I am flying to Florida from Kansas and plan to take my glock 43 with me.

I am keeping 25 rounds in factory hornady box with gun mags and knife in one of these:

http://www.guardiangadgets.com/gunvault-nano-vault-100-gun-safe-3557.html

Is the case good to go if I keep it in my larger checked luggage?

Any tips for allegiant airlines counter?

Flying with a gun is EASY.

Dont have it loaded.  Putting mags and Ammo in the container is fine.

Have a lock on your baggage.

When you approach the ticket counter, declare the weapon.  You will probably be asked to step aside to a special bag searchers.  They will ask you to open the bag where they will place a sticker on the inside (or outside) that it was inspected.

Done.

Very easy. I haven't done it with Allegiant but did recently with Southwest. Had my ammo, mags and knife in the case with the gun, 2 locks on it. Declared at the baggage counter, lady asked to inspect, I opened the case and she said looks good. Closed it up, they put a sticker on the case, put it back in my suitcase and on the plane it went, never even had to mess with TSA. Same thing on return flight.

Flew with a rifle and handgun in a large case. They didn't open it, just swabbed the outside for explosives I guess. Put the red ticket in the case and checked it.

"18 guage" steel construction sounds like a joke. Could probably pry that open with a screw driver.

This is the case I use when flying.  Lock with non TSA locks inside your bag.  I also chamber flag my pistol so they can see on the X-ray the pistol is out of battery and all they do is swab your back for explosives.
You can also store your ammo inside magazines I do it all the time it fits better in the case than a factory ammo box.  I will normally have my two carry mags and a backup G17 mag for extra ammo.
Pelican P1075

It is mainly to keep kids out and meet minimum requirements for travel

I use a small pelican case to hold the pistol and put that into my regular luggage bag.  Then an extra thing I like to do is secure the pelican case to the internal frame of the luggage bag with a bike lock cable.  It's not required, but it will slow or discourage an unscrupulous baggage handler from trying to sneak the case out of my bag.  They'd either have to waste time breaking the bag's frame apart to get it out, or steal my whole bag.

Concealed means concealed.

And that will do.  I have this case..I call it a case cause YES you can pry it open really easy.

I would suggest placing another set of locks inside the case, if you happen to not be available and they decide to open your case for another inspection your gun will likely be held until your return as they cannot secure it.  Almost happened to me at the palm beach airport after I declared it and they checked it and off I went to wade through the security lines, I barely heard the announcement for me to come back to the check-in booth.  Now I generally stand around for a few minutes prior to heading off to the security lines.

I read a report here recently indicating that checked guns were no longer being put on the carousel at the destination.  People were having to go to the baggage agent to claim.  I'd be interested if anyone here has experienced this.

I cable mine into my luggage, too.  My little pistol case would be way too easy for someone to slip under his coat while no one's looking.  Also, I don't fly with the gun I got from my grandfather, since I consider it irreplaceable.

As long as you can legally have the guns at both ends of the flight it's really simple to take them along.  

I have heard of people getting delayed overnight in places like NYC, having their luggage returned to them, then getting arrested for possession when they go to check back in.  So if you find yourself in that very unlikely situation, just make them keep your bag.

The last 3 time I declared a pistol they said go stand over there at the end & wait 10 minutes & if no one comes gets you go on to your gate.

Flew in here on Delta 7 months ago with just a checked handgun in my suitcase.  Flying out tomorrow with 3 new long guns and pistol in rifle case.  Just have them unloaded, no ammo in mags, ammo in original boxes, locked and declared at check in.  Don't use the curbside counter.


CD

I fly with guns regularly. I oack my clothes and guns into a pelican 1610 case without foam and lock the case. Guns are either rolled up in clothing or placed inside gun rugs. If more than one gun goes inside a gun rug I put the guns inside one of my socks and separate them with more clothing inside the gun rug type case. 

This is works great and has the added bonus that TSA cant go through your shit!

My experience - flying with a rifle once and a pistol a half dozen times or so - has been that each trip as different in the way that the airline or airport handled the process.  At the check-in counter, I have had the agent ask me to open the case to look at the pistol, and in one instance, they actually asked me to pull the slide back to look in the chamber and ensure it wasn't loaded (I wasn't sure that the agent actually knew what they were looking for).  I thought that was pretty unusual - that they would want me to take the pistol out of the case in front of other passengers in line.  I kind of discretely did it with my back to the rest of the check-in line and still sort of inside my check-in bag.  Other times, I've had the agent simply hand me the slip to put inside the case without ever looking at the case.  One airport routinely did what others described - they had me wait for a TSA agent to walk me over to a screening area where they had me open the bag and case and swabbed it for explosives.  In one airport, they have a checked-bag screening area right by the counter, and they asked me to wait until the bag went through the x-ray before leaving the area.  Other times, they just took the checked bag after completing the paperwork and put it on the belt behind the counter like any other bag.

One the receiving end, the only thing that was unusual was the time I flew with the rifle. I got anxious because the long case didn't come out on the belt, and I started looking around and finally found it sitting unattended at the oversized baggage pickup area.  This consisted of a roll-up door and a ramp that the bags slide down at the back of the baggage claim area.  Some airports return things like child car seats and other large items this way.  I had no idea it would come out there and was glad that I noticed it before someone walked off with it.

