Gun case

Hibrion

Can anyone recommend me a good gun case for airline travel? It will be for one rifle but I guess the ability to fit another in would be great; just incase the need arises.

I would like to hear from those with actual experience of the product and if you can recommend somewhere to buy it and a rough price that would be great.

Thanks

Sparks

I use a Peli 1720 myself - the 17xx series are all quite solid. Pretty much the universal standard for cases for this kind of thing are either Peli cases, SBS cases or Storm cases. Not much else survives baggage handlers. There are a few threads about it on here:

• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73659637
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055971452
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056087205
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056051041
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055045215

Hibrion

Thanks, Sparks. Where did you buy yours?

Sparks

Off Intershoot.

tac foley

+ Sparks and Pelican.

They were good enough for government use - that's where mine just might have come from [cough cough]....

tac

Grizzly 45

Pelican case/box.There is NO alternative!!!:D www.cabelas.com.

Sparks

Well. I wouldn't go that far. SBS and Storm cases are just as good for our purposes. In fact I know some who think they're better (SBS because they're lighter and thus cost less in excess baggage; Storm because of the design of the latches which protect the latch better than the Pelican design does).

tac foley

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Pelican case/box.There is NO alternative!!!:D www.cabelas.com.

No Cabelas, either.

tac

Hibrion

These peli cases do look very sturdy, but they are seriously expensive! Would I get away with something a little cheaper? I'll only be using it ver occasionally. Are there any brands that I should definitely steer clear of?

Why no Cabelas, Tac?

Sparks

Hibrion wrote: »

These peli cases do look very sturdy, but they are seriously expensive!

Compared to a cardboard box, yes.
Compared to the cost of a new rifle, no.
I know that after this happened, I wouldn't use anything other than Peli, SBS or Storm cases:

Would I get away with something a little cheaper?

For travelling internationally by air?
Probably not. I've seen lesser cases make it through once allright, but they weren't usable afterwards and it was blind luck that they didn't fail during baggage handling and dump the firearm on the ground.

Hibrion

I see what you mean alright. I want the case for my pre 64 winchester 84 so it needs to be sturdy; it's not a rifle that I can easily replace.
I'm leaning towards the peli now, definitely.

Hibrion

I was just looking at the website for storm cases. I figured they might be worth a look since they are Irish. The link to "buy online" doesn't seem to work. Does anyone know where to buy these online or do they have a shop nearer Dublin?

leupold90

Have a look at www.peli.ie

Hibrion

Thanks. Neither the storm nor peli websites seem to give prices, which worries me.

Sparks

They used to be out in Dun Laoghaire (a crowd called allmono had the franchise) but since Peli bought Storm, it looks like the business moved to Limerick.

Hibrion

So Peli have bought storm so they're more or less the same case now anyway? Do you know what the price difference is in the two?

Sparks

They're not the same. Different case designs. Same as with Guinness and Smirnoff. Definitely not the same thing, but the money goes to the same place in the end.

The difference isn't easy to work out because the cases are different sizes - you'd want to measure everything out and figure out what the smallest case you can use is. But as a very rough rule of thumb, a Peli 1720 and a Storm iM3200 case are kindof similarly sized - the Peli ran to £245 from Intershoot, and the Storm to £210 from another crowd in the UK (samcases) and that's with foam in each case, but I don't know the difference in the shipping costs and shipping tends to be expensive with these cases.

Hibrion

I will likely only be traveling with one rifle at a time so I guess I could get away with having two foam inserts: one for the winchester 1894 the other for the remington 700 (but hopefully something a bit better in the near future).

The remington is the longest at app 42 inches, but I guess a few inches of padding on either side would be a good idea.

Is intershoot an online online shop?

Sparks

An inch of foam on either end is what's usually recommended Hibrion; I've found that it's enough if you pad any loose areas (where the case is curved but the foam isn't, there can be a gap). Intershoot's online, but they're reasonably local (they're in Northern Ireland) and the guys who run it post on here as well.

Hibrion

The pelican 1750 seems to fit the bill so.

Sparks

It's a good case - DURC has a few of them - but it's also huge and heavy and hard to fit into a car. If the remmy won't fit otherwise... well, that's what you have to use. But I'd look to see if you can't get one size smaller. The 1750s I've seen in use abroad were all carrying more than one rifle...

Hibrion

Will have a look into it so, Sparks. Thanks for all the info.

Sparks

No worries Hibrion

bullets

Tony one of the Airsoft Retailers in Limerick sells
Peli gun cases, they were on special offer for ages dunno
if they still are:

http://www.mwairsoft.net/79-peli-products

~B

tac foley

Hibrion wrote: »

Why no Cabelas, Tac?

I'll admit that it's been a couple of years since I was over in RoI, but I don't recall seeing a Cabelas there.

As ever, I'm prepared for correction on that point.

tac

Tikkat3

Also check out Starlight cases:

I have this one with all the extras, wheels, handle high density foam ,both levels, pressure equalization valves.

It is very long and will take pretty much any rifle.

They are airline approved. Will float with two guns and act as a floatation devive for the user.check the videos, they are pretty much indestructible.

http://www.starlightcases.com/videos.html

http://www.starlightcases.com/store/index.php?crn=207&rn=397&action=show_detail

Some reviews here:

http://www.gunblast.com/Greg_Starlight.htm

http://multigun.wordpress.com/?s=starlight+case

Quote from snipersparadise.com

'Something else to note is the other manufacturers that use Starlight products. Companies like Barrett Firearms, Accuracy International, and EDM Arms package their expensive rifles in Starlight cases. What did your rifle come packed in? Did it come packed in a cardboard box or maybe a Wally world special? Seeing these $5000+ rifles carefully packed into Starlight cases by their makers should be a testimony in itself. These companies could use any rifle case, but they chose Starlight for a reason, and that reason is protection.'

I bought mine from the USA a few years ago

Hope it is another option for you to consider anyway

323

Hibrion wrote: »

I will likely only be traveling with one rifle at a time so I guess I could get away with having two foam inserts: one for the winchester 1894 the other for the remington 700 (but hopefully something a bit better in the near future).

The remington is the longest at app 42 inches, but I guess a few inches of padding on either side would be a good idea.

Is intershoot an online online shop?

For work, buy peli and storm cases 10 and more at a time for air shipping instrumentation around.

FYI. these people, www.easyfoam.co.uk can be worth looking at if using different foam sets in your case, Peli charge a fortune for their foam liners.

Hibrion

Thanks for the links lads. The foam one is going to come in handy for another project of mine.

Hibrion

So I'm ordering my Peli Case from Inter Shoot today or tomorrow, are the TSA locks they advertise any good or are you better off just using normal padlocks?

Sparks

The TSA locks are required if you're going to the US as I understand it, so the TSA there can inspect your firearm. If you're not going there, just use normal locks.