Archive for the ‘ Misc ’ Category
Let me start off by saying I’m sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been dealing with some serious family issues (which are much better now) and nursing an injury which had dampened my spirits some. Luckily I’ve got plenty of stuff to write about and my free time is starting to appear a little more often. I’m actually about to work up a new article for y’all right now so stay tuned in.
Found this commando at the local grocery store. Full decked out in MARPAT with a Woodland pattern fighting load carrier with some type of hunting vest over that. To top it all off a MARPAT boonie hat with a big skull bandana as a hat band.
Everyone has sometime of range bag. Some people have dedicated purpose made range bags and on the other end of the spectrum some people carry their stuff to the range in a plastic grocery bag.
What I use to carry my range supplies is a dirty little secret that I need to confess. I use a cheap Chinese knock off of the SOTech Go Bag. Occasionally I will buy a knock off of a product to see how I like the design before I drop the coin on the real thing just find out it doesn’t work for me. Let me just say I love this bag and will be ordering the real thing shortly.
The bag is slightly unusual, it is really just a tall cylinder with three pockets on the front and a single wide strap. It also has a grab handle on both the top and bottom. The back panel, the part the goes against your body when you have it slung, has two tethered zippers that allows the panel to fully open and give you full access to the interior of the bag.
On the outside of the bag I added a panel of sage green Velcro on each side so I could add some patches just for fun. Right now it is wearing an ITS Tactical patch on one side and a Mil-Spec Monkey “Immediate Action” patch on the other side. I also wrapped some sage green 550 cord around the top handle to give it a more comfortable handle and make it look “cooler” (can’t forget the CDI factor). I also have a pair of Camelback Vent-back gloves attached to one side of the bag with a grimloc through the PALS webbing, these are my shooting gloves and I love them.
Also on the outside I have attached a 5.11/VTAC water bottle holder to some of the PALS webbing. I keep an ATS low profile medical insert stocked with gunshot wound supplies in the water bottle holder (look for a review of the medical insert soon) with the red handle hanging out to help identify it as a medical pouch. I like have the medical pouch on the outside of the bag so that I never forget to bring it and it is easy to find. I’d hate to be sitting there digging through my bag looking for medical supplies after an accident at the range.
The main pouch is where I stuff my magazines and my ammunition. If the bag is not full it will collapse on itself and not hold its shape, knowing this I start by stacking boxes of ammunition on the bottom to make a stable base. I usually have several boxes of 12 gauge shot shells on the bottom followed by boxes of 9mm and .45 ACP with some smaller boxes of .22LR filling in the spaces and then my magazines stacked on top.
On to the three smaller pouches on the outside. Starting with the top pocket, it carries a Surefire G2 with an aftermarket LED lamp upgrade (I still can’t see in the dark) and a multi-tool of some type (I rotate them out sometime). In the middle pocket I have a cotton bandana (it’s amazing how often this comes in handy) and I also stick my camera in a small Pelican case in that pocket, when I remember to grab it. If you ever see a post with a crappy picture that probably means I forgot my camera and I’m relying on my iphone to take pictures with. Finally in the bottom pocket I carry a small bottle of lubricant and a medium sized mesh bag to put my spent brass in. I don’t reload yet but I have started saving my brass because I intend to start sometime in the future.
One of my other favorite things about this bag is that it is great for shooting off of. I’m really working on improving my marksmanship with my 10/22 so I can make sure my fundamentals rock before I start looking for a full size bolt gun for some longer range precision shooting
So what do y’all use to carry all of your supplies to the range? Do you have something special you take to the range with you? Got any questions about why I carry something or don’t carry something else? Post a reply letting me know and if you want shoot me an email at tacticaltexan@gmail.com and I’ll add it to this post, let’s see those range bags!
Keep up the good fight
-Rob
You might have noticed from the picture in the review of my AR that
my magazines are painted and numbered for easy identification. Most people
understand the benefits of marking your magazines such as easier
identification at the range, identifying which magazines seems to be giving
you issues such as double feeds, and most importantly the CDI factor.
I’ll quickly run you through how I went about painting mine to give them a
different look but still keep them easily identifiable. I didn’t come up
with this idea I originally saw it in a thread on M4Carbine of ARFcom
and thought it was an interesting idea that I should give a try.
First I gathered up some of my Magpul Pