Anyone fly with firearms lately? Experiences to share?

[cmshoot]

No problems with Delta.

Used a small Pelican case with a padlock.

Declared it at baggage claim. They asked to see the locked case, to make sure it was locked and such. I placed my ammunition in the locked case with the firearm.

They’ve never asked me to open it, or what exactly was inside.

 

[hozjo]

The last time I flew with one a few years back, I went to Biloxi, so I'm not as concerned about having my bag tampered with. If I were flying into New Orleans, I'd be a little more tentative.

Bags with firearms are the only ones they actually track and don't **** with. Used to be an old trick of throwing a starter pistol in your bag and declaring it to make sure they didn't lose it / steal from it. It's also the only way you can put a real lock on a bag if you have 10's of thousands of dollars of photography equipment, electronics etc.

 

[atltrader]

Thought I'd provide one last update regarding my experience flying with my firearm since I wrapped up my trip over the weekend. The whole process was much more streamlined and very efficient flying with Delta than I first anticipated. As others have already stated, it's always a good idea to read the airlines website and TSA site to make sure they haven't changed the process before you fly and make sure the destination you fly to won't cause any complications upon your arrival.

So, I checked my hard sided case (Pelican 1510 for those curious) in at the Delta service desk telling them I had an "unloaded firearm to declare". The Delta agent asked for me to open the case to take a peak to make sure a firearm was inside. I took the extra step of putting a cheap pistol lock through the magazine well with the slide pulled back just to provide extra assurance that the firearm could not easily be operable at any point while in transit. They then gave me an orange firearms declaration card to sign which went in my case. Additionally, I decided to have my magazines unloaded and store the ammo in the factory box. I've heard varying opinions with some saying they keep the mags loaded vs not loaded, but for me I decided to play it safe and store the ammo in the factory box.

At that point, they have you walk the case over to the TSA oversize baggage screening room (which is all of twenty feet away from the Delta check-in desk) where they put it through their X-ray machine and they give you the all clear from that point if everything is fine. The one thing I did not do was put my (non TSA) locks back into the the locked position in case I needed to open the case one more time for them to inspect before it went through the X-ray machine. I was told that in the future, the case should be locked before I bring it over to them that way there is no question that the case might have been tampered with between the check-in desk and their screening room. I guess it's just standard procedure according to the TSA agent I encountered.

I waited about 10 minutes before I went through the TSA lines just in case I might be called back for any reason that way I could address the issue if one were to pop up right there on the spot. All was good though, as my case and firearm arrived to and from my destination without incident.

*** Two extra tips I picked up from watching some Youtube videos before I flew was to put in a Tile tracker (Apple Air Tag) in the case that I could link to my phone in the event my case/firearm might be "lost or stolen" and also to buy a set of locks that were compact enough where if the clasps of the case were to be opened even with the lock in place, the lid could not be opened those few extra inches for a hand to reach in and pull the firearm out. The locks I originally had would of allowed for that to happen if someone really wanted to get in. Food for thought there.