Ammo Weight on airplanes… How strict are they on 5kg/11lb?

[Mark458]

This isn’t correct

• Ammunition, including case, exceeding 11 pounds (5 kg) gross weight per passenger

Flying With Sports Equipment | Delta Air Lines

You can bring most sporting equipment with you on your trip, though extra baggage fees may apply to oversized or overweight items. Visit delta.com to learn more.

www.delta.com

I apologize, you are correct. I didn't go far enough on their website. This is what I saw and didn't click the link at the bottom for more information.

 

[wesheltonj]

I agree with @Red Leg, just take two guns. I’ve had BA (AUS & IAH) Qatar (IAH) and Airlink (JNB) weight the ammo. Never had any Airlink check coming home.

Have a great time in Tanzania.i hunt just south of where you will be. Lesser is hard to score. They just stay in the brush. The first day I was wearing shorts and short sleeve shirt and was cut up plan accordingly.

 

[BRICKBURN]

One of my favorite repeat discussions.

The plane taking you to Africa is an INTERNATIONAL flight.
So, IATA guidelines matter. Not the local flight rules. Plenty of staff will be confused.

"amount of ammunition up to 5 kg."
For the individuals in the industry help them out by bringing a printed copy along with you.
The policy guideline does not include the packaging in the weight.


The IATA policy reference:

"Ammunition (cartridges for weapons), securely packaged (in Div. 1.4S, UN 0012 or
UN 0014 only), in quantities not exceeding 5 kg gross weight per person for that person's own use. Allowances for more than one person must not be combined into one or more packages. "

https://www.iata.org/contentassets/6fea26dd84d24b26a7a1fd5788561d6e/dgr-64-en-2.3.a.pdf

Securely packaged, it does not have to be in the original boxes. It can be in your checked (obviously) luggage.

@375er

This question gets asked repeatedly
2009 onward....
By no means a complete listing.


https://www.africahunting.com/threads/do-i-need-to-carry-ammunition-in-original-boxes.5206/
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/packaging-reloads-for-intl-travel.1553/
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/can-i-take-reloaded-ammo-to-south-africa.12931/
https://www.africahunting.com/threa...ackage-or-in-an-mtm-box-in-locked-case.47992/
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/importing-handloaded-ammunition.13901/
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/traveling-with-ammunition-via-air-travel.7262/


https://www.africahunting.com/threads/ammunition-box-in-luggage.61580/
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/ammo-box.47807/

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Rare Breed]

I wouldn't risk it unless it was as simple as flying Delta directly to to JNB and nothing else.


On my last trip to Mozambique, in JNB I had to take my ammo out of checked baggage and take it as a separate item.

They don't care about the flimliness of "lockable box."

I just use the cheapest, thin metal, lockable, cash box that I can find, and it's never been a problem.

The lighter the box, the more ammo you can put in it without worrying about going over the limit.


It's as easy to steal a $100 Pelican as it is a $10 Walmart special.

Completely agree. I have a hard incredibly light plastic ammo box that weighs next to nothing and have taken it on my last 5 safaris and will take it on my next 5. I can get40 rounds of 450 NE and 40 rounds of a 275 Rigby and come in under 11KGs inclusive of the carrier and lock

 

[John the Electrician]

Would it be possible to rent a camp rifle and use that for the bait animals?

Sure , it is added cost however it eliminates so much risk.

 

[MacJenkins]

I would just try and take two guns. When I did Tanz I just took a 375 and a 470. If not I would think your outfitter could source additional 375 ammo.

Just finished up my 13th trip to Africa. I would say roughly a little more than half the time my ammo was weighed. And 100% in recent years Airlink weighed my ammo if I needed to fly with them.

For the first time I just went with 1 gun. Sure was nice!

 

[dlmac]

This is little off subject. If I decided to rent a rifle from the outfitter, could I bring ammo for that rifle on the flight?

 

[Hyde Hunter]

This is little off subject. If I decided to rent a rifle from the outfitter, could I bring ammo for that rifle on the flight?

No! the ammo you bring has to match the caliber on the rifle you are bring

 

[SRvet]

So my daughter will be hunting with me next year. I’m taking 2 rifles and 1 big handgun. She is taking 1 rifle. For balance, I plan to mix my heavy handgun ammo with her lighter weight rifle ammo.
And the other box of ammo will be my heavy rifle ammo and my light weight rifle ammo.
Do they care about mixing ammo as far as who’s is who’s?

Yes they do. Each person has to carry their own ammunition

 

[SRvet]

On the way to Caprivi we had 3 flights and ammunition was weighed on each leg. I specified that I had 4.2kg of ammunition but the overall weight including small Peli case was 5.5kg. No issues raised by the check in staff

 

[autofire]

My last trip on Delta, I got asked to weigh it. They wanted case and all under 11 but that wasn’t an issue since I already knew I was under. I only took 40 rounds of 450-400 so it was well below the total weight. I believe by about 2lbs

 

[autofire]

As of 2025 Delta's website said 11 lbs including case and ammo. 7 trips to Africa on Delta with rifles and ammo. Ammo box weighed 4 of 7 trips.