The bottom line is that every experience has been slightly different, although individual airports have been mostly consistent.  Airlines have not been - I've seen it done differently on either end of a round trip flight.  Just be prepared to follow the instructions that they give you and don't make a fuss even if it seems different from your previous experience or from what you were expecting.  If you don't understand what they want you to do, ask them for clarification.  It's really pretty easy - it just seems strange that there's no real consistent system.

Thank you all for the help! I have arrived! Catch you all on the flip side! Thanks again!

This was exactly my experience going to Shot show this year and flying through allegiant. Super easy and was never fondled or harrased. They didn't even go through my bag in both OKC airport or Las Vegas. I did have some additional screening going to the plane though which I think was due to that vacuum tube pocking up gunshot residue on my hands. All they did was check my belt line a little extra and swab my hands. All in all it was a very easy process for my first time flying and first time flying with a pistol.

Anybody flown with a broken down AR in a smaller pelican and inside a large rolling suitcase?
I'm wondering if I'll have to pay an extra baggage fee for the pelican case even though it fits in the suitcase.

Yep

I pack a gun in my suitcase every trip. Never had a single problem.

This right here. Do this. Extra level of "security" to keep your gun case in your checked bag.

No you'll be fine.  The only stipulation is locked in a hard sided case with a non-TSA accessible lock.  

They will place a sticker on your bag that makes it easy for a perp to steal it.

No they won't 

Be sure to check the bathroom on the plane.. you just might find a spare

http://www.fox25boston.com/news/air-marshal-leaves-loaded-gun-in-bathroom-during-delta-flight/515094352

She forgot the old trick that a buddy taught me a few years ago: place your weapon on the floor in front of the bathroom door so you can't open the door without running into it.

I always put a cable style gun lock through the action on mine as well. That way the x-ray machine can see that its clearly unloaded and just gives one more access deterrent.

Underwear hammock accomplishes the same thing without putting you gun on a piss, shit, and vomit ridden floor of a public bathroom. not to mention the risk of someone seeing it and freaking out. 

Of course if tou free ball it then that doesn't help.  Personally I just leave my gun in the holster. Never have had an issue with it. 

I wasn't talking about a public bathroom with stalls. She was on an airplane. If I had to place it somewhere in a public restroom, I'd hang it by the trigger guard on the coat hook on the back of the door.

Yes.  This happened to me when l picked up my bag in Savannah in January.  And again when l returned to Colorado two weeks later.

I was told that was the procedure the year prior but l guess the baggage handlers missed that memo.

American Airlines subsidiary.

Its no big deal except you're the last one to get their luggage.  Unless there's someone else flying with guns or big stuff.

I do this as well.  For the same reason.  It's an all or nothing deal.

I flew delta recently with a 12 gauge and 2 pistols in a locking Pelican case.
Salt Lake to Albuquerque.
Declared them, showed them they were unloaded.  TSA put an orange sticker on the outside of the case.  Locked the padlocks back up, done deal.
Very easy.

I flew delta recently with a 12 gauge and 2 pistols in a locking Pelican case.
Salt Lake to Albuquerque.
Declared them, showed them they were unloaded.  TSA put an orange sticker on the outside of the case.  Locked the padlocks back up, done deal.
Very easy.

I flew yesterday on American Airlines from Myrtle Beach SC to Bismark ND (thru Chicago O'Hare too).  Approached ticket counter, declared guns, signed a firearms unloaded (white) placard and placed inside rifle case.  She nor TSA never inspected the AR or G19.  Locked up with my locks, she placed a red American Airlines Return to BSO tag on the outside.  Baggage Security brought them out before my bags even came out.  Son checked his rifle and pistol exact same way on trip too.  No issues.


CD

I just flew with a handgun for the first time.  To DC no less.

I put my pistols unloaded into a normal plastic pistol case and used one of the locks below to secure the handle.  Unloaded mags were also inside the pistol case.



I put my ammo in one of those plastic reloading boxes and had it loose in my checked baggage with my other stuff.  I declared the pistol and they had me sign the little slip and that was it.

I just got back from a trip where I had 2 ARs in a Pelican case, 4 padlocks, and my co-worker had 2 SBRs with suppressors broken down in a smaller Pelican with 2 padlocks. I've flown with everything from pistols to beltfed MGs dozens of times and each time is slightly different.

United agent only asked if they were unloaded then had me sign the card and put it in the case then lock it up. Had to walk to the end of the counter where the TSA guy swabbed the outside and made sure all the locks were locked. Co-worker did the same. Onto the checkpoint we went. When we arrived, the Pelican cases were sent to the baggage claim attendant (or whatever they're called), showed ID and walked out with our blasters.

Coming back on Delta, the agent asked me to open the case so she could see (she had no clue what she was looking at), fill out card, place inside case and lock it, put big sticker on outside of case and sent it down the conveyor. Had to wait for TSA to walk out and give the thumbs up before I could head over to security and gates. Arriving back home his smaller case comes out on the baggage carousel, while my larger Pelican went to the attendant.

Every airline is different and every airport is different.

Some just have you sign the form and some make you open up so TSA can inspect them (sometimes at the same airport, same airline, different times).

Just get there a little earlier in normal just in case.

Here's an article about Delta deciding to put the tags on the outside of the bags.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2017/5/11/fear-loading-airlines-modifying-gun-travel-policies/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=0517