I sold a rifle to a forum member. I received his payment today and would like to send the rifle to him tomorrow. Normally I would take it to the UPS Customer Center (UPS Stores won't send any fun stuff) but their hours are 230-630 and we will be attending the rodeo tomorrow. I have the ability to print postage from home. So long story short, am I able to schedule a pickup for a rifle or is that an item that needs to be taken to the Customer Center in person?

Hand it to any driver, real UPS employee, if it's properly formatted and prepaid.

Being that law prohibits carriers from requiring you to label a firearm as such for shipment what do you mean by properly formatted?

You can ship rifles USPS, as long as the recipient is in the same state as the sender.

I'd go with USPS. I've used them a couple of times to ship rifles and shotguns and never had a problem. Being in Texas, most people won't give you a second look.