I don't ship whole guns but I have shipped and recieved a lot of antique traditional archery stuff.  I ONLY use the postal system.  I have shipped gun parts with no problem---I've only been asked once about contents when insuring and I just told'em "machined parts" and no  more questions.
The number of snafus and hassles with FedUPs would be a regular book of  Lamentations.  undelivered and returned to sender packages, packages sent to a previous address--that was 2 years old.  Packages left in plain view on the unsheltered front steps in rainy weather, etc etc etc. I will NOT do business with them if at all possible.  Mailordering ammo & powder may present a problem---I may have to have it FedUPped to a local business for me to pick it up later.
I work on the road roughly 3 weeks a month,  the Post office holds my mail and packages with no questions, will either deliver it all on the day I get home or hold anything that requires a signiture.  Now a retired backroom sorter may not know jack about actual shippig regs and procedures but I work through 3 different post offices and all of the counter people are knowledgable and helpful.

NEWTOWN VA just got 911 last year. i use priority mail in the next county for most stuff. if i send water pipe ups/fedx. ;

Well guys, it seems like I’m gonna hafta eat some of my words and lower my recommendation of FedEx a little.  Just shipped another Browning BPCR to a fellow in NY.  Used FedEx Ground and you guessed it, the stock was badly cracked at the wrist during transit.  So the score so far for me is 2 for 2 for UPS, 2 for 20 for FedEx, and 0 for 1 for USPS.  We’ll see how well the FedEx claim process works this time.

Wayne

And this from a older post at Greybeard's:

"URGENT WARNING RE: FEDEX

If you ship a gun via FedEx and have an insurance claim, you will be totally screwed. Period. FedEx has a “Catch 22” in its insurance claims adjustment policy that makes it impossible to collect on a firearms claim. 

Unlike UPS or USPS, FedEx will not do an on-site inspection of damage no matter how obvious it may be, but insists on taking the entire gun back to their offices for inspection even if you just have a cracked stock or bent scope. A couple of FedEx employees will show up at the recipient’s place, presumably an FFL, and ask for the gun to be turned over to them. This is the first of a series of federal felonies that are the direct result of FedEx company policy. 

According to three separate BATFE sources I discussed the matter with, FedEx is only licensed to transport guns to another legitimate party – they have no legal right to send some clerk who is not the legal buyer out to pick up a gun to bring back to the office for somebody to look at. It is a felony for a FedEx employee to even ask an FFL to do that. It would be a felony if the FFL were dumb enough to hand the gun over – he would lose his license and his business as surely as if he gave a gun to some guy who walked in off the street without submitting to a background check, etc. It is a felonious conspiracy for FedEx employees to pressure the FFL (which they often do) to give them the gun despite the law. The entire FedEx process is the result of some corporate lawyer’s complete ignorance of federal firearms laws and it has the potential to seriously criminalize everybody involved. 

As FedEx employee Donna Buchleitner of the Pittsburgh office explained rather tersely, my insurance claim was denied because the gun was not made available to them “as required by the FedEx Service Guide.” Never mind the fact that the gun was indeed not made available to them as required by federal law. Or, as a Miami FedEx employee snapped even more directly over the phone, “We are not concerned with the law, we follow company policy.”

The end result is that you will receive a form letter from FedEx stating that since they were unable to pick up the gun to inspect the damage your insurance claim is denied.

I wrote a well-documented letter concerning my own experience with this FedEx insurance scam to the FedEx employee supposedly in charge of such matters, a Mr. T. Michael Glenn, FedEx Corporation, 942 South Shady Grove Road, Memphis, TN 38120. As they might say in the newspaper business, “the accused was not available for comment, did not acknowledge our correspondence, and refused to return phone calls.”

BE WARNED. Do not use FedEx for shipping guns (or anything else for that matter, given their disreputable and dishonest treatment of gunowners). Any insurance claim you may have will be denied automatically and you will suffer the entire loss of your property. I guarantee it!"

Update on my recent FedEx rifle damage claim:

Although I now almost exclusively us the US Postal Service’s Registered Mail to ship rifles, a recent FedEx damage claim was still pending.  My prior and only previous experience with FedEx’s damage claim process was quite positive.  I was on the receiving end of a damaged Browning BPCR (stock was cracked during shipment).  The claim process was relatively quick and FedEx agreed they caused the damage.

In the most recent case I was the sender of a Browning BPCR, which was damaged by FedEx (stock also badly cracked) in transit.  After discussing the situation with the buyer, I initiated a claim and requested that FedEx pick up the rifle, inspect the damage, and ship it back to me.  I then sent the rifle to Browning for a written repair estimate.  After several weeks Browning responded with a repair estimate of over $500 to replace the stock.  After receiving the repair estimate I submitted, via certified mail, the required FedEx claim documents along with a cover letter and Browning’s estimate.  Three days after FedEx received the documents the claim was approved and check for the repairs and the original shipping amount is in the mail.  The whole process took 6 weeks, but for most of the time (over 4 weeks) I was waiting for an estimate from Browning.

Most of you have heard horror stories about UPS’ and FedEx’s failure to pay off on damage claims.  Concerning UPS, my two similar experiences have been very negative.  Their claim process sucks.  One was denied and the other was only paid after the dealer that sent the rifle threatened to stop using UPS.  FedEx has been a different story, at least concerning the claim process.  But my positive response from FedEx may be influenced by the fact that I have a small-business account with them and have shipped numerous firearms using FedEx.  An individual filing a claim with little or no history with FedEx may have a different experience.

By the way, as a side note, shortly after I was notified that the rifle was received damaged by the buyer’s dealer, I gave the buyer an option to keep the rifle and I would send him a refund for the cost of repairs and shipping to Browning, or have FedEx return the rifle to me and I would immediately refunded the full cost of the rifle plus shipping.  I was not surprised that he chose the latter.  In doing so I was prepared to eat the repair costs should FedEx decide not to pay off on the claim.  I believe this is only fair to the buyer, but does not seem to be a common practice in Internet gun selling & buying business.

Wayne

Wayne,
You did the right thing with that Browning.  As a seller, you are obligated to deliver the product to the buyer's door.  Most internet sellers seem to think otherwise but that is not the case.  You are truly an exception to the rule.

FWIW, a friend and I had a Browning singleshot for sale and the forearm cracked possibly in transit - we are not sure.  We got a forearm from Browning w/o sending anything.  Perhaps different rules then (5-6 yrs ago), or different requirements for buttstocks.

Brent