Mailing weapons

lakeside013104 wrote:
I mailed my pistol to Three Bears TOK Alaska from Great Falls Montana before I crossed the border last spring. The pistol was waiting for me at Three Bears, all safe and sound. $15 later, it was in my possession.

On the return trip home in July I mailed it back to Montana from Three bears. Good service. All safe and sound for a reasonable fee.

Three Bears TOK LINK

Lakeside

And the postal service knew you were shipping a handgun?? According to USPS shipping restrictions "Only licensed manufacturers and dealers may mail or receive handguns. Even though unloaded rifles and shotguns are mailable, mailers must comply with applicable regulations."

I mailed my pistol to Three Bears TOK Alaska from Great Falls Montana before I crossed the border last spring. The pistol was waiting for me at Three Bears, all safe and sound. $15 later, it was in my possession.

On the return trip home in July I mailed it back to Montana from Three bears. Good service. All safe and sound for a reasonable fee.

Three Bears TOK LINK

Lakeside

Sorry, I should also add that most gunsmiths will store your firearm for about $1 a day. Maybe some small stores will store it for free for a month or so, if you make a sizable purchase.

Another thing is ammo. Shipping ammo is a problem, hazmat. Transporting ammo for a gun you do not have is a problem in Canada. Buy your ammo in Alaska. I was even thinking of taking components and rolling my own in Alaska. Some say this is easier for Canadian customs.

I gave up, and will take a rifle instead. This will be a practice run for a Canadian moose hunt with my son in 2019.

The pistol, is more of a problem than a long gun. Do you really want the pistol? Google "shipping firearms to alaska from lower 48" and you will get some help. Read carefully the from you, and to you but in care of the FFL holder parts on their sites. The problem is that an FFL in Alaska cannot transfer a pistol to a non-Alaska resident. They can receive a pistol from you and legally hold it for you. They will not even open the box. You can ship it yourself by Fed Ex or UPS, but an FFL can ship US Post Office and even with their fee you might save you some money. If you have a Fed Ex or UPS account with steep discounts you are golden however.

Now on your return, you can drop the pistol at the same FFL in Alaska and he can then mail it to your home residence after you make it back. On the other hand, you can repeat the process by finding a FFL anywhere in the lower 48. Clear as mud? Be careful and follow the rules. Don't be reluctant to call the FFL you chose and talk it out. They do this all the time.

If you will be coming back in an appropriate location, you can do like we did, renting a safe deposit box at a bank in Columbia Falls then closing it when we returned and picked up the pistols. The cost is very reasonable and the bank never knew what we had in the box. When we went back across six weeks later to Waterton for the elk rutting, we were staying at the KOA in east Glacier and they kept the guns in a safe for us until we came back two weeks later.

you need a dealer with a FFL in both states to ship to one another. they will charge you a fee

missnmountains wrote:
Lewis and Clark will store them.

Ken

Thanks. Do u have any more info on them. I googled it but only came up with air rifles, museums and show promoters.

A couple that do You tube video vlogs on their travels
Pau Hana Travel
have done two on taking some of their guns through canadian customs on their Alaska trip as well as one that mentions them shipping some of their guns to White Hawk shipping in Tok Ak for their trip.

There are a couple of FFLs in Tok.

Lewis and Clark will store them.

Ken