The Post Office is getting picky about flat rate boxes. I shipped a bunch of empty casing to get credit on buying new ammo and they gave me grief that the flat rate box was not "flat". I stuffed it pretty well, like I always do, and have never had an issue. Managed to get 59# of brass in a large flat rate box. At first they told me they could not take it because it was not flat. I always thought flat rate just meant it was a "flat" rate not that the box must be perfectly flat. So, I looked at the woman with puppy eyes and said I've always done this before. She got her supervisor who said no way. So they handed me back the box. I picked it up about 18" and pounded up and down on the counter a half dozen times, till I got it to be flat. I said will you take it now, with a big smile. They reluctantly agreed. They joked there must not be anything breakable in there. I was about to ask if I could get insurance for the fragile content, but decided not to push my luck.

If it fits, it ships.

Not taking sides here, but the business model behind the "flat rate" boxes is that, predictable volume enables better automation in sorting, routing, transporting and results in cheaper prices with less need for manual intervention.  USPS, Fedex, UPS and other companies have advanced tremendously in automation. 

 

I have not seen your specific flat rate box.. but if a flat rate box is stuff to the point that its bulging on all four sides, it creates issues with the automated sorting, routing and transportation.  That means someone got to manually attend to it, costing the company / agency. 

 

I do not work for any of these companies, I never did any work for them or involved with them in anyway other than as consumer. Just my 2cents. 

The top was the only part that budged at all. Smashing it a bunch of times got it almost flat.

I send brass to freedom flat rate & never had an issue at the post office

52#s is my standard stuffing for brass back to FM. Have to massage the brass a little to let 9's slip into .40s slip into .45s etc. But when closed it's very flat.

 

At 59#s it must have been bloated! I'm laughing. Nice try.

52#s is my standard stuffing for brass back to FM. Have to massage the brass a little to let 9's slip into .40s slip into .45s etc. But when closed it's very flat.

 

At 59#s it must have been bloated! I'm laughing. Nice try.

It really wasn't that bloated.  I did make a major effort to stuff 9mm brass into all the larger ones to maximize weight for the volume

It really wasn't that bloated.  I did make a major effort to stuff 9mm brass into all the larger ones to maximize weight for the volume

Hahahaha! When I bring back brass from the range, I go through it to cull out steel, AL, lead, rim fires etc. so I'm a good customer and just send back re-loadable brass. When I do that invariably I have to separate the 9s in 40s in 45s etc. to find the rim fire and other stuff. So inevitably I thought about 'what if I deliberately stuff 9 into 40 into 45 etc.? How many pounds could I get into that box??? I guess the answer is: 59!!!!

 

Then the return price dropped to $1.80/pound and I said the hell with it. I just massage them around a little to make the box 'flat'.

Yea, I got tired of inserting the 9 in the bigger ones.  If I really worked at it I bet I could have gotten 65 pounds in that box!  

How much do they give you in credit? 

Currently it's down to $1.80 per pound.

Just sell it to me next time and you won't have to pay shipping or box it up like that. 

Just sell it to me next time and you won't have to pay shipping or box it up like that. 

That would work, but you are kind of far away.  Probably would have to ship it to you.

Do you still go to any matches at OB or CJ? I go almost every Sunday. 

CJ no but OB two to three times a month

Ok I'll pm ya my number 

It fluctuates with the marke....last time I sent it in it was $2.10 & before that $2.50

I've never paid for shipping brass to Freedom...I just go right to their store 20 minutes from my house. They give the same credit as online. The in-store price, plus sales tax is a bit higher than online but it's still less than the cost of shipping brass. I usually get 20-40 pounds per week during USPSA/IDPA matches so a trip to the store every other month usually results in a box of 225gr .45 bullets and a box of 135gr 9mm bullets that I don't have to pay for at all.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

I've never paid for shipping brass to Freedom...I just go right to their store 20 minutes from my house. They give the same credit as online. The in-store price, plus sales tax is a bit higher than online but it's still less than the cost of shipping brass. I usually get 20-40 pounds per week during USPSA/IDPA matches so a trip to the store every other month usually results in a box of 225gr .45 bullets and a box of 135gr 9mm bullets that I don't have to pay for at all.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

UnitedContinental charges me too much to get to the store in TX

UnitedContinental charges me too much to get to the store in TX

Just find a work-related reason to come down and let the boss pay for it. Or, there's plenty of stuff to take pictures of here...then you can call it "business" and write the whole trip off on your taxes. (Not that I would advocate screwing the government out of YOUR hard earned money)

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

I've never paid for shipping brass to Freedom...I just go right to their store 20 minutes from my house. They give the same credit as online. The in-store price, plus sales tax is a bit higher than online but it's still less than the cost of shipping brass. I usually get 20-40 pounds per week during USPSA/IDPA matches so a trip to the store every other month usually results in a box of 225gr .45 bullets and a box of 135gr 9mm bullets that I don't have to pay for at all.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

Lucky you....you live so close