I have a rifle I want to ship to one of the AR 'smiths for some work.

I have had the rifle for almost 50 years, and it has a piece of wood (and other small tweaks) on it that are virtually irreplaceable. I was going to take it in person or have my son take to his door, but for a variety of reasons, that does not now appear practical.

So my question is:

"If you HAD to ship a rifle which absolutely could not be damaged or lost, how would you package it?"

All suggestions from anyone will be most gratefully received.

quote:

"If you HAD to ship a rifle which absolutely could not be damaged or lost, how would you package it?"

Ask anyone I have ever shipped a rifle to.

I build a wooden box of 2X4s and screw on wooden covers with 12 screws on both sides.....

The rifle packed inside with heavy padding of several styles.

Darn box can be difficult to open but it has always been received in good shape.....A gorilla wouldn't damage it!

One of my aluminium rifle cases has literally flown more airmiles than the vast majority of people fly in their lives. It is a Kalispel 2 rifle case. Over on stretch, a single rifle went to 3 contienents and 4 countries and never had a scope adjustment cap off-zero never moved. This is a blued steel/English walnut rifle, and the stock has a very thin wrist and forearm. I could not have asked anything more of a case.

I have another cheaper aluminum case that has ferried God only knows how many rifles across the country via the USPS. It is in Alaska now, at the home of a good friend and great client. It has made the trip back and forth to his place many times over the past few years.

I am partial to aluminum cases

I most strongly support the use of an aluminum gun case, period. However, I'll also suggest the method used by my grandfather, a gunsmith and ordnance engineer for 40 years. He would sandwich a rifle between two fitted pieces of plywood in the shipping container, with padding of course, and ask that the customer return the box and plywood to him, at his expense. He claimed he never had a damaged shipment, and his primary business was African caliber rifles, including doubles.

LLS

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
"If you HAD to ship a rifle which absolutely could not be damaged or lost, how would you package it?"

The honest answer to this simple question is, don't ship it.

However, if you're going to ship it anyway, the best bet is an aluminum case inside a heavy cardboard box wrapped with brown paper and shipped registered mail with enough insurance to satisfy you. It's VERY unlikely to get lost this way and if it is damaged the USPS will actually pay on your claim. Good luck getting a dime out of Fed-EX or UPS.

A good quality plastic case will do great. I have sent a many that way. The only thing I do add more padding and cover the entire case with cardboard and tape up realy good then ship.

Insure and use USPS.

Aluminum is for beer cans!

It's hard to beat Pelican. http://www.pelican-case.com/gensym-13.html

$219.99 for this case is a steal!

I'd use the best aluminum airline case out there. Then I'd build a crate like Vapo said and pack/pad the case in the crate using 2" foam all around. I would glue and screw it together. If that doesn't do it, I don't know what will. Insure it to the hilt. I really don't know how it could be guaranteed 100 percent against loss, highest type of registered shipping is about all you can do.

The problem with building a crate is that you can't send it Registered Mail and that's the most important step you can take to prevent loss.

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Aluminum is for beer cans!

It's hard to beat Pelican. http://www.pelican-case.com/gensym-13.html

$219.99 for this case is a steal!

That looks like a great case.

Here's a quote from the page you linked

This case is NATO codified and tested to MIL C-4150J (Military Standard), IP-67 (Ingress Protection) and ATA (Air Transportation Association). Unconditionally Guaranteed ... forever.

TEMPERATURE RATING: MINIMUM -10° F (-23° C) MAXIMUM +210° F (+99° C)

It was -47°F here in Sdak last week.
What happens to the case then

I use registered mail for shipping any guns.

Albert

The major makers ship in a cardboard box with a fitted Styrofoam or cardboard inside, all enclosed in a separate larger cardboard box. The problem that I see is not just the possibility of damage, but the real problem of loss by theft if it looks to be a valuable firearm. If you don't have one, ask at one of the local stores that handle long guns in your area. Having said that, I have shipped rifles in a plastic airline approved "gun case". Be sure to have your shipper require signatures at each step.

Roger

quote:

Originally posted by gunmaker:

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Aluminum is for beer cans!

It's hard to beat Pelican. http://www.pelican-case.com/gensym-13.html

$219.99 for this case is a steal!

That looks like a great case.

Here's a quote from the page you linked

This case is NATO codified and tested to MIL C-4150J (Military Standard), IP-67 (Ingress Protection) and ATA (Air Transportation Association). Unconditionally Guaranteed ... forever.

TEMPERATURE RATING: MINIMUM -10° F (-23° C) MAXIMUM +210° F (+99° C)

It was -47°F here in Sdak last week.
What happens to the case then

I use registered mail for shipping any guns.

You could knit it a sweater.

Sounds like a good question to ask the folks at Pelican. I can't imagine a case such as that not being able to withstand a little cold.

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Aluminum is for beer cans!

It's hard to beat Pelican. http://www.pelican-case.com/gensym-13.html

$219.99 for this case is a steal!

Actually, the sellers hype only comes close to how good these cases are. There are others made by pelican that are so tight that they have pressure reliefe valves so that they can be opened against different pressure variations.

The temprature in South Dakota has little to do with where the case is, either in the plane, train, truck or your post office, it is seldom that cold.

If the firearm is so valuable that you cannot trust what is thought to be a top quality shipping container, simply hand deliver it.

If I were in your shoes I'd put the gun in my Kalispel gun case, add a length of fuel line around the outside edges for the real slim chance the rifle decides to move and ride the edge. I'd then package it in heavy thick cardboard and over night it USPS, insured of course. If I'm selling one I do it differently as I won't be getting the case back. In this case I use a plastic hard case with a lot of extra padding, the rifle wrapped in cheese cloth and heavily card boarded. I also tape the living hell out of it. It adds a lot believe it or not to strength of the package plus keeps it dry.

quote:

Originally posted by RonE:

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Aluminum is for beer cans!

