I bought an M305 off the EE and you can imagine what was waving at me from the bottom of the box. The barrel. Stock box, thoroughly oil soaked, and nothing but the Styrofoam box liner to protect the rifle. By the time I got it, the only Styrofoam left in the box was the little pieces that filled the barrel, action and magazine. It was a PITA to clean it all out. The ridiculous amount of oil and grease in the rifle had started to melt the bits of Styrofoam and made it much worse to clean that it should have been. Poor packaging at it's best. Duct tape is not a satisfactory barrier for an 8lb+ rifle with an impact point the size of a muzzle. If you think it is, try putting a layer or 2 over a piece of cardboard and tape it to the end of the barrel. Drop it from 3 feet onto the ground and see what you get. If it's cement, you will have a nice round hole punched in it. Do it on your lawn and you will have a nice tomato stake sticking out of your lawn with a cardboard and duct tape "skirt." In fact, UPS will not even accept a parcel taped with duct tape. Just because it will hold a fiberglass fender on a race car doesn't mean it will withstand concentrated impact. I had a rifle shipped to me with a piece of wood paneling inside the box to prevent it from punching through. It almost made it through the paneling and the box as well.
Bottom line, if a seller is willing to ship, they must not cheap out on the packaging. Do it right or not at all.