How do you mail a musket?

[Livingston Guards]

My Solution

I simply take my firearms that I want to mail to my local sporting goods store and ask them to ship it for me. They do the rest. I don't even have to find a box to ship it in :wink_smil

[JimKindred]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

Unfortunately too many do that and pay a fee to the gundealer that is not necessary. Then others falsely believe they can't ship a reproduction muzzleloader at all.

My goal was not to show alternate methods of shipping a reproduction musket but the way that you can do it yourself without having to involve an FFL holder.

[ACo.]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

Agreed, there is no reason whatsoever to pay someone else to do the work for you. There are NO shipping restrictions on the shipping of "non guns". Along with the shipping I do for business, I ship about 5 or 6 antique (pre-1898) firearms per year and I use the US Post Office only. Their Priority Mail is faster and the cost is very competative with the UPS rates - sometimes it is less but it is rarely more. Since the big UPS strike a few years ago I have shiped at least 100 times (20 or so were antique "non guns") with no problems and no damage and even shipping from Virginia to California was done in the promised 3 days. Arizona and Maine (to name a couple) took two days each and I have gotten packages to Pennsylvania from my home in Virginia in as little as 24 hrs. And no, I don't work for the Postal Service I've just found that they do a better job with less hastle. Check the postal regs and/or contact the local Postmaster. I think you will be pleasantly surprised, even the boxes are free! It's better to do it yourself. :D

T.P. Hern
4th Va.
Stonewall Brigade

[SCTiger]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

I had a run in with a ignorant seasonal UPS employee, I didn't take his "No" for an answer, after making him call several UPS middle-managers and showing him the facts Jim described from his own website. He gave up and shipped my Enfield to Lodgewood. Hoyt's axiom: Never take a "No" from someone who doesn't have the power to say "Yes." Unfortunately the anti-self defense lobby and the gun control people always state "National Security" reasons for their own politcal agenda. Three letters we need to support, N-R-A.

Greg Deese

[JWolf]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

Here is an idea for debate-- I could be way off on this but here it is---

For shipping, what about taking off the nipple on the musket for shipping-- therefore it could be classified as either "gun parts" or a "non-functioning" weapon ?

Thoughts about the legality of this?

My non-legal concern is that in shipping since the hammer is now free floating and does not have a nipple to rest on that it could be damaged during shipping...

Finally, really out there idea-- take an extra nipple and weld the hole shut so it is a "solid" piece of metal, install on the musket for shipping -- which again, makes the musket non-functioning/non-firing?

Thoughts about the legalities/problems of the two ideas?

Again, I could be way off in my thinking, it is almost too simple (and dare I say logical?) a solution to work.

Jim Wolf

[Livingston Guards]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

The other way to look at it is why spend my valuable time doing it myself when it is not necessay. It cost me $40 to ship it there and back. The difference between that and the cost of UPS isn't worth the time to screw with it.

[JimKindred]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

The idea of removing parts doesn't change anything, under Federal law and UPS regulations that musket does not represent any more a firearm than a pipe and a piece of wood.

I have posted the ATF regulations and recently the UPS regulations on this several times in the past year or so. This is not rocket science.

Simple instructions to shipping an antique or reproduction of the same:

1. Put it in a box.

2. Put a label on the box.

3. Take it to a UPS Center (not a drop off point or UPS store).

4. Fill out the form, don't put anything in the contents block unless told to do so. If told to do so make sure you use the word antique.

5. Give it to the clerk. Clerk gives you any grief, get the supervisor in the room immediately.

6. Pay the clerk.

7. Go home.

[JimKindred]

Greg, thanks.

Greg,

Thanks for posting that. Your example is the reason I spent the time and effort to post the Federal regulations and UPS policies on this forum. If a customer goes to the counter armed with the correct information the system can be made to work despite itself.

Also glad to see you support the NRA.

[dustin993]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

Most (99%) of the time when I mail a package I don't make a habbit of telling the carrier what's in the box. And I can safely say that 100% of the time the box is not clear, so why do they have to know what's in the box, hmm?

Dustin Snelgrove
Logan's Brigade.

[JWolf]

Re: How do you mail a musket?

Please ignore my previous post-- in re-reviewing the thread I don't know how I missed the obvious--probably because it was too obvious-- that's what I got for thinking too much... stared at the trees too long and forgot there was a forest right there in front of me.

I bow to the expertise and excellent advice of Jim Kindred who boiled it all down to several easy steps.

Jim Wolf

The idea of removing parts doesn't change anything, under Federal law and UPS regulations that musket does not represent any more a firearm than a pipe and a piece of wood.

I have posted the ATF regulations and recently the UPS regulations on this several times in the past year or so. This is not rocket science.

Simple instructions to shipping an antique or reproduction of the same:

1. Put it in a box.

2. Put a label on the box.

3. Take it to a UPS Center (not a drop off point or UPS store).

4. Fill out the form, don't put anything in the contents block unless told to do so. If told to do so make sure you use the word antique.

5. Give it to the clerk. Clerk gives you any grief, get the supervisor in the room immediately.

6. Pay the clerk.

7. Go home.

[Barno]

Sorry, I didn't realize that I messed up

I guess that I thought that Dave Barno would get it. I didn't plan to flame anybody & so far as I know I'm the only Barno in the hobby.

"The most wonderful thing about tiggers is that I'm the only one"
Please feel free to delete my posts.

Sincerely
David D. Barno
299 Cadbury Lane
Gahanna, Ohio 43230
(614)476-9970
Fomer member- Western Independent Grays, former elected officer & member Mudsills, former member Furious Five Mess, current Ohio Historical Society volunteer, 1979-date. blah, blah,blah.