The gun-range bag market is full of choices.
Such bags are used for the transportation of guns, ammunition, cleaning kits, and other essential shooting range accessories. Bags are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes. With so many options at hand, picking the right one can be difficult.
In this post, I’ll help you pick the best bag to heighten your shooting experience!
Do you really need a gun range bag?
In short, yes.
Preparation is essential if you want a smooth running experience at the shooting range. The organization is also important.
A great bag, equipped with the right gear, will optimize your time there. Having the right bag for you will make your shooting experience easier and more enjoyable.
If your range puts a limit on shooting time available, then optimization of that time is key.
What to look for in a gun range bag?
Below are a few qualities a good range bag should have:
- High-quality, strong zippers
- Made with durable, water-resistant material
- An ammunition compartment
- Tough handles and a shoulder strap (essential)
- Multiple, internal pockets (allowing you to segregate smaller items into easily accessible compartments)
- Exterior pockets to store additional items
The factors relevant in selecting the right bag for you will depend on your own personal preferences.
Considerations will include:
- The number of guns you usually take to the range
- The ammunition and accessories you take with you
- Your frequency of visits to the range
The Best Gun Range Bags – Reviewed
Below, I’ve collected my top gun range back choices and explained the reasons why. Each one fits in a different situation for a different type of gun user, so take your pick!
Best Overall Gun Range Bag: Explorer Tactical Large Padded Rangemaster
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The focus of Explorer Tactical is on gun bags, rifle cases, tactical backpacks, and basically anything gun-related. Such a narrow focus is beneficial – they do one thing, and they have done it well for more than 20 years.
They aim to keep production simple so the price does not inflate above the value of their bags.
The Explorer Tactical Rangemaster gun range bag is the perfect choice for anyone going to the range. Explorer Tactical continuously researches the use of their bags to design improved models.
If you have your own design in mind, they will work alongside you to bring it to life and develop a whole new range!
This is the ultimate bag to carry multiple pistols to your range, along with all essential accessories and tools. It was designed with input from range instructors, special operations officers, patrol officers, and SWAT, so it is bound to give you exactly what you need.
It’s highly adaptable, in that it can handle any type of range activity. There is ample room for hearing protection, ammo, pistols and more besides.
Durability is another feature of this great bag.
Made of 600-denier polyester throughout, this bag can easily manage heavy loads. The carrying handles and shoulder-strap are made of heavy-duty nylon, so it won’t fail under a heavy load.
With plastic feet to the bottom and padded pockets for extra protection of your valuable firearms, Explorer Tactical used only quality zippers and materials to design this gem.
The bag will fit up to 5 or more handguns, earmuffs, and has 7 magazine pouches on each side, for a total of 14 magazines, ammo, ear protection, and safety glasses – what more could you ask for!
The stitching is excellent and everything is padded for top-notch protection of your guns with lots of room. This bag is made to withstand rough use.
Want to know more? Check out more info about it over on Amazon!
Best Tactical Range Bag: Osage River Tactical Backpack
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While not strictly speaking a firearm accessory company, Osage River use the knowledge gained from making good outdoor equipment, to make this top-flight tactical backpack covered in Velcro and MOLLE webbing. Their tents are notorious for weathering storms, so you can be assured that this bag will survive being thrown around on concrete floors at the range.
They also make a waist fanny pack, which is tougher than their range bag – a great choice for hunters needing a secure storage compartment for ammo and other hunting paraphernalia.
Osage River has a limited lifetime warranty which means that irrespective of purchase date if the workmanship was defective, they will make things right.
Used by anyone from law enforcement to hunters, the Osage River Tactical Pack boasts spacious and versatile storage and can be obtained at half of the price of the other bags reviewed here.
The best feature of this bag for me is the two-liter capacity external pocket. It also has fully adjustable shoulder straps that are contoured for comfort, and 4 adjustable compression straps to allow for expanding the pack for larger gear.
An adaptable range bag!
Click here to jump over to Amazon to get the best price!
Best Pistol Range Bag: G.P.S. Handgunner Backpack
The G.P.S. Handgunner Backpack is one of the best product lines of G-Outdoors. The backpack is covered with symbols to aid fast visual identification of each pocket, making it a great time-saving bag. products extend further than backpacks, including items such as shell pouches and rapid deployment packs. These are effectively tactical messenger bags combined with small range bags.
The G.P.S. Handgunner Backpack is designed in such a way that the eager handgun shooter is able to carry various handguns, ammo, 12 extra magazines, shooting glasses, and ear protection.
But that”s not all!
There’s still room for shooting mats, targets, stapler, tape, binos, and cleaning supplies all in this compact bag.
Inside the bag resides a high-density foam storage cradle, which slides in and out of the lower compartment.
Made of nylon, this slightly more expensive bag, holds 4 handguns in a vertical position. My favorite feature of this bag is the level of protection afforded by the foam inside.
Want to get one for yourself? Click over to Amazon for more info and to read more reviews from users!
Best Rifle Range Bag: NcSTAR VISM Expert Range bag
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NcSTAR may not have the best reputation in the firearms community because their products were cheap, yet not always worth the money. Over the years they have improved, such that their innovation and designs are not comparable to other companies.
While remaining in the budget category of firearm accessories, they have released a number of winning products in recent years, which are worth the price – including the NcSTAR VISM Expert Range Bag.
Despite this, if you are still unhappy with their product they do have a good warranty.
This bag has a wide padded shoulder strap with metal clasp hook. There is a top hook and loop fastener for securing hearing protection, as well as a pullout bag with carry handles.
The bag has 2 end inside pockets and 2 padded side pockets – perfect for storing handguns. The front padded compartment is for rifles (up to 4) or pistols (up to 8).
Conclusion
I get it:
There is a huge range of bags to choose from.
The ones I have reviewed above are my personal favorites in terms of quality and overall value for money.
To determine the best one for you, assess your personal needs. Consider the factors I mentioned here, namely number of guns, quantity of accessories and frequency of visits.
This will help you narrow down your search for the best shooting range bag that will suit you.
I hope this guide helps you pick the best gun range bag in time for your next visit to the shooting range!
Got a favorite? Leave it in the comments below!