How Do I Legally Ship This Handgun?

[Wyatt Burp]

I'm not a dealer and have a C&R sixgun (made around 1958) that I need to ship to a FFL gunsmith in Arizona. Can I just send it or do I have to go through a dealer just to get it fixed? What are the proper hoops to jump through, if any, to do this? Thanks ahead of time, everyone.

[Clee]

Sending a gun that is yours to a gunsmith requires no FFL involvement whether sending or recieving it back. UPS will have its own rules such as sending it through their hub rather than a local UPS store. Just check with them what exactly they require.

[unusedusername]

You won't be able to ship US postal service unless you meet a small number of exemptions (below):

http://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c4_009.htm

...

The mailer must be a licensed manufacturer or dealer mailing to another licensed manufacturer or dealer.

Handguns may be mailed without regard to the requirements noted in items a–h if the addressee is the FBI (or its Director) or a scientific lab or crime detection bureau of any agency whose members are federal law enforcement officers, or state, district, or territory officers authorized to serve warrants of arrest or commitment.

...

UPS and FEDEX will ship handguns from non-FFL holders to FFL holders (and back again) but their policies state that they will only do it with very expensive overnight shipping.