Rifle Soft Cases, Rail Covers, Eyes/Ears and a million other questions!

[Emilio84]

So I am finally nearing the end of my build and have a couple of questions relating to gun cases, rail covers, and eye and ear protection.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a quality soft rifle case? My rifle is 35in long so a 36" rifle case should be fine but I know down the line I will be grabbing a shotgun and have been considering a 42" case because of that.

I am looking at this 5.11 case on closeout (not too fond of FDE but the price is nice)

http://www.lapolicegear.com/511-shotgun-case-closeout.html

They also have a double rifle case but its 36"

http://www.lapolicegear.com/5ta36dorica.html


I am trying to keep these soft cases fairly inexpensive as I will be buying a lockbox/safe for my house which is where the rifle will be 90% of the time unless I am going to the range at which point it will be in the soft case.

Opinions?

Suggestions?



As for rail covers I have a 12" Daniel Defense Lite Rail and was wondering how many Magpul XTM panels it takes to cover one side of the rail. I know 1 pack (4 panels) covers a carbine so I assumed that it would take 2 packs to cover a 12" rail. Am I right?



Now for ears I am looking at Peltor Tactical Sport Hearing Protector. They seem to get very good reviews at at $70 seem like a good deal.

For eyes its a bit trickier since I wear glasses. Anyone have recommendations for someone who wears glasses? I'd prefer not to have to buy yet another pair of prescription glasses (I have 3 at the moment) but if thats my only choice I am all ears.

[hikeeba]

Hello Emilio,

The 42" case looks to be a good deal. If I didn't already have cases, I'd snatch one of those up. I don't have any hands-on with the 5.11 cases, but they can't be too bad from the looks of the pics.

I believe you are correct on your estimation of the XTM panels for you 12" DD Lite Rail. If it helps paint a picture, I have YHM lightweight mid-length rail. I recently bought 3 sets of the XTM rail covers, covers two sides of the tube, and had two full panels left over. I think. Hmmm, the more I think of it, i may not have gone to the very edge of each rail. Let me check that and get back to you.


Regarding hearing protection, i have a set of Peltor electronic muffs that I got at Cabela's for about $60. They are relative low profile, and have the band that goes over the head. They fold up into a tiny package. I've used them for AR range fun and for trap shooting. I find them to be comfortable and to work quite well.


Regarding your eyeballs, how bad are your eyes? I mostly need glasses to sharpen images at a distance or at night. If I wake up and don't sit at the computer before going to shoot on a Saturday morning, I can get away with not wearing my glasses for trap, and maybe for 100 yd range shooting. In these instances, I wear some sort of off-the-shelf safety glasses. If you need glasses to see a 100 yd target, consider using the glasses you have now, as well as maybe getting a second pair of regular glasses - just in case. If you shoot a lot, or if you are planning to engage in some sort of clay sports when you get the shotty you mentioned, you may want to consider getting a pair of dedicated shooting glasses. A lot of older gentlemen that I shoot with have shooting-specific prescription glasses. For me for now, I'll stick with my regular prescription glasses if I really need them. Also, you may want to visit your eye doc and pose the question to him/her. Perhaps they may have a cost effective solution for you.

[magpul_556]

Yeah, it took me 6 packs to cover 3 sides of my 12" rail. I think there was 2 pieces left over. Id recommend Eagle Industries Soft Cases.

[Emilio84]

Yeah, it took me 6 packs to cover 3 sides of my 12" rail. I think there was 2 pieces left over. Id recommend Eagle Industries Soft Cases.

Sounds good. 6 it is... and i'll take a look at eagle industries.

[Emilio84]

Sounds good. 6 it is... and i'll take a look at eagle industries.


hikeeba - I just grabbed the Peltor Muffs and I am going to try shooting without my glasses. I have an astigmatism so I should be able to get away without them as long as I can deal with the reduced sharpness in my distance vision.

As for the soft case I might go with a very simple rifle case and a range bag as NY laws a bit iffy on traveling with ammo and for legal issues I'd prefer to keep my rifle in my trunk and ammo in the cabin.