TSA does not allow the locks to be accessed by them, you only!!!
When you get there to check in, declare that you have a firearm and you'll be escorted to another area where TSA will send your case thru a scanner to look it over, they will not open it. Once they've ok'd it they'll give you a label that YOU will place inside the case. They take the case from you and you'll pick it up from baggage claim at your destination
You can put the ammo inside the case with the gun but it can't be loaded in the gun.....duh
Huntinut
Huntinut:
I've flown with a rifle every year for the last four years and I've had a different experience than you. Yes you have to declare the firearm at the ticket counter. Yes a standard Master padlock or similar is the best type of lock. Yes TSA escorted me to a separate screened area where they had me open the case and they checked for nitrates with their little pads. They probed the foam but did not touch the rifle, they can't. They did not put the rifle case through a scanner, maybe because it's aluminum. Then I locked the case and I kept the key. TSA took care of the rifle after that. At the destination, the rifle is delivered at a separate location near but not part of the baggage carousel.
KC
