How to ship an Air Rifle

Posted by Joe Hein on Jan 4th 2019

If you’re feeling of uncertain, or have reservations about shipping your rifle to Montana for
service, you’re not alone. However, the process is quite easy, safe, and not nearly as expensive as one might think- if you follow the steps outlined below.
Please note: when I mention “bubble wrap,” it is the preferred shipping material, as it
creates no small particulate debris, and does not breakdown during shipping. Other packaging
materials such as; Packaging Peanuts, Styrofoam and cardboard strips breakdown during
shipping and deposit small pieces of debris throughout your rifle. It’s best to use a clean
packaging material, and wrap it in a manner that is easy to unwrap (the box will do a great job
keeping it in place).

1. The First step in all this is to plan the service in your training cycle (whenever possible),
so the rifle is not being serviced during a critical training period. Also consider the schedule
of Elite Shooting Sports, I take vacations, go hunting and take time off at the end of the year
for the holidays, just like you. Please check the schedule of events on the webpage for
additional information.

2. Contact Elite Shooting Sports- I’ll email you a “Service Request Form” which needs to
be completed and placed in the box along with your service items.

3. Remove the barreled action from the stock, and retain the stock and action screws (they
will not be needed for the service). Please also remove Riser Blocks, Sights and any other
accessories not critical to the firing mechanism. ***Specific to Walther and Anschutz: please
remove the trigger shoe, as it will be fully exposed once the barreled action is removed form
the stock***

4. Ensure the Air Cylinder is empty- carriers will consider any compressed air over 60 psi
to be Hazmat.

5. ***Check to make sure the rifle is unloaded before you ship it*** I have received 5
loaded air rifles over the years, and you will be charged a Hazard Fee if I find it to be loaded,
NO Excuses.

6. Thread the air cylinder back onto the regulator a few turns, but not enough to engage
the valve pin. Doing so will keep packaging material from entering the regulator area during
transport and hold the cylinder firmly in place.

7. Walther LG400’s and FWB 800X’s: Once the Barreled Action is removed from the
stock, there will be no Front Barrel Mount to properly align the air cylinder/ hold it in place.
To prevent marring of the barrel/ cylinder, place a couple layers of cardboard between the
air cylinder and barrel before wrapping with bubble wrap.

8. With the air cylinder installed and all accessories removed from the barreled action,
tightly wrap the barreled action and air cylinder with bubble wrap, paying close attention to
ensure the ends of the barreled action are also padded. Many customers will go way
overboard with bubble wrap, and in most cases, a 4”x 4” x 36” box will be perfect for
shipping your barreled action- considering this, you only need to wrap the items enough so
they do not shift inside the box. The perfect fit does not expand or deform the box much at
all, but ensures the contents do not easily slide around- if there is movement in the length of
the box, you may need an additional layer of bubble wrap. Fill any open areas with bubble
wrap or other clean packaging material other than, Styrofoam, Packaging Peanuts or
Shredded cardboard.

9. After you have the contents wrapped, please remember to include the completed
Service Request form. I get a lot of email and phone inquiries about service, so it’s a bit hard
to keep them all straight, and sometimes I need a good reminder about your specific needs/
concerns; by providing me with as much useful information as possible on the Service
Request Form i can quickly get your equipment on the bench and begin work.

10. Before Selecting a carrier ie. UPS, USPS or FedEx, please reference their shipping
policies at https://www.eliteshootingsport.com/shipping-retur...

***Please ensure to send the package “Adult Signature Required”***