I have a hunt scheduled in South Texas coming up and I dont know if I want to put my gun on the plane. I might ship it instead although that will add cost.
I have a starlight rifle case so I am not worried about the case. I heard you cant lock the case though because the federal employees have to inspect it in the back. This means billy and bubba are going to have my gun out and playing with it. I hope they dont decide to crank up the elevation and windage on the scope.

Any advice?

I flew in Sept no trouble at all TSA inspects the rifle and case you stand by as they lock it. I even had them put tape over the locks after they had inspected it. I brought my own duct tape. I like to wrap it around the whole case.

I've flown several times recently with long-guns. No problems whatever.

Tim

how much time do I have to plan for to bring the gun to TSA? Is it a lengthy process?

Can I throw some other stuff in the case with the gun or just the gun?

WHAT DO THEY USE TO LOCK THE CASE?

THANKS!~

You can put other stuff in the case. On my recent trip to Idaho I used an SKB golf club case. I put my rifle in a soft case along with sleeping bag, boots, jacket, and a bunch of other stuff. Northwest charges $80 for an extra piece of lugge above 2 so condensing your gear makes sense. When you check in you just have to tell them you have a firearm. You check it with TSA the same as all your other luggage. They will open the case and verify the gun is unloaded. When they are finished you lock your case. It is not a problem. You don't need to add a lot of extra time for that part. I always get to the airport 2 hours early. Sometimes the line is at baggage screening, sometimes going through the metal detectors, sometimes none at either. I prefer to give myself enough time to avoid the hassle. Plus if I'm early I can get an exit seat with extra legroom.

Jeff

[ 12-02-2003, 16:48: Message edited by: Skibum ]

And don't be like me and throw a dud 7mm mag shell you found on the mountain in your dock kit and forget about it before going through security. I suddenly found 3 cops standing around me asking if by chance I had a shell in my bad Luckily I was in Boise and we ended up having a great talk about hunting.

Jeff

Skibum, I can relate. Long before 9/11 I was flying out of Casper and at the security check point I asked that they hand search my carry on piece of luggage. (I had camera equip in it) My totally stupid, asshole, jerk of a friend sez: hee hee, that's the one with the bomb in it." As the lady stepped on the buzzer, I quickly showed her some additional ID that upped my clearance and asked, "does this make a difference?". She smiled and said, "Not anymore", as cops came running from all directions.

308 Tikka, call up the airline you're traveling on and get the info direct from the horses mouth. There can be slight shadings among the different airlines. If possible, have you record noted that you will be traveling with a rifle. GET THE AGENTS NAME. If there is any hassle at the airport, it sounds a lot better to say "I talked to Mrs. So and so in reservations and she said....."

beemanbeme,

You didn't say that you kicked your friend in the nuts before producing the second ID, as I would have done in your situation. I hope you paid him back in some way later.

Tikka,
If you plan on with a firearm, buy a good case. I travel between my home in Washington and work in Wyoming and hunt in both states. I bought a reasonable aluminum clad hard case just for the air travel. It has the locks to comply with the FAA regs, padded interior and can hold lots of other stuff if necessary. It's not as solid as I'd thot. After a bunch of flights, it has started to break down and now I'm looking at replacement after 3 years. That was not what I wanted for the money I spent.

Everyone else has had the same TSA experiences I've had. They are efficient and quick and have never fondled my firearms. It's the airline luggage tossers that can screw things up, like my gun case.

I just got back from Colorado in early November. Everything is airline dependent. Check with the airline you'll be flying with. We flew Continental, never again !!!! They have a measurement of 61" which is length+width+height. If you exceed this, it costs $70 each way !!! There isn't a rifle case made that will fit these measurements. Also don't exceed 50 lbs per package as this will cost you big time. This , I believe, is a TSA regulation. We were not allowed to lock our cases flying back from Denver since they have no TSA guys at the gates. Appaarently they are somewhere down in the bowls of the baggage handling system.

bowhuntr

IF....you do not want to fly with your firearm you can send it to YOURSELF via UPS to your destination and have no problem. You have broken no federal laws as long as no one else opens the package.
I have done this before and I hold an FFL too.
FFL not required for you to do the above.
I did this some time back going TX to SD on a prairie dog hunt. Sent it to myself in Spearfish, SD. Did the same on the way home.
I got on the plane with ticket and candy bar.
Otherwise I just drag out my old Tuffpak again and away we go....again.
My Tuffpak has been to Africa twice since 9/11. No problems.

You can download the airline's policy from the internet.

Regarding the total pachkage size, I was not charged extra for a rifle case by either Northwest or Delta.

Good point, Indy. I'd print me a copy and have it in my pocket when I got to the airport.

Also, gun cases. I've hunted with guys that had custom rifles worth several thousand dollars, they wore waffle stompers that cost between 3 and 4 bills and if they spent more than 25 bucks on a rifle case they thought they were getting ripped off. That, in my opinion, is bad economy.

Don't fly one on NWA unless you never want to see it again!!!!