All posts in Hunting Gear

Avoid damaging firearms in transport, Bulldog Gun Cases

I recently got back from a range trip and actually had the chance to teach  gun cleaning to two novice shooters.   I told them if they wanted to go to the range with me and learn how to shoot, they also had to learn how to take the guns apart and clean them.   Part of the reason I wanted to do this is so they understand how the gun comes apart, and how the various parts work, and to be able to diagnose problems when they happen.   We actually had a Ruger 10/22 blow an extractor and I showed them exactly where it was on the gun on how it goes into the gun and it’s functionality.   Some firearms need screwdrivers to be taken apart, others need a punch, and some are really easy to break down.   We were transporting several level action and bolt action rifles in Bulldog Gun Cases on range day.

One of the other things I noticed were all the scratches and scrapes that were on the firearms.  Considering that many of the firearms they were shooting today were pushing close to 20yrs old.   Some of them were still in excellent condition on the outside. The guns that are scratched up the most were the hunting rifles that use to be transported in a trunk with a gun sock.   I distinctly remember the time I switched from gun socks to Bulldog Gun Cases like the pistol rugs and the Bulldog Economy Single Rifle Cases.  Those gun cases are all under $15 but really do far more to protect firearms in transport than gun socks.   The chamber and the bolt head are the first places I look to see how old a firearms is, or how much wear it has, but the exterior parts of a firearm tend to look the way the owner treats them.   There comes a time when it is time to refinish a stock or replace it, but many scratches and dents happen while firearms are being moved around in gun safes, car transport or range tables.   It’s an easy thing to prevent of you put them it the proper case.

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Trijicon MRO Red Dots 2016 Sales Data

Trijicon MRO Red DotsTrijicon MRO Absolute Co-Witness Trijicon MRO Red DotsWe’ve been carrying the Trijicon MRO Red Dot optics for almost a  year.   When they first came out we were shocked by the fact that we didn’t have “sticker shock” compared to the rest of the Trijicon product line.   Ever since the Eotech lawsuit last November, everyone seems to be looking for something else, I can tell you it’s been almost a year since someone called me on the phone and asked if we sold Eotechs.  I still have no idea what’s going on with that company since the lawsuit.    All I can tell you is that Vortex, Aimpoint and Trijicon MRO sales have been through the roof and I would have to say that all 3 of those I just mentioned are excellent red dot optics.

Do you need night vision compatibility? Most people don’t.  Do you want 3 year or 5 year battery life?  Then we’ve narrowed it down to Trijicon and Aimpoint.  Do you want something that doesn’t make you feel like you are looking through a rifle scope?  Then you’ve arrived at the Trijicon MRO red dots.  The MRO stands for Miniature Rifle Optic and it really is a smaller version of the Trijicon ACOG housing.  Since we have so many competition shooters and see what they are using, this optics wider field of view usually means improved speed.    There are plenty of mount options available from Larue, Bobro Engineering and also the low, 1/3 Co-Witness and Absolute Co-Witness that Trijicon Inc. offers.    We have seen so many Law Enforcement switch from Eotech to Aimpoint and Trijicon that, that’s pretty much what we tell people they should be considering.

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Gun Cases should match the firearm

Gun CasesThere are plenty of different ways to transport a firearm or even store them, and often it comes down to matching the cost of the gun case to the value of the firearm.   Hard Cases like Pelican and SKB are very nice but they are bulky and hard to get in and out of a trunk.   Some gun cases are very low profile and sometimes that’s very important in this day and age.   Even police are buying rifle cases like this so people don’t panic when they see them going to and from training.  What’s in that case?  Sometimes it’s best not to announce it and we definitely lean towards Elite Survival Systems with the Covert Operations Gun Cases and the Elite Survival Stealth Rifle Backpack.

We see plenty of sales data that tell us that Allen Gun Cases and Bulldog Gun Cases also have their niche and they are not all that expensive.    I’m a big fan of gun socks and simple gun cases when dealing with shotguns, lever actions and long guns with and without optics. You just have to keep in mind that slamming the brakes on in a car can slam your guns around when you are transporting them from one place to the other and scope turrets and barrels can be damaged from these.   Another thing to consider, that will cost you more is buying Made in the USA gun cases which we often find are better quality.

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Trijicon MRO Red Dots, which mount should you buy? Absolute, 1/3 or Low Mount or Bobro QD mount?

