......... they send the un-marked box with rifle back to me usps 'priority mail express'. which is over-night mail air. signature required,,with sufficent insurance, that will cost you about 150 to 250. i sleep better at night knowing it will be delivered. i got my last one last month... that was about 600 miles & that return to me by express/air ,,,,.... 18 hours.............. t

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Seconding this. Cheap Plano gun cases cost nothing compared to the cost of the rifle.

biggymu said:

I have shipped USPS most often. I am not a FFL holder. Do not write anything on the box concerning firearms. I usually bring a copy of the FFL with me to the post office to prove it is going to a licensed dealer You must disclose to the post offices a firearm is in the box. They can even ask you to prove it is unloaded.

May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service? | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another state. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of their own state or to a licensee in any state. The U.S. Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any...

www.atf.gov

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Good tip. BTW, USPS x-rays every package so they know what's inside.