USPS - back to pony express days!

[keavin nelson]

Not sure if anyone else is experiencing this, but the USPS certainly isn't what it was, snow, rain sleet or shine, ok, but not with the virus.
Recently had a gun parcel, shipped 3 day priority, take 8 days to reach it destination. This is over a drive time distance between origin/destination of about 2 1/2 Hr.! :shock:

[Jay Gardner]

I am friends with a fellow who works in the local PO and he has told me that nationally a lot of postal employees have been hit by Covid and there is a substantial backlog of mail they are trying to process and get out to be delivered.

[Joseph Sheerin]

It's not just USPS.... In the last few years, I have had 2 long guns completely broken in half by UPS. One was inbound to me, the other I had shipped. One of them being a somewhat rare Ruger No1 in 6.5x55 Swede that had great wood.

Here are some pics, the third one made me :crying::crying:

Ruger really took care of me, completely restocked the rifle, test fired it, etc. The new wood is not quite as nice as the original, but they didn't do me wrong either. The forearm is actually nice, but but stock has less color.

Rifle still shoots sub moa with my handloads.

[Frank Srebro]

I can understand some delays nowadays but to compound things the USPS isn't scanning Priority Mail envelopes - at least not those that go through Phila - and the tracking shows a vague statement: "your item is on its way". No scans at intermediate stops as in the past. Just two weeks ago my payment and FFL copy for a SxS took 9 days to arrive in So Cal. That was with 3 day Priority mail. And the seller was about to sell the gun to the next highest bidder because he thought my envelope went astray to a far away galaxy and wouldn't be located for many additional days. Icing on the cake on the 9th day was the tracking showed "we attempted to deliver at 9:30 (am) but couldn't access the location", but the seller's agent said they were open and in the office starting at 7:30 and no post office employee came by. Nice.

[Chuck Bishop]

Of course it's not a long gun but I ordered a MEC super sizer last Friday. According to USPS tracking it was sent priority mail. Arrived at the USPS distribution center in Wisconsin on Saturday, arrived at the local distribution center in Harrisburg on Monday and is out for delivery today. We'll see.

[Mills Morrison]

More sellers I deal with now offer a plastic hard case for a little extra to keep the guns safe in shipping. A good investment.

The virus has thrown off shipping for sure. I have a few things I need to send off for work, but am holding off until things get back to normal, assuming that happens in the foreseeable future

[Joseph Sheerin]

More sellers I deal with now offer a plastic hard case for a little extra to keep the guns safe in shipping. A good investment.

The virus has thrown off shipping for sure. I have a few things I need to send off for work, but am holding off until things get back to normal, assuming that happens in the foreseeable future

I will never ship another long gun without a hard case.... Unless it's a break down gun that can ship in a much shorter box, with LOTS of buble wrap and double boxed. It's not work risking the breakage of a irreplaceable firearm.

It just seems like service levels across the board for delivery services are not what they used to be.

[Craig Budgeon]

Don't tell me about the USPS being overwhelmed due to the Hruhan virus. In December 2019 I purchased a Parker paper collectible from a friend living less than 100 miles away. I notified him I sent a check first class on the next day. After 8 days he called me and told me he had not received my check yet. I sent him another check by certified mail ($3+) and told him to cash the first check and shred the second if it ever arrives. After 12 days both checks arrived in the same delivery. This is not the only occurrence but one of many.

[Mills Morrison]

Shotguns should always be broken down no matter what. With rifles, you just have to pack and pack and then hope.

[Brian Dudley]

If that photo of the broken ruger in the box was taken after it was opened, and if that packing material is all that was in the box, then that gun was not packed properly and should have been broken, as it was.

The fact is that many simply do not know how to pack guns. Many methods are just plain laughable. Most issues with damage can be avoided by packing well with the proper materials.

[Joseph Sheerin]

If that photo of the broken ruger in the box was taken after it was opened, and if that packing material is all that was in the box, then that gun was not packed properly and should have been broken, as it was.

The fact is that many simply do not know how to pack guns. Many methods are just plain laughable. Most issues with damage can be avoided by packing well with the proper materials.

The gun, on the insistance of UPS was repacked when it was shipped, it was double boxed, with layers of bubble wrap between each box. UPS insisted that it be packed right there in their presence. :bigbye:

What you are seeing, is the original Ruger box, which was inside another heavy shipping box, and had also been wrapped in bubble wrap.

