All posts in Hunting Gear

Don’t need an expensive rifle case? Allen Gun Cases might be the answer

Allen Gun Casesgun socksPistol RugsI often suggest people buy gun cases based upon the value of the firearm as well as the price of the optics you have on it because there are plenty of hunting stores I’ve heard of guys knocking their rifle scopes around in a car and finding out it’s not holding zero.  There are also the stores of people putting scratch marks up the stocks or scratching the objective lenses on rifle scopes from the simplest mistakes.   Scope Covers are very important for keeping your lenses and clean as possible but from my experience, it’s to avoid getting the lenses scratched because dust and moisture is always going to be around.   I have assault rifle cases for all of my semi-auto rifles and keep the magazines with the case and mark down which gun it is for, but I also keep several Allen Gun Socks around when I am transporting my shotguns or bolt action rifles with iron sights and need something to cover it while heading to the range and help keep it from looking like a firearm incase I have to stop and get something to eat and my stuff in the car isn’t in plain sight.

If you can’t afford to get a good range bag that can hold multiple handguns, ammunition or sight in tools ect, having a pistol rug for your scoped .357 Magnum or 44 Magnum is about $10 or less and it gives you plenty of protection while in storage.   If you look at the Allen Gun Cases we have to offer, there is also a tactical gun sock that works well for many scoped long guns and it definitely won’t break the bank.   After that, soft gun cases for rifles and then Pelican and SKB gun cases are the direction you want to go but that’s your call.   Keep in mind that if you aren’t using your gun cases they are going to take up room in your closet or gun safe so try to be uniform when you are looking to purchase your pistol cases or rifle cases because it’ll be easier to match up guns with gun cases and not have to scurry around trying to find one when you are trying to head out to the range.

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You need 2 Sleeping bags a Summer Bag and a Winter Bag so check out the Recon Sleeping Bags

Recon 2 Sleeping BagsRecon 3 Sleeping BagsRecon 4 Sleeping BagsRecon 5 Sleeping BagsWe have been expanding our EMS and Search and Rescue product lines in the last year from medical kits, Quick Clot sport and Combat Gauze as well as Timberline EMS Rescue Tools and Leatherman Multi-tools that are geared towards military, survival and Paramedics and EMTs.   There are always interesting products that Search and Rescue personnel buy from us that make you think they are going to be repelling off a cliff or going off on a jungle adventure.   One thing everyone knows in this industry is something many use to learn in Boy Scouts is “being prepared” is the best mindset you can have.  I don’t know the number of times I’ve been on friend or family trips and someone didn’t even think to bring rain gear or medical supplies.   There’s something to be said about survival of the fittest and when you are going in the outdoors for long periods of time, sometimes the possibility that something could go wrong and you might be out longer than expected is a real possibility.  Packing light is something that is much easier to do today and if you have old camping gear or outdated sleeping bags you might want to consider doing a clean out of your attic.

We picked up the Recon Sleeping bags via Elite Survival Systems and didn’t know much about them until they came in stock but we were really impressed with out light and compact these are.   There are always extreme temperatures that one can endure and not every sleeping bag is going to be good for -10 C and also be good for 95F temperatures.   Many in the Search and Rescue are aware that deployments might be a  lot longer and getting stuck over night in a not so great environment is a reality.   I’ve found that packing lighter gear especially camping and hiking gear is becoming easier and easier.   The lighter the sleeping bag the more food or gear you will be able to carry and even something like the Recon 2 Sleeping Bags or Recon 3 sleeping Bags and some type of emergency blanket that might only weigh a few ounces and cost less than $5 keeps your backpack light and gives you much more tolerance to cold temperatures.   The Recon Sleeping bags are very friendly to being geared up and ready to good since the bottom of the bag gives you the ability to move around with boots on without snagging or twist up.

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Not much of a need for gun cleaning rods

ThereHoppes BoresnakesRifle CleaningHandgun CleaningHandgun Cleaning6 are a lot of things that haven’t changed much with shooting firearms, but the way things are cleaned has changed.   Gun Lubricants are mostly non-toxic anymore and they are much better at doing more than keeping a firearm running, they also help do what gun cleaners did and also help protect rifles and handguns from corrosion.   I have gone through a few gun cleaning rods, all 3 piece ones, and it’s always the 22 caliber rifles that do in those devices.   If you put the wrong cleaning patch on the rod you are going to get it stuck halfway in the barrel and might even not be able to pull the rod out.   Not all firearms can be cleaned with a cleaning rod properly, the M1 Garand,  and Mini 14 and Ruger 10/22.   Sure if you want to clean it from the muzzle you can but that’s not the direction the bullet goes and isn’t recommended.

