Was wondering if anyone has had any experience doing this? Can i use any hard case as long as i can lock it or does it have to be certain ones? any advice would be much appreciated. thanks
__________________
SEMPER FI, HUNT UNTIL YOU DIE!
NAHC LIFE MEMBER
WILDLIFE FOREVER MEMBER
Gyrene, you need to check this out with the actual airline you have tickets for! Get the name and position of the person who gives you the answer, so you won't get to the airport and get a nasty surprise!
Some airlines are a real PITA when it comes to transporting firearms, and others are very helpful!
__________________
"Bitte, trinks du das Wasser nicht. Dahin haben die Kuhen gesheissen."
I take 10 or so flights a year for work, I alwaystake a firearm with me of some sort,and the procedure is pretty much the same now in every airport I've been to.
You only need a sturdy hard sided case, material doesn't matter, that you can lock. Do you want your gun(s) getting beat up in transit? Some baggage handlers make the samsonite gorilla look like a geisha girl.
You will have to declare that you are checking a firearm, the ticketing agent will check the gun to see if it is loaded (If I'm flying with a rifle I cut out a placefor the bolt to lay in plain view in the case), ask you where the ammo is, give you a little orange card to fill out and put inside the case. You will have to lock the case (get a pair of locks that are keyed alike) and very likely immediately hand over your keys soa TSA agent can go through the case again, buncha crap.
Ammunition cannot be put inthe casewiththe firearm, but if you are putting your firearm case in another bag the ammunition can be in that bag.
Don't quote me on the airline weight limits on ammo, but it is somewhere around 11 or 12lbs.
Get to the airport a few minutes earlier, like 10 or 15, than normal in case there is a hang up and you have to wait for a TSA agent or a qualified ticket agent.
You cannot use curbside check in if you have a firearm.
__________________
IDPA Member
USPSA Member
NRA Lifetime Member
GOA Lifetime Member
Never had the opportunity to do this yet, but I'd feel so weird walking into an airport with a gun case.
So, you just stroll in and get in line at the ticket counter?
__________________ http://www.illinoisbowfishers.com
The truest measure of a man's ethics is what he does when no one is watching. -God
An unarmed man can only flee from Evil, and Evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.
- Colonel Jeff Cooper
So, you just stroll in and get in line at the ticket counter?
Yep, that's right.
It's really not that big of a deal to fly with firearms. CBK outlined it real well what you need to do to fly with firearms. Basically you just gotta tell them, have them check it, keep ammo seperate from the firearm, and get on the plane.
If this is a black powder firearm you can not take loose powder onto the airline. You must purchase new powder at your destination and then leave it there.
Also you can not carry the ammunition in you carry on luggage. It must also be checked at the ticket counter.
In addition to locking the case with pad locks I like to either strap it closed or duct tape it closed on both ends just in case the latches pop open.
__________________
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency........... Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
Is there usually a seperate room for checking a firearm, or is done out in the open at the ticket counter?
__________________ http://www.illinoisbowfishers.com
The truest measure of a man's ethics is what he does when no one is watching. -God
An unarmed man can only flee from Evil, and Evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.
- Colonel Jeff Cooper
checking a firearm at an airport
