Posting a stock from U.K to U.S via UPS, Easy peasy.

[ptdunk]

I managed to post a FWB150 stock to the U.S using UPS.

Original sales thread: https://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread...stock-for-sale

All thanks to a helpful forum member who advised how he has done it in the past. He said:

'I use UPS. They're pretty well priced and don't have a knee jerk reaction to the word, 'gunstock' - providing you allow them a very detailed, bombproof description. You'll need to provide them with every single detail, including price paid, value, rarity etc etc. Just be straight down the line with them and they're a decent company to use.
All you'll need to do is find your local UPS collection point - usually a newsagent or corner shop.'

So on that advise I booked in the delivery using the UPS website, they send a confirmation email which had all the required labels included the customs forms.

On the customs form I wrote:

'Contents: wooden stock for Feinwerkbau 150 air rifle
Stock only – No rifle is in parcel
Feinwerkbau 150 is a low powered 10 meter Target rifle,
50,000 were made in Germany from 1963 – 1968
Stock only – Value £60

I stuck a customs form in a clear plastic envelope to the outside of the parcel, and dropped it off at a local corner shop who act as a UPS collection point.

Delivery cost £60 and is based on size of parcel rather than weight so I tried to get the parcel as small as possible with a couple of wooden batons inside to protect the stock from bending.

UPS were very good, they keep you updated with emails, they did send and 'Exception notification' where U.K customs wanted a copy of the customs form, I think as they didn't want to remove the folded one from the plastic window on the parcel, as that may have been for the US customs to open.

Luckily you keep an extra copy so I just replied to that email with a picture of my copy and they replied straight away to say it had gone through.

You hear stories of stuff getting held up at customs and UPS seem to have a very good system of communication to get things through.

All in all a very easy process, it took 7 working days and I'm very pleased that this relatively rare lefty FWB 150 stock got to someone who really wanted it.

Cheers,
Matt

[Garvin]

Good to know. Thanks Matt.

[Craig-P]

Happy to help and glad it all worked out well for you, Matt.
Best, Craig.

[walkaboutmick]

I make custom leather knife sheaths, i send all over europe and the states, PF is fine for most places i do use UPS sometimes but sending anywhere correct wording is essential, if i put knife sheath on declaration form guarantee its sent back by customs, put cow hide leather tool sheath nothing is said, put knife or gun in the wording big no no but UPS are very good to use

[evert]

Great to know, thank you for sharing the info!

[silva]

Do you think the same method would work for a vintage wooden rimfire target rifle stock.

[Craig-P]

Do you think the same method would work for a vintage wooden rimfire target rifle stock.

As long as it doesn't contain any pressure bearing/FAC registered parts then it's a wooden rifle stock, same as above.

[silva]

Thank you