The FFL where it was delivered to, was shocked that they had been able to break it, given how it was packaged.... He believed it was done intentionally, by placing against concrete wall, and back into with a forklift, or other heavy machinery...

[Josh Loewensteiner]

I use FedEx nearly exclusively. Very reliable, but since the outbreak of COVID, they have been overwhelmed as if it were the Christmas season. Most packages are getting to their destination on time, but around 1/3 are taking an extra day or two.

When shipping a gun, the cheapest thing in the box is your packing material and you can’t have enough of that on a quality gun.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

I shipped a gun out to California on Wed, USPS 3 day priority, and it got there safe and sound. I ship them broke down in an old Leg-O-Mutton case, wrapped in bubble wrap, inside a box. LOM cases are quite stiff and sturdy and padded. But, I would think somebody would have to have deliberately tried to break that gun. Nothing surprizes me any more--but it does cause me to lose sleep.

[Mark Ray]

When i ship breakdown shotguns, i pack them broken down and packed tightly in pvc pipe

[Mark Ray]

Many unscoped rifles can be fit in pvc pipe as well.

[Mark Ray]

I have received a number of breakdown guns , broken down, in an inexpensive plastic foam filled long gun case, that was then cut to length. That also seems to be pretty effective.

[Larry Stauch]

For anyone sending a gun through whatever means you should have NO carrier insurance, but what you should have is insurance through a collector focused insurance carrier that covers shipping, theft and other mishaps. I use Collectibles from Hartford, CT. I can tell you if you don't have something like this, you not only have a shipping problem, you have a BIG hole in your asset base protection. And you don't have to schedule a gun unless its value is over $25,000. Homeowners insurance only covers about $3500 for all your gun. So what's that, maybe one of your guns? Buying a rider for homeowners is extremely cost prohibitive. 3 weeks ago I sent a Browning Sweet Sixteen to North Carolina and it was damaged. No arguing with UPS because I didn't insure it with them and saved that money. Instead, Collectibles wrote me a check for the estimate to fix it, provided by Art's, and I sent it to Art's and already paid them with the settlement amount; which was the full amount Art's quoted. You're wasting your time and money dealing with these shipping companies for damage coverage. It won't work for a guy like Bryan because he is a business, but for the rest of us collector/shooters it's the only way to go.

[Joseph Sheerin]

It took 6 months, but UPS finally did pay me for the Ruger.... I had to get estimates of repair from Gun Smiths, etc. I would supply them information, then they'd wait a while, when we'd call them back, they would then say they needed something else. They gun was not over $3500, so in the end it all worked out.

I actually came out ahead, because UPS paid me full value of the rifle, and then Ruger fixed it for free. I wasn't expecting that from Ruger, at the time I thought my only option would be to have a new stock made, which was more expensive than the value of the gun. On a last second whim, I called Ruger to see if I could just get it replaced by them, after checking serial #'s etc, they told me to ship it to them. I was expecting to be billed for the work, but next thing I knew, it was back at my FFL and they'd done the work at no cost, other than shipping.

Ruger is top of my list when it comes to customer service. :-)

[Brian Dudley]

Yeah, I have heard a few stories about ruger doing pro-bono work on guns for people when they were not even the original owners. And not warranty work mind you. I was surprised.

[Joseph Sheerin]

Yeah, I have heard a few stories about ruger doing pro-bono work on guns for people when they were not even the original owners. And not warranty work mind you. I was surprised.

No one was more surprised than I was. When I originally talked to Ruger, they gave me an estimate in the $500 range. This was way less than the almost $2000 I would pay for a custom stock, so I thought why not.

I had my gun club ship the rifle to them, and waited for the day when they would call me for my CC information.... Then, one day my FFL at our gun club calls and tells me to come down and pick up my Ruger..... I was still expecting a bill, but nope... They did it "pro-bono".... He said that was not the first time he'd seen Ruger do that, even had a guy with a well worn Ruger Black hawk send it back for some serious issues, only to have them fix it all up for him at no cost.

Either way, very happy with Ruger customer support, and look'n forward to hunting with my No1 this fall.

[CraigThompson]

Shotguns should always be broken down no matter what. With rifles, you just have to pack and pack and then hope.

