Can you ship it back separately? I would stick to the 5 kg or 11 pound rule in checked baggage. And on top of that, have it in a locked plastic case. Be sure that case is light weight, I could not win the argument that the ammo itself was under 11 pounds and the case was 2 pounds. I tried. Fortunately we were under on my wifes ammo and moved a box into hers.
A little airplane insight;
Air France wanted our ammo NOT in the checked baggage and checked through by itself so they could put it in a separate compartment on the plane.... In that case, I wonder if they would allow more? Stop here or read my story below if you want more detail;
Coming home from Zim. last month we had our remaining ammo (well under the 5kg limit) packed in our bags, in it's original factory boxes and locked in plastic cases (a pistol case and a plastic ammo box). Checked in Bulawayo on SAA to Joberg where we connected onto Air France... Of course AF was not open so we waited for ever and when they finally did open, we were asked about our ammo.... I proudly told them it was all packed as it should be and in our checked luggage.... Oh NO! It cannot be! We have to pull those bags!
Last (and first time) time we travel with ammo, they wanted it packed... Well this young woman explained that the "airport" has a regulation that it cannot be packed in checked luggage and has to be sent in it's own case and checked through that way. Several phone calls and much time waiting and she informs us to proceed to the gate and they will pull our bags, bring them up the raceway and have us take the ammo out and simply gate check it, no charge, right there. So we go through security and to the gate.... Early, no one from the airline there... When they do show up, they herd us back and fence us off to re-check passports and boarding passes... But before they can do that, they have to catch up on all the gossip with each other, drink some coffee, visit some more, someone brought out some cookies to share, more coffee, more gossip, do their nails, etc. Then when it is time to board I am finally allowed to approach. The same young lady is there and asks if they brought up my luggage... NO. So now it is an emergency.... So I try to point out the sign behind her head that lists all the things that you cannot check in your luggage, liquids etc... The last thing on the list says "a passenger is allowed up to 5 kgs of sporting ammo to be checked in their luggage". She assures me that she knows all about the sign and that it is a list of things you cannot have in your luggage and that is why they must get the ammo out and why in the World would they have allowed us to check it that way in the first place!? (they actually made us count each round in front of them in Bulawayo and relock and pack it!). So I explain that perhaps she does not understand the English on the sign and exactly what it says... Like that got me anywhere!
They had found my bag, I pulled out the ammo and they gate checked it, no problem. But my wife had a black bag that looks just like 98.5% of the rest of the bags on the plane and they could not find it...... So a older blonde lady comes out and is pissed off from the get go. After several temper tantrums and much refusing to look at the sign, she says it is an Air France regulation and not the air port as the other lady had stated...
And that they simply want to pack the ammo in a non-sealed compartment on the plane. This actually makes sense. If something small like that was to explode, it could do real damage in a pressurized compartment, but probably not much in a non-pressurized one. They finally let me board and decided to not hold up the plane...
The blonde woman said she was going to alert Paris of this dangerous bag. We never heard any more because our flight from Paris to home was Delta... The bags including the lone ammo case all showed up at baggage claim and no more was said about it. We simply grabbed it and went through customs and home.
We will definitely try to go another route next time and attempt to avoid Air France and Paris... They seemed to be chronically late and in 4 times through Paris within 7 months, we have had the paperwork treated 3 different ways. And are usually treated like criminals by the first person to "discover" we are traveling with guns (another way of describing it when we walk up to them and TELL them we are traveling with rifles) ..... Once that first contact gets a person with experience, it is usually smoothed out.
