For my own clarity, I wrote UPS, and received a reply.
Thank you for contacting us. I understand that you would like to have more information on the requirements to ship firearms such as rifles, revolvers and pistols.
- For a firearm to be considered “antique”, it must be manufactured in or before 1898 or be any replica of an antique firearm, or a muzzle loading rifle, muzzle loading shotgun, muzzle loading pistol, which is designed to use black powder or a black powder substitute which cannot use fixed ammunition
- Antique firearms may be shipped in the UPS system, and do not carry the same “NDA-only” restriction.
- Antique firearms are accepted for shipment at The UPS Store and other UPS third party retailers, UPS Customer Centers, and through On-Call Pickup service.
If further details are required, you may visit our website article, which contains details on the shipment of firearms within the US.
How To Ship Firearms | UPS - United States
I hope that this information has been helpful.