It's kinda discouraging when I find something in the classifieds that looks good, price,ok. Then the "I don't want alaskans money" however its worded.
Just looked at a ball bag for sale here, was going to buy it till the "lower 48 only"...A flat rate box does not cost any more to send it anywhere in alaska as sending it to Anytown, Kansas
I lost my citizenship in 1998 when I retired from the Navy and took a job at the community owned hospital in Sitka Alaska. Driving my loaded pickup onto the state run ferry gave me the first hint of shipping and shopping in Alaska. While my truck was loaded with household goods the other pickups (the vehicle deck had quite a few) and cars were loaded with, well, everything! Construction materials, bulk groceries, vehicle parts, pet food... You get the idea.
Every Alaskan I met on the 3 day trip was kind enough to educate this Cheechako on how to get needed items in Rural Alaskan communities. Like my new home Sitka, 5th largest city and original capital and Juneau, 3rd largest city and current state capital.
With no roads to anywhere everything came in by barge or air. So slow and costly or quick (sort of) and costlier. Another shopping tip was if you found a needed or wanted item locally, buy it! Ignore the cost because if you wait it will be gone.
I learned more about obtaining needed items when I started my new job. Ordering replacement and repair items for medical equipment I was responsible for I found that paying for Overnight or Next Day shipping was a waste of money. It might exist in America but not in Alaska. The closest you could come is if the item was located near Seattle and the seller could hand deliver the item to Alaska Airlines air cargo. It might be in town on the next days flight.
If the item was small enough to fit in a Priority Mail item Alaska Airlines would only charge four times the cost of what the USPS would. Many vendors, dealers and sellers only used UPS or FedEx and ignored the USPS. I don't know when the USPS started the "If it fits, it ships!" but it gets serious use here in SE Alaska. I've found that online vendors are more and more likely to to use the Postal Service and/or make exceptions to the "Lower 48 only" rule if you contact them. It educates the seller and cuts your shipping cost.
If they still won't ship to Alaska do you still have a trust worthy friend down south in America? I've got a gang in America that helps me smuggle items that are "Lower 48 only" into Alaska. They either forward it through the USPS or hold onto it till I come to town. My father was my main "come to town" contact. When Dad retired he snowbirded in SW Arizona. Our operation made it necessary to leave Alaska for a couple of weeks in the winter and go to his place in Yuma Arizona! It as a tough thing to have to do but I was able to bear it.
Again things have changed a bit but it is still a viable method. It was once again a learning experience a Cheechako. I had to travel regularly either to Anchorage or Seattle. Checking in or claiming baggage was an education on adapt and overcome. Watching coolers of all shapes and sizes (seafood out, beef, chicken and pork in.) New tires, truck tail gates, furniture, live chickens, rabbits and pigs, bicycles, motorcycles (disassembled). Just about anything you can think of that the airline would take as checked baggage.
I've flown in and out of Alaska many times with a firearm and ammunition as part of my checked baggage. I retired in '15 and now Snowbird in Yuma at the place my father left me. Last year I finally started reloading for handguns. I have handloaded for long guns for close to four decades and really looked forward to spending my kids inheritance on gearing up for this new endeavor.
Did you know that you can fit 28 one pound lead ingots in a small Priority mail box. Best $7.95 I've ever spent! Learning experience; mark box "HEAVY" and line inside of box with strapping tape. You, as in yourself, can mail, as in go to the Post Office, your firearms. Most handguns in a case will fit in a Priority Mail box. The receiver has to have a FFL.
I haven't taken my .54 caliber T/C Renegade with me on a trip for over 15 years. I used to just take it down to the barrel and stock and fit it into my suitcase. Never had an issue with the airlines or TSA. Even the one time I didn't empty my powder horn before I tossed my possibles bag in the suitcase with the rifle.
Since I'm planning on taking the rifle to Arizona with me this year I guess I better find out what is what now a days. Getting stuff back from TSA is a bitch!
