Originally posted by WalterMitty:
Call your chosen airline for specifics. They are usually quite helpful about it.
They then usually put a STEAL ME!! tag (unloaded firearm tag) on the bag and send it down the chute.
I recommend a sturdy, hard sided bag that can be locked and a roll of duct tape to secure the bag after it is checked. You will also probably want insurance.
There is nothing in the regs that says the steal me tag has to go on the outside. What a lot of pro shooters do is have a small lockable case for the gun. The steal me tag goes on that, and then the small case goes inside your big suitcase. WalterMitty is correct the ammo must be in a different bag. Some airlines are OK with the hard plastic cases. Some want the ammo in the original boxes. Call ahead as suggested to determine what is best.
Definitely use a hard shell as was mentioned earlier and tape it up after you lock the outer case. A couple of loops around the whole bag making sure to cover the locks is best. A guy I know bought one of those old funky colored Samsonite's at a yard sale. All the hardware was in good shape but the finish was rough. The thing is so sorry looking it would never occur to anyone there is anything in there worth stealing.
Again calling ahead will help. You should take down the name of the person you talked to, and plan on getting to the airport earlier than usual to have plenty of time for all the red tape.
Like anything else experience helps. You may have to talk to a manager and walk them through the process if they have never dealt with it before. This is where having the name of the person you talked to helps. It also doesn't hurt to have a copy of the regs to refer to, but that may be overkill.
Since 9/11 they will be more cautious than ever. Exercise patience and good judgement. Coordinate with the airline through the whole process and you should be fine.
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