So... I ordered a custom-built mod last month from overseas, from someone who had good providence from online research that I did. The intention from the start was permanently attaching it to my AIRGUN barrel assuming it worked for my needs (keeping the neighbor happy and also keeping things quiet plinking indoors). It is advertised as an airgun suppressor. It finally arrived yesterday. Here's the rollercoaster of it:
Shipping actually started quick after it was fabricated to my needs (mounting, FPE, caliber, etc). It was sent "Priority Registered Mail" (air) from what I will refer to at the moment as "somewhere overseas." From drop-off from the seller in a foreign land to landing in NYC only took a couple days. Then things got interesting. The next tracking update I got from USPS was transfer from their ISC at JFK airport saying "INBOUND INTO CUSTOMS." And then for three days, no more updates. Uh-oh.
So I did some random silent (no pun intended) investigating. I came across A LOT of posts to the USPS Inspector General's website of that particular USPS ISC (International Shipping Center) in NYC, and there were years of posts and multiple posts per day of people claiming that their package was either stolen from the facility or seized by customs. So at this point, I was thinking I might be SOL.
Then after 3 days, the tracking updated (with post-dating as well), and it turns out that my package cleared customs in less than 24 hours... It just took forever to update. I could not help but think to myself "What did the seller write on the package as a declaration of contained items for the customs agents to verify?" It left NYC at the very end of last week. It showed up at my door in the Midwest yesterday.
So, what of the customs tag on the padded envelope? On the back of the envelope, the declaration is there, and the description made me chuckle:
Very wise grasshopper
. I will say that my "vacuum pump muffler 
" was extremely well packaged, and also EXTREMELY-well made... Almost to a fault. It is now PERMANENTLY attached to my air rifle. Attempting to remove it, say, with a torch, should destroy the "vacuum pump muffler" before the actual bonded points which would melt the aluminum of the "vacuum pump muffler" before it ever released from the barrel. So basically, the barrel and mod (oops, I meant "vacuum pump muffler") have become integral as intended.
One nice touch was something I didn't even see when I first opened the package. I went to dispose of the empty padded envelope and something was off. The envelope was still heavy for what it was. I peaked into it again, and there was a non-attention-grabbing glob of shipping tape around what appeared to be some stray bubble-wrap, which blended into the inside of the rest of the packaging... But at the same time it didn't. At first I thought it fell off of the package-within-a-package unwrapping that I did. But inside of this glob I could feel solid mass, but it was so thick I couldn't make out what was inside. So after carefully using a razor-knife, I peeled away the layers of the tough-as-nails packing tape that was used only to find a "free gift." A nice sample-pack of JSB Heavy's! Nice little touch!
I'll post up an actual review of the mod's db results later this week, and probably with my entire project in general in the coming weeks, it was almost 4 months in the making and unfortunately is not done yet due to unexpected circumstances. Just the breif testing I did this morning, it really sounds very efficient and makes a huge difference. To be honest I probably won't name-drop the vendor just yet, although I must admit I think he does OUTSTANDING work on this level. Pictures and a review to come soon.
PT
Shipping actually started quick after it was fabricated to my needs (mounting, FPE, caliber, etc). It was sent "Priority Registered Mail" (air) from what I will refer to at the moment as "somewhere overseas." From drop-off from the seller in a foreign land to landing in NYC only took a couple days. Then things got interesting. The next tracking update I got from USPS was transfer from their ISC at JFK airport saying "INBOUND INTO CUSTOMS." And then for three days, no more updates. Uh-oh.
So I did some random silent (no pun intended) investigating. I came across A LOT of posts to the USPS Inspector General's website of that particular USPS ISC (International Shipping Center) in NYC, and there were years of posts and multiple posts per day of people claiming that their package was either stolen from the facility or seized by customs. So at this point, I was thinking I might be SOL.
Then after 3 days, the tracking updated (with post-dating as well), and it turns out that my package cleared customs in less than 24 hours... It just took forever to update. I could not help but think to myself "What did the seller write on the package as a declaration of contained items for the customs agents to verify?" It left NYC at the very end of last week. It showed up at my door in the Midwest yesterday.
So, what of the customs tag on the padded envelope? On the back of the envelope, the declaration is there, and the description made me chuckle:
Very wise grasshopper
. I will say that my "vacuum pump muffler " was extremely well packaged, and also EXTREMELY-well made... Almost to a fault. It is now PERMANENTLY attached to my air rifle. Attempting to remove it, say, with a torch, should destroy the "vacuum pump muffler" before the actual bonded points which would melt the aluminum of the "vacuum pump muffler" before it ever released from the barrel. So basically, the barrel and mod (oops, I meant "vacuum pump muffler") have become integral as intended.One nice touch was something I didn't even see when I first opened the package. I went to dispose of the empty padded envelope and something was off. The envelope was still heavy for what it was. I peaked into it again, and there was a non-attention-grabbing glob of shipping tape around what appeared to be some stray bubble-wrap, which blended into the inside of the rest of the packaging... But at the same time it didn't. At first I thought it fell off of the package-within-a-package unwrapping that I did. But inside of this glob I could feel solid mass, but it was so thick I couldn't make out what was inside. So after carefully using a razor-knife, I peeled away the layers of the tough-as-nails packing tape that was used only to find a "free gift." A nice sample-pack of JSB Heavy's! Nice little touch!
I'll post up an actual review of the mod's db results later this week, and probably with my entire project in general in the coming weeks, it was almost 4 months in the making and unfortunately is not done yet due to unexpected circumstances. Just the breif testing I did this morning, it really sounds very efficient and makes a huge difference. To be honest I probably won't name-drop the vendor just yet, although I must admit I think he does OUTSTANDING work on this level. Pictures and a review to come soon.
PT
The whole vacuum pump muffler thing gave me a giggle. Let us know with pics and context when you're ready to go public, I'm very curious to hear what you're running. 
