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gir · New Member

Hi, this is my first post. I joined a couple weeks ago to gain access to your great Maintenance & Mod forum which I found very helpful while I tweaked my Benjamin 392. I appreciate all the great info!

Now I'd like to send my little Umarex Makarov air pistol to a friend in Ohio (I'm in Texas). I was quickly warned not to do it through the US Postal Service but I'm having problems figuring out which carrier (UPS or FedEx) is the cheapest and just what I have to tell them when I ship it. Can someone offer some detailed help?

Thanks in advance!

jdi73186 · Member

I use FedEx personally, but that's only because I work for them and my employee discount will easily lower the shipping cost to beat other companies.

Just when you ship it, make sure you have the box it's shipped in sealed really well and it's as small of box as possible, if possible try double boxing it. Wrap the gun or put it in a case, put it in a box with packaging peanuts, then put that box in a slightly larger box and try and center it with more packaging peanuts or styrofoam. Sometimes boxes can get torn up really bad and the contents will be destroyed by other heavier packages coming down a slide and landing on them smashing them between a piece of metal and the heavier box.

I would hate to see your stuff get ruined because of something like that!

gir · New Member

Thanks for the quick reply! Does FedEx have any special regulations regarding air guns? With they freak out if I list air gun under contents? And can I ship it FedEx Ground or, like firearms with UPS, does it need to go overnight?

Thanks again!

Teryx · Veteran Member

Gir,
I don't know where you heard that the post office was bad, but I used them for over 5 years to ship high value packages all over the US and the world. I would guess in excess of 10,000 total. Out of all those, one was lost and later recovered. One was lost and never recoverd. Not a single one was damaged. I sent them all priority mail with signature confirmation. They were properly boxed and cushioned inside. I bought insurance for the first year and then quit. I didn't need it. It's fashionable to bash them, but they do a great job. Not a week goes by that I don't get a package from UPS that is damaged and in some cases destroyed. I rarely ever ship with them. I had a UPS claim for damage several years ago and it was a nightmare. They are worse today than ever. I started using FedEx when they first started doing regular shipping and they were a mess. I had so many problems that I quit using them too. In all honesty though, in the last couple years they seem to have really gotten their act together. I get packages from them maybe once a week, and they always arrive in very good shape. They are probably a good bet for a safe shipment. Their express service has always been the gold standard.

Teryx

gir · New Member

jdi73186 · Member

Gir, I know that firearms can be shipped but I'm not sure what the regulations on them are. You'll need to call FedEx Kinko's (or whatever they are called now) to find out for sure.

Sorry for not being anymore help.

gir · New Member

gir · New Member

I took the air gun (a Makarov BB gun) to FedEx this morning and at first they told me it was no problem to ship it and then they called "the main office" and came back and told me I need a FFL to ship it Rolling Eyes

I got the impression they just didn't want to mess with it.

I stopped by The UPS Store on the way home and told the guy what it was and asked if it was a problem and he said "nope" and sent it on its way.

I sure wish these companies would clarify their policies *and* make them available to the public. I did learn that shipping an air gun through USPS can be considered a misdemeanor if you're caught, while shipping one through a private carrier such as FedEx or UPS would, at the worst, constitute a violation of a company policy but no broken laws.

sniper · Silver Status Member

UPS can suck a big fat C$%k!!! why can they deliver me unbroken wine and not airguns? Evil or Very Mad

i have my second damaged gun at their hands. with the first one compasseco just sent me another tech-89. it was poorly packaged aside from being dropped.

i bought another springer (on this forum) 2 weeks ago and the box looks like someone was break-dancing on it. so bent it's creased. broken stock in more than one piece.

the member i bought it from has decided to buy me a new stock rather than f$%k with the nit picky ins. procedure.

who ever you ship through ALWAYS insure it.

gir · New Member

I've been fortunate with UPS so far. The last few air guns I've purchased from Pyramid have all arrived safely via UPS but I'm sure a lot of that was because Pyramid had packed them very well.

On the other hand I recently had a $600 fly rod and reel stolen while in the custody of UPS. They sent me an email saying the rod had been "lost" during shipping but that they had the empty packaging materials in their possession. The rod had been packed and shipped at a UPS Store so was in the hands of UPS the entire time.

Of course over the years I've had items lost or damaged by every carrier including USPS and FedEx. Like you said--regardless of the carrier you choose just make sure it's insured.