Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best gun case under the 62 inch airline reg?

I just spent an hour surfing the net trying to find a good guncase that measures under the 62 inch max for airline travel (without paying the penalty). Some people do not realize that depending on the airlines, you can be charged $175 each way for your oversize gun case!

I currently have a double scoped rifle case but it is way over 62 inches. It's hard to find a single scoped rifle case under 62 inches total inches (l+w+d). It looks like it can be done by buying a shotgun takedown case and unscrewing the barreled action from the stock - not my first choice. In fact there are a couple of cases that come close to having enough room for 2 scoped rifles broken down - but they look to be an inch or two shy on the width. My preference is a single scoped rifle under 62 inches that does not require removing the stock.

I am looking for aluminum or one of the better plastic models and not a cheap one. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

Take a look at the SKB cases. A lot of the aluminum cases I've had experience with are very heavy and not what I want to hump from one end of an airport to other end. Then you can check in on the TSA lock or not thread. SKB's (at least mine) come with TSA locks, but the fix is simple and described on the opening page of their website. Good luck.

My 2000 Toyota Tundra works really well.

If you really must fly find a way to break your long gun down to two shorter parts, and go with a smaller non-gun case.

jim

Good luck finding one under 62" in length + width + height. I just measured my SKB Model 4900 single rifle case and it's 49 + 10 + 4 1/2 (63 1/2).

IIRC, info was posted on a previous thread that gun cases, like other sporting equipment (golf clubs, skis, etc) are not held to the 62" limit.

I think you'll find very few airlines that do not ding you for a gun case over 62 inches. Many of them say it is OK to check "sporting equipment" including firearms but if you exceed the 62 inches the penalty fees apply.

+1 on what Slammer said. My Storm double runs about 77" and last year when I went up to Alaska via both Alaska and Delta airlines no one said a thing about the over size issue. I checked that case at least 4 times too. I had the weight to within 8 oz under the 50 lb max.

Alan

I've never had an issue with a rifle case...........

These are decent & are well under 62".

MM


Kaliispell Gun Cases

All six of those rifle case dimensions exceed 62" the way I add it up...
Aren't we talking about adding length plus width plus depth?

Was referring just to the length.

Use 'em all the time..........never a problem & never had an airline person lay a tape on one to measure it either.

Guess it might be a problem with some of the really boxey multiple gun cases, but not these.

JME

MM

From the sound of it, it doesn't really matter anyway...no one's said they actually had to pay extra for one totalling more than 62 inches.

From Delta Airlines website:


Doesn't look to me that the size of the case matters, just the number of guns within it.

When this subject came up on the previous thread I related the experience a bunch of us had with a Delota agent in Atlanta when we were headed to Africa. He claimed we each had to pay the extra fee, and after arguing with him for a few minutes I said get your supervisor. She immediately told him the regulation about sporting equipment and we went on our merry way.

The only time I have been charged for a gun case in over 20 years of lots of travel has been recently, when most airlines started charging for each piece of checked luggage. But it was the same fee as for a duffle bag, maybe $25.

Thank you, Bwana Barsness.

MD- Though I haven't flown nearly as much with rifles as you have, that has been my experience as well. Flying out of Salt Lake City regularly, it doesn't take too many visits during the winter months to notice that sporting goods (ie skis) that measure more than 62" are getting charged more.