How to package a rifle cheap and safe for shipment

Maybe Tim just worded the post wrong. Myself too. I put it right in the add that it is coming in a hard case and shipping is going to be XXX amount extra. Add in the case amount to the shipping. It can get really expensive to ship a gun. It cost me over $75 once to ship a rifle to someone. I ate a little bit on the sale because this person gave me what I wanted on that rifle. It was a $4000 custom built with all high end parts. Insurance was really high and the scope shipped separate help everything arrive safely.

Great tip Tim !!!

I'll add another tip.
I use old clothes [clean] as filler instead of the typical paper/bubble wrap. I would wrap both ends of the Rifle with enough clothes [then tape 'em on] even if it's going into a hard case...to avoid movement if the package is dropped or thrown.

Also, I like the tennis ball idea for the muzzle, that was mentioned.

I don't understand some of these responses.
What are you saying?

You would feel screwed over if I added $35 to the cost (with your permission) for a case that I would send to you? WOW.
No problem. If you don't want to have it shipped in a professional manner, then the cheap way is to wrap it up in newspaper and duct tape and slap a shipping label on that baby.

I always mention the cost of the case being an extra $35, and I have never been turned down.
It's not like you are getting charged extra for nothing, and the seller doesn't make a dime on the hard case he sends you.

You would actually rather have your gun sent in a cardboard box wrapped in newspaper? Are you crazy? Have you seen what happens to guns that are shipped this way?
Wow, OK. Don't get mad if it shows up with a bent barrel that was totally preventable by packing it in a proper hard case.

Look I don't care how you do it, or why it's worth taking a chance of receiving a damaged rifle so you can save $35. I'm not talking to people like that. I'm talking to people who need a way to pack a rifle properly and inexpensively in order to get to a buyer who would prefer to receive their goods undamaged.
Personally, I would think that the cost of the case would pale in comparison with the cost of re-barreling a bent rifle, but that's just me.

BTW, here's another lifes tip: You can save a lot of money by changing your oil every 10,000 miles.

I am saying that if we agree to $30 shipping then it is up to you to package and ship it properly so that I receive it undamaged for $30. Contacting me after the deal is done to say you need an extra $35 to do what you are already obligated to do is pure deep brown BS. I am shocked and appalled that the folks you sell to all think this is fine and dandy.

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Originally Posted by goodsteel

I don't understand some of these responses.
What are you saying?

You would actually rather have your gun sent in a cardboard box wrapped in newspaper? Are you crazy? Have you seen what happens to guns that are shipped this way?
Wow, OK. Don't get mad if it shows up with a bent barrel that was totally preventable by packing it in a proper hard case.

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I won't speak for them. My thought was to pack the gun in a hard case, and pack that in a cardboard box. That way it doesn't scream "STEAL ME!!"
But that's just me...

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Originally Posted by imashooter2

I am saying that if we agree to $30 shipping then it is up to you to package and ship it properly so that I receive it undamaged for $30. Contacting me after the deal is done to say you need an extra $35 to do what you are already obligated to do is pure deep brown BS. I am shocked and appalled that the folks you sell to all think this is fine and dandy.

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I'm pretty sure he said he mentions this up front, not after the fact. Given that information, I don't see any problem with it at all.

Tim,i like your ideas for shipping, but you have to remember...

If you are the seller/shipper, YOU are responsible to ensure it shows up undamaged, and if it is damaged, it is YOUR responsibility to make it right.

Automatically adding the cost up front may be a better path.

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Originally Posted by thekidd76

I'm pretty sure he said he mentions this up front, not after the fact. Given that information, I don't see any problem with it at all.

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No, reread the first post. He said:

"First, Bob PM's this thread to Joe about 5 minutes after the deal is done, and asks Joe if he would like the rifle to be shipped in a hard case for an extra $35? "

I think the idea for the case is very good. I think the Brownell's suggestion so that you have a cardboard box to cover the hard case is ingenious. I think that contacting the buyer after the deal is done with the suggestion that they pay $35 more for shipping so their gun doesn't arrive damaged is appalling. Ship the gun so that it arrives undamaged for the agreed upon price.

I too have struggled with this problem.

I am about to send my Ithaca M37 with newly redone wood back to Ithaca for a refurbishment of the metal and mechanical. I wish I would have seen this thread before I did what I did as this is a better way than I came up with.

I had a box made for me at the local "Packaging Store" which is a shipping outfit that I do a lot of business with. It cost $15 and is made from very heavy Cardboard. It measures 35x10x3. He makes all the boxes that my products are shipped in since they don't really fit well into common size premade boxes.

Obviously all the individual parts will be wrapped in bubble wrap so they don't get beat up, and when the gun is returned it will be fully assembled with the barrel removed.

I have to tell you that I may end up at Dick's or Big 5 today in search of a cheap hard case to ship my guns. Another way to go would be to have the Packaging Store make a box to fit one of my existing hard cases that I haven't used in 20 years.

I will definitely use one to ship my A5 to you soon Tim,,,, Good idea!

Randy

I am rubbing my temples very hard here.
I just told you fellers the best way to ship a package in the mail and all you can do is gripe about who is paying for it?
You can be shocked and appalled till the cows come home. One of these days you are going to have to ship a firearm yourself, and no matter who is paying for it, it will be done correctly or it will be done shoddy.
I told you how to do it correctly. You can just go ahead and buy a free case for every single person you sell a rifle to, or you can figure it into the cost, or you can get them to send you the case, or you can do whatever gives you warm fuzzies. I don't care!
However, if you need A WAY, that only cost SOMEONE $35, then here it is.
You're welcome.