The only firearm that I don’t use a device like this in are my revolvers because I do find that I need a pistol cleaning rod to brush out the cylinder whenever I am shooting all lead bullets because the Hoppes Boresnakes just don’t seem to get it all.   There are always reasons to have more than a few gun cleaning tools around but it’s also important to make sure you use the correct caliber sizes and don’t force it.    I am presently using a 22 Caliber Boresnake on my AR15s, Ruger Mini 14s and Marline Model 882 and Ruger 10/22.   Just soak the top of the snake just ahead of the bristles and drop the cord through the barrel and pull.

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Don’t short change yourself with a cheap rifle case

Gun CasesAssault Rifle Soft CasesIt always amazes me the number of people that drop $2000 on an AR15 and then show up with the typical $30-$40 assault rifle case they picked up a a gun show.   Recently, we have had a large number of customers that have been issued carbines for their Patrol vehicles and many of them have been hearing the stories about mounts break on flashlights, batteries draining because pressure switches on their Surefire flashlights were being activated because the gun case that someone was using didn’t adapt to their newest addition to their bolt action, AK or M4 carbine.   Even something like a Magpul Vertical Grip can change the way your rifle fits and if you pull the zipper too hard,  you’ll need another case because the zipper is going to blow out.

I’ve always felt that it’s a good idea to assign a gun case to specific rifles so you can keep your magazines together as well as any sight in tools or carbine parts or shooting range gear.  One thing that we often market are the American Made tactical nylon gun cases that Elite Survival Systems and several other companies have.  There are Pelican “hard” gun cases that cost a lot of money but you can’t beat that for sending rifles across Country if you have someone else transporting them.   Lots of Special Ops guys buy the padded gun cases like the “Double Agent” case and they tend to have the fancy stuff on their M4 Carbines.   Learn from

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Looking for gun accessories and knowing what not to buy?

There are a ton of accessories out there than you can attach to your firearms and there are quality issues that we constantly hear about.   The best we can do is warn you that it’s not really about whether or not a part is made out of plastic or not it’s really about use and proper mounting.  I’ve had screws sheer off mounts after about 2000rds of 7.62 NATO went through an FAL and it was suppose to be the best mount out there.  To this day I’m not sure if the screws may have been over torgued or  not but I didn’t have a screw driver that I could measure this with.   Loctite isn’t used enough in this industry and every thing that has a screw on it from flashlight mounts to optic mounts, pistol grips and foregrips should have it on them.

Now that accessories like B.A.D. levers are heavily used, its often asked of us if they are any good and the first warning we tell people is that “it’s one more screwed on device that can come off” so proper mounting is a preventative maintenance thing.    Whether  you are looking at a bi pod or magazine well grip, Mako, Command Arms,  Magpul gun accessoriesMagpul stocks and accessoriesMagpul Stocks, Troy firearm parts, Midwest, VLTOR or TacStar you gotta make sure you put it on right.   I have an LWRC M6A1 that has a Tapco SAW Grip on it and think nothing less of Tapco if the grip fits your hand right.

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Muscle Memory avoid deviating at all costs

Blackhawk Serpa HolstersBlackhawk retention holstersThat’s my short answer on the Blackhawk retention holsters if you wanted an opinion.  I’m not a big fan of taking novice gun owners or new recruits with a holster like this because I’ve seen it all on the firing line.   The NRA has really good standards for training new students, children and even adults.  I have rarely seen a new handgun shooter start off shooting on a table but I’ve gone back to that when watching new people walk up to a firing line and do the dumbest things.   You can judge competency by someones education level nor the muscle mass.   I’ve grown tired of being at public firing ranges whether indoors or on a State Game range and looking down the barrel of someone taking their girlfriend to the range or a newly hired Police Officer that was issued a sidearm but can’t handle the 45acp recoil.

When my life is on the line which it is every time a gun is unholstered, I have my tolerance levels and keeping a controlled environment is my protocol.  Once someone has been trained on using a firearm, adapting to a retention holster like the Blackhawk Serpa holsters is just learning another device.   It’s a bad idea starting out with both and many, many departments hire not on experience, there are always new people learning to shoot and it’s very common to see firearms instructors put bans on this holster system when training new students or unknown discipline.  I do use these holsters as a paddle holster as well is the drop leg format and I do have respect for them.

