question on shipping to another state through an FFL

[killerquad]

I have a quick question. I have seen people say on several different places that they have been able to ship out handguns to another state through an ffl and paid only 10-20 dollars for shipping. Can ffl holders ship firearms by other methods than the overnight required? Last time I shipped one out I ended up paying over 55 dollars. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[seamusTX]

Yes. FFL's can use the U.S. mail. I shipped a revolver through an FFL several weeks ago. It cost me $35.

There isn't a place in my town where you can ship a firearm using Fedex or UPS (and I can't figure out which of them still does it).

- Jim

[killerquad]

Thanks for the info. Yeah that was the other bad thing about it, I had to drive 45 minutes to find a main hub to be able to ship it out of.

[apowell]

By policy, FedEx and UPS only allow firearm shipping at the service center, or hub. Not at any of the "stores".

$35 is probably about right for shipping through an FFL. Perhaps a little more depending on how much it needed to be insured for. It costs us $15-20 to send it express mail/ delivery confirmation/signature required/insured, plus we have to log the firearm, validate the receiving FFL and possibly take it to the post office and of course make a profit on the transaction. Also, many FFLs don't ship via USPS period. I receive a lot of transfer firearms from other FFLs that are shipped FedEx/UPS because it is "easier" and they just pass the cost on.

[killerquad]

Thanks for the reply APowell, that makes perfect sense.

[pistolchamp]

I do the same. I use the United States Post Office. They are reasonably quick, cheap and they have never damaged a gun that I shipped, long or short. Requesting a signature prevents it being left on the porch.

Many distributors will NOT ship a gun except by overnight air via UPS or FedEx and that raises the cost considerably.

I often buy a gun somewhere during my frequent travels and simply mail it to my shop from wherever to prevent having to deal with in while traveling.

The USPS requires being notified that there is a gun in the package, but, does not require marking the package.

[QB]

Yep, I just shipped two guns and the FFL sent them USPS Priority, signature receipt, insured and they were each just under $27 (plus the FFL for each gun).

Both guns were insured for around $1000 and so the insurance was expensive.....around $10-11. So if you don't have to insure for so much, the shipping is considerably less.