Traveling with Air Cylinders

[Guest]

I know this has been posted with links to the TargetTalk/Pilkguns website but I need to get some advice from someone who has actually been successful in traveling with an air cylinder, especially to a foreign country.

I will be attending the World Masters Games next October in Australia and need to transport my Anschutz 8002 CA with cylinder. The article posted on TargeTalk/Pilguns site indicates that the cylinder attached to the rifle is legal but a spare (loose cylinder is not). That may not be quite right becuase on the Homeland Security website it clearly states that cylinders are only legal if they are loose and can be taken apart and are able to be visually inspected (internally) to make sure there are no illegal items inside regardless of the fact that the pressure indicator is on zero. I called Homeland Security and they confirmed that was the case. Since we cannot disassemble our cylinders how do we get them to our destination?

How are the Olympic and World Cup shooters getting through security? Homeland Defense could not tell me how. Any help is appreciated. I do not want to get to the airport and told that my cylinder cannot go forward.

[Quest1]

I am afraid your at the mercy of the local TSA management of each airport. The way they explained it to me by TSA is that even though the rules state that it is legal to fly with airgun cylinders in your checked baggage. The TSA management can give each TSA agent the power to say yah or nay as to whether they will allow air cylinders onto the plane. The NRA held an air rifle camp, I believe in Vermont, a few years back and when the participants from that camp tried to fly out they were told that they would not be allowed to fly out with there cylinders.

The participants were told that they either had to throw their cylinders away or mail them home, so they all had to find people who where driving home or find a local FedEx or UPS delivery shop. Don't waste your time going to a UPS store if your planning on shipping the gun because they will not ship guns only their UPS centers will ship guns. For some odd reason they told me that they aren't allowed to ship guns. You can ship just the cylinders like many people are doing.

We have been traveling every year from most of the major airports every year and in general we haven't had any problem flying with the cylinders. When I was attending the Junior Olympics this spring one of the USA Shooting people told me that TSA was discussing banning all airgun cylinders. As a preventive measure it might be good to contact your representative to head off any effort in that direction.

[jrmcdaniel]

You have the "law" (actually, regulations). The "practice" is that if one declares they have a gun (not airgun, not pellet gun, etc -- just a "gun") and the cylinder is attached and appears to be an integral part of the gun, then you can get through airline security and TSA seems to accept the airline inspection and declaration of "not loaded." Having a second unattached cylinder is a red flag and I would be wary of trying to fly with an extra cylinder.

For my gun, I can remove the quick fill adapter (replaced the pressure guage) of my Steyr LG100 and be TSA-legal. In practice, I carry a wrench just-in-case but have (so far, fingers-crossed) not had to open the cylinder.

If you want to be perfectly safe, ship the gun to your destination. Even that can be a hassle as FedEx needs to know that this is not a firearm (or you need to have a FFL). I shipped an AirArms TX200 a few days ago via FedEx and they wanted me to open the breech (which one cannot do without then firing the gun). My gray hair seems to be an advantage and with an explanation of the limitations of my being able to prove that this is not a firearm, the shipment went through successfully. The bottom line is that FedEx will accept non-firearms but you may have a bit of a hassle.

Best,

Joe

[B&S]

We ave always just told the inspectors at the baggage that there are 2 rifles in the case and have them in a cotton sleeves and when they want to see if the rifle is empty we just pull the sleeves back far enough from the butt to open the action and thats all they see. never been asked about air guns or cylinders.

[Bill177]

Additionally, with the Olympics coming in a few days - there should be interesting experiences.

Sadly, when dealing with TSA, there is little consistency from airport to airport and even agent to agent. There is no sense trying to fight them - they are the government and they will win.

Hope there will be informative posting about this subject.