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The TuffPak performed perfectly. The original TSA-compliant lock had to be removed and replaced with an $8.00 padlockable thumb-cam lock, which required some Dremel work around the lock area. The rifle was inside one stiff leather and wool case, then nested inside a robust soft case, which had a sizable wad of foam in the bottom. My clothes surrounded it, the Pelican ammo case contained 40 rounds and fit perfectly on top, and the whole thing closed up tight and very secure. It took a beating on the round trip but the gun came out fine. You will pay extra to use this, as it exceeds the usual 62 inches for checked luggage, and the contents will probably exceed the 50 pound mark, too. But I wouldn't want to use anything else. Thing I liked about it was it doesn't look like a gun case. People asked and I said "golf clubs."
Would be interested to see how the Tuffpaks are modified to take padlocks.
BTW while your method may have worked for your trip, was it inspected at any point? This method does not separate the ammo from the same case or bag carrying the firearms and so will NOT be legal under international flight regulations and the requirements of a lot of airlines. The ammo has to go in a separate bag or case from the firearm.
Good questions, and yes, the rifle was inspected upon check-in at the airport in the USA, and upon entry into the destination nation, and upon exit and re-entry to the USA. The Stuff-Sak really works great, and the rifle case was lined up so that all we had to do was take the lid off the TuffPak, pull the ammo box off, and unzip the rifle case. The rifle slid right out of the case (we did not remove the rifle case), and easily slid right back in. Regarding the ammo, every US airline allows the ammo to be shipped with the checked-in gun, but it must be physically separate and in real packaging. So no loose ammo, nothing rolling around or laying around. I brought 40 rounds of .450 BPE in original Hornady .450 NE cardboard cases, double padlocked inside the small Pelican ammo case. Nobody made any deal about it, did not look at it, not in America and not in the highly regulated destination country. The destination country does want you to keep the ammo separate from the gun, but when the ammo is so securely locked inside a hard case, it does not matter if it is in the same hard case as the rifle. They are really separated. The police there complimented me and said it was the most secure arrangement they had ever seen.
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Re: Best TSA-OK DR travel case?