Shipping Long Gun Question

[geoint]

What is the cheapest option for shipping a long gun between USPS, UPS and FEDEX?

[TRICKSTER]

All three companies have online shipping calculators.

[Jeepergeo]

I avoid USPS whenever possible.

And shipping costs are all on line and vary with speed, weight, box dimensions, insurance, services, and delivery time.

[Divernhunter]

I have used USPS with excellent service.
Much better than the number of damaged, torn, missing parts and a missing a complete 50BMG from UPS.
They were not going to do anything about it and just gave me the runaround until ATF was contacted. Funny how they magically found it then. Of course it was scratched and been fired quite a bit before they returned it to the manufacture for redoing for me. I still get many packages which are damaged when shipped UPS.
Not as bad from FedEx. Not really any problems with USPS.............now watch them make me a liar with my next package.

[geoint]

I have used USPS with excellent service.
Much better than the number of damaged, torn, missing parts and a missing a complete 50BMG from UPS.
They were not going to do anything about it and just gave me the runaround until ATF was contacted. Funny how they magically found it then. Of course it was scratched and been fired quite a bit before they returned it to the manufacture for redoing for me. I still get many packages which are damaged when shipped UPS.
Not as bad from FedEx. Not really any problems with USPS.............now watch them make me a liar with my next package.

Wow. Never would have assumed that USPS would be the clear winner but reading hear and in other threads it does seem to be the case. Interesting

[Divernhunter]

Dealing with UPS is no fun. I got nowhere with several dealings. They always blamed the company/person shipping and did nothing.
The ONLY time I got any action or something positive(sort of) was when the ATF got involved. They then tried to tell me the shipper(manufacture of rifle) did not label it so the label would stay on. BS! They were able to send it back to the manufacture after someone in Chicago used the rifle (and I am sure planned to keep it) with the original shipping label that had both mine and the manufacture addresses on it. The manufacture scanned it and also sent photos of the rifle to me. They redid the rifle checked the barrel and shot it for accuracy then returned it to my by Fed-ex. Somehow the UPS tracking disappeared in another state/city and the rifle ended up in Chicago without it ever going there until ATF started breathing down their necks.

"I personally" prefer to pay $10-20 less and get better service. I had over 100 rifles sent/received thru USPS and not a single problem. I will say the people at our small post office are all gun friendly so that may help me when sending.
They even told me how to legally send a pistol for mag-n-porting. It was returned by USPS also.

I guess everyone may have different experiences and what works best for may be different than what works for me.

[geoint]

Difference between USPS and UPS/Fedex, is you have to deal with USPS.

If you've had trouble with a USPS delivery, like I've had a few times sending and receiving, the time wasted dealing with those pieces of work is not worth the money.

Call their customer service, you can't talk to a person. Go to the post office and they say "file a claim online, nothing they can do here." File a claim online, count yourself lucky if you receive a reply. (I didn't.)

If it's important, it pays to spend the extra $10 - $20 and NOT have to deal with the post office.

Well... UPS is a union company so I wouldn't expect them to be any better than USPS, and it seems that USPS has more checks in place to prevent theft. Never thought Id support a gov entity over the free market but when it comes to guns (that you have to declare and thus make a potential target for thieves within the organization) I can see a small niche where USPS is better than private carriers.

Even if you don't mark a box as having a firearm, who is to say that the second its out of your sight a crooked employee wont mark it somehow.

Ive completely fallen in love with the Registered Mail option through USPS.

[joemoia]

I've shipped several rifles cross country using USPS parcel post (now called standard post), insured, Never had a problem

[Jeepergeo]

I can imagine my postal carrier trying to jam a 24" box into my 18" mail box. The entire organization seems to be run by sloven misfits.

No wonder most on line retailers use the more expensive, but better, services of FedEx and UPS.