I shipped them already. What a PIA! It may be easy for some of you but I won't do it again. Simply not worth the hassle to me. And I agree the second time around would probably be less frustrating since I have a clue how to do it now, but still not worth the effort. It would have been much easier for someone to just come to my house, look at the gun/s, give me the money and everyone leaves happy. No paper work, no fee's, no postage or insurance. And no waiting. Or for what I spent on shipping I think I could have traded the guns in to the local dealer and ended up with about the same outcome.

I had three guns to sell, one I sold out right to someone local. He drove down, looked at it, we chatted a little bit and he went home with a gun, I went to bed with $150 in my sock drawer. Then someone on here PM'd me with a pretty good deal on my 17 and A-5. He wanted to buy my 17 and scope outright and trade me a new in box rifle for my A-5. That is what I was asking for the 17 and scope and the rifle is of equal value to what I was asking for my A-5. Probably could have gotten more on gunbroker though from what I have seen.

Keep in mind I wanted to sell these local, so I did not figure in any extra cost to the guns I was selling, just what I thought they were worth.

So the deal for the other two guns meant that I had to ship two guns, and receive one. I said if someone purchased two guns I would throw in a double gun case. The guy buying my guns agreed to send me a money order for my 17, then I would ship the guns. So then I had to find out what was involved in that.

Talked to 3 different gun shops, and the post office, got different answers from all of them[]. Finally figured out what really needed to be done and the post office agreed to ship them for me. So then I had to find a box that these guns and this big gun case would fit in. Um, not happening I had to make one. I did find a shipping place (postal plus) that would pack it for me, but said they wouldn't touch it for another week or two because of how busy they were. So ended up getting a bunch of boxes from a U haul place and making my own box.


My original plan was to go to my gun shop and get a copy of their FFL and send it with the guns I was shipping. When he received the guns and my FFL he would box his up and send it out. Sounds simple, but hold on things are never that easy for me.

I drive 20 miles to my gun store in a freakin' blizzard (was supposed to rain, not snow) and saw three wrecks on the way. I get to the gun store, which oddly enough is crowded in the middle of a weekday in a snow storm? Wait about half an hour or so to get waited on. And they didn't seem overly pleasant about the whole deal either, not mad, just like they could care less. Then I find out they will not give me a copy of their FFL, what they will do is mail it themselves to the guy that is shipping the gun to me. I can't have the copy and they know me, but they will send it to some dude they have never met?[>:]

And they won't send it until Monday, which is when he will receive my package. And I'm sure they won't over night it or send it priority mail like I would have. If they even remember to send it on Monday. And to top it off I had to pay for the transfer in advance, $35 and I don't even have the gun yet.

So now I drive back home, stopping at staples along the way to get some bubble wrap and to pack my gun up and ship them without the paper work I wanted to send with them. I see another wreck on the way home. I know I could have stayed home and done it the next day, but it wasn't that bad out when I left and I wanted to get them in the mail that afternoon.

I got the guys money order and paperwork from his FFL, put my stuff in the box and took it to the post office (this actually took a few hours). Over sized odd shaped box that weighed 32 lbs, $800 worth of insurance, tracking number and priority mail came to about $39 bucks.

So it cost me almost $100 bucks to ship two guns and receive one and I don't even know when I will get my gun? Not to mention the gas I used driving all over getting stuff and trying to figure what needed to be done. And the frustration. That is a hundred extra dollars I could have put towards a scope. Oh, and taking pictures of the guns, resizing them and posting them on the net.

While I don't think anyone got screwed, I certainly didn't think it out very well did I. Probably wouldn't have been as bad if I was only shipping one gun though.

I feel better getting that rant off my chest now. Now it's time to go scope shopping.

Paul