Back from Dallas Safari Club and have a leopard hunt booked for my wife. I get to go along and shoot some of the bait, happily!

Looks like will be going on British Airways and on Air Namibia this summer. In previous trips have always been able (Delta and SAA) to put ammo in my duffle bag. However, not likely to work this time.

BA is a bit ambiguous about ammo able to be in a secure "box" and then in a regular bag with clothes. Air Namibia is pretty explicit, though, about requiring a separate shipping container. And also very clear the ammo cannot be in with the rifles either. Given the small size needed for 4 boxes of ammo, I'm curious what works well and doesn't get easily lost.

I have a pelican camera case that I've used in the past for putting ammo in, then inside my duffle bag. Anybody have any better ideas?

Can't speak to BA, but when I was on Air Namibia in 07 I had 2 Tuff Pak cases. One regular size for my rifle and most of my stuff, and a short one for a few odds and ends and my ammo. If they hadn't required it to be in a separate bag from the rifle I would have only taken 1 case.

On BA I traveled with a Tuffpak for the rifles, a plastic Pelican case with TSA locks for the ammo only and that was packed in my regular luggage. That way if I ended on on another carrier in Africa that required the ammo to be checked separately I had the pelican case. That set up covers all the options.

Keep in mind BA is going to charge you a fee for the rifle case and for any luggage case with the ammo. Used to only charge for the rifle case.

Cheers
Jim

I would suggest that South African Airways are more gun friendly than BA? Who,frankly,are not.
True,flight times etc may influence your decision. But a quick trip around any of the UK forums which give you a local appreciation of BA.

I use the metallic NATO ammo box for .308 ammo.
To keep the boxes from moving around, I put in some bubble wrap.
My ammo is .30-06 so it fits in quite nicely.

I had a lock fitted - negligible (how the heck do you spell that?) cost and if NATO handles ammo in those boxes in combat then it oughta be good enough....

This fits into a suitcase w/ the clothes and other stuff.

- Lars/Finland

I have traveled many times with the ammo boxes ( and just regular cardboard ammo boxes qualify as a separate box under the rules) in either luggage or in my gun case itself. Never had a problem on dozens of trips on any airline.
Point being i guess, I've certainly never paid for a separate baggage fee to pack outside my regular baggage.

British Air is fine if you are not taking guns with you. One time was enough for me as long as there are alternatives.

HT,

You won't have any problem with guns and ammo on BA. Do just what Frostbit suggested and you'll be fine. Understand that BA will charge you a handling fee for the guns and you'll need to notify them you are bringing guns I believe 72 hours before your flight. I've been flying BA for 20 years and I've never had any issues with guns.

Mark

I've flown with BA twice to Africa in the last 10 years and while BA might be a bit more paranoid about guns and ammo due to the underlying British aversion to guns,etc, once your guns are in their hands (as check ins) that also makes it better because BA keeps close track of those items on their planes and the stuff gets to its destination, the same can't be said about other airlines including SA who lost (okay not really lost, but their handlers were dumb enough not to offload the rifle case on the flights arrival to Joberg and it was only found to still be on the plane by the persistence of the Air 200 rep helping me on that trip, this by the way was and internal to Africa SA flight. The best help in flying with any airline is to print our own TSA rules on firearms travel and also whatever airlines one flies with and then when un informed ticket agents (that's usually a bit part of any flying with guns headache) try and give one grief, you have those policies handy along with politeness and can also always ask for their supervisor which also works miracles because most don't want their supervisor involved since it then makes them look stupid and in efficient, which of course they are if they don't know their own airlines rules. Also when guns are involved I always allow extra time when travelling which on most of my trips I didn't nee. As the boy scouts say "be prepared".

Thanks for the discussion and tips. I will go with a Pelican case of some kind, with bubble wrap or foam, depending on the size of the case I end up with. Try to keep it big enough to not get lost, but of a size I can put inside my roller duffle where allowed.

Will definitely do the notification with BA ahead of time. Likely will take advantage of the airport being close and go in person to their counter to chat them up!

quote:

Keep in mind BA is going to charge you a fee for the rifle case and for any luggage case with the ammo. Used to only charge for the rifle case.

This and one bad experience when two different BA agents flat out lied to me (they assured me they checked that my guns were on the plane when they weren't) has caused me to never fly with them again.

HT:

Travelling with firearms on BA is pretty straightforward if you follow their procedures. Last time I flew them (September 2014) I had to check the ammo separately but that was because I had a stopover in London. Not sure what the rules are if you are connecting on to Johannesburg. Frostbit's suggestion is right on the mark - have the ammo in a pelican case with TSA locks so you can put it in your luggage or it can go separately.

As mentioned previously BA does charge for the guns and ammo (although on my last flight from LAX they forgot), but they do keep extremely good track of that luggage (I believe they actually transport it in the secure cargo hold of the plane which they also use to transport bullion and currency).

It is necessary to notify BA in advance that you will be travelling with guns and ammo. You can do this by calling their call center once you have made your reservation. One of BA's policies is that it is ok to transport sporting firearms in non-military calibers so when you contact the call center be sure to tell them you will be travelling with a sporting firearm in a non-military caliber.

When I called the first reply when I told him the caliber (.416 Rigby) was that was a military caliber (This was BA's call center in India where I think they have a check list where the first response is "That is a military caliber"). I simply reiterated that I was travelling with a sporting firearm and that .416 Rigby was not a military caliber.

Once you have notified them they should put a note in your passenger record that you are travelling with a firearm and ammunition. I generally call back a couple of days later to ensure that the information was in fact entered. Once confirmed that the information is on my passenger record I contact BA via email (from the link on their website) giving them my flight confirmation number and asking for them to verify that the firearm and ammunition information is in my passenger record. Normally takes them a week or two to respond but then you can print out the email in case you have any problems down stream (eg. check in).

Due to the length of this post it may appear that travelling with firearms on BA is problematic but realistically we're talking about two phone calls and an email. I just wanted to elaborate as much as possible.

Finally, I would check to make sure BA will interline baggage with Air Namibia with a firearm. I recall reading somewhere that firearms would not be interlined so you may need to claim the firearm and ammo in Johannesburg and recheck at Air Namibia which will mean going through SAPS.

Feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

Have a great hunt.

Jason

HT

I just book my BA flights through Gracy Travel and they handle all the details jaglav mentioned as well as your SAPS form if necessary. BA the best record of any airline servicing Africa of getting you and your kit to Africa at the same time. As jaglav mentioned they put the guns ans ammo in a different compartment in the plane from the regular luggage so it unlikely that they will get lost.

Mark