Guns broken in shipping

[Ontario Hunter]

I have a guy that fixes such issues, but can't give you his name until he finishes my current project!

A mafia hitman?

 

[PARA45]

Continuing with how useless FedEx is. I purchased a 41 Mag, S&W Mod 57, and with this purchased I bought dies, and several hundred cases of 41 Mag. The seller (a friend of mine) shipped this stuff using FedEx, and this box has been in Ellenwood, GA since 21 Dec, and it has not moved from there. It's obviously lost. My friend reached out to FedEx and filed a claim. I also reached out to FedEx, and speaking to the customer service rep on the other end of the line was close to useless. I wonder how useless this claim will be, and or how much I'll end up from FedEx.

It's sickening how these big companies wipe their a$$ with us and basically don't care one bit about customer satisfaction or the product we were waiting for. It's also sickening how very little we can do about it. Ugh!!!!

 

[Green Chile]

Sorry to hear that. My claim remains unresolved even though every time we get a live voice, they say we should know something in 3 days. We've heard that so many times now.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Sorry to hear that. My claim remains unresolved even though every time we get a live voice, they say we should know something in 3 days. We've heard that so many times now.

Can you get a lawyer to write them a letter?

 

[Papa72]

Continuing with how useless FedEx is. I purchased a 41 Mag, S&W Mod 57, and with this purchased I bought dies, and several hundred cases of 41 Mag. The seller (a friend of mine) shipped this stuff using FedEx, and this box has been in Ellenwood, GA since 21 Dec, and it has not moved from there. It's obviously lost. My friend reached out to FedEx and filed a claim. I also reached out to FedEx, and speaking to the customer service rep on the other end of the line was close to useless. I wonder how useless this claim will be, and or how much I'll end up from FedEx.

It's sickening how these big companies wipe their a$$ with us and basically don't care one bit about customer satisfaction or the product we were waiting for. It's also sickening how very little we can do about it. Ugh!!!!

I’m saying this in jest, but what if you casually mentioned “ Do I need to report this pistol to the ATF as a theft, since you have it & refuse to return it?”

 

[Green Chile]

Lawyer letters can be helpful...I will have to think on who can do that.

On the pistol issue, I would ask that question and leave off the last part (since you have it..) to see what they say. All parties should be interested in reporting the loss of a handgun...right?

 

[dogcat1]

All,
I have shipped about 500 guns over the past few years. I have had 2 damaged in the manner shown in the pictures. These were both being shipped to me.
The issue is that when you leave the bolt in place, it can create a fulcrum should someone step on the box. This will break the stock.
So, I have three tips for you -

1. Take the bolt out and wrap it in bubble wrap.
2. Remove the scope if possible. Wrap it separately and possible ship it separately.
3. Insure for the full value. If the gun is expensive, ship it in a Pelican or similar hard side case. Flambeau and other $20 "hard cases" do not work. Spent $200 or so on a quality case. Make it part of the price of the gun. The styrofoam insert gun boxes that allow you to cut the styrofoam to fit are very good as well.

If I do the above, I have never had a broken or damaged item.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

All,
I have shipped about 500 guns over the past few years. I have had 2 damaged in the manner shown in the pictures. These were both being shipped to me.
The issue is that when you leave the bolt in place, it can create a fulcrum should someone step on the box. This will break the stock.
So, I have three tips for you -

1. Take the bolt out and wrap it in bubble wrap.
2. Remove the scope if possible. Wrap it separately and possible ship it separately.
3. Insure for the full value. If the gun is expensive, ship it in a Pelican or similar hard side case. Flambeau and other $20 "hard cases" do not work. Spent $200 or so on a quality case. Make it part of the price of the gun. The styrofoam insert gun boxes that allow you to cut the styrofoam to fit are very good as well.

If I do the above, I have never had a broken or damaged item.

Excellent point about bolt handle being a fulcrum. I always leave bolts in my rifles when traveling to Africa. My Pelican case is sturdy and no problems so far but from now on they will be removed and secured inside the gun case (NOT in carryon!!).

For shipping stuff to my guy in New Brunswick for bluing I made a crate from 3/4" dimension lumber (sides) and 1/4" plywood (top & bottom). Screwed it together with drywall screws (they have oversize heads). The receiver is screwed to the side of box (see the two screws at back end of side). The end of the barrel lays in a wooden cradle (drill a hole through a block of wood, cut it in half, and attach to bottom of crate) and secured with plastic tie through a hole in bottom of the cradle. The bolt could also be secured with a plastic tie through a similar cradle (I chose to keep my bolts polished in the white). Bottom metal was secured to the side of crate with long screws through nylon washers as protection. The bits and pieces to be blued (screws, bolt shroud, and scope base) were wrapped in fine bubble wrap inside a ziplock bag which was also secured to the sides of box with zip tie. Everything shipped perfectly both ways in same crate for two guns ... except a small scratch when I cut the very stout zip tie from 404's barrel. Stupid! Use a blunt solder iron to melt the zip tie instead of fighting it with a sharp knife!

Yeah, my "workbench" is primitive. Easy to tell I'm a widower.

If I was going to ship a rifle via courier, I would build a similar crate and ship the rifle in pieces. Stock attached to side of box like the barreled action. Leave the bottom metal in the stock. Make cradles attached to crate for bolt and scope. Wrap everything in bubble wrap before securing to the crate. Pretty hard to damage a rifle shipped that way.

Edit: I note from the photo that this crate for first shipment had plywood sides from scrap lumber. As I recall, Ryan sent my 30-06 back in a cardboard box. I made a second crate for the 404 and requested that he use it to return mail. That one is dimension lumber sides. Plywood might hold screws better than end grain dimension lumber.

 

[Kharn]

I'd never ship a firearm by air in anything less than a hard bodied pelican case.
I want my case to destroy what it hits not vice versa, sorry not sorry.

 

[Challer]

Loved my Super America. Never should have sold it

 

[Manwe]

Work with the shipper and don't stop till you speak with someone who can approve or advance your claim. That's what you bought the insurance for. Tough one and disappointing for sure.