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Getting my firearms and ammo to Alaska?

PastorKen

PastorKen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Messages
620
Location
Eagle River, AK
Next spring, I’m going to be moving to Anchorage. I’m trying to figure out how to get my firearms and ammo up there.

- I don’t want the military to move my firearms for me.
- I don’t want to cross the Canadian border with firearms in my vehicle.
- taking a ferry to Alaska might be an option. Has anybody on this forum done that before?
- USPS will not ship firearms, but I think UPS or FedEx would. Anybody have experience with that?
- other ideas?
 
Misplaced Alaskan here. First off congrats on moving to Alaska, I’d return in a heartbeat if I could. USPS will ship bolt action long guns, they will not ship privately a hand gun or semi auto long gun, that requires an ffl. My extended family mail me guns all the time. You have to fill out the correct form and declare it or just take it to the post office(already packaged of course, showing up at a govt building with a gun is frowned upon) I recommend removing the bolt. You can just mail it to yourself in AK, the post office will hold it and only you can pick it up provided it doesn’t take you like a month to get there). One nice thing about AK is there’s still folks with common sense unless you’re going to Anchorage in which case I’ll pray for you . Another option is to mail them to someone you know or just find a dealer. Hand guns and semi require ffl. USPS will not ship ammo, you’ll have to use ups or fedrex. Shipping to AK as you’ll soon find out is not cheap so unless you have a ton to ship or something ultra rare it might be cheaper to just sell it off down here and buy more when you get up there.
 
What about a muzzleloading rifle? Will USPS ship that?

I’ll ship my pump shotgun, bolt rifle, and muzzleloader.
 
PastorKen said:
What about a muzzleloading rifle? Will USPS ship that?

I’ll ship my pump shotgun, bolt rifle, and muzzleloader.
Click to expand...
Yup. Actually, I had to look something up and my cousin reminded me any rifle except sbr and short shotguns can be mailed, see the section under rifles and shotguns. Basically if it can be concealed it can’t be mailed.

432 Mailability | Postal Explorer

pe.usps.com pe.usps.com
 
My uncle is in AK on a trip now. He shipped his to an FFL on his route through AK. Nit sure who he shipped it through as i think he had a local FFL ship em.
 
I was going to say, I flew with mine a bunch of times to Kodiak. Buy a plane ticket or have a buddy come visit that can bring them. Option #2, call the local gun shop in AK and ask them to run them through their books and ask how they get their guns to their shop to sell. Then ship them the same exact way.
 
A few decades ago one of my friends drove to AK via Canada. Canadian Customs gave him a few hours of trouble because of the .44Mag ammo he had, for his .44Mag Marlin levergun. They couldn't understand how a rifle could shoot pistol ammo and were convinced he was smuggling a pistol into Canada. Never mind he had FedExed his pistols ahead...

With just 3 long guns to move, putting them in your airline luggage might be more painless than dealing with shippers, etc. If you're taking a house hunting trip prior to your move maybe you can stash them at a friend's house, or at an armory on post, or at a gun shop, prior to establishing your residence with the rest of your household goods.
 
My brother lives in Juneau, works as a helicopter pilot. Pretty small chances that he or I could help somehow, but if there's anything he/we could do I wanted to throw it out there.
 
I’ve got a local gun shop ceracoting my rifle. When I go pick it up, I’ll talk with them about shipping my firearms for me. That’s probably the safest and easiest way to go I’m thinking.
 
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