Shipping an AR upper

It's just machine parts. Use the carrier you feel most comfortable with, insure it because it IS worth a few hundred dollars and send it.

Get measurements, buy a box, pack everything up at home and label it. Return to carrier and drop it off. Unless there are carrier specific regulations, it's as simple as mailing a pair of shoes.

+1

Pack it good, and mail it with proper postage and insurance.
(Let's call it a Machine Part, or a Italion Fagle Lamp.)

No different then mailing a $100 antique wine glass you sold on eBay.
Except you can't hardly hurt an AR-15 Upper by throwing it out of a mail truck and kicking it across the warehouse.

rc

If you still have the original box the upper came in you can ship it in that, or find a long square box that isn't too big. Wrap it in lots of large bubble wrap and tape. If you are shipping a rear sight or scope with it, it would be smart to remove it and box it separately. UPS or FedEx would be fine with the added shipping insurance. And make sure there is no cartridge still in the chamber!

Don't leave any markings on the outside of the box hinting that there is a gun or gun part inside. You never know if there is a shady package sorting worker looking to swipe guns for black market sale! Since it's not technically a gun, if the clerk asks tell them it's just machine parts.

No. What that means is not declaring a value limits you to 100 dollars in replacement cost. You can declare any value you want, up to $50,000 and pay for extra insurance.

https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/value_added/declared_value.html

Ship it priority mail, pay for the amount of extra insurance you want, and that's it. You don't have to tell anyone what is in the package, only that it isn't fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially dangerous.

Registered mail.

Shipping

USPS has flat rate boxes that are tri-angle shaped. Get one of those boxes, tape the upper to a 1X3 board slightly longer than the upper and mail it. Add extra insurance to the package.

It is no different than shipping a toaster. Pack it for protection, ship it the least expensive way possible with tracking/signature & insure it.

I used to go the normal UPS route with "machine tool parts" or whatever, but eventually decided I just didn't want to deal with their BS or whatever they might try to pull if they ever looked in the box.

What I do now is just drop it off at my FFL and have him ship it for me. Obviously his UPS account is one that doesn't have a problem with guns, and, I can drop it off at my leisure and he'll just send it out the next day. He may be upcharging me 5 bucks from the actual UPS cost.. I don't know, but even if he is, the reduced PITA is worth it.

Find a muffler shop and ask for a carton a car muffler came in. Good size and easily taken to contain a car muffler.

ny32182 said:

I used to go the normal UPS route with "machine tool parts" or whatever, but eventually decided I just didn't want to deal with their BS or whatever they might try to pull if they ever looked in the box.

What I do now is just drop it off at my FFL and have him ship it for me. Obviously his UPS account is one that doesn't have a problem with guns, and, I can drop it off at my leisure and he'll just send it out the next day. He may be upcharging me 5 bucks from the actual UPS cost.. I don't know, but even if he is, the reduced PITA is worth it.

Click to expand...

That's what I wound up doing. It cost me $15 if I remember right, for him to do it. But it took a load off my mind.

This was in 2012 when prices were going nuts.