Range Gear

At Mr. Completely’s place yesterday, I found a link to Cowboy Blob’s Saloon, Smokehouse and Shooting Gallery about range gear. It’s a good read that folks looking to start competing should use as a primer. My only change would be the item I am going to show off in this post.

First though, let it be known that I am a cheap bastard. I look at it as “A penny saved is another penny in the ammo fund� and anytime I can save some cash, I do so. Which led me to buy this,

(All pics are clickable)

His name is Stanley because it conveniently came molded into his chassis. I also call him “my R2 unit” even though he hasn’t beeped yet in the couple months I’ve had him, but I think that is due to a mistake at the factory because I can’t find a speaker of any kind any where.

I originally bought Stanley to hold my ever expanding collection of firearms cleaning gear, but after taking him with me to the range a couple times his mission has now changed to ‘Official Range Bitch Box’.

Stanley has a very roomy interior. Pop the levers in the front and the back and he opens right up.

I have put 300rnds of 45ACP, 2000rnds of 22LR, 300rnds of 380ACP, 100rnds of 9mm and 200rnds of 38Spl in the bottom compartment and still had room for targets, 3 sets of ear and eye protection, a stapler, and 2 guns in hard cases and two in soft cases.

But that is only the bottom half of my R2 unit.

On the top you have a smaller compartment with a hinge top.

Inside I carry mags, benchrags, a small cleaning kit, any screw-in chokes I may need and any miscellaneous small range goodies. There are also two small, lidded compartments on the top that I throw small wrenches and other tools in.

Of course, lifting Stanley into the back of the truck is a minor Herculean job at this point, but I can do it with one arm and I only have to make one trip from the truck to the shooting area and the extra weight makes him roll nice and smoothly, even in gravel.

So you may ask yourself “Wow, how much did this cost AK, the cheap bastard?�

$19.95, brothers and sisters, on sale at Target. The price has since gone up to $24.95 or more depending on your location, but they are still worth it. In fact, it is so handy that I’m going to get another one (or maybe two) this Sunday and I think I’m going to have to start numbering them.

Or, I could just sticker them. Since this sticker proved so popular on my truck, I put one on Stanley as well.