Range Boxes and Bags....

[Dave McCracken]

When we load up and head for the range for a spot of trap, skeet etc, the problem is....

How do we move all the paraphanalia?

Wheelbarrows are considered a little Declasse.

The little carts used by SC types are nice, but cost more than most decent pumpguns. And, they may be more than needed for say, 4 rounds of trap or skeet.

Here's how I do it.

I could have picked up a neato duffle bag. Instead, I use a fairly large tool box I bought at a hardware superstore for $10. About 28" by 10" by 10", it has a liftout tray in the top and a large storage area underneath. The area underneath has enough room to hold maybe 8 boxes of shells, or 150 empties. Besides that, there's room for a box holding choke tubes and a wrench, and a Boresnake in its own ziplock bag for a fast pass after shooting.

The liftout tray has a couple compartments. One holds my other set of choke tubes and wrenches. Another,pliers and screwdrivers, Phillips head and standard screwdrivers both. A small assortment of Allen wrenches complete the tool kit.

Scattered in there are also a few golf tees, which serve as non marring pushers for dropping trigger groups. A set of shooting glasses fits in, a spare pair of ear plugs stays there, and a small bottle of SLIP. For decoration there's a pair of straight patches, a bent up quarter, and some loose shells.

Between this and my belt/pouch set, I'm pretty much set for a round or 4.

 

[esheato]

Dave,

There definitely something to be said about that wheelbarrow!

The break down o/u cases sure are fancy, and I must admit I like them a lot, but they are bulky. I end up leaving mine at home more often than not.

I usually grab a soft case and just leave the gun together.

As far as bags go, I picked up a nice Browning soft case...it holds maybe 8 boxes in the center compartment and has 2 end pockets for tools and glasses. A larger front zippered area is good for choke tube cases and lube and some other odds and ends.

The best part about it is on the back side it has an expandable shell pouch. When empty, it folds up and is velcroed flush with the side of the bag. To fill it, you just undo the velcro and fill it up. It will hold about 150 hulls. It has a zipper on the bottom of the expandable part so that when I get home, I just hold the bag over my box of empty hulls and dump them all in there. Very nice feature.

I sometimes laugh when I see my friends come out to the range with their 4-barrel sets. A couple different cases of ammo, range bag, and a monstrous gun case that weighs 30 pounds.

I'm not sure how one can get good at anything when you're constantly changing gauges and chokes.

esheato...

 

[HSMITH]

I used a little handbasket like you see at the grocery store for a long time, years and years in fact. Five gallon buckets for days that I had some time to shoot were also used. I have since "upgraded" to some of the softsided tool bags. Heavy canvas and a shoulder strap. I have a couple and like them. The shoulder strap makes a world of difference when moving a quantity of ammo. Small parts like chokes or similar are kept in the little plastic boxes, mostly I see them used to hold fishing lures, but they work nice for gun stuff too.

 

[kudu]

I came into several of the 3 gallon buckets, the same size as a 5 gallon but shorter. When I head to the range I grab whatever gauge I'm going to shoot and come in to the club house carrying a bucket full of shells. My shooting pouch is usually on top with my glasses and plugs. I hardly ever have boxes of shells unless I am going to shoot games or such where I have different loads for different target presentations.

Sporting clays I have an old Bob Allen shell case that will hold 8 boxes of 12ga shells and several small pockets for accessories like lube and choke tubes.

It tends to make an impression when you walk in with a bucket full of shells Four or five hundred rounds of 28ga shells ain't to bad of a lug.

 

[Kingcreek]

I used to use a standard 5 gal bucket and my belt pouch with 2 large side pockets (choke tubes, cigars in the left, live rounds in the right) and a mesh rear bag for empties. I upgraded to a square kitty-litter bucket for shell boxes, water bottle, hand towel, etc. square boxes fit better in the bottom of the square bucket and people think I'm one of those fancy shooters with an official sponsor- "team scoop-away"

 

[sm]

Depends

Formal Competition: Back in the day the soft side case for SX1, Browning hard case held the 3 bbl set. 10X range bag with boxed/marked/sealed /my initials loads pulled from a cases of each in vehicle. Set of eye /ears in 10X bag, 10X shell belt/pouch . 10X stuff gift from a mentor. This was serious business, I showed up to win, take no prisoners.

Informal: Extra set of eyes/ears stays in truck. An extra 10X shell belt/pouch as well. I won another set like I had so range bag may or may not be in vehicle. Old gym bag with heavy shoulder strap. Old Backpack, 3 or 5 gal buckets, small burlap bags, whatever is handy. Back up to field, drop tailgate I'm here! Gun in soft case, may be anything, if part of bbl set put together and ready to run.

