Lost Firearms

Hey guys! As my earlier post in the greetings section stated, I'm a newbie planning my first Safari and was wondering what problems people had with their rifles getting lost or stolen traveling to and from their Safari. I will be taking a double rifle and concerned about this. If any of you " veteran" safari guys can give me some pointers..I would appreciate this. Thanks.

Welcome to AH,

In most cases, the lost baggages will be found and returned with in three to four days. They were just miss-connected.

My best suggestion is: if you have to spend a night on transit, you Must bring all baggages with you to you room. NEVER check through to final destination if you spend overnight. Otherwise 99% you will not get them once you arrive at the final destination.

Goog luck.

Stan

Stolen?? No
Failure to get them on the same flights. Sure.
Delays and weak excuses lots of that.

From the USA you will likely end up in Joburg.
If the firearm is on the plane you will see it at the SAPS office.

If I had a expensive gun, I'd insure it. Yes, it could be stolen or lost. Anything of value can go missing.

Heym88,

There is always the chance of a loss, damaged, or stolen rifle while traveling, although it does not happen often.

Airline insurance covers little and most travel insurances are not much better when it comes to firearms.

Assuming you have a Heym88 it would cost at least $17,000 to replace it.

A good option is Core Vens insurance. Their policy covers your firearms year round including travel and for most losses.

Core-Vens Insurance

Use a good case like Storm or Pelican with the rifle broken down to minimize the possibility of damage.

Lock it with Master locks everyplace you can.

+1 what mike said I use USAA to insure my high end rifles costs a few dollars a month well worth the piece of mind.

Originally Posted by BARTFRNCS

+1 what mike said I use USAA to insure my high end rifles costs a few dollars a month well worth the piece of mind.

High end rifles??? Thought you carried a Mossberg ATR 30-06 on your last trip?????

Not anywhere would I take such an expensive hard kicking rifle! I Shoot everything with a cricket in 17 HMR.

attaaboy....

Thanks...at least I'll drive to Atlanta and gun should be on plane straight flight to jo burg.

Morning Heym 88,
When a firearm is carried on board it is mentioned on the NOTOC (notification to captain) which is presented to the captain as part of the stack of paperwork before the doors close .
No objections to approach the flightdeckcrew at the gate ,introduce yourself and give them your businesscard, and ask if they have the time to check if your goods are on board.
100% chance that you will have your answer before the door closes and you can sit back and relax and start dreaming of the trip ahead of you.
Reason for me being so sure is that in between hunting trips I fly a 747 for KLM to pay for all those trips.
When I spot sporting guns on the NOTOC I always go and have a chat with the owner to check out their exciting plans on the way down or their
great stories on their way back home.

Have a good safari( or a great one if you fly wiyh KLM)

Originally Posted by bwana ndege

Morning Heym 88,
When a firearm is carried on board it is mentioned on the NOTOC (notification to captain) which is presented to the captain as part of the stack of paperwork before the doors close .
No objections to approach the flightdeckcrew at the gate ,introduce yourself and give them your businesscard, and ask if they have the time to check if your goods are on board.
100% chance that you will have your answer before the door closes and you can sit back and relax and start dreaming of the trip ahead of you.
Reason for me being so sure is that in between hunting trips I fly a 747 for KLM to pay for all those trips.
When I spot sporting guns on the NOTOC I always go and have a chat with the owner to check out their exciting plans on the way down or their
great stories on their way back home.

Have a good safari( or a great one if you fly wiyh KLM)

figured you were some sort of pilot with that username

Originally Posted by spike.t

figured you were some sort of pilot with that username

..basically means 'Mr. Bird' in Swahili, if my memory serves me still..

Originally Posted by DOCMAN

..basically means 'Mr. Bird' in Swahili, if my memory serves me still..

yup your memory is still serving you even in your later years

The first thing you do is get good travel/gun insurance to cover the loss if it is stolen or lost. The PH will have a number of firearms you can use if it is lost, good insurance will cover the cost of rental firearms to replace yours.

Second, check the baggage ticket at the ticket counter when you turn it over to the airline counter agents to insure the anti-hunting ticket agent didn't send it to Antarctica. This is what happened to a friend of mine departing from ultra-liberal Seattle. They found his gun two days before he was set to return to Seattle.

With that done, relax and enjoy the trip and the hunt. There are things you can control and things you can't control. If you are going to be worried about what might happen to the gun to the point of degrading your hunt, I wouldn't take it.

And be prepared for your life to change, Africa is going to change it. Best wishes on a good hunt and safe trip. Looking forward to your report and PHOTOS.

Originally Posted by Upton O. Good

..........

Second, check the baggage ticket at the ticket counter when you turn it over to the airline counter agents to insure the anti-hunting ticket agent didn't send it to Antarctica. This is what happened to a friend of mine departing from ultra-liberal Seattle. They found his gun two days before he was set to return to Seattle.

.........

Wow!. Just another double check to do.
(Maliciousness hidden under the guise of incompetence.)

As mentioned...
Insure your rifle for new replacement value or the upgrade value, then have your gun appraised by 2 qualified parties) i had these when i went and purchased by gun insurance).. on hi end guns never used replacement value. check this one out. Especially if you are traveling with a hi end gun that is out of production.

As Stan indicated arrive a day or 2 early to let lost luggage show up. I have done this on all but one trip, however everything has worked out. While in Tanzania in 2010 a fellow traveling hunter experienced his luggage being lost (all bags) and went into the bush with new clothing purchased and no rifles. never saw him again to see how things worked out.

Baggage claim tags, i have mentioned this on many post before always check your claim tags and know which one has your rifle and which one has your ammo. You are quizzed on this at South Africa at the first check in post. This also allow you to look to see if it is checked to your finial destination with your other bag or bags.

As our KLM pilot indicated a simple question sometimes saves a lot of trouble. I try to have my bags marked with a identifying marker or piece of cloth. so you can spot your bag a long way off. And i try to watch the loading of the bags on my initial departing flight and have watched it load every time into the cargo hold. I also have at least 2 name tags on my checked bags on the outside and 1 on the inside, plus one in the ammo case...

These are great answers..exactly what I needed. Hope my Pilot is as thought full as our KLM guy is.

Originally Posted by BRICKBURN

Delays and weak excuses lots of that.

Thats what happened to the wife and I guns made it ok but the ammo didn't they said we didn't go through customs after we hand carried it through. heck one excuse is as good as another.

Ndege..do you fly KLM out of Atlanta by chance?