Shipping rifles thru Canada Post

shooter mcgavin

shooter mcgavin

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
Winnipeg
Okay, I have been to Canada Post's website and even talked to them and get
conflicting answers. I sure could use some clarification on a few things from
those who have done this. First, can you ship a rifle using normal shipping and
not expedited post. 2nd, do you have to actually put 2 pieces of wood on
either side of the firearm to protect it(????) or can I use the factory cardboard
Remington box that my gun came with. 3rd question that I have and it makes
me uneasy but I am told that "non restricted firearm" must be put on the outside
of the carton-would much rather I not advertise whats in the package but this
is what I am being told. Finally, last question, do bullet tips count as dangerous goods
or could they be put in the same box as the rifle(was part of the deal) Can someone out there help a newbie and give some mentoring advice on the best way to do things.

Thanks
 
First, do not tell them what is in the box

Second, pack it enough that you would feel comfortable throwing it down a flight of stairs.

Bullets are inert, and require no special treatment.
 
gun shipping

If you don't tell them what it is and it should get lost during shipping, how would
you be able to claim the insurance on the package. I just am wondering if you
would be exposing yourself to some risk but not declaring what it is. I have heard other CGN'rs say also to not tell them what it is. I only want to make
sure I would not be on the hook legally if it did go missing and ended up in the
"wrong hands" so to speak-maybe I worry too much.
 
I believe it is illegal to put "firearm" on the outside of the package.

Pack the thing well. Being chucked down a flight of steps is a good standard for packing. Make sure nothing is going to come loose inside the box, and that no pointy bits are going to wind up sticking out.
Signature on delivery.
Insure it.
You are under no obligation to tell CP that you are mailing a fiream.

How many firearms do you think CanAm has mailed?
 
gun shipping

Here is part of the email that was sent to me when I contacted CP's customer
service.
This is where my confusion starts as you will see.

-Firearms (Including Imitation and Replica Firearms) have special restrictions on how or to whom they may be shipped. These items must be properly prepared and meet applicable requirements for mailing.

-The sender may ship restricted firearms, non-restricted firearms and prohibited handguns from one Canadian location to another Canadian location.

-When it is determined permissible to ship firearms, the item will need to be shipped using Expedited Parcel with Proof of Age with Signature for contract customers and Regular Parcel with Signature for non-contract customers.

- The package cover bears the information that it contains a non-restricted firearm.
 
shooter mcgavin said:
If you don't tell them what it is and it should get lost during shipping, how would
you be able to claim the insurance on the package. I just am wondering if you
would be exposing yourself to some risk but not declaring what it is. I have heard other CGN'rs say also to not tell them what it is. I only want to make
sure I would not be on the hook legally if it did go missing and ended up in the
"wrong hands" so to speak-maybe I worry too much.
Click to expand...
You do not need to tell them to buy the insurance. You tell them when they ask for the insurance claim.
 
shooter mcgavin said:
Here is part of the email that was sent to me when I contacted CP's customer
service.
This is where my confusion starts as you will see.

-Firearms (Including Imitation and Replica Firearms) have special restrictions on how or to whom they may be shipped. These items must be properly prepared and meet applicable requirements for mailing.

-The sender may ship restricted firearms, non-restricted firearms and prohibited handguns from one Canadian location to another Canadian location.

-When it is determined permissible to ship firearms, the item will need to be shipped using Expedited Parcel with Proof of Age with Signature for contract customers and Regular Parcel with Signature for non-contract customers.

- The package cover bears the information that it contains a non-restricted firearm.
Click to expand...

Write back to the CP Customer Service person that sent you the email and ask them to verify the last item... it is in fact against Federal Regulations to mark on the outside of the box that a firearm is inside... specifically not allowed under the regulations for transport.

The rest of the email appears correct. If you do some searching you'll find that the Canada Post regulations for shipping firearms are posted on the Canada Post website and they are very specific and clear. They DO NOT include anything about marking on the outside of the box that a firearm is contained inside.

Mark
 
As the dealers above and everyone else say. Original box with a little extra padding, ideal. Wrap in plain brown paper,lots, and ship. I have received many firearms through the mail and never had a problem. Even watched the mail man drop my 17HMR when he tripped getting out of his truck. No harm to the rifle due to good packaging.
 
shipping guns

Okay, I found what you guys are talking about on Canada Post's website under
section 3.3 I believe-this is what it says.

Customers who wish to ship firearms must :

unload the firearms
attach a secure locking device to the firearms
lock the firearms in a sturdy, non-transparent container and
remove the bolt or bolt carrier from any automatic firearms (if removable).
It also said it cannot say on the package that it contains a firearm(makes sense)
This totally goes against the email that the customer rep sent me this morning
and most likely would have ended up in my gun being tied up at some postal
outlet because it does not conform to CP's regulations and policies.
Thanks again guys for all the good advice-you proved to be correct and I now
know what to do.
 
Locking

shooter mcgavin said:
Okay, I found what you guys are talking about on Canada Post's website under
section 3.3 I believe-this is what it says.

Customers who wish to ship firearms must :

unload the firearms
attach a secure locking device to the firearms
lock the firearms in a sturdy, non-transparent container and
remove the bolt or bolt carrier from any automatic firearms (if removable).
It also said it cannot say on the package that it contains a firearm(makes sense)
This totally goes against the email that the customer rep sent me this morning
and most likely would have ended up in my gun being tied up at some postal
outlet because it does not conform to CP's regulations and policies.
Thanks again guys for all the good advice-you proved to be correct and I now
know what to do.
Click to expand...

I bought 3 firearms via mail the last year and none had a locking device.
 
The LAW on shipping firearms can be found in the Criminal Code of Canada, Part III. The "Reader's Digest" version is on the CFC website, which states in part:

Shipping Firearms

Firearms must be unloaded, packaged and shipped in a safe and secure manner to deter loss, theft and accidents.

