The Action Works

Shipping Information

A question we are frequently asked is: "How should I ship my gun to you?"

Federal law states that is legal for a gun owner to ship their gun to a manufacturer or gunsmith for repairs, and it is legal for the gunsmith or manufacturer to ship it back to the person they received it from.

However, it is illegal for those who do not possess a Federal Firearms License to mail a complete handgun using the US Postal Service, so you will need to use a common carrier, such as FedEx or UPS.

Both of these companies specify that complete handguns are to be shipped via Next Day Priority service, which is costly, usually in the neighborhood of $50–$90. It costs even more if you use an independent shipper such as Mail Boxes, Etc. which make its profit by marking up the amount you would normally pay Fed-Ex or UPS directly.

The Action Works uses FedEx Standard Overnight service for all shipments. We have found FedEx to be a more reliable and less expensive alternative to UPS for such shipments.

If you wish to cut shipping costs to the absolute minimum, you can break down the weapon (field strip a semi-auto, or remove the cylinder on a revolver), and split the pieces between two separate boxes. Both UPS and FedEx consider these to be firearms parts, rather than complete firearms, so they can be shipped by any method you prefer, including FedEx or UPS Ground.

Regarding packing, all you need a good box with adequate padding (bubble-wrap works best) to keep the contents from bouncing/rattling around inside. Metal parts that are not going to be refinished by us need to be isolated from one another to prevent scratches and wear. Both the FedEx and UPS standard boxes work well for this purpose.

We strongly recommend that you DO NOT write anything on the box or shipping label indicating a firearm is inside the box, in the interests of loss prevention.

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