Moving...argh!!!

When I moved from NJ to WV about 10 years ago I had rented a 26' Penske truck, on the last of three trips I had a lot of heavy things ammo, guns, milling machine etc. on the truck.
When coming down the interstate I was headed to a weigh station, I thought I was over weight for the truck (now I don't think I was). But the thought of having to explain the "terroist amount arms and ammo" I decided to get off the interstate before the weight station.
Being the typical male when the GPS said left I thought a right was the correct direction , and went that way. After about 7 miles on a two lane road with no place to turn around I came to a tunnel that said clearance 12' 4" my truck was 12' 3", as I was sitting there (this was 9:30pm) contemplating the long reverse trip I would need to make, a guy in a pickup pulled up behind me, he got out and said "I don't think you will make it"
I said I am at 12'3" and it says clearance is 12'4". So he said I will guide you thru.
I did make it thru but will listen to the GPS next time.

GPS can be wrong and IS, many times.

Seedy Character said:

GPS can be wrong and IS, many times.

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I know sometimes the GPS went hay wire in WV!

I certainly feel the OP's pain. After a quarter-century on active duty, I dragged the family from state to state and overseas too many times... we thought we'd retire up here, but did not accurately forecast the 180-degree turn in this state's politics, hence, we'll be leaving this former paradise for the South sometime in the next year. I'm totally not looking forward to having to drive a rental truck cross-country with all the gun stuff (and my accumulation of ammo, components and accessories). Just gonna leave the safes and buy new ones.

hk940 said:

I know sometimes the GPS went hay wire in WV!

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Yeah, remembering the original "Wrong Turn" movie aside, dunno why so many bash WV, I've always found the folks there to be friendly and welcoming (great college football fans).

I spent 14 days on WV, back '97, on a job.

Considered moving there, for about 30 minutes.

Great people, though

Of course anything can happen, but at this point the only way I'd consider moving is if I build a new house in the back yard and bulldoze the one I'm in.

Maybe someone can make a comprehensive list of things to consider, or a "do/don't do when moving your firearms/ammo/components" and sticky it.

buck460XVR said:

There are options to moving your stuff tho if it's too much of a hassle......it's called a "moving sale".

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Never had any luck buying reloading or shooting gear at moving sales. I did buy my first washer and dryer from one. $30 for the set, had to wait til their clothes were dry to load it up.

Easy solution: jettison the stuff. Less crap, less hassle. To each their own.

Howland937 said:

Maybe someone can make a comprehensive list of things to consider, or a "do/don't do when moving your firearms/ammo/components" and sticky it.

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I could not find freight truck moving service or 'pods' type service that would allow guns or ammo - specifically listed as not allowed ( also a lot of cleaning supplies & chemicals, aerosols...)

Rental truck companies that I contaced didn't specifically exclude and that worked in previous moves, but not this one for various reasons.

For a variety of reasons, I ended up using a pods type service, shipping my truck (a lot less $ than I though it would be) and renting a RV to drive 1600 miles. Some of the expense of the RV was offset by not renting hotels.

The convenience factor was great. Guns, ammo, jewelry, heirlooms, sensitive paperwork, etc, never left my sight. Vehicles get broken into at hotels a lot and moving trucks have been known to be stolen from hotels too. Unloading-reloading back & forth in/out of a hotel room each night would have been an extreme hassel. Not needed with an RV.


No check in/check out times to deal with loosing driving time. Finding hotels that would accept 2 dogs and a tortoise was difficult so the RV was very helpful in that respect. Bringing drinks and lunch meet saved some eating expenses and added some convenience.


Plus, the wife had never traveled by RV so we took our time and enjoyed. Dogs enjoyed it more than 8 hr car rides each day, for sure.

The pods type services is more expensive than renting a truck or using the freight method but there some advantages. One of the advantages was they are ground level which made loading and unloading a breeze compared to a ramp or lift gate.

I'm not advocating pods type as theee best way for every situation, however in hindsight, it was absolutely the best way to do it this time for many more reasons than I mentioned.

The pods route is Ok as long as you don't store them at their warehouse, it was something $600.00 or more a month!
Odd thing was when I called them when I lived in WV they told me that they did not serve my area, yet a house less than 2 miles form me had two in their yard!

hk940 said:

The pods route is Ok as long as you don't store them at their warehouse, it was something $600.00 or more a month!
Odd thing was when I called them when I lived in WV they told me that they did not serve my area, yet a house less than 2 miles form me had two in their yard!

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I don't remember the storage fees for a month but they will hold the cubes for free for a while after they get to their yard. I think it was 7days.

I actually beat them to destination. I drove it in about 3 days & I think it took them around 6 days. They'll leave them on your driveway for I think 3 or maybe 4 days for unloading.

Moved a couple years ago. Used it as a chance to re-organize and go scorched earth on things I didn’t need. One thing is for certain, ammo and components are heavy.

I don't know but the pods were there for several weeks.

