I dont have any price comparisons Joe. All I ever use is the post office. I have the hots for the chicks that work there too.  My mail carrier Nancy is a direct descendant of a pony express rider. I got the hots for her too. 
Around here the USP people wave back. The UPS drivers never wave or smile. 
Ive had real good luck with the post office.  

                                           Joe.  

Defiitely the post office for my deliveries to Canada. The post office only charges $5.00 for doing the importation of the goods shipped across the Canadian border whereas UPS charges $35 even if the item is only worth a dollar.

Prefer USPS. UPS broke a stock on a gun delivered to me. UPS and FedEx have a bad habbit of leaving guns set at my door if I am not home. USPS leaves me a note and I pick it up at the post office. Also my gal at the post office is a very pleasant, attractive young lady who drives a neat red late model Corvette and appreciates my red '57 T-Bird.

I've had a lot of experience with all three shippers and generally use either FedEx or the USPS, both more convenient to my location than UPS.  On items that will fit into flat rate boxes I usually use USPS.  On larger items FedEx is usually cheaper.  

There's no question that UPS or FedEx is cheaper when shipping rifles, but after having several damaged by UPS and FedEx I now almost exclusively use USPS registered mail, which is a category of priority mail.  I have never had a rifle damaged using USPS registered mail.  Due to misconceptions, many postal employees will tell you that regular USPS priority mail is cheaper than registered, which is definitely not correct if the rifle is being insured.  A big plus with USPS registered mail is the fact that everyone that handles the package much sign for it, so it's handled with kid glove care.  A negative is you must use special tape to seal every seam.

To ship a heavy 12 lb $2,000 rifle fully insured typically costs around $25 using FedEx, $35 to $45 using USPS registered mail and $55 to $65 using USPS regular priority mail.  

If a rifle is damaged, all three shippers are a pain to work with and will only pay off if the outer shipping box is clearly damaged.  Recently, after shipping with USPS registered mail for several years, although I knew better, I tried FedEx again to cut my shipping fees in half.  Sure enough, all was going well until FedEx broke the stock on a $1800 Browning BPCR that was very well packaged.  The inside foam padding showed clear signs the box was dropped on one end with sufficient force to shatter the stock at the wrist (the weakest area).  But, at 1st, FedEx only agreed to pay 1/2 the estimated damage repair amount because the outside of the shipping box was not damaged.  Not until I threatening to close my account did they decide to pay the full amount of the claim, a negotiations advantage not available to the average person.  So I'm back to using USPS registered mail.

Wayne

There was an interesting article in the American Custom Gun Guild magazine on how not to ship a gun. It was so good that I asked to reprint it in the Journal and it ran in May June of this year. What I am seeing here is exactly what they said not to do. It may have been the same rifle. Its worth a look to go back and read the article.
40 Rod

40_ROD

You said, "What I am seeing here is exactly what they said not to do".  Are you referring to my comments concerning the damaged Browning stock? If so, I'd sure like to see the article.  I don't receive the American Custom Gun Guide or the ASSRA Journal.

I'm guessing that 40_ROD & Rudi are one in the same?  If so, I'm the guy that authored the book on the Browning BPCR and you should have my contact information.  I sure would appreciate you sending me a copy of the article.  Let me know if you need my contact info.  Thanks.

Regards,
Wayne

Hello 40_ROD,

I'm not a member of the ASSRA (only a senior forum member), therefore, I'll contact Rudi off line.

By the way, you did not respond to or answer my 1st question, "You said, "What I am seeing here is exactly what they said not to do".  Are you referring to my comments concerning the damaged Browning stock?"  If you were than, although I've shipped scores, well over a hundred heavy single-shot rifles all around the country, "I'm all ears" and would appreciate any reasonable suggestion to minimize similar situations in the future.  Thanks.

Regards,
Wayne