No, you can't ship black powder pistols or handguns via the USPS.

[Blackpowderart]

If I had a dollar for everyrime I read a post referring to shipping black powder arms being illegal, I'd have enough to get me a new revolver shipped usps

 

[GYJ]

18 U.S. Code § 1715 - Firearms as nonmailable; regulations​

• U.S. Code
• Notes

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Pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person are nonmailable and shall not be deposited in or carried by the mails or delivered by any officer or employee of the Postal Service. Such articles may be conveyed in the mails, under such regulations as the Postal Service shall prescribe, for use in connection with their official duty, to officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Organized Reserve Corps; to officers of the National Guard or Militia of a State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District; to officers of the United States or of a State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District whose official duty is to serve warrants of arrest or commitments; to employees of the Postal Service; to officers and employees of enforcement agencies of the United States; and to watchmen engaged in guarding the property of the United States, a State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District. Such articles also may be conveyed in the mails to manufacturers of firearms or bona fide dealers therein in customary trade shipments, including such articles for repairs or replacement of parts, from one to the other, under such regulations as the Postal Service shall prescribe.
Whoever knowingly deposits for mailing or delivery, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail according to the direction thereon, or at any place to which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any pistol, revolver, or firearm declared nonmailable by this section, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

That pertains only to modern firearms, not antiques or replicas thereof. Fact.

 

[Tumbledown]

That pertains only to modern firearms, not antiques or replicas thereof. Fact.

The Federal statute:
"Pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person are nonmailable and shall not be deposited in or carried by the mails or delivered by any officer or employee of the Postal Service."

The USPS says if an antique firearm meets the definition of a handgun, it's prohibited.

It's all right there in print.

 

[Tumbledown]

All were saying, jokingly, is give it a rest.

You think you're correct in your assumptions.

We think you're incorrect in your assumptions.

Until the USPS spells out the words BLACK, POWDER and REVOLVER it's legal to ship them through the USPS.

It is there, if one knows how to read.

 

[nkbj]

Rules aren't obliged to make sense to the ruled but when I try to think about it being OK for a business to mail a percussion revolver to you but you cannot in turn mail it to someone else...

To borrow from one of my favorite movies, that just don't make no sense.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes sir. Several times for damaged or 'lost', i.e., stolen items. Both ways. I did have a very nice rifle burn up in a mail truck and USPS informed me of it and took care of me without much hassle. I've had to initiated the claim for customers in order to refund them. USPS is far safer than ups or fedex imo and experience.. way more firearms never recieved or damaged through them. They just don't care. USPS mail carriers are the best! The insurance is worth every penny.

Really?

My experience was that they told me that the value that I'd placed on the item was not what they had found, and my brand new $590 musket they gave me $300, and only after I demonstrated that the marks on the shipping box matched the rubber on the bumper of a standard USPS truck bumper, they were trying to claim it had been damaged when they got the box.

LD

 

[nkbj]

Once the word "firearm" was redefined by the regs it stopped meaning something that goes bang and shoots bullets. It became a separate entity unto itself and could just as well have been labeled peppermint or June bug. You can't use your every day common sense understanding of what a firearm is when seeking to comprehend what the regs say.

 

[Coinneach]

Coinneach, I have heard the same thing, yet to test the waters though. I will have to put feelers out and see what others have found.

Let me know if you need any advice, and I'm happy to share all the info you need.
FedEx is expensive for international shipping and insurance, but theyre very efficient and timely.

 

[Brokentaileddog]

I have contacted the USPS Mailing and Shipping Solution Center.

I asked them if a black powder percussion pistol (or replica) could be shipped via USPS between individuals. The answer was no.

They said:

"I have been informed these CANNOT be mailed from one private person to another. Restrictions are below from Pub 52. Thank you and have a great day!"

View attachment 243637
Per USPS Publication 52, section 431, Any kind of pistol, antique, replica, modern, or otherwise, is still considered, by the USPS, as a handgun. As such, it falls under restricted materials, and handguns have special mailing requirements (see image above).

It does not matter whether or not the ATF considers black powder guns to be "firearms" or not. What matters it that the USPS considers any gun you hold in your hand to shoot to be a handgun.

Anyone who does not want to believe what is in this thread is encouraged to print out section 431 and 432 of Publication 52 and see your local Postmaster, and ask them:

1) Are black powder pistols (or replicas thereof) considered "handguns" by the USPS.
2) What are the restrictions for mailing a handgun through the USPS.

Or, you can call the Mailing and Shipping Solutions Center:

Talk to a Live Agent Monday-Friday from 7:00am-7:00pm Central at 877.672.0007

I wish this was not so, but it is, and you should know before shipping a black powder pistol via USPS because you probably won't get an insurance claim honored, and you may well run afoul of the law

 

[Daveboone]

in April I took delivery from UPS of a Uberti black powder pistol shipped from a dealer, identified as such on the shipping slip. Picked up at a UPS store.

 

[Brokentaileddog]

I have contacted the USPS Mailing and Shipping Solution Center.

I asked them if a black powder percussion pistol (or replica) could be shipped via USPS between individuals. The answer was no.

They said:

"I have been informed these CANNOT be mailed from one private person to another. Restrictions are below from Pub 52. Thank you and have a great day!"

View attachment 243637
Per USPS Publication 52, section 431, Any kind of pistol, antique, replica, modern, or otherwise, is still considered, by the USPS, as a handgun. As such, it falls under restricted materials, and handguns have special mailing requirements (see image above).

