It also helps if you show up at the airport in a clean cut and well dressed manor. When traveling with my firearm I want to avoid the extra attention and scrutiny of the TSA by dressing well, being clean shaven and appearing like a law-abiding professional.

Showing up looking scruffy, wearing tattered clothes and sporting the latest tactical pack and a ball cap with a “punisher” morale patch on your head is likely to attract the wrong kind of attention from the TSA.

nova leo’s last paragraph says it all. Know the rules then act normal. As with anything else, nervousness sends red flags waving. If you act confident and like it is no big deal, likely it won’t be.
One other thing…another poster said the right words when approaching the ticket counter. You say, “I’d like to declare a firearm.” DO NOT USE THE WORD GUN! For some reason, the G-word sends people into a frenzy.

Hunters from the sky= Fallschrimjager

IT IS VERY DIFFERENT!!! Check with the country you are traveling to. And very important, check with no less than three different sources in that country. It is very easy to end up in a jail in another country…

Last time I traveled with a firearm, the ammo had to be a separate, hard sided, locked case, IN THE ORIGINAL CARDBOARD BOX and you are limited to 11 pounds max of ammo. And there was a $75 fee for each case… So I just travel without ammo, and just buy a small amount of ammo when I get to my destination. If there is any left over, I give it to a friend or family.

As to flying, everything posted previously about flying and checking in a firearm is correct, however, if you are flying with ammo, each airline has a weight limit for ammo. Delta’s is 12 pounds, which equates to 2 60 round boxes of 230 grain FMJ. The ammo is required to be in the original manufacturers box unless you want exceptional scrutiny by TSA. My suitcase has several internal pockets and its inside one of those that I place the ammo that is in its original box, so that it’s separate from the firearm and its case. I place the mags in the box with my firearm.

I pack my travel firearm in its original Sig case once the paper work is done and lock it with two locks. Then, I put in inside my nondescript red suitcase with the rest of my clothes so that it looks like every other banged up suitcase. I’ve only had one problem, at Reagan Airport in VA, when on a work trip to Miami my suitcase didn’t make the trip. I immediately called the Airport Authority police in VA, identified myself as a LEO, described my case and what was in it. The officer called me back in 20 minutes, saying that he had found it in a “hidey-hole” used frequently by baggage handlers to stash things they think might contain cool stuff for later…I thanked him, and soon thereafter, a story hit the news locally about baggage handlers caught stealing luggage…

On occasion, at the end of travel to smaller towns where the TSA hasn’t purchased the scanners, I leave all my dirty laundry around my ammo and firearm, just so the TSA has to dig through them to look at my stuff…

Just act normal, know the rules before you fly, and you’ll be ok (that is, until this administration decides you are a terrorist, then you won’t be…). But, that’s a story for another time.