I have used both Fed-ex and UPS on numerous occasions to ship long guns and UPS has been the better of the two overall. The worst thing I have ever had happen was a delay of a day or two, but it has always showed up on the tracking.

My USPS hub for long distance shipping is Baltimore. Ain’t no WAY I’m shipping a gat through Balmore. No way.

Not very long ago I shipped by UPS several parts for cerakoting. The box was mangled somewhere during shipping and arrived at the shop with rips and a half-hearted effort by UPS to tape it all back together. One handgun slide was missing. I had ten parts packed, each bubble wrapped, but I never thought to tape the parts together in case the box was punctured as happened here.

I figured UPS would find the slide but they didn't. They cut me a check for the minimum loss amount ($100) since I hadn't paid for insurance. They also refunded the shipping. UPS made the claims process a hassle but I had records and was persistent.

Lessons learned for me: 1) pack everything to survive the outer box being ripped open, i.e., tape small parts together, label parts with your name, double pack, etc; 2) photograph and have records of the shipped items; 3) stay on top of the claims process because UPS did not lift a finger, it was all on me to keep the process moving forward; and 4) buy insurance if you don't want to eat the whole loss.