I ship barrels in a 32" long, 3.5", OD .25" wall thickness PVC pipe capped at both ends with one end glued in place, the other taped. Barrels are wrapped in cloth. The outgoing address was originally written in indelible Sharpie on the outside with a layer of clear tape over the ink. On one occasion it went inside a box with the stock bubble wrapped. The pipe has been shipped so many times back and forth with shipping labels taped over that it brings to my mind one of those Victorian era steamer trunks plastered with shipping labels. Gil
P.S. Then there's the story of canvasback receiving an assembled gun in a box from France without a stitch of cushioning.