How do you ship your airguns?

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Shipping costs is a definite factor especially with lower priced guns. With sales and free shipping offered say with Benji products by the time you price your gun and absorb the shipping there is not much left. With some guns while paying a tuner and then the shipping both ways this adds about a 250.00 cost. When added to a high end gun it's a small percentage. Put those same numbers on a lower priced PCP it's money you'll likely never recoup. With shipping they are all somewhat comparable, UPS at some of their distributors like Staples will offer a discount that's available on their receipts. Additional insurance is available at 2.50 per hundred dollars of stated value. When shipping a Shoebox cross country this was about 20.00 cheaper then USPS. Damage and handling is something to consider, I like to wrap the factory box if I have one with luan 1/8" plywood. it is light and adds much protection over the standard cardboard box. If the factory box is not available I'll break down the gun and use blue foam 2" sheets cut to size, then wrap with thin plywood. So far I've had good luck with this. I've purchased items from others that was a package deal, and rec'd in 3 separate packages that were professionally packed. In this case buying used presented unseen problems and NO savings over the same items if I got them new from a reputable vendor. Those YouTube vids are your friend, and hex keys and O rings are cheap.
 
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I find FedEx and UPS usually less expensive but the best thing to do is check all of them because they can vary illogically.

If you have wooden stocks the safest thing is to take the gun out of the action and wrap them separately. A common failure is the stock breaking at the grip.

People worry about what can happen from the outside but the worst damage occurs from the gun's moving around inside the packaging. Unless you have a package that securely holds the gun and I mean very securely, wrap the gun up inside the package. Movement is your enemy. Imagine someone putting your package in a paint can shaker and you have a good idea what can happen. Everything needs to be secure inside or it will become a weapon to damage other things in the container. I usually wrap everything in foam or string bubble wrap and wrap that in cardboard. I tape it all together to keep it from moving.

Recently, I received a gun in a plastic travel case that had cutouts to fit it and the extra barrel and pellet tins. When it got to me the interior was full of loose pellets, the foam was ripped free and the barrel was swinging around and hammering everything inside.

Another one I got was dropped in its original box with all the hard spacers missing and that box was dropped into a bigger box. Some foam pieces were tossed in around it and between the boxes. The rifle beat it's way out of both boxes and arrived with it's barrel poking out. 

The original shipping package is usually safe and it is a good idea to save it for that inevitable sale years later. If you don't have it start wrapping and taping. Think paint can shaker and imagine a mummy wrapped in a sarcophagus.

Good luck.


 
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I use my USPS account online for click-and-ship when possible. Easy, fill out the information, pay,print the label and you're ready to go. I have found one glitch, and that is insurance. If you need insurance in a sufficient amount to cover an expensive air rifle, I don't think you can do it online, at least I haven't figured it out. Then you have to go to the PO counter and buy it. But, if you can go at a slow time of day, it's not much of a hassle. 
 
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Twice now I have had the experience of the “insurance” that UPS offers. One was on an expensive watch shipped for service. The package was inexplicably lost. The first question was “who wrapped/prepared the package?”. Since the UPS store wrapped it, it was a paid claim. The second time was a TX200 that was sent to me. The barrel was sticking out of the box, the rifle was bent and the stock broke. The insurance was summarily denied since it was packed by the shipper (double boxed and tightly packaged). Wasn’t a loss for me, outside the fact that an excellent rifle with a price I’ll likely never see again, trashed. I can’t imagine what it felt like to be the owner/sender....
 
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I find FedEx and UPS usually less expensive but the best thing to do is check all of them because they can vary illogically.

If you have wooden stocks the safest thing is to take the gun out of the action and wrap them separately. A common failure is the stock breaking at the grip.

People worry about what can happen from the outside but the worst damage occurs from the gun's moving around inside the packaging. Unless you have a package that securely holds the gun and I mean very securely, wrap the gun up inside the package. Movement is your enemy. Imagine someone putting your package in a paint can shaker and you have a good idea what can happen. Everything needs to be secure inside or it will become a weapon to damage other things in the container. I usually wrap everything in foam or string bubble wrap and wrap that in cardboard. I tape it all together to keep it from moving.

