How do you travel with your firearm?

[oaharoni]

I am going on my first trip with my pistol, and as I am sure many of you have traveled with your firearm in the past, was wondering how you do it. Can I just put my HK in the carrier case I bought it in and put that in my suitcase? Or have you found that getting something like a nanovault is better? I understand that as long as the ammo I bought is in the original packing, I can just put that in my suitcase as well.
Thanks!

[jslaker]

There was some discussion about cases for flying in this thread a while back:

http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...37-custom-case

[oaharoni]

Thanks commander

[JDM]

Funny this comes up. I just flew into Phoenix this morning.

Holster and mag carrier in bag.

Tac light gets carried on.

Everything else as follows:









I put these on in addition to the locks built into the case.


And how it gets checked:



I've used this exact setup for many years. Never a problem.

The initial investment was more than just using the factory case, but this is much more secure, and ummm, much cooler.

As an aside, the foam was originally cut (plucked) for a S&W 1076, but it fits my M&P perfectly.

[Super J]

As a extra step to avoid any issues with a desk agent that does not know the regs, go to the airline website and print off the instructions/procedure for checking in a firearm.

[skyugo]

thought the ammo had to be seperate...

[ToddG]

Most airlines require the ammunition to be in a separate container, nonetheless. I normally fly with my pistols in a small pelican case secured with two non-TSA padlocks. That case and my range bag (which has all the ammo boxes) then go inside a large wheeled duffle which is itself locked with one of those small TSA-universal units.

[ToddG]

Same case meaning inside the locked hard-sided container?

[Shellback]

I'm not recommending it but I've flown multiple times on Southwest and have never had an issue having loaded magazines in my locked case. No magazine in the pistol, and it's been cleared, but 2 full mags in the locked case along with pocket knife and no issues to date.

[seabiscuit]

You can put ammo in mags, as long as it's completely covered.

From the TSA website excerpt above: You can't use firearm magazines/clips for packing ammunition unless they completely and securely enclose the ammunition (e.g., by securely covering the exposed portions of the magazine or by securely placing the magazine in a pouch, holder, holster or lanyard).

So what I'll probably do is slide a full mag into my mag pouch, and an empty one in the pistol.