Airline ammo woes

[Richard Flanders]

I was checking into United Airlines yesterday in Detroit. I had 28# of a grand mixture of 10, 12, and 20 ga paper shells that I had collected at the Novi show over the past two years. I had no venison to bring home this year so decided to bring the ammo back. The "lady" behind the counter was taping my cooler up and asked what was in it so I told her just stuff and some ammo... she stood up quickly and asked "how much" to which I said, I don't know. She asked if it was over 11# and I said I hadn't weighed it.... big mistake.... B I G mistake. She made me get it all out of the cooler and weigh then, all proud of herself for doing such a thorough job, made me pare it down to 11#(save for the one box of old 10's under some clothing). Sadly, since there was no option for me, they confiscated and disposed of about 14# of nice old paper ammo. I was ready to bite someone's(guess who's)head off and was livid for the rest of the day. Sure ruined my day. I only lost one gorgeous old box of 10's that I had traded off Destry; the rest was mostly 12 and 20, some of which wouldn't even go off.... but the 10's....what a sad loss. I never should have told her what was in there and learned a valuable lesson, which I'm sure you all can take a guess at. I can't imagine who the pinhead bean counter was that came up with the 11# number. A tragic loss. So... be careful when checking ammo into the airlines. I had 45# when I came south and no one ever asked how much and TSA could care less because it's an airline rule not a TSA rule. They just check for proper packaging, which all mine had. I'm gonna be peeved about this for some time and feel like a criminal for causing the destruction of such valuable history. I think I'm the biggest moron of all in this event and feel like holding a wake...

[Dean Romig]

By the stroke of the pen they turn us all into criminals . . .

How sad.

[Rod N. Gunn]

Sorry about that Rich. I've stopped flying with ammo, it just creates all kinds of problems. Its gotten hard enough to fly with guns. I had some 23-year old woman "checking" to see if my .30-06 was unloaded the other day, she didn't even know how to open the bolt.

[Don Kaas]

5 kilos of small arms ammunition has been the accepted international and domestic rule for many years. It must also be in manufacturers or similar containers. I've traveled with more (a bit more) many, many times but this time Richard pushed the envelope a bit too far.

[Trigg Davis]

Rich,

I am sorry to you had that experience. United's definiton of "the freindly skies" must not refer to ammmunition. I have worried about that 11 pound limit because I kowa lot of airlines have it.

Dave,

I had an experience a little like yours where a young woman told me I could bring the shotguns, but that I had to remove the firing pins which is not something I was in a postiiton to do in the check in line.

I think I convinced her that rule did not apply to shotguns but for a moment I was concerned.

Trigg

[AmarilloMike]

Originally Posted by Dave Fuller

I had some 23-year old woman "checking" to see if my .30-06 was unloaded the other day, she didn't even know how to open the bolt.

I had a middle age TSA lady check my gun here in Amarillo. She opened up the case, looked at the old double, and asked "Where do the bullets go?"
Boy do I feel safer.

Best,

Mike

[Richard Flanders]

Don: thanks for the info on the 5kilo limit being the standard. I had not heard that number before and was going to research it but no need now thanks to you. I'm sure they gave a one-eyed chimp with cataracts a dart and spun a target with numbers on it and had him throw the dart to get that number....

The TSA genius who looked at my two Parkers in a double case opened it and looked at the rubber banded bundle of rooster tail feathers and said, "what are these?".... I felt so much safer! He had NO IDEA what he was looking at. Both butts and both barrels were in socks. He just fingered things and obviously had no clue what he was looking at. He loosened straps and didn't fasten anything back up tight enough. I had to re-do everything he touched before I could close or I would have had a scrambled mess at this end. What a joke. You'd think that TSA would at least give a bit of training on the various types of guns. I have nothing but good things to say about the Ziegel Engineering case I borrowed from Trigg. They beat the snot out of the corners and dent it mightily but I've not seen a damaged gun part inside yet. This is the 6.25"x9.25"x34" clamshell type case that holds two butts, 2 S/S bbls and 1 O/U bbl or an additional small ga S/S bbl. I put cleaning stuff, snap caps, oil and grease bottles, swab, brush, and patches and such in the O/U slot. There's a good thick divider between where the butts and the bbls go that prevents them from contacting each other. It's most definitely the best aluminum case I have seen... MUCH better than the flat style case I got from Cabelas.. M U C H with a capital M. The interior is lined with tacky looking synthetic carpet like material but it all seems to work well if you put every piece in a good guns sock. I am going to get one this winter for sure. I got my 2-bbls set 28 Repro and my 10ga in it for the Canada trip with Trigg. With two doubles in it + the accessories, it weighs just under 30# which is much better than a Tuffpak which would weigh over 40# with all that in it. I'd highly recommend these Ziegels for anyone looking for a good travelling case. They have a good website.

[Brian Dillard]

I traveled to Scotland last month for a 10 day Stag hunt with my .300 WIN Mag. TSA in Denver opened the case, touched the stock, closed the case then x-ray'd the whole thing. Upon the x-ray they re-opened the case to see a small bottle of cleaning oil (hello, it rains alot there)...the early 20's technician promptly grabed it with a gloved hand and threw it into a box marked "Hazerdous Materials"!!

[Kevin McCormack]

Amazing! The variation in counter service and TSA attention to detail across this nation is nothing short of a patchwork quilt of knowhow and attention to jog details. We just returned from 4 days in Texas quail shooting. At BWI airport in Baltimore, the young guy at the Southwest Airlines counter spied our guncases, handed the 4 of us firearms declaration cards to fill out and insert in the cases, then asked us to lock them as he watched. Never inspected the guns but did look for ammo in the cases (a BIG no-no), then told us to hang out in case the TSA boys/girls needed for us to unlock a case for some reason. Never happened.

At Oklahoma City, guncases came up on the baggage carousel like all other luggage. On our return flight, same quick and efficient weapons check and registry card fillout. When we got back to BWI, baggage but no guncases on the carousel. We had to go to the baggage "Special Handling" area, show picture ID and baggage claim stubs. I have noticed this phenomenon for years (e.g., taking guns to the Vegas show) - going West, piece of cake; going East, they are suddenly deadly weapons again. What gives?

[Bruce Day]

This is gun country out here. Its normal. I even hear that back there, some politicians are against guns.