In my experience people tend to move too many bulky items when moving. Unless your furniture is heirloom grade stuff, its not worth the cost of transport.
My solution is to buy and sell used everything future wise. I buy it used, sell it for what I paid, and repeat the process at the destination. Cost of this is minimal.
Upside of this is I have a lot more space for moving things like guns, ammo, electronics, etc. that you don't want to let out of your sight.
Minimizing the cost and risk of theft comes down to minimizing nights on the road. Most moves can be done in 2 days, so only one carefully chosen stopover is needed.

Archie said:

After over ten years, I'm still asking myself "Why did I pay those movers to drag all this garbage halfway across the country?"

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Almost 3 years ago, now, Mrs. Poper and I "downsized" and moved about 15 miles after living in the same home for 21 years. I swear, if we ever have to move again, I'm gonna burn the place down and start over. I still haven't found all of my reloading goodies.

Last time I moved I got a dolly it was the nicest thing I ever did for myself.

Herself and I moved to our new home 7 months ago after temporarily moving into a house 28 years ago. Went from 640 sq ft to 2300 square feet. Did that make it any easier? HELL NO!!!!

We love the new place and consider it our forever home but we have sorted through all sorts of boxes and stuff we saved waiting for the “big move”. At our age, yes it is the last move, save to the ground.


Kevin

"Move", especially when it involves lots of gun stuff, is definitely a four-letter word.

I moved the family to Mexico for a years-long expat assignment. Obviously, gun stuff had to go into storage. The packers stole all my handguns before they made it to the warehouse. Because we were overseas three years, the thieves got a long headstart.

But because they were listed on the inventory (with make/model, S/N, etc.), the moving company's insurance carrier paid to replace them when we returned.

I couldn't imagine trying to pack and move everything. I've got three garages a barn, plus the house. Just the thought of it is daunting lol. I never really thought about the reloading stuff, ammo and guns in a move till reading these comments. It would make sense to put all that in the same truck, but yeah if you were to get stopped and checked for some reason. That would probably make for a long and interesting interaction with officers lol. You actually could very easily be in violation of some laws depending on the amount of ammo and powder. I know a lot of my smokeless powder is in 8lb jugs. I don't think you can legally transport over a certain amount. I know when you order it they limit the amount even with hazmat shipping. Not hard to imagine a bunch of 8lb jugs of powder in a uhaul breaking some hazmat law.

But just having a pile of Firearms and ammo in a rented box truck would probably raise lots of eyebrows in a traffic stop. I mean you can't really blame them. I would expect an extra level of scrutiny in that situation lol still though I could see it being a PITA to deal with.

Mrs 98 and I have been planning our next move, although we aren't sure where that might be... either here locally (TX) or out to NV (a blue state... ) To that end, I made her a deal... when we back the moving truck up in the driveway, we also drop a dumpster next to it... for every ONE thing that goes in the moving truck, TWO things have to go into the dumpster. It's amazing how much crap you can accumulate in 20 years at one house, further exasperated by running a business out of the garage, too.

Interestingly enough, I have given some thought to moving all the firearms and reloading kit. To that end, just yesterday I grabbed 3 nice, new pallets from Mrs 98's work... I plan on disassembling them, and then building them up into smaller crates to handle things like boxes of loaded ammos and components. Many years ago, I bought a case of PMC .45ACP ammo... it came in a gen-u-wine wooden crate that I used for years. Remembering that, I thought how easy it would be to just build smallish crates like that out of free pallet wood and a nail gun. That would make handling and securing those small but heavy things pretty easy.

My wife likes to move. Every time we do she starts lobbying for the next one. I thought I have a great set up at our last home but we had to move closer to the kids. I hate the thought of it.

It looks like my move may have to happen. You guys moving out of State or across the Country make my possible 40 mile move look easy. Still dreading it!

When I was buying our new house in WV, the seller wanted a $10,000.00 non refundable deposit. I asked him why, and his response was, I will be moving. I told him you are moving 24 miles, I am moving 475 miles. We settled on him staying for a month after the closing, ( I saved $10,000.00)
he was out in three weeks.
I had a 30 yard dumpster in NJ and it was full when we were about to leave.
I did move a small machine shop to WV, lathe, mill etc. the only two things I did not move were a cutter grinder, and a 2x2 cast steel surface plate.
I do miss the cutter grinder though.

One year from May I'll be packing up and moving 950 miles. I dread moving the ammo, and honestly not sure I can take it all. For one, I have numerous cases of 7.62x39 mil surplus, at least 6 cases, all between 1100 and 1400 rounds. Thousands of lead bullets, 15k rounds .22lr and untold reloading components, gun cases, holsters, powder, primers, cleaning supplies and a 400 lb safe. I may have to sell off some before the move. Hate to do it but it would take a u-haul all by itself, never mind the household items.

The arms themselves will go on a separate trip all by themselves, locked in heavy duty cases, to their final destination. This is all in addition to the work I have to do on the house itself in order to prep it to rent to one of my kids (helps them in this brutal market and they're getting the deal of a lifetime to boot).

This is going to be an event I don't look forward to.