Is there a legal way to mail old (1980's) E/F composite motors?

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I think the lack of answer indicates that the answer is very likely no.
 
The answer is yes, but not worth the hassle or the expense unless you have thousands of dollars worth of stuff. Or you could find someone who can legally ship hazmat and have them do it.
 
Here is a sheet on shipping motors from the NAR website: https://www.nar.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Shipping-Rocket-Motors.pdf

It goes into a lot detail but here are the main points:
The main shipping agencies available to consumers in the U.S. are the U.S. Postal
Service (USPS), United Parcel Service (UPS), and Federal Express (FedEx). Neither UPS nor
FedEx will accept HAZMAT for shipment from private individuals.

Shipping regulations for sending sport rocket motors via the U.S. Mail are found in
Postal Publication 52, “Acceptance of Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Matter”, Section
341.22a and Appendix 1A. The USPS will accept small sport rocket motors for shipment by
individuals, but only under certain limited conditions. First, they will accept only motors that are
classified 1.4S/NA0323 (30 grams or less of propellant), and that are packaged and marked
appropriately (see below). Second, the shipper must present to their Postmaster a “Letter of
Authorization”, addressed to them personally from the USPS Manager of Mail Preparations and
Standards (475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260), which authorizes them to enter
these motors into the U.S. Mail. Getting such a letter requires 30-60 days, and requires the
consumer to provide specific information about the motors that he plans to ship, including a
dimensioned drawing and a Material Safety Data Sheet for each motor type. Once it is issued,
the letter of authorization is valid only for 1 year.
 
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