Shipping handgun and ammo...

[urnoodle]

I was talking to my Dad this morning and he mentioned he wanted to get a handgun. He owns a few shotguns but that's about it. My parents live on a fixed income. With my Mom's recent diagnosis of breast cancer and the expenses related to the treatment, money is tight for them. I'm going to give him my Rock Island Armory 1911. He used to train soldiers to shoot them when he was in the military many years ago so he's a bit excited to have one again. That being said I need to ship it to him. I'm going to try and leverage my FFL to ship to his FFL. Is there any specific packing or handling instructions that I need follow such as box size or labeling? I want to make sure I do this right. Can I ship ammo directly to him? Since i won't be needing the ammo I'd like him to have it too.

[Middle Age Russ]

I don't believe that there are any restrictions on ammo shipping.

Re: the firearm, shipping from FFL to FFL is the way to go for interstate handgun transfers unless the receiving FFL will receive from an individual. Check with the FFL on the receiving end regarding packing/shipping directions and do what you can to ensure that the pistol is not likely to punch through the packaging on any corners if it is dropped/tossed/etc... becuase it will be.

[urnoodle]

Thanks for the info. I have the original plastic case I'm going to ship the gun in for extra padding. It will be an out of state shipment so I want to make sure I do it right. I don't want him to have to deal with any consequences due to my failure to do something correctly. I wasn't sure about the labeling.

I have a couple hundred rounds of 45acp so that should last him a few days . I'll send that in the mail tomorrow. I'm now going to need to get some practice in at the range. My Dad was known to be a darn good shot back in the day. It'll be nice to have our first Father/Daughter day at the range when I go home in Feb.

[Jumping Frog]

Thanks for the info. I have the original plastic case I'm going to ship the gun in for extra padding. It will be an out of state shipment so I want to make sure I do it right. I don't want him to have to deal with any consequences due to my failure to do something correctly. I wasn't sure about the labeling.

I have a couple hundred rounds of 45acp so that should last him a few days . I'll send that in the mail tomorrow. I'm now going to need to get some practice in at the range. My Dad was known to be a darn good shot back in the day. It'll be nice to have our first Father/Daughter day at the range when I go home in Feb.

Depending on the size of the case, they will usually fit quite nicely in a USPS Medium Flat Rate Box. Your FFL can mail that with delivery confirmation for $10 and change in postage.

[urnoodle]

That's perfect. I have a very good FFL so I don't expect to have problems on my especially since I will be picking up a new firearm at the same time I'm shipping this one. I just don't know about the FFL on the other end. I'm going to call an FFL in his location to make sure there are no hiccups. Today I'm getting it packed up so I don't forget to send it.

[johncanfield]

Doesn't look like you need to involve an FFL on your end:

"Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier?

A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2)(A), 922(a) (3), 922(a)(5) and 922(e), 27 CFR 478.31 and 478.30]"

Link here.

Edit: Looks like there needs to be a FFL on the receiving end .

[Mike1951]

I have a couple hundred rounds of 45acp so that should last him a few days . I'll send that in the mail tomorrow.

You can't mail ammo. You'll need to ship it by UPS or Fedex. It should be marked ORM-D.

[77346]

A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State

Is the recipient in the same state? (assumption Texas) If not, the sender needs to send it to an out-of-state FFL...

[urnoodle]

My Dad lives out of state. Apparently because it's a handgun, if I send it direct to his FFL then I have to ship overnight. If my FFL ships it then they can send priority saving me about $60. In the ammo box I'm going to include 2 pairs of muffs and eye protection so shipping through fedex will probably be cheaper than usps anyway. Thanks for the info.

[Jumping Frog]

Doesn't look like you need to involve an FFL on your end:

"Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier?

A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2)(A), 922(a) (3), 922(a)(5) and 922(e), 27 CFR 478.31 and 478.30]"

Link here.

Edit: Looks like there needs to be a FFL on the receiving end .

Not worth it. Only an FFL can send a handgun via USPS versus non-licensees sending via FEDEX or UPS. There is about $50 difference between USPS postage versus overnight airfreight, so it will be cheaper sending from an FFL.

You are correct, the out-of-state destination must be an FFL, for eventual transfer to her father.

[apostate]

Well, urnoodle did say "leverage my FFL to ship to his FFL" in the opening salvo of this discussion.

Shipping the ammo yourself should be no issue if it's marked as required. (ORM-D or its replacement, the Limited Quantity diamond)

[RX8er]

I took a Hazardous shipping class from FedEx a couple years ago so this is old knowledge.....

As other's have said, you can write ORD-M and draw a box around it on the outside of the box. When I took that class, I know that FedEx required you to always fill out their Shippers Declaration for Dangerous Goods form on their site for shipping ammo.

[urnoodle]

Does the ORD-M have to be written in specific proximity to the address label or just anywhere on the box?

[RX8er]

Does the ORD-M have to be written in specific proximity to the address label or just anywhere on the box?

I don't remember for sure but think it has to be seen when reading shipper information.

[hpcatx]

Does the ORD-M have to be written in specific proximity to the address label or just anywhere on the box?

I don't remember for sure but think it has to be seen when reading shipper information.

May be worth researching: Limited Quantity labels replacing ORM-D. That said, all my ammo orders as of late still say ORM-D on the box.

---- Updated thread for new rules in 2011 ---
"ORM-D labels are being phased out by DOT in order to harmonize U.S. shipping rules with United Nations standards. Here's the new "Limited Quantity" label to be used on ammo shipments from now on...

The good news is the new label doesn't have any indicator that the package contains ammunition. The bad news is the new label is gigantic compared to the old ORM-D label.
Here is a link to a PDF file for a sheet of these "Limited Quantity" labels. You are required to use one of the larger labels on one side of any package containing ammunition. If the package is too small for one of the larger labels then you are permitted to use one of the smaller labels instead. Because of the size requirement in the regulations, you only get two of each label on standard piece of printer paper...

http://www.type03.net/ammo/limitedquantity.pdf

http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/187 ... abels.html