Air Travel and Case Contents

[Deertick]

Has anyone had trouble with having gear (pack, boots, etc.) in a gun case with firearms while going through airports? Planning a trip on Delta (domestic) soon.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I never had an problems but I think I would check with Delta to be certain. I have put three guns, two handguns and one long gun as well as a fixed blade knife in one gun case no problem. I never traveled with ammo but that may be another issue.

 

[cnelk]

As you know, I just traveled to Alaska with a Pelican 2 gun case.
Two rifles and a handgun with a couple knives and other items packed around them.

Ammo was in a different checked bag.

No problem. But definitely be early to the airport because they aren’t in a hurry at the firearm inspection office.

 

[7Bartman]

Just got back from my 6th trip to Idaho. Checked my mystery ranch pack with my locked gun case in it, and my bowcase. No problems whatsoever. Just declare the firearm and fill out the little sheet and tape it to your gun case. Keep the locks locked and only you hold the keys.

 

[Kawabunga]

Ive traveled mostly with bow but use my bow case like a suitcase, clothes for padding, knives, tripod, etc all in there trying to fill as much space as possible, do it here inter island with a rifle also. Never really had anyone say anything it, they just want to see the gun.

 

[MtGomer]

It’s not a problem

 

[nettereo16]

It's no problem at all. Get your money's worth from the check bag fee!! I pull out the foam of my case and stuff it to the brim to the 50# limit. I put guns on top with the bolts out for easy inspection.

I flew last week with a bow, rifle, handgun and 4 boxes of ammo along with a bunch of other gear in my case. I follow the airline policy and TSA to a 'T'. If they give me a hard time I just show them their policy which I already have loaded on my phone. I've had great luck but you might run into someone who is lazy, stupid, and/or vindictive but hey you're just following THEIR policy.

 

[2531usmc]

I’ve flown both oversees And out west with rifles in a pelican case and never had a problem. But next year I’m flying to Alaska with a handgun. The glock will be in a small pelican case packed inside a suitcase. Does the suitcase have to be locked. I’m asking because I’ve never really seen a locking suitcase or duffel bag

 

[Deertick]

Thanks, all!

As above -- I'd like to get my money's-worth for the baggage fees, but I don't want to upset the TSA.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

I’ve flown both oversees And out west with rifles in a pelican case and never had a problem. But next year I’m flying to Alaska with a handgun. The glock will be in a small pelican case packed inside a suitcase. Does the suitcase have to be locked. I’m asking because I’ve never really seen a locking suitcase or duffel bag

The bag doesn't have to be locked, just the hard case. For me, I would still put a TSA lock on the suitcase or duffel though.

 

[shardin]

I've never had issues and I have flown with weapons many times. Although i typically load my gun case up with clothes nowadays.

 

[Silveroddo]

Its within the bounds of the rules, however last time I flew Delta out of MSP I'm pretty sure out rifle case got opened on every flight/connection. We had our knives and a few other odds and ends in with our rifles, I watched a couple cases go through and ours get singled out and searched and heard "false alarm" from the guy checking it. Not a big deal, but if they search your stuff and its jam packed in there a certain way that don't really care how it gets put back in there. The windage on mine was off about 14" after the flight, the other rifle was fine. Next time I fly I'm going to be a little gun shy about it.

 

[ODB]

No issues. At Dulles I asked the TSA person if i could be there when they closed the case to make sure everything was where I wanted it. They were totally cool with it. This was with delta.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Its within the bounds of the rules, however last time I flew Delta out of MSP I'm pretty sure out rifle case got opened on every flight/connection. We had our knives and a few other odds and ends in with our rifles, I watched a couple cases go through and ours get singled out and searched and heard "false alarm" from the guy checking it. Not a big deal, but if they search your stuff and its jam packed in there a certain way that don't really care how it gets put back in there. The windage on mine was off about 14" after the flight, the other rifle was fine. Next time I fly I'm going to be a little gun shy about it.

I have had my turrets changed too. Not sure why they do that, but it annoys the hell out of me.

 

[william schmaltz]

To the original questions, pack that sucker as full as you can to stretch the 50 lbs.. Mostly dense/heavy items. Ammo in containers, knives, range finder, etc.

As far as the locks are concerned, use two different non-TSA locks. My case has 4 places it can be locked. I put locks on two of them and unique zip ties on the other two. I typically will take a colored sharpie to a couple white zip ties for example. The zip ties act as a custody seal.

What airline you are on doesn't matter. It's TSA rules and a TSA inspection. Airlines may have their own "rules", but in the end, I've never had an airline inspect the inside contents of my case or even ask questions about it other than the standard loose ammo/explosives/matches. I guess I've only flown on maybe 4 airlines with a firearm so can't speak to them all. I've never had a gun opened past TSA, they inspect it in front of me and then I lock it up and it stays that way until I claim it. The whole point of the inspection on the front end is they can't open it past that point back where they do all the other random bag inspections. Does anyone know someone working at an airline that could say that opening a rifles case past TSA ever happens? Serious question. I've had one person that worked for TSA for nearly a decade tell me no way. But that's it so far.

 

[Northernpiker]

I flew Delta in August this year to Alaska, I had a rifle, handgun, ammo for both in clips and containers, knives, Trekking poles and Rangefinder in the case. I had 2 TSA locks on it. I had to open the case and they went through it and didn’t have a problem with anything. Make sure you can open the case easily for inspection ( my locks were combination locks). Your ammo needs to be enclosed. Clips were fine for me.