Originally Posted by
Dutchman
A little anecdote about USPS concerning shipping long guns.
When I lived in rural northern Indiana the post office was 4 miles south in a very tiny, very old town. The postmistress was a very nice lady with a "van" name, (Dutch name). She knew I received "old" firearms and sometimes sold a rifle. One day she advised me that she was "ordered" by her immediate upper level person in Lafayette that long guns had to be mailed via "registered mail". I knew this wasn't correct but she was... following orders. I told her I'd take care of it. Next day I called the postal inspectors HQ and spoke with a good fellow and explained the story. He knew the person I was referring to and he knew it was incorrect information: long guns do not have to be mailed via "registered mail". The next day when visiting the post office the postmistress smiled at me and said "it was you wasn't it?". I say yep. I told her I had no grief with her and we continued having a fine relationship even when boxes of rolling block rifles from SWEDEN came through her post office.... some of the boxes had rifle barrels sticking out of holes in the box. Those were fun times.
However... sending a valuable rifle via registered mail provides some added degree of security since each hand-off had to be signed for and locked in a cage until the next day. Despite the extra cost I'd suggest registered mail for that reason alone. But don't let them BS you with bogus requirements and don't argue with them at the counter in the post office. Call the postal inspectors as they are the LEO of the org.
Dutch