Having flown SW, and checked a pistol, I can speak to what you are doing, and tell you it'll be different for you than it was for me. Heck, what happened on the way there was different than what happened on the way back. In any case, I will tell you the consistencies of what happened with me.
The pistol had to be in a hard sided case, with no ammo in the case. The magazines must be unloaded. I ready that there is a magazine container that you can purchase, but when I asked about it I was told they weren't given the go ahead to approve any loaded magazines. The locks for the case could NOT be TSA locks. I knew this going in so I didn't have TSA locks, but it was reiterated at both check-in's. The ammo should be in a factory package for transportation and, again, should not be in the same case as the pistol.
In both instances I showed up early, as I customarily do, and in both instances I was told to show my pistol was unloaded. After showing my pistol (they never touched it) I was given a paper to put INSIDE the case and told to lock it in front of them. There were some other nuances that I had to deal with in VA, but I think it was more of an am I doing this right thing on behalf of the ticket agent. After locking the case, I was told to put the case in my checked bag and asked to show any ammunition I might have. They had me open the ammo box, and then told me to re-pack it. After that they checked the bag and told me to wait by the counter (15 minutes for OK and 20-30 minutes for VA) in case a screener needed to talk to me. In neither case did a screener need to talk to me, and the rest was smooth sailing.
In my opinion, a lot of people get nervous over nothing with regards to checking a gun.
On a side note, I have seen people take large trunks with everything in them so they can use the non-tsa approved lock to secure everything, but I don't see how that jives with not having the ammo in the same container.
The pistol had to be in a hard sided case, with no ammo in the case. The magazines must be unloaded. I ready that there is a magazine container that you can purchase, but when I asked about it I was told they weren't given the go ahead to approve any loaded magazines. The locks for the case could NOT be TSA locks. I knew this going in so I didn't have TSA locks, but it was reiterated at both check-in's. The ammo should be in a factory package for transportation and, again, should not be in the same case as the pistol.
In both instances I showed up early, as I customarily do, and in both instances I was told to show my pistol was unloaded. After showing my pistol (they never touched it) I was given a paper to put INSIDE the case and told to lock it in front of them. There were some other nuances that I had to deal with in VA, but I think it was more of an am I doing this right thing on behalf of the ticket agent. After locking the case, I was told to put the case in my checked bag and asked to show any ammunition I might have. They had me open the ammo box, and then told me to re-pack it. After that they checked the bag and told me to wait by the counter (15 minutes for OK and 20-30 minutes for VA) in case a screener needed to talk to me. In neither case did a screener need to talk to me, and the rest was smooth sailing.
In my opinion, a lot of people get nervous over nothing with regards to checking a gun.
On a side note, I have seen people take large trunks with everything in them so they can use the non-tsa approved lock to secure everything, but I don't see how that jives with not having the ammo in the same container.