You would fricken be amazed the number of SxS and O/U shotguns I’ve unpacked that some numb nuts shipped not broken down . The first Parker hammerless 10 I was going to buy arrived at the shop snapped in the wrist . To start with they had taken terrible pics and claimed it to be an DH . When I opened the box the butt stock fell out , then I found it was actually an EH and was supposedly sold as is no return . All got ALL my money back , but in hindsight I wish I’d kept the gun as it was an early EH 1889 or 1890 .

[Mills Morrison]

The only time I had one break, it was a project gun I had the dealer send straight to Brian and it made the decision to replace the worn out, crummy stock that much easier. I have had pretty good luck overall with gun purchases and shipments. Knock on wood

[keavin nelson]

Two broken, both were shipped together, one in a hard case, but it got cracked. Bad packing both times.

A Parker shipped broken down, in a hard case. The barrels moved back in the case and the lug hit the front of the pistol grip putting a couple of dings in it.

I have never had anything I have shipped get hurt.

[Garry L Gordon]

Knock on wood

Hmmm...

Now, Mills, was that an intended pun?:rotf:

You guys have me worried. I sent a check to Morphy's on Monday via 2-Day Priority with the Postal Service. I've checked the tracking and it does not show up at all.

[Reggie Bishop]

I sent out a Priority letter on Monday w/tracking. The receipt said delivery date of Friday. So 5 days to get from TN to PA priority mail. I haven't checked the tracking on it.

[Mills Morrison]

Ha Garry!

A friend got one of those messages from Amazon that her package was delivered along with a picture of the package on her porch. Problem was it was not her porch

[Rick Losey]

Ha Garry!

A friend got one of those messages from Amazon that her package was delivered along with a picture of the package on her porch. Problem was it was not her porch

several years ago, a shipment of muzzleloader parts was way overdue - when I called UPS customer service they claimed it was delivered, I disagreed, they contacted the driver and he said he left it in the drive in front of the garage. I didn't have a garage at that house. I asked around the neighborhood and found it at a house on the other side of the road - they had it for over a week and no telling if they ever would have crossed the road to let me know


currently I am waiting for a large format camera lens that the USPS tracking still says will be delivered Monday June 1 - it arrived at the seller's regional distribution center and seems to have sat there for 6 days, now it has been at our regional distribution center for 2 days

like I said before - millions of packages get delivered just fine- we remember the lost and damaged

[Phil Yearout]

I don't think it matters much who the carrier is; I dropped off two Amazon returns at the UPS store on May 26. Nine days later one shows as delivered, the other still shows as in transit.

I ordered a gift for my wife via overnight FedEx; it was to be delivered Christmas Eve. Had it shipped to the office because I knew she'd know what it was, and specifically went in that day just to get the package. Around 10:00 or so I tracked it and FedEx said "delivery attempted, business closed". NOT TRUE! They did not attempt, and we were not closed. I had to go to the airport and retrieve it, and if you don't think THAT was fun...! I will say some very nice FedEx employees helped me find it.

[Garry L Gordon]

I was having my Dickson 28 gauge returned to me from some work Jack Rowe did on it. This was back when I was still working in the Provost's Office at the University. The UPS guy, knowing I was at work and not at home, delivered the gun to my office. My assistant at the time was a retired Army colonel and he knew exactly what was in the package...and that it violated University and Board policies. Fortunately, he could keep his mouth shut. I was able to sneak the box out unobserved. Life in a small town(!), where the UPS guy knows you...where you live and work. This was back in the early 2000s. I can only imagine the demonstrations the same thing would inspire in my faculty colleagues today. Try being a gun owner and hunter in a university of "open minded" PhDs.

[Scott Smith]

At 11:30 am today I received a USPS package in Orefield, PA that shipped from Oracle, AZ on Monday, June 01. It contained a nice Redhead Elliot case that was expertly packaged. Excellent transaction and good service by USPS. Wish every shipment went this smoothly. Thank you Tim Thomas!

[Gary Laudermilch]

I recently purchased a gun in South Dakota and it shipped via Federal Express to PA. It arrived in good shape 1 day ahead of schedule. It actually took longer for my payment to get to SD via USPS than it did to ship the gun. Whew, that anxiety is over.