I was looking up something else (declared value fee. good luck, they won't tell you)
and found this:
"Firearms
Only customers holding a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and federal, state, or local
government agencies may ship firearms with FedEx. Customers holding an FFL must enter
into an approved FedEx Firearms Shipping Compliance Agreement before shipping any
firearms with FedEx. For more information, contact your FedEx account executive."
https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/how-to-ship-firearms.html
This was a recent policy change.
ATF requires handguns be shipped by non-licensees using commercial carriers -- not USPS. It's up to the commercial carriers to establish their own policies.
If the gun is being shipped to the manufacturer and returned to you, then the manufacturer (an FFL) will be doing the shipping using their own FedEx account. When it's returned, it can be delivered to your home or business address directly **IF** the serial number of the gun is the same as the one you sent.
If the manufacturer chooses to replace the firearm rather than repair it, then you have no choice. The new gun will have to go through the same acquisition process as a new gun: Ship to FFL, PTA, 2 week wait, etc.
If you as an individual want to ship your gun via FedEx, you'll have to pay to have an FFL licensed dealer do it or be one yourself.
As for C&R FFL-03, you can't ship a gun that doesn't qualify as a curio or relic using that license. Plus, the FedEx account requirement is another hurdle.
When I shipped my P320 to Sig for upgrades, they sent me the label with their account info. Had they not created that label for me, FedEx would have accepted it directly from me if I paid the costs because the recipient was an FFL. Non-licensee to non-licensee would not have been accepted.
This looks like a policy just begging for a lawsuit. If the ATF/laws allow you to ship via a commercial carrier directly to yourself, to someone else in care of yourself, and other instances where there's no transfer being performed, and the commercial carriers decide to require an FFL be in the process, the carriers are rewriting the law.
It's like the state law saying you can mail your election ballots using first class postage, and Mail Boxes Etc making you pay for Express Mail rates. Private companies should not be allowed to impose extra rules that aren't imposed by the law.