Tim: Beer is a good thing. Don't let them, or me get to you.

Randy

I see how someone could miss the forest for the trees with my OP.
However, I hate to break it to you, but often that is exactly how deals go down here. Packaging is an afterthought, and a difficult one that often renders people mad and cranky and feeling like they got ripped off.
I have recieved more rifles in the mail than most people here, and they have come in everything from purple bubble wrap (I'm not kidding) to $500 gun cases. I've seen it all, but there is this one place in Florida that sent me one of these boxes with the zip ties in it, and it showed up better than anything else, and fit the box better too. I had to find out where to get that box, and I was really surprised when I found out that you get the case, the box and the zip tie holes for less than $20 + shipping!
I thought some of you might like to know.

Tim, I will gladly pay 35 bucks for shipping like that. Getting a rifle back in good shape is borderline priceless.

I've shipped more than a few long thin plastic fabrications that weighed 70# apiece. Some were shipped singly sometimes by the half ddozen or more. Management always got miffed when I took the time to modify a pallet to hold the things securely and keep them from harm when handled by a common carrier. When we did it quick and dirty like we were told and the tubes got busted well who's fault do you think that was.[smilie=b:

OK back on topic. I think shipping in a hard case or other purpose built packaging is the way to go. I also think that should be budgeted and accounted for in the contract.

Tim, you state in your original post

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First, Bob PM's this thread to Joe about 5 minutes after the deal is done, and asks Joe if he would like the rifle to be shipped in a hard case for an extra $35?

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No disputing that. That's what you write.

Now for those of us who read and write English, you just closed the deal, then called back later (five minutes) and asking for additional money to get it shipped. If the deal was done, why wasn't shipping figured there? Don't you understand? You stated that the deal was closed… Then you call to add to it…

Now, I think I know what you meant. And I also think that you intended to word that differently. But what I am sure about is that the way you worded it changed the meaning of it.

So essentially we're not arguing that the tip you offered was bad. We are arguing that the way you wrote it looks like a holdup after the deal was complete. Is that so difficult understand...............

SS

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Originally Posted by SharpsShooter

Tim, you state in your original post



No disputing that. That's what you write.

Now for those of us who read and write English, you just closed the deal, then called back later (five minutes) and asking for additional money to get it shipped. If the deal was done, why wasn't shipping figured there? Don't you understand? You stated that the deal was closed… Then you call to add to it…

Now, I think I know what you meant. And I also think that you intended to word that differently. But what I am sure about is that the way you worded it changed the meaning of it.

So essentially we're not arguing that the tip you offered was bad. We are arguing that the way you wrote it looks like a holdup after the deal was complete. Is that so difficult understand...............

SS

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You do realize that it never really happened don't you? You do realize that it was a fabricated scenario and the point of the whole thing was to tell you where to get a cheap shipping case and why?
There is no Bob, There is no Joe.
There are however, a lot of people that really have no idea about this valuable time and money saving shipping option.
Since you are obviously incapable of receiving this gift of knowledge, laid at your feet on a silver platter, I will go and amend the OP so it is less offensive to you, and then you might be able to save the link and keep it for future reference.

I figured out that shippers can and will destroy a gun, no matter how you pack it. I have checked through two rifles that were in the top of the line Kalispell aluminum cases that looked like they were ran over by a truck. Ruined.
I ship a couple dozen firearms minimum a year in cardboard boxes packed in crumpled paper. Never had any damage on any yet, so I'm knocking on wood!

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Originally Posted by waksupi

I figured out that shippers can and will destroy a gun, no matter how you pack it. I have checked through two rifles that were in the top of the line Kalispell aluminum cases that looked like they were ran over by a truck. Ruined.
I ship a couple dozen firearms minimum a year in cardboard boxes packed in crumpled paper. Never had any damage on any yet, so I'm knocking on wood!

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Well, I would think that many of the firearms you would be shipping wouldn't fit in a case like this anyway right? Them long custom flinters are just hard to get any sort of case for.

Mr. Goodsteel,
1) Thanks for the tip. It is indeed a good one.
2) Remember, no good deed will go unpunished.
3) The day comes I send a rifle to you and it gets shipped back to Ohio, I will be happy as a bug to pay 35$ to get it back in one piece.

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Originally Posted by goodsteel

You do realize that it never really happened don't you? You do realize that it was a fabricated scenario and the point of the whole thing was to tell you where to get a cheap shipping case and why?
There is no Bob, There is no Joe.
There are however, a lot of people that really have no idea about this valuable time and money saving shipping option.
Since you are obviously incapable of receiving this gift of knowledge, laid at your feet on a silver platter, I will go and amend the OP so it is less offensive to you, and then you might be able to save the link and keep it for future reference.

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Well of course we recognize that it was a fabricated scenario utilized to present a handy tip. Certainly it is true that many people don't realize your method of shipping is so easily done. But the rest of us realize that the way you initially wrote your method would encourage the newcomer to close a deal and then five minutes later called the buyer and stick them with additional shipping charges.

So while your tip in essence was demonstrating the good intentions of proper shipping, it was in fact shedding light on a poor method of communicating your idea.

You made it sound "okay" to call after the deal was done to ask for more shipping. That's not something we want to teach a newcomer. The written word is a powerful thing. Advice like that, coming from a moderator, might lead somebody down down the wrong path.

SS