It's hard to beat Pelican. http://www.pelican-case.com/gensym-13.html

$219.99 for this case is a steal!

Actually, the sellers hype only comes close to how good these cases are. There are others made by pelican that are so tight that they have pressure reliefe valves so that they can be opened against different pressure variations.

The temprature in South Dakota has little to do with where the case is, either in the plane, train, truck or your post office, it is seldom that cold.

If the firearm is so valuable that you cannot trust what is thought to be a top quality shipping container, simply hand deliver it.

Like all of the Pelican Travel Vault cases, that particular case has the purge valve.

Dempsey -

I have a Kalispell aluminum 2-gun rifle case which weighs about a metric ton. I don't mind the cost of paying to ship that weight, but it does not ptotect throughly against breakage. In 1979 when I went to NZ to compete in the Palma matches and the NZ national matches, I bought it especially for the trip, and shipped my rifles in it. It arrived with one rifle broken even though the case was not much more than dented, and it flew on the same aircraft I did. I will not use it again for shipping any gun that is important to me.

Maybe a Pelican will do the trick. Or maybe I will just wait until I am well enough to make the trip with it in my private vehicle someday.

How long a drive you talking? I live just north and would be happy to ferry the thing for a modest fee...

AC; Simply get a box the the Rifle will fit in . Now Make a shell out of 2X2 . Make sure it's 2"

larger than your cardboard gun box ALL the way around .

Top bottom all sides with plywood 1/4" is plenty .

Set your gun cardboard box inside the plywood box . Only the top of the plywood box

needs to be removable , glue and screw everything else together . Buy a can of expanding urethane foam


put a squirt inside each corner and on the bottom of plywood box inside of course .

If you have plastic sheathing like visqueen use it or garbage bags will work

to while the foam is expanding ( Be quick ) set your gun box inside place the plywood lid over the top.

Let the foam set up . Remove plywood top hopefully you centered your Gun box correctly in the middle .

If all is well if it isn't fix it now , then simply fold the plastic over your cardboard gun box

and repeat foaming the top side .

Here it is only necessary to put foam in the ends and corners

and a couple of strategic places in the center of the box . Just weight down the Top Piece for now .

By using plastic and foam The Smith will only have to Open the top portion

of the box by removing say 10-12 screws .

With foam sandwich and plastic covering the Smith removes screws folds back the plastic top layer

foam goes with the plastic , revealing the cardboard box perfectly intact and REUSABLE for return

shipping . I have used this method for so many years now . Except my shipping container is

fiberglass and in 18 years of using it not once has it ever been damaged and it's like 3/32" thick .

Mine slides inside a Cardboard box sleeve no less . It works slick .

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
It arrived with one rifle broken even though the case was not much more than dented, and it flew on the same aircraft I did.

It goes to show the relaxing effect of a couple of in flight cocktails.

Sorry to hear that Canuck. I foolishly left my gun case on top of my truck, gun inside, after returning from a walk in the woods. I took off and heard the thump. Everything was fine. It only goes to show anything can happen regardless of packaging.

I still think a guy can come up with something that would make him comfortable. Add something for stiffness like the crates suggested here, something to absorb impact energy as suggested. I have had a packaged rifle run over by a fed ex fork lift, it didn't make it. Sometimes shit just happens. It could also happen with a hand delivery.

Ever have to un pack an LCD or Plasma TV ?. How about China or Vases ?.

I'm a firm believer is Urethane foam , protect your rifle pistols with soft foam .

Protect your soft foam with a box protect your box with plywood or aluminum skin .

Which ever way you choose to go , PROTECT WITH HARDING FOAM , so your skin or outer box can't be crushed inward .

That's why expanding foam works so well in packaging . If it didn't Shippers would use what ever works

when shipping fragile items . Air Bags puncture , soft foam can be ripped , packing peanuts can leak out

if package is torn . Somebody has to do some SERIOUS Package damage to rip Aluminum or plywood crate

with foam filling . Do what you have to do .

I'm convinced that some carriers & airlines see a well packaged item as a challenge......

Exactly why mine slips inside a cardboard outer sleeved box .

Easy to replace easy to put shipping labels on and hides the real shipping container inside .

Out of sight out of mind as the saying goes .

I shipped a rifle from Texas to AHR and built a box from 5/8" plywood. I made interior braces that doubled as supports for the rifle and felt lined them. They were cut (approx) in half to keep the rifle from touching the box itself and I had heavy, dense foam pads at front and rear. The entire box, excluding the top which was only screwed on, I glued and screwed it together. It not only survived the trip out but return also without damage to box or rifle. USPS would not accept it so I sent it UPS.
I have a Pelican case and didn't think to use it. The Pelican survived a trip to Africa without damage and I would certainly trust it for a domestic shipment. It has provisions for two locks but I would have to mail a key to AHR so it could be opened.
Your call as to what you use but Wayne at AHR was so impressed with my box that he said he wished all his customers would do it that way.

Nothing is perfect, but I use ForrestB's method every time. I would add just a couple of further pointers.

Use a heavy (0.80") aluminum case. And use a two rifle case for one rifle. If it's a bolt rifle, remove the bolt, wrap it securely and place it in the case separate from the rifle.

It costs more to do it this way, but for an irreplaceable or costly rifle, it's well worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by Oddbod:
I'm convinced that some carriers & airlines see a well packaged item as a challenge......

I can see your point.

I wonder why almost all guns are shipped from the factory in cardboard boxes with styrofoam inner support. Maybe they know something we don't.