Whim: Extra eyes ,ears,as mentioned stays in truck, shell pouch in vehicle. I may borrow a gun, use what shells in my vehicle. Often times people have borrowed/owe me rds. buy from range or hit a local bait shop that sells ammo.

Wild hair: Stuff in the truck, I know people on farms, I know where the extra key is hidden. I may grab the Single shot from tractor/combine/barn and the shells nearby and just shoot the steels. We just keep avail for whomever. Thrower is around with clays, I have shot many a clay throwing for myself this way. Lessee I dropped off 4 boxes of clays and a case of promo ammo , and a can of Mobil spray lube...that should cover all the bases to keep guns and thrower running and the fun factor avail. Oh a couple bricks of 22lr bulk packs...got Marlin 60 hid here and there...

I just crack up at all the high dollar gear folks that obessivley clean guns. That have no idea how much "life" they are missing out on. Grab a single bbl and lob a .410 at steels. Hey a "barn" 20 ga took a 4 pt this year...see deer, grab gun,insert slug,shoot...20- 25 yds. "Thought you were gonna check the fields" Nope gonna check this deer, have the boys dress him out first".

I like simple.

 

[TrapperReady]

I've got two...

For clay games, a Beretta bag which can hold 10-12 boxes of 12ga shells (far more than I would normally need) in the main compartment. There are also a couple of internal pouches which are appropriately sized for choke-tube cases. The two outer pockets are zippered and large enough to hold gloves, plugs, leftover shells, my lightweight vest, a mesh hull bag, some eye pro and a pair of muffs. It even has a water-bottle pocket on one end, which usually holds my ear-plug case until I'm done shooting. It's well-built, although had it not been a Christmas present from my lovely wife, I'd probably be using something found at Home Depot.

For hunting, I've got an OD bag I found at a surplus store. It's probably twice as large as the Beretta bag, with a large zippered main compartment and smaller ones on either side. I typically have one of the side pockets laden with several water bottles (to be shared by man and beast alike). The other side pocket has all other dog-related items: bell, e-collar, transmitter, whistle, a container of food, a small first-aid kit, Leatherman, biscuits, etc... The rest of my junk (vest, orange hats -- baseball and knit, gloves, shells, eyes, ears, jerky, binos, radio, and so on) go in the main compartment.

For gun storage, I've got a motly assortment of padded cases. The zippers work on most of them. A couple have strategic safety pins.

Every time I feel like I'm hauling a lot of crap around shotgunning, I remember the supply train necessary for the highpower matches I shoot. Then I don't feel too bad!

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks for the replies, folks. We do have lots of stuff to move, don't we?

The TB is the only shotgun here with a dedicated hard case. In keeping with my lifestyle and budget, it's a converted arrow case I picked up at a 3-D shoot for a few bucks. Packed with foam, it carries the TB, an extra barrel if I so choose, and a ziplock bag with a silicone cloth for wipedowns.

I do have one bignbulky 2 gun hard case, but other shotguns usually travel in soft cases or socks.

When I arrive home after shooting, I take the tray out of my box. I then remove the Boresnake and choke tubes. I finish by dumping all the hulls out into a box.

Quick and easy....

H, my Remchokes reside in a box that used to hold surf lures. The Truchokes need another, and I'll pick one up soon....

 

[PJR]

I have three shooting bags -- one was a gift, another I purchased and the third was a prize in a shoot.

The gift was a Browning bag similar to the one esheato mentioned although mine does not have side pockets. While the hull bag is nice, the relatively small front pocket doesn't have much room for all the various paraphenalia. The square profile was a bit of a pain to carry around for sporting clays but it was fine during the time I shot trap.

The one I bought was a Beretta bag similar to TrapperReady's. It was on sale at a very good price at the Grand two or three years ago. Lots of extra room for gear, shells etc. but a little unwieldy and a little larger than I needed.

The bag that I won was a Boyt sporting clays bag that I've come to like a lot. It's a little smaller than the Beretta but has lots of pockets for the gear that I carry. For a round of sporting, I bring five boxes of ammo, choke tubes, wrench, bottle of water, extra eyes and ears, a little bottle of Breakfree CLP and a multi-tool. If there's a downside to the Boyt bag is that in the rain or snow the moisture soaks right through it. The Beretta is more water resistant and for those in really tough conditions make have a camo, oil-treated hunting bag that would be great for poor weather.

Breaking guns go in locking breakdown cases, pump guns in soft cases. Choke tubes in one of those clear plastic organizers from Home Depot that are practically identical to the ones that say Briley on them but are sold at about 1/4 the Briley price.

Paul