 

[Shaw]

Took my son in 2015 he was 17, I had ammo and he had is ammo in his checked bag, mine in my bag, flying Delta we were never asked other than was it less than 11 pounds and in a locked case. Age was never questioned. May think about contacting Safari Outfitters in Joberg and stop by and pick up ammo from them if using factory ammo.

 

[Philip Glass]

Thanks…
Normally I’d agree… you haven’t seen my son shoot though… just kidding (mostly lol)
But.. we have a SERIOUS amount of quota…and I indeed plan on whacking and stacking some
We have 4 zebra..2 Grants..2 Thompson.. 2 White Bearded Wildebeast..Dik dik.. 2 Impala..Lesser Kudu… Duiker..Grysbuck..Gerenuk..Eland.
2 Topi.. 2 Oribi..2 Reedbuck 2 Warthog..2 Waterbuck 2 Hartebeast…2 Bushbuck.. Greater Kudu.. Sable..Roan.. Sitatunga…
And…Hippo, Croc, 4 Buff.. Leopard

So… I’m going to take as much of the above as possible and we have an extra truck to grab some and for baiting etc.
In Natron I want to take everything I can while there and I think I can do some damage on a couple of days with like Zebra, Wildebeast, Gazelles in the open
Now imagine how many just second shots you make to finish animals (especially larger ones)

For what it is worth and not to brag, I don't claim to be an expert marksman, but I shot everything in Massailand with one shot. It is not the most challenging shooting. FYI

 

[Philip Glass]

Airlink requires the ammunition to be in a separate locked case and checked as an additional bag. I'm not convinced this is for security or safety reasons as much as it is to get some more money out of you. Not a huge deal and they don't seem to care about the weight other than that determines the extra cost incured. Takes about 10 extra minutes to go pay for add on.

I'm told it's a European thing certainly not an IATA rule or it would be universal. Maybe you are right on the $$$.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

I'm told it's a European thing certainly not an IATA rule or it would be universal. Maybe you are right on the $$$.

last April when I flew Airlink there was no charge for the ammo case it was just checked in and off to PE. Has something changed?

 

[UpNorthMI]

I would make sure you are under the limit as you may get your ammo box weight checked. My son and I did a large cull hunt in Australia last year, we took 3 different calibers, I made sure our PH had a stock of ammo in 2 of those calibers prior to our arrival along with a spare rifle, so I did not suffer with ammo anxiety!

3 full belts went out every day with a bunch of backup ammo in the vehicle. We did a lot of shooting!

 

[Rare Breed]

For what it is worth and not to brag, I don't claim to be an expert marksman, but I shot everything in Massailand with one shot. It is not the most challenging shooting. FYI

I beg to differ my friend…you are an expert shot! I think you told me you have attended the SAMI safari shooting school at least twice?

 

[Mark458]

last April when I flew Airlink there was no charge for the ammo case it was just checked in and off to PE. Has something changed?

Not sure if it a change or not but I was there last September with two buddies and we had to pay for an additional bag. It didn't seem right, but took ten minutes and cost less than $20 so it wasn't worth arguing about.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

You said: Taking 3 rifles….
.300 WSM
.375 H&H
.450/.400

Work with your PH to acquire a box each of 375HH and 450/400 to have on hand for you prior to your arrival. If possible do the same with the 300 WSM. It is less common than the other two for Africa. Even when hunting DG I never fired that many rounds thru the heavy guns and 80% of the shooting being on PG we used whatever smaller gun I had in hand. You just do not need the big boomers for most game. Only once have I ever fired more than half a box (10rds) from any one rifle on a single Safari. Usually that is three shots at the range and 5-6 on game. Sometimes a bit more. I would be surprised if you used more than a box full (20rds) for each rifle unless it is to be a really large bag list.

On my 1st safari I fired 6rds of 308 (1 on tgt and 5 on five PG game animals) and 6rds of 375HH (three rds to adjust a scope that was off and 3rds on a Wildebeest). On my last safari we moved about from Free State to Limpopo and to different elevations and therefore, I fired 14rds of 7mm/08 (5 at the range and 9rds on four game animals) and 10rds of 375 (3 at the range, 5rds on a cape buffalo and 2rds on a Kudu). Fully half of the 7/08 shots on game were expended on a single very tough Blesbok that just refused to go down. Even so, In both cases one box of ammo per gun was enough. And I had plenty left over.

I do however, understand the desire to have more than enough ammo on hand. I would take one box each of the two larger calibers and two boxes of the 300wsm and that combo should come in under 11lbs. I have once been weighed here in the USA but twice was asked in RSA if my ammo box was under 5kg. They also included the weight of the case when they weighed my ammo and were not willing to do otherwise.

Am not sure what you are hunting for but unless it includes an Elephant, you could also consider leaving the 450 at home for the hunt with your son. That would make more room for more ammo for the other two. For my hunts I try to take two boxes of 375 and four boxes of 7mm or 30cal and this is more than adequate and will come in just under 11lbs counting the case. One can easily get by with half that amount on a six animal hunt. Your 300wsm is a potent 30cal and should not often require followup shots which further saves on added ammo. When I hunted with my 308, I never had to take a 2nd shot using 180g Fed Fusion bonded ammo.