Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa News from RSA and the logistics of travel

JJ,

Thanks for taking the time to provide a plethora of relevant information and your personal insight. Having returned from my first RSA safari, I found everything to be spot on. Delta was effortless. Since I left from Boise, I found that piece of travel issue-free. I almost thought they were going to make me ship my ammo back in a separate container, but that turned out to be a non-issue as well. Atlanta as you mention is cluster and a half. Damn near missed my other flights due to the slow, constipated process, mostly with the firearms. I was curious what DHS does when they check your firearm serial # and 4457 in their computer - any idea?

I used Henry's Rifles for my permit paperwork and had no issues. They as well as the Safari company met us in the general reception area of the airport and brought us to the SAP office; so good service, just not quite the same level.

I heard very similar stories about the price of live animals, the breeding, and the colorations. I did get to see black impalas. My safari company was running something of a fire sale (price reduction) on sables. Don't remember the back story there.

As history has proven over and over, we should never pass opportunities and we're currently living in what we will view as "the good old days."

Last time I traveled to Africa through Atlanta was 2011 and on the return I asked the customs guy that very question. He told me they were running the guns through their national data base of stolen guns. I then asked if anyone was dumb enough to travel abroad with a stolen gun. He told me they have found a few, but it was always the case of someone buying a used gun and were unaware of the fact that it had been stolen at some point. He also told that the guns are immediately confiscated if they're on the list.

Thanks Labman. Seems like it would make more sense to run the serial number on the front end when you get the 4457. But that would require some common sense. 😱

I just returned via JFK. I was pleasantly surprised that it was much easier than Atlanta. I also like the better flight times. There were fewer hunters on the aircraft so SAPS was quicker on arrival at JNB.
Arrival and departure at Windhoek was much easier than JNB.
British Air, Seattle, London, JNB was the best of all, but British Air has gotten too expensive.

A few years ago, I hunted in New Zealand with a rifle built on a pre-64 M70 action, that had been originally a .220 Swift, and rebarrelled to .280 Rem.
We arrived back to the US at LAX, where a Customs agent looked at the 4457, then stared at his computer for a half hour. I finally asked him what the problem was. He told me the barrel stamp didn't match the info in his database. I explained to him that the action had been rebarrelled- an option he apparently had never dealt with.
As a result of this delay, we missed our flight to Denver, and had to re-book. Taking a rifle rebarrelled to another caliber abroad may be something to consider- I certainly won't do it in the future.

In some countries the barrel is considered the "gun" not the action as in America.

I have had my action serial number stamped on the barrel too. This has been a surprise to several people when checking in for permits.