Canada Post has internal rules, which are not LAW and you are under no LEGAL obligation to follow them. So the bit about a secure locking device is so much BS, written by some Canada Post bureaucrat.

I have shipped "quite a few" non-restricted firearms, and almost always via Canada Post. As you have been advised, pack the gun VERY securely, insure it, and (this IS a legal requirement) get signature on delivery. Yes you may use regular Canada Post, you are not required to use Expedited or Exprespost.

I might have a vested interest in your shipping method, so please feel free to contact me. ;)

Doug
 
SKS45 said:
I have to return a zv.58 for warranty work... what do you think about shipping in a cheap hardshell gun case?
Click to expand...

I would slide that hard case into a cardboard box or wrap it up really good in brown paper to obscure the fact it is a gun case.
 
It was talked about in another thread and if i had to ship a firearm this is what i would use. Make the pipe a bit longer than the actual rifle, stick styrofoam in to fill the empty space and draw red line on the pipe in the middle of where the styrofoam is or at the far end of it Glue end caps with ABs glue. Tell the person receiving it to cut on the line . No theft, no breakage . You can buy ABS pipes up to 10 inches, big enough for handguns even. To tell you the truth i don't know why stores don't ship that way.
PS: Roll your rifle in an old blanket or use styrofoam shipping peanuts ,airfoam or bubble wrap.

aoxdlz.jpg


2gw6cs0.jpg
 
SKS45 said:
I have to return a zv.58 for warranty work... what do you think about shipping in a cheap hardshell gun case?
Click to expand...

You are adding to your cost and hassle, and needlessly in my view. Stout cardboard boxes with well-packed firearms work perfectly well. Depending on who it is that does your warranty work, they may also refuse to mail you back the rifle in a hard case (because it increases cost and hassle).

I have used hard cases and will do so again for particularly valuable firearms and/or ones with spectacular finish that might get rubbed in transit. But a hard case is not a gaurantee that the finish will arrive without damage.

Doug

PS) Edited to add, if that firearm is a VZ 58 pistol (which I think do exist), and not a rifle, my opinion changes. I was talking about long guns.
 
I just finished going through all of this with Canada Post and the Remington recall.
Gravel Agencies refuses to send me anything but a cardboard box to put the rifle inside of and tape it all up, and that does not meet current Canada Post shipping guidelines.
The employees at Canada Post have refused to take the package until it meets Canada Post shipping requirements.

Shipping firearms through Canada Post requires the following:

- There cannot be any ammunition in the firearm or in the package.
- The firearm must be unloaded.
- The bolt, bolt carrier, etc. must be removed from the firearm if removable.
- A secure locking device must be attached to the firearm (a trigger lock or cable etc.).
- The firearm must be locked in a sturdy non-transparent container. This is in addition to the trigger lock, this container must also have locks on it.
- There cannot be any markings on the outside of the package.

Where it states "locked in a sturdy non-transparent container", that does not mean "trigger locked inside of a cardboard box", that means both trigger locked AND inside of a locking container, like a locking plastic gun case. These are two separate individual shipping stipulations.

I literally spent an hour in the local Canada Post office with two employees while we talked to at least four Supervisors at Canada Post HQ, and they all said, it must be in a container that locks the firearm inside of it.

The Canada Post website guidelines are here:
http://www.postescanada.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGnonmail-e.asp#1389620
 
deegee said:
I just finished going through all of this with Canada Post and the Remington recall.
Gravel Agencies refuses to send me anything but a cardboard box to put the rifle inside of and tape it all up, and that does not meet current Canada Post shipping guidelines.
The employees at Canada Post have refused to take the package until it meets Canada Post shipping requirements.

Shipping firearms through Canada Post requires the following:

- There cannot be any ammunition in the firearm or in the package.
- The firearm must be unloaded.
- The bolt, bolt carrier, etc. must be removed from the firearm if removable.
- A secure locking device must be attached to the firearm (a trigger lock or cable etc.).
- The firearm must be locked in a sturdy non-transparent container. This is in addition to the trigger lock, this container must also have locks on it.
- There cannot be any markings on the outside of the package.

Where it states "locked in a sturdy non-transparent container", that does not mean "trigger locked inside of a cardboard box", that means both trigger locked AND inside of a locking container, like a locking plastic gun case. These are two separate individual shipping stipulations.

I literally spent an hour in the local Canada Post office with two employees while we talked to at least four Supervisors at Canada Post HQ, and they all said, it must be in a container that locks the firearm inside of it.

The Canada Post website guidelines are here:
http://www.postescanada.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGnonmail-e.asp#1389620
Click to expand...

Canada Post is full of ####. This is not news, of course.

Regardless of their rules, which are simply guidelines and not THE LAW, you most certainly can mail firearms by Canada Post.

As for the contents of your oblong cardboard box, it is none of their effing business, whatsoever, for any parcel mailed to a destination within Canada. Tell them it is golf clubs or sporting equipment if you really feel you have to TELL somebody, but at the end of the day, what you are shipping is YOUR business, not theirs. The LAW requires that you get signature on delivery, and in my own opinion it makes sense to insure the package for the full value. Keep your receipt! it is your proof that you mailed the gun if something happens.

I have had four or five firearms go astray in transit with Canada Post. In every case, I phoned their customer service folks, told them all of the details, and they bloody well tracked the packages down. NEVER did they suggest I had to do all of that crap about hard cases etc, and the rule about removal of a bolt/etc refers to prohibs only.

If the dickweeds at your local Canada Post want to harass one of their clients, I suggest you find a postal outlet in a pharmacy or similar who will be happy for your business.

JMOYMV
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom