When i got to Harare no rifle
I got my other bag

Baggae guy refuses to look in the computer to see where the system has it located at. Come back tommorrow.

Go back to airport for 12:35 flight when we should be half way to camp.

No Rifle. He checks the system. Oh its sitting in Lusaka. They didnt take it off the plane yesterday. Ill have it here tommorow. I wont be here tommorrow. Ill be hunting buffalo!!!
He says have a driver come back tommorrow with this paper and he can claim it for you.

I think nothing of this as i know guns follow people to camp all the time.

Poor driver delivers us to camp at 12:30 at night. Nixon sends him off first thing in the morning to get my rifle. Airport security says the rules have changed and no on but the owner can claim the rifle.

At the airport after my hunt. I asked the security guy about this. He says yes the rules have changed. He did mumble something abut you can give the driver a signed letter giving him permission to import you gun.

I dont know if someone was looking for a bribe or what. If you do not get your rifle, make sure you talk to the security supervisor about what to do.

I'm quickly losing my taste for Zim hunts.

I'm surprised they did not require you to be african to collect your rifle.

Still less BS than bringing guns back into this country.

I will see first hand in 7 days if this is a trend or if you just got an Ex-US customs guy.

My guns were lost by SAA last October. I signed a document and provided the claims checks. They allowed the charter pilot to get them on by behalf.

Interesting comment about bringing guns back to the USA. I just returned from Zim with a rifle. Had no problems on either end. I landed in Atlanta on this end.

Well I have been jammed up by customs on multiple trips home from Africa. the last two for example:

1. I was kept and verbally abused by custom pricks for not having every single item on my 4457 with me. i even asked for the manager who also harrassed me. Wife and I missed our connection and the next 2. No charges against me and nothing confiscated. January 2009

2. My wife and I were again delayed on our return to the US by some other idiot in customs who sent for a "SPECIALIST" almost consumed the entire 4 hour layover that time. The specialist finally waddled in and tested a scraping of the wood on the Maasai spear i got from my tracker. Again no charges nothing confiscated. April 2012.

Wow SG what airport? I fly in and out of dulles. Most of the time the look at my tuff pack or whatever case and ask if i have a weapon, i answer yes a rifle. Most times they say welcome home and wave me thru. Mone time they actually wanted to see. My boots and then sprayed them. Never a problem with a rifle.

Last September I had Customs agents with an attitude at firearms inspection in Atlanta, but they got over it. This year I entered at San Francisco and they couldn't have been nicer, more efficient or faster. It was a breeze. Over the past 17 years I've had virtually no issues with U.S. Customs, but TSA, well that's another story altogether.

Carl had a nightmare scenario going out and back in via Houston this year. A formal investigation of TSA behavior is pending, along with complaints to NRA, SCI and all his congressmen.

Just went through Dulles with two rifles in a Tuffpak. Customs didn't look at then or my suitcase, just sent me to TSA with the Tuffpack (4 minute wait for an x-ray) and the conveyor belt to recheck board the suitcase.

The rules have not changed at all , if your rifle OR baggage do not arrive, either you return to collect it in person, OR you sign an affidavit stating the company you are hunting with can collect it on your behalf, obviously they need your key and the weapons will be checked and the TIP stamped. These are not new rules at all.


Martin

I've always had them check the rifles against my 4457 but have never had any problem leaving or bringing my firearms with me. I did have one TSA agent tell me I couldn't take my belt buckle or my hat aboard the plane one trip. I made my buckle out of a USMC emblem and he was a former Marine. He was just funnin' me. And they don't see too many Stetson's in NYC

I have always flown from / to Dulles. On the way to Africa, the TSA folks always look at my guns and sometimes count the ammo. You have to watch these guys closely because many of them do not know how to lock your Tuffpak correctly when they are finished. I had to show the TSA agent how to do this at Dulles on 31 July. On the way back, I have always been asked whether I had a 4457 for my guns. They generally look at the form, but they have never checked it against the serial #s of my guns. For the first time this trip, I was asked if I was bringing back biltong, which I knew was not allowed. I have never been hassled at Dulles, and I hope it stays that way!
Mangwana

Coming back from JNB via ATL earlier this month the customs guys checked every gun that came through. In addition to the JNB flight there was a flight from Argentina with a whole bunch of guys with shotguns. There was a long line outside the room. Two people were allowed into the room at a time where the rifle cases/Tuff cases were opened and every gun taken out, their numbers checked against the 4457 and some data entered into a fat ledger. Everyone's boots were also sprayed.
The guys were all courteous and quite efficient but each and every gun was checked.

Jas

sounding more and more like ATL is a place to avoid if possible.

Had they same situation coming back from Joberg in Atlanta in May. Long lines and they checked every gun and serial number to the form. Also sprayed all the boots. It is a totally new process for them. Everyone was polite and courteous, but make sure your connections are not too tight as it took me 30 minutes to get through.

