TargetTalk

Any advice from experienced folks on flying with air guns? Considering WAG, and this would be the first time flying with an air gun.
Thanks!

WAG should be a good outing. Make sure you have a hard case (with wheels) that you can throw multiple locks on. Keep the pellets in a separate bag (but don’t try to carry on). Colorado Springs does not allow outbound air cylinders without a waiver from the OTC (make sure the cylinder is empty while flying), but Denver does. You can request the waiver in advance. You can also ship your cylinder, but we’re partial to being as close to our equipment as possible. Not sure how heavy your gear bag is, but if weight becomes an issue, try to carry some of your gear in a carry on, if you can, to avoid extra costs. Southwest is the cheapest option for us (Chicago) which helps, but direct flights are limited. Protocol for airport inspection has changed from year to year and airport to airport. Last trip, no TSA inspection, checking agent did the case inspection. Had to validate the ammo was in original boxes (SMB trip), but didn’t need to see it. Read up on flying with firearm rules to be prepared

Made a mistake traveling to WAG last time of keeping pellets in my carry on - TSA had fun and called a cop on me ;) Poor cop had to explain them that pellets are not the same as bullets, but TSA still forced me to check them in anyways. Almost missed my flight even though allotted for an additional 45 minutes to go through the baggage check and security point.

I worked at Oakland International Airport (FAA) for the last 18 years of my career.
When Homeland Security was established the TSA came with them.
Almost to a man (and woman), all of the TSA agents at Oakland had a criminal background.

This is about flying from Germany with an air rifle, so it doesn't really apply to the OP's question, but I wish this information had been posted (where I could find it!) when I was planning my the trip and hopefully it can help others. The air rifle was a 10m match pcp, so it was marked with an F inside a pentagram, indicating that its muzzle energy is less than 7.5 joules and is free from ownership restrictions. I called the airline to notify them a few weeks ahead of time and reminded them that I had an air rifle in my suitcase when I checked in at the Munich airport. The airline attendant then called the airport police to inspect the rifle, and when they saw that it was marked with an F, they said everything was ok. I just needed to lock the case and keep the key. Pellets were packed in a separate suitcase. When I came to the US, there were no further checks and I just picked up my suitcase at my final destination. I looked into shipping the air rifle directly to the US and no shipper (DHL, UPS, etc) in Germany would take it.

A lot of good advise.. Though - still a lot of gaps. It would be nice if somebody could describe this step-by-step (at least for US-US flights)