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A Bit Different Shooting Bag

Like most shooters I've tried many different shooting bags over the years.  A rolling shooting bag which is great, but when full of all the gear needed for a 3-Gun match is a huge load to get into the truck.  At one point, 5 small shooting bags were used.  One for pistol, one for miscellaneous, one for shotgun, one for rifle, and one for Long Range Rifle.  There was just too much useful stuff in the miscellaneous bag that it couldn't be left behind.  Soon enough it was clear that the pistol bag and the miscellaneous bag were carried around as a pair.  One bag would be better.  One never goes to the range without a pistol, so a combination pistol and miscellaneous bag seems logical.  This one bag should carry the items necessary to shoot a pistol at the range.  Just as important it carries all the miscellaneous items that are needed to set up a match, SO a match, fix simple gun problems, paste and staple targets, do a bit of first aid, prevent sunburn, deal with rain, and generally help out my fellow shooters.

This year a baby stroller 3-gun cart was finished, which is easy to load in the truck because cart and bags are lifted seperately.  The cart is loaded up with the appropriate shooting bags depending on what is needed for that day at the range.  The individual small bags for shotgun, rifle and LRR will go along as needed.

For pistol only shooing, or for multiple gun shooting, a good bag for pistol and miscellaneous was needed.  One that could be carried around by hand or on the shoulder, yet big enough for a lot of miscellaneous gear.  Wow, the range of bag sizes, shapes and costs is amazing.  But being a bit frugal, the search was on for a moderate cost bag with about 14" x 11" internal space and several external pockets.  After looking at shooting bags, gear bags, police duty bags, nylon tackle boxes, baby bags, military bags, nylon tool boxes, and a lot more, an excellent bag was found at Cabella's online.  The 3700 Pro Guide Tackle Bag is excellent for my purposes.  It was originally designed to be waterproof, hold five 3700 type lure boxes which are 14" x 8.75" x 2", and it is sold with and without the lure boxes.  And one of the best parts is that it is $35 normally and was on sale for $30 when my dearest wife purchased it for a Christmas present.

These plans are free for non-commercial use and are offered with no warranty or other claims expressed or implied.  Ken Reed, 12/25/2007.

From the Cabella's site.  Rugged 600-denier construction and waterproof
polyurethane coating make this durable fishing bag ideal for fishing remote
locations. There's abundant pocket space for all your gear including three
exterior zippered pockets, a front mesh pocket and a GPS/cell phone
 pocket that has a felt lining for added protection. This bag holds five 3700
 boxes (sold separately) Use the nylon webbing carry handles or the
padded shoulder strap to get your gear to your fishing destination easily.

Here is the tackle box outfitted as a shooting bag.  Lots of room for my normal load of stuff.
What stuff you ask?

=A couple of pistols (not shown but they sit on top of the containers in gun rugs or holsters)
=.45ACP ammo, up to 500  rounds
=.22lr ammo, 500 round brick
=.45ACP pistol magazines x 8
=Magazine loader
=Mag pouches x 2
=Electronic muffs
=Ear plugs x 5 - 10
=CED 7000 Shot timer with wrist strap
=Recovered brass, up to 500 rounds
=Surefire – backup
=Digi-light - loaner
=Surefire bulb assembly
=Digi-light bulb assembly
=C123 batteries x 8
=Garbage bags, 39 gallon x 2
=Garbage bags, 13 gallon x 2
=Zip lock bags, 1 gallon x 2
=Zip lock bags, 1 quart x 2
=Leather work gloves
=Squibby by Wayne Johnson
=M16 cleaning rod
=Powershot Pro stapler & extra box of staples
=Rain Shield, like Rain X, but it can be applied while it is raining
=BreakFree CLP
=Tetra gun grease - loaner
=Bullfrog sun block
=Repel, 25% Deet, mosquito repellant
=Small first aid kit
=Marks-A-Lot, and sharpies in black, green, blue, and silver
=Cheap Pens for scoring - they never seem to come back
=Measuring tape, 50 foot
=Stop watch
=Leatherman Super Tool
=Swiss Army knife
=Allen wrench set
=Torks wrench set
=Glock Armor’s tool
=Small screw driver set with magnetic ends
=AAA Earmuff batteries x 4
=AA batteries x 4 – loaner
=Batteries for red dot sight x 2
=9Volt battery for timer - loaner
=Sight paint and applicators - loaner
=Front sight adjustment tool for AR15
=Rubber bands x 10 – general use
=11” x 17” computer printed paper targets x 20
=Small towel
=Neck lanyard for camera or timer
=Chamber flags x 3 – shotgun or rifle
=Roll of 1” masking tape – for pasting slug holes
=Roll of pasters, or paster tape x 2 - 4
=Wire ties x 20
=IDPA rulebook
=Gun shot pictures – to help prevent sweeping
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Weight 15.1 lbs + ammo, handguns and water

Six of these 1 quart Rubbermaid #3901 containers with the top
cut off, are used as the basis of the organization containers in the
 shooting bag.

The next addition will be a couple of these CED brass bags
which will be used for brass and/or a quart Gatoraide bottles.

Copyright ©2007, Ken Reed