Came through Atlanta yesterday and it was a breeze. I can see however that if a bunch of guns arrived at once you better be first.

Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by martin pieters:
The rules have not changed at all , if your rifle OR baggage do not arrive, either you return to collect it in person, OR you sign an affidavit stating the company you are hunting with can collect it on your behalf, obviously they need your key and the weapons will be checked and the TIP stamped. These are not new rules at all.


Martin

Martin that seems about right. Thru the whole fiasco it seemed like no one at the airport was on the same page. Looks like i simply didnt talk to the right person.

I had a bit of a run in with customs at Dulles. The first agent told me to follow him while he carried the case into a top secret security area. The supervisor there jumped my butt for being in there and I jumped his back telling him "I'm doing EXACTLY what I was told to do by your subordinate." No problems after that. Well, the subordinate probably had some problems but that isn't my problem.

My biggest hassle has been going into Canada. Those customs folks are always busting my hump without cause or reason. I am always very polite, answer their questions truthfully, have no criminal history but still get the b.s. I quit going up there just because of their attitudes.

My previous experience in Atlanta were with unarmed uniformed Custom officers who checked my guns against my 4457's. There used to be several stations where several travelers' guns could be checked at the same time. The process was fairly quick. The was no computer inquiry. It was a simple visual inspection. And, yes, boots were sprayed. It usually took only a few minutes to complete the process.

Yesterday I came through Atlanta on the Joberg flight. This time I was directed to a line leading into a small room, as a previous poster reported. Only one traveler at a time was allowed into the room. The guys in the room were armed TSA officers, not unarmed Customs personnel.

My guns and 4457's were compared and the serial numbers were checked against a data base. (Obviously, this "inquiry" also established a record of my travel with guns, as well as the specific guns I travel with. Something I believe TSA would deny.)

One of my guns returned a "hit" against another gun with an identical serial number some other guy had entered the country with at some point in the past. This required a more indepth follow-up on the computer. The two guns then had to be cross referenced as to make, model, action type and caliber. The TSA personel were surprisingly uninformed as to firearm makes, calibers, and other basic firearm facts. I had to help them interpret some of the data on their own computer.

All in all, it took almost 90 minutes for me to reenter my own country with my own guns. I've had better experiences in Namibia, Bots, and even Zim.

BTW, while waiting in line for my guns to be checked, I witnessed a uniformed TSA officer with gold leaf insignia on his collars tell a man that he was concerned that the man had only a 4457 for his "Belgium Browning". The implication was that the man could not possibly have purchased a "Belgium Browning" here in the States and therefore needed some additional documentation. Ultimately, the guy got through with his gun.

My most trouble free entry points with firearms have been Miami, Dallas and Dulles. Absolutely no problems at these sites, at least for me.

Regards.......

I got worse treatment on any one of my last 3 safaris coming back into Seattle. Ive reported on a couple here. The last one was a couple hour delay and bitching at me because i didnt know what the wood was that went into my Maasai Tracker's spear that I brought home. Had to wait for a "specialist" to be called in to take a scraping of the wood for analysis. When they were done screwing with their fellow american, they let me go to rearrange my flights. That's the price of living in the greatest country on earth. Get used to it. I did.

When I come back at the end of this month it will be in Atlanta. I expect to be treated like shit again, but I refuse to let this Country stop me from going on Safari. Not just "No" but "Hell No"!

Sorry my reply was supposed to be addressed to TWL. I need to either learn how to post or apply for a job at Customs, obviously.

I fly from NYC (JFK) and return there. Been through more than a couple of times. At all times both Police Officers & Custom were outstanding. All very very curtious and helpfull as they should be. I hope they kep it up - they are very professional.

When I came back from hunting Africa in 2010 the customs agent (female Barney Fife) threatened me with a $10,000 fine because I forgot to declare/remove a small package of unopened beef jerky that was buried in the bottom of my carry on.

NOT ONE PERSON bothered to look in my rifle case.

Glad to know the focus is in the right place...

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
sounding more and more like ATL is a place to avoid if possible.

When coming home and dealing with a baggage problem in Atlanta, I still felt like I was in Africa, so I guess that counts for something.

Came in through Atlanta on Monday. No problems with the gun. The folks in the 'glass room' were fast and courteous. I was the first in line, went there before I went to the baggage claim. They did snip the locks on my ammo case, however.

When I came back from Botswana a couple of weeks ago, I had a disaster.

I was one of the first off the plane. I have Global Entry. Accordingly, I was a the baggage claim quickly. I wait and wait and wait. No bags. When the carousel stopped with no bags, I headed to file a claim. Lo and behold I happen to notice that TSA has my gun case AND my other bags. I am now last in this line. I was the very last person out of the arrival hall in about 2.5 hours.