It does not matter whether or not the ATF considers black powder guns to be "firearms" or not. What matters it that the USPS considers any gun you hold in your hand to shoot to be a handgun.

Anyone who does not want to believe what is in this thread is encouraged to print out section 431 and 432 of Publication 52 and see your local Postmaster, and ask them:

1) Are black powder pistols (or replicas thereof) considered "handguns" by the USPS.
2) What are the restrictions for mailing a handgun through the USPS.

Or, you can call the Mailing and Shipping Solutions Center:

Talk to a Live Agent Monday-Friday from 7:00am-7:00pm Central at 877.672.0007

I wish this was not so, but it is, and you should know before shipping a black powder pistol via USPS because you probably won't get an insurance claim honored, and you may well run afoul of the law.

The more they don't know the better off we are.. Like the old passage laws are meant to break...Don't give out no more information than needed...

 

[nkbj]

Nope but apparently you are not familiar with the term"drop the mike'. It means that you have made the point so well that there shouldn't be any more discussion. Does that praise give YOU a problem?

Well, no I'm not but if that was actually praise for a job well done then hey, I'll try to accept it gracefully.

 

[Tenring]

Had to drop off a pre paid unmentionable going back to S&W three days ago at the pharmacy pick up ,she didn’t ask and I didn’t tell. Tracking said it arrived at destination. It’s the same with the post office.

 

[Shiloh]

IMHO…. 431.1 a where it says “to propel a projectile by means of explosive……” says you can’t. Just because some folks have been doing it doesn’t make it legal. People were brewing their own beer before it became legal.

 

[user 16256]

I think “potentially hazardous” is also in there, though I’m not sure how that’s defined.

A battery of any kind! Or volatile chemicals which could cause a fire. Black powder is considered potentially hazardous. Anything you would need to pay a hazardous material fee to ship is 'potentially hazardous'. Just ask, they have a list.

 

[Headrush]

A common question that comes up here is, "Can I ship a black powder pistol or handgun through the USPS?"

The answer is no.

There is then always a lot of debate around this. A lot of people are confused between the Federal definition of a firearm and USPS postal regulations.

These are the USPS regulations, as updated February 9, 2023:

https://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/Pub52/pub52.pdf
Go to page 99.

Alternatively, you can go here:

https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c4_008.htm
View attachment 243321

What this means is that you cannot ship "antique firearms meeting the description of a handgun." via the USPS. This includes replicas. The USPS doesn't consider antique firearms to be firearms unless they meet the definition of a handgun. Then they consider it a firearm.

What it also means is that you cannot take the gun apart and ship the pieces as "parts" to get around this regulation. You can't ship the frame or lock for a handgun, either.

Regardless of what the federal government may define a firearm to be, USPS postal regulations do not allow the shipping of any kind of handgun.

There are exceptions for certain government employees, and certain license holders. But your average Joe cannot ship any kind of handgun through USPS.

I recently bought a used T/C black powder rifle and the seller shipped it to me USPS in a PSA box with no problems they just held it at the local post office because it was to big for my mailbox and I had to go pick it up

 

[user 16256]

Really?

My experience was that they told me that the value that I'd placed on the item was not what they had found, and my brand new $590 musket they gave me $300, and only after I demonstrated that the marks on the shipping box matched the rubber on the bumper of a standard USPS truck bumper, they were trying to claim it had been damaged when they got the box.

LD

I do this for a living so I've had some practice dealing with USPS and their insurance.
They don't get to determine the value of an item when I have the receipts of what the customer or I paid. Your homeowners policy works the same way. If you can't prove the value, they will try to railroad you and compensate less.

 

[Ninering62]

Shipping handguns via USPS is illegal by US Code. The USPS has defined what it considers handguns, which includes antique black powder handguns.

Therefore, shipping a BP revolver is indeed illegal. It's all right there in the OP.

WOW! I got my ROA last yr & it shipped USPS from Mi. to Fl. with no probs at all.

 

[azmntman]

OK, I see there is a separate section on antique firearms. 431.3 SO (imho) they have separated this out to silence the fearmongers and allow us to read 431.3 and see if our revolvers fit THIS PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION (not a single word of concealemnt) so that we may ship in peace and finnaly be able to retire this thread of deceipt and misinformation.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

18 U.S. Code § 1715 - Firearms as nonmailable; regulations​

• U.S. Code
• Notes

prev | next
Pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person are nonmailable and shall not be deposited in or carried by the mails or delivered by any officer or employee of the Postal Service. Such articles may be conveyed in the mails, under such regulations as the Postal Service shall prescribe, for use in connection with their official duty, to officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Organized Reserve Corps; to officers of the National Guard or Militia of a State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District; to officers of the United States or of a State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District whose official duty is to serve warrants of arrest or commitments; to employees of the Postal Service; to officers and employees of enforcement agencies of the United States; and to watchmen engaged in guarding the property of the United States, a State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District. Such articles also may be conveyed in the mails to manufacturers of firearms or bona fide dealers therein in customary trade shipments, including such articles for repairs or replacement of parts, from one to the other, under such regulations as the Postal Service shall prescribe.
Whoever knowingly deposits for mailing or delivery, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail according to the direction thereon, or at any place to which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any pistol, revolver, or firearm declared nonmailable by this section, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

and the definitions say what and provide what exclusions? You left that part out! Can NOT read one section without the important other sections.