Trijicon MRO Red DotsTrijicon MRO 2 MOA Red DotTrying to find the right optics for hunting, target shooting or whatever else is already a chore, but it can all be messed up if you buy the wrong mount.  We don’t stock a lot of mounts in our retail store because there are so many options out there, price point, material, right heights, that it’s too much of a guessing game because there is a such a diversity of gun owners.  Sticking with just the New Trijicon MRO red dots, many people ask us which mount they should buy or which one is better.   It’s just like the question, which one is better, Aimpoint, Eotech or Meprolight M21, it’s whatever your eyes prefer.

I’ve never had a problem using a fixed iron front sight on my AR15 and using an optic, sure I lose some visibility, but like asking what you should do if a skinny guy was hiding behind a tree and you couldn’t see him, which optic is better. just move around the tree and  you’ll see him. With the Trijicon MRO Red Dots “If you feel the need” to have your iron sights pushed down to the lower 1/3 of your optic, just get a 1/3 Co-witness mount, your field of view will be higher with less obstruction of your field of view and then you’ll have to transition down to your irons if need be.  I can tell you that we sell about 80% more of the absolute co-witness mounts, whether it’s Bobro mounts or Trijicon Mounts.

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You can blind fold me and I’ll tell you I have a Kershaw Knife in my hand

Kershaw KnivesIt’s not always just about the blade, it’s how you are intending to deploy it and how it fits in your hand. If you can flip it open or grip it properly, then it’s not the knife for you.  Many of these tactical knives or EDC knives are very different in contour and design and its yet another one of those things many people like to see before they buy.   Kershaw seems to be at the top of the pyramid as far as quality and name recognition and they have been often known to work with other companies to build unique designs.  They are one of the top gift knives that wives or girlfriends come in our store looking for around Christmas time.

Some of the Kershaw knives we sell are are that that expensive like the Kershaw Cryo assisted knives but they have very small blades about 2.75 inch blades to a little over 3″ in relation to the size of the grips.   Nothing wrong with that but I prefer a blade like the Kershaw Ken Onion blackout with a 3.25 Blade.   To each his own but in this industry blades, handles, materials all can vary but you are going to get a lot of use out of anything made by Kershaw.  For those of that do a lot up in the mountains camping the Kershaw Camp 14″ Machete can be very useful and not something that an EDC knife can do.

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Allen Endura Locking pistol cases, Allen Gun Cases are an inexpensive problem solver

Allen Gun CasesI have a lot of different type of gun cases, some of them are just for transporting firearms to the range, Allen Gun Socks, Allen Assault Rifle cases and Allen Endura Scope Rifle cases that I primarily use for transporting bolt action rifles with hunting optics.   Any gun case is better than no gun case because a simple slide across the trunk of your car can mean gashing your rifle stock or putting a crowbar through the 40mm scope objective lense.   While locking guns in gun cases doesn’t mean it’s going to reduce the chances of it getting stolen, it prevents people from accessing it unless you open it for them.   I’ve seen plenty of times where a kid or a family member walks over to a gun case, on a firing range and pulls out a rifle and finds out the gun is not pointing in the direction it’s suppose to.

Nylon cases can vary in price from $12 to a couple hundred and can offering varying degrees of padding for protection but there’s nothing wrong with keeping it simple.  I’m a big fan of having a case for each rifle I own just so I can tag it so I know my stuff is organized and I can transport any firearms I want to the range and not end up wrapping it in blankets like I see some people do.  There are some better things you can buy like the Allen 3 Gun Competition case since that seems to be an ever growing sport and many of our customers have trouble finding even just double rifle cases.   We just listed several new Allen Gun Cases to the list so check out what is new.

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Armor Express Plate Carriers Rapid and Responder

Armor Express Plate CarriersWe’ve sold a lot of different plate carriers in the past few years, we listened to what our customers were asking for and if we had to accommodate all of them, we’d have to carry 5.11, Blackhawk, ATS Tactical, Condor, Second Chance, Safariland, Tactical Tailor, Shellback and Armor Express.  There are always those slight feature differences that sell the product which is why we are always open to carrying multiple brands or find ways of acquiring them.   Most plate carriers are for the Large to 2XL sizing and if you are smaller or larger, you’re probable in the 10% that might have to special order it or get sized, but the rest of you can probable just buy the carrier and make adjustments to get it right.

