I just flew back in yesterday. I have been away, training some good guys who are in a tough situation and needed some help. I traveled with a couple Glocks.
Prior to flight, I went to the airlines website and printed off the instructions for putting weapons in checked bags. They had the hard side case requirements, locks, etc all on the website in very easy to follow format. I kept a copy of their rules with me when I went to the airport. I gave myself an hour extra since I have zero faith in TSA.
I literally had the airlines rules in hand and showed the person checking that I went down the very short list. The person looked at me, with my papers in hand and said " good enough for me". Then slipped his paperwork in the case and closed it. Never asked me to show the weapons clear.
Appearance is everything. If you look like you are 100% compliant and don't look like you are trying to pull a fast one, chances of problems are greatly reduced. I was done, start to finish in maybe 5-7 minutes.
Regular TSA screening to get to the gate takes longer.