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Daniel Defense Upper Receivers for self defense and hunting

Daniel Defense Upper ReceieversWe are often asked questions that are simple questions but open us up to a lot of liabilities because in this industry, if you don’t know what you want, we can’t tell you what to get.   We can give you suggestions based upon your questions but questions like “I want a comfortable holster” and “what’s better, S&W upper receivers or Daniel Defense?”   There are some major advances it technology that have made military style rifles  much stronger and lighter than ever before and Daniel Defense is probable the leader in those regards.  Some of their upper receivers are in the 4lb range and are incredible durable.   The cold hammer forged barrels are incredible strong and a great many of these are used in Special Forces.

The barrels come pre-threaded so these are suppressor friendly which is a major plus since so many people are realizing the value of having suppressed firearms.     There are a lot of differences in Daniel Defense Upper receivers but the best thing to do when shopping for a build or hunting rifle is to go to a store that stocks them or hang out at a gun club with your friends that own them.   The Ambush line of Daniel Defense is geared more towards hunting because even though the AR15 started out as a military style weapon, it has been widely accepted as a good coyote or varmint rifle.   The versatility of the AR15 is in it’s ability to swap  out different upper receivers that can be  used for long range, different bullet weights and different optics.

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Reasons to keep your gear organized

Bulldog gun casesrifle caserange bagThere are a lot of reasons to consider putting the money down for a quality range bag because I’ve often see guys show up at gun ranges that didn’t have staples or forgot thumbtacks or tape for their targets.      One thing I always forget to bring with me is a dump pouch not just for collecting used magazines, but for keeping the brass I used so I can use it for reloading at a later time.  It’s always a liability to keep all of  your stuff of value in one place but it’s also an asset to know were it all is.  Nylon gear cay vary from quality to ingenuity from manufacturer to manufacturer but sometimes its best to look over all of what is available and pick what suits you.

If you wanted a shoulder holster that is made out of leather you’re going to be spending well over $100 and probable closer to $150 for a good one but nylon holsters are fast less expensive and depending on what type of gun you are carrying you might find you saved 50% off and got a good comfortable holster from Bulldog, Blackhawk or Elite Survival systems.    The Bulldog gun cases are reasonable priced and are a good option for pistol rugs, hunting rifles, shotguns ect.   The bulldog range bags are simple carry bags that can keep your ammo, range gear and magazines and sight in tools organized.

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Fast target acquisition and indoor and outdoor lighting situations

We always do a lot of listing to our customers because considering how technical this industry is, and considering that nobody that works here has been in the Military for 25yrs or been a firearms instructor for that long, we don’t have the experience to witness all of the gear being used and all of the situations that things have occurred.   The best way to learn is to listen and ask questions so you can comprehend what is going on.   One of those things is learning about the situations that many of our local Police Departments go through.   The statistics are that even if you are carrying an AR15 Carbine, you are still most likely to be in situations that are well within handgun ranges.HHSII-2

Moving form indoor sunlight to low light or total darkness, and then turning on a flashlight could be a total of 4 different lighting settings and depending on what optic you are using, it can become a total mess trying to see through you’re optic.   Optics that cut it tend to be Eotech Sights and Aimpoint sights and sometimes you are just better off sticking with Iron sights.   The next issue is finding power setting with your optic that gives you a comfort zone.   Try doing it with your Eotech and see how annoying high power settings are in low light even though it might be good in bright sunlight. If you are thinking about a night vision compatible optic, if you like Eotech’s you’ll have to think ahead for the NV compatible versions, if you want something simple, go with the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optics.

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Shooting in undesirable environments

Elite Survival Systems Epsilon shooting matSure we know the positions, squatting, shooting prone, but not only will you become uncomfortable after a period of time, stress builds up and it will have an impact on your ability to stay focused.    I’ve seen a lot of shooting mats in the past and they can be made out of a rug, foam sleeping mat or anything you want to make out of it, but weight and portability can be an issue.   I have an older Elite Survival Systems Ultimate Snip drag bag that works well with my DSArms STG58 and also is large enough to open up and give me some ground support if need be, but I decided to add the Epsilon shooting mat to my personal inventory after I got to hold on in my hands last  year.

The 2 things that sold me  on this item are that being 6’3″  I need a large shooting mat that I could use that my legs weren’t hanging off it and second, the fact that this folded up like a briefcase and didn’t curl up when It was deployed on the ground.   The Elite Survival Systems Epsilon shooting mat goes for $159.99 with free shipping and also has enough molle attachments and support that makes this also capable of holding a lot of gear.   I store Binoculars, spare magazines for my AR15 as well as handgun magazines and a mosquito net.   If you’ve shot off the ground you know how knees and elbows get torn up when you’re down in the dirt, but that doesn’t happen to me anymore because I bring this to the range with me and use it when desired.

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