I have heavily leaned toward plate carriers that don’t carry side plates due to the fact that this doesn’t add much more protection, adds weight, and we’ve been running into issues with side plates not fitting into certain brands of carriers very well.  Our Primary body armor is Armor Express who are actually the founders of Second Chance which had higher name recognition.  We carry AR500 plates and Condor Carriers and added the Armor Express Plate Carriers to our inventory due to design and features in a reasonable price range that are a couple steps up from Condor.  There are weekend warriors and there are full time SWAT and Law Enforcement or serious Operators that need more, I highly recommend considering the Armor Express Rapid and the Armor Express Responder Plate carriers for quality carriers under $150 we pretty much sent Shellback out the door after too many issues with side plates not fitting correctly, but not with Armor Express.

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New addition to the Elite Survival Systems Covert Operations Gun Case, 762/308 Mag Pouch

Elite Survival Covert Operations caseAR15 Rifle CaseUzi Gun CasesM4 rifle casesGun Cases Made in the USAThe AR10 never really seemed to catch on and it’s been around for a very long time, but the barrels and accuracy and weight of .308 AR’s has so dramatically improved that it isn’t very hard to take the Match ammo or hunting ammo you used in your bolt action gun and start using it in a Ruger 716, Sig SR-762, DPMS SASS and RECON, and the LMT.   I was amazed with the LWRC Repr rifle and how little recoil it had and how it felt like an actual M4 in my hands.  .308 ammo is very common to those that reload on a Dillon 550 but there really wasn’t much out there before except M14s, FNFAL and G3 and Cetme rifles.  The AR platform is just so ergonomically designed that it’s become a multi-caliber firearm.

When it comes to finding gun cases that you don’t have to cut out foam or end up with too much bulk, and you don’t want something cheap to protect your $2000 Carbine and also stow magazines and accessories, the Elite Survival Covert Operations gun case is now being sold with 223 magazine pouches, 9mm or 30 cal stick mag pouches, 762×39 and .308 pouches.   These are easier to store in your home than hard cases and have a shoulder strap and low profile design, the mag pouches are all internal so it looks like a case, not a gun case.

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Eotech Holographic Sights in the Modern Market

Eotech EXPS2-0 Eotech 300 Blackout Eotech Holographic Gun Sights

 

I can’t confirm why it happened but I heard a credible rumor from one of my sales reps that there has been a shortage on Eotech sights because L3 shutdown their manufacturer facility to retool and bring in new manufacturing equipment.   I guess that means the new Eotech 512 sights that just came are right off the new tools.   I do notice that the body of the Eotech 512 does look a little more polished but other than that, nothing has changed.  It will be real interesting to see how the Trijicon MRO competes in the red dot market, but Eotechs seem to have always been kind of one foot in the red dot market and one foot out.

The thing that always sold me on the Eotech Holographic Gun Sights are the field of view.   Most military engagements are still under 200yds and air strikes usually for things further out than that, so the need for magnification is minimal.   Considering what the ballistics of the 5.56 Nato round is, it’s such a flat shooting round that there are no extreme hold overs under 400yds if it’s zeroed properly.   I do tend to lean toward the EXPS 2-0 Models since adding an Eotech Magnifier to the setup is much easier, but only if you are right handed, that is one reason Trijicon put the adjustment knob on the top of the MRO so maybe that’s something else Eotech is going to want to consider.   They also recently released an Eotech for the 300 Blackout so if you are running 300 Blackout, you have an Eotech option.

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Vortex Monoculars, Range Finding and Target Identification

Vortex Range Finding MonocularsSOL-3608-RT-3TVortex MonocularsOur Vortex sales rep was out here a few weeks ago and showed us some of the Vortex products that we never looked through before.  Strike Eagles, Monoculars, Binoculars and Viper PST Sniper Scopes.   There are almost always several reticle options for each platform and one of the best things about these optics besides the clarity are the price points.   I remember using my Uncle’s 50MM binoculars for star gazing and I also remember using them while boating but they got real heavy over time.  If we wanted something smaller, we normally lost a lot of field of view and when you are worried about hitting objects, field of view is very important.

I’ve been on firing ranges enough times to know that it’s always nice to have level of magnified optics with you.  Sometimes when I’m shooting iron sights on my AR15, I’ll pick up one of my scope rifles and use that to spot or  figure out what my groups might look like.  I’ve been setting up my Elite Survival Epsilon shooting mat with several molle pouches and also kept a small pair of binoculars in them.  Well the truth of the matter is they work OK when it is sunny out but not so good in low light.  These Vortex VORTEX SOLO R/T MONOCULARS are and excellent spotting optic and with the range finding reticle, you can use the hold over, or if you pay attention to the owners manual, use the mathmatical calculations to get ranges.  I’ve found it very easy to use, lightweight, has a nice clip feature and doesn’t break the bank like many laser range finders.

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