Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Bring Extra Locks!!

Just returned from nine days with Kowas Adventure Safaris in Namibia. Great safari, excellent operation. I will post some info on the trip later.

I just wanted to quickly advise everyone to bring extra locks for your gun case. I am sitting in the ATL airport waiting for my connection and I've just cleared customs. When I went to retrieve my case at US customs for their inspection, one lock had been cut off, and the other metal lock housing on my Pelican 1750 had been broken off on one side and the lock left on the other. The Pelican is pretty much bombproof so I do not believe this was unintentional.

My flight took me from Windhoek on Air Namibia to Frankfurt where I connected on Delta to ATL. I followed all the procedures in WDH with Air Namibia and the Namibian Police. I placed the gun case after the police inspection on the conveyor myself. I don't think the problem was in Namibia.

Even though Delta and Air Namibia have an interline baggage agreement and I never took possession of my guns in Frankfurt, I complied with the new interpretation of the German gun laws and received a transit gun permit several months ago. I had all flight information for the trip over and the trip back documented on the permit. I declared with the Delta people in Frankfurt that I had firearms with my luggage and they even went and found it and retagged the gun case with a Delta tag even though Air Namibia had checked it all the way to my home airport in the US.

I am guessing that the case was opened in Germany by their customs/police.

I included two extra locks in the case with a note for customs with the combination of the replacement locks (which is different than the primary ones) and a request to put the new locks on if my case was forcefully opened. They did not bother to do that.

So basically when I went to get my guns in ATL the case was completely unsecured. I guess the only good thing was that they cut one lock off and busted the housing on another which would have enabled me to at least lock one side of the case when I got back to the US.

I had zero issues on the way over.

Luckily I was able to resecure the case in front of the customs officer in ATL. As an aside, the TSA in my home town, the Namibian police both coming and going, and the customs personnel in ATL were VERY courteous and professional. The ATL customs official was actually concerned that my guns could have been damaged or stolen and promised me there would be no reason for our customs to open the case prematurely.

I considered using TSA locks but read several threads that this is not a good idea. Do any of you have any experience with this?

This was just a small bump in the road during an otherwise excellent trip, but I thought I should get the word out. Bring extra locks!!

Timeoff2fish

I had the same thing happen to me, although it was done by "local security" at SFO. Had my guns TSA inspected and locked, but when I retrieved the guns in Amsterdam on the way to Tanz, both locks had been cut off. This could only have happened in San Francisco, as the guns beat me to the baggage carousel in Amsterdam. So extra locks really come in handy. On a previous trip, I had the locks cut off by customs in Amsterdam while they were in storage, but at least the folks there did put the extra locks on.

yep, that will teach y'all to fly with guns through Europe.

That is really troubling that they cut the locks and then didn't even replace them. I always have put an extra set of locks in my
case with a note but had never thought that someone wouldn't bother locking a case back up!

Why should airport or customs replace the locks, it's not their job. It's not their job either to lock the case back up either. Each time I've gone on international trips with firearms I've transferred the firearms myself and taken them through security and customs. I also take direct flights whenever possible. I also obtain import permits in advance. Never have any problems.

Well aren't you special.

Guess it's time for another slice of chocolate cake to enjoy the way this is unfolding!

What is the purpose of locking the case in the first place, Ed?

As a fifteen year airline pilot, I can tell you that unsecured weapons inside the airport SIDA is not only a bad idea it is also a major federal offense. Try putting a gun through the x-ray machine next time you fly and see what happens. Once my locks were broken off it IS the responsibility of the officer to either resecure the weapons or not allow them to continue.

I don't want unlocked guns near my airplane and as a passenger neither do you.

The stupidity in the whole affair was that after breaking my case and cutting my lock, the guns traveled through the international system unsecured and accessible which is exactly what all the security procedures are attempting to prevent.

I had all the necessary permits for Namibia and Germany and the guns were inspected, cleared, and checked through to my final destination by the Namibian National Police in Windhoek. I was not able to access my guns in Germany.

I was trying to get the word out to fellow hunters. If you would like to continue with your rant please feel free.

I'd love unlocked guns in my airplane. Would make folks a lot safer.

If you have a CHL then why not on a plane?

Seems pretty simple to me.

Of course I don't even fly to AK with a gun without extra locks for the case and extra TSA locks for the luggage also. Just makes sense.

A few years back, on the way to a Newfoundland hunt, I had the misfortune of transitting through JFK in New York. The boys there must have just gotten a brand new set of bolt cutters, because they ravaged both my duffel and my gun case. They not only cut the gun case locks, they worked over the long connecting rod that they could have simply slid out. The scraps were thrown into the gun case, which finally arrived a day late, with the usual "Tough Luck!" notice.

Of course, I had to buy new locks in Gander in order to get my grip back home. On return to Dallas, I showed TSA the damage; the guys there laughed and said I was free to fill out a complaint. They'd be sure and put my form in the big pile with all the others. Nowadays, I pack extra locks: TSA in the duffel, standard locks in the gun case.

I've had stuff delayed in San Jose and was once stripped down to my boxers in Santa Barbara. And recently, in SeaTac, we had to reclaim our gun cases and then re-check them in order to go on to Alaska. It is so arbitrary, no one knows the rules, and you're at the complete mercy of whomever is on duty at the time.

But generally, I've had more trouble here in the U.S. than overseas. And.....I'll drive two days just to avoid a two-hour flight.

RE: extra locks.

Excellent advice, all.

I had two different apparently well made combo locks get hid hard enough in transit to the point where they failed to open. Once was departing Joberg to Zim and another was returning to Atlanta on that same trip. The offending locks had to be cut off in both instances so the rifles could be inspected.

Without extra locks along, I would have been SOL.

The whole world is a police state.

How about bagels? Are there plenty of them?

I got a 4 pack of keyed alike locks at Ace hardware. Two on the Pelican 1750 case (450 double and 416 bolt gun) and the two extra inside "just in case". All was well but I slept better knowing they were there!

I got a 4 pack of keyed alike locks at Ace hardware. Two on the Pelican 1750 case (450 double and 416 bolt gun) and the two extra inside "just in case". All was well but I slept better knowing they were there!

I see that you believe in being double sure.

I'm no locksmith, but I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night and the keyed locks seemed to be able to withstand airline abuse better than the combination locks. You can't lose a combination (as you can a key), but as stated, I've had to have jammed combo locks cut off a few times, so I'm a convert to keyed locks.

I'd like to try a Pelican 1750 for my .416 and .470 on next year's safari, but have been told they are quite heavy. JCS271, how much does your pelican weigh with both rifles? Have you had any weight issues traveling to Africa using the Pelican?

I've always used a Master key lock on my Kalispel all aluminum case and have never had a problem. Seems they aren't in such a hurry to cut one of those off.

I do have a buddy who puts a bunch of guitar stickers on his case and it seems to draw less attention.









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I have been very impressed with this case, 2 trips to RSA and once to Zim and it has performed flawlessly. The case with my 450 double (10lbs 14oz) and my scoped 416 ruger alaskan (unk weight) and a canvas case for each was well under weight. Sorry, but I'll have to check my hunt journal for exact weights.