Recently, I received a gun in a plastic travel case that had cutouts to fit it and the extra barrel and pellet tins. When it got to me the interior was full of loose pellets, the foam was ripped free and the barrel was swinging around and hammering everything inside.

Another one I got was dropped in its original box with all the hard spacers missing and that box was dropped into a bigger box. Some foam pieces were tossed in around it and between the boxes. The rifle beat it's way out of both boxes and arrived with it's barrel poking out. 

The original shipping package is usually safe and it is a good idea to save it for that inevitable sale years later. If you don't have it start wrapping and taping. Think paint can shaker and imagine a mummy wrapped in a sarcophagus.

Good luck.

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Excellent advice. If I had known this it could have saved several hundred dollars of shipping and cost of new stock and that shipping. If you pack it, you own it. Separating the stock and action would have save much headaches and $$$. Laminated stock broken at the grip...no sign of external damage. FedEx and manufacturer claims resulted in zero. Live and learn.
 
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Twice now I have had the experience of the “insurance” that UPS offers. One was on an expensive watch shipped for service. The package was inexplicably lost. The first question was “who wrapped/prepared the package?”. Since the UPS store wrapped it, it was a paid claim. The second time was a TX200 that was sent to me. The barrel was sticking out of the box, the rifle was bent and the stock broke. The insurance was summarily denied since it was packed by the shipper (double boxed and tightly packaged). Wasn’t a loss for me, outside the fact that an excellent rifle with a price I’ll likely never see again, trashed. I can’t imagine what it felt like to be the owner/sender....
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Wow. I just did a little research on shipping insurance, and it's scary. First, what UPS often refers to as insurance, is not. It is "declared value" coverage, and it is used to limit the UPS liability in the event of loss or damage. Exactly what that means I don't know, but it appears to be an amount determined to represent the article's value to the shipper, and is almost always less than actual value. True insurance has to be purchased from a third party insurer. From what I read, it seems the best and cheapest true insurance coverage may be through USPS. I'm going to do some more research, and I would encourage anyone shipping an expensive air rifle to do the same. I believe a lot of money is being spent on "insurance" that has very little value. And even with true, third party insurance, proof of value will be required in the event of a claim. It's probably worth photographing the rifle and its shipping packaging, which can be compared to a purchase invoice to establish value, and the quality of package preparation. Might be worth inquiring of some large air rifle retailers, just what their experience has been with shipping and loss claims. My guess, the shipping company does its due diligence on the shipper when the commercial account is opened, and claims may run through much more smoothly from them, compared to an individual who may have to prove the quality of packing after the fact, which might be difficult, depending on how severe the damage. 
 
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Since I've had to ship products for just about every business or job that I've had, I've used every company out there.
I won't get into why certain companies are worse than others, or Way Worse, from what I've found, but I will say this.. 
I Exclusively use USPS to ship now, and have been using them Flawlessly for over 10 years!
As mentioned before, size and weight are key to a lower rate, otherwise, they get into over-sized / excessive weigh,
and their fees will rise. I used to use the USPS site to guestimate a shipping quote since I ship from the post office.. 
https://postcalc.usps.com/Calculator/ShapeAndSize?country=10013&ccode=AU 
My rates are usually higher because when I ship, I always double-box, and any free space is fill with packing materials, 
and then I add full insurance [content value] and sometimes signature confirmation. It's totally worth it in the end 
since both parties are guaranteed a nice fast safe transaction that way.

😊👍

Sam -

 
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There are good and bad stories about each of the main shippers. If you search you could find dozens of threads with a wide variety of overall preferences.

For me, it came down to one simple fact.... By company policy (if enforced) UPS and FedEx 'stores' are not permitted to accept airguns for shipment. The main depo's will accept them. The main depo's are a long drive for me so I stick with USPS now. Only had one issue and it happened to expensive. Regardless of which you choose, document the contents and the packing process with notes and pictures (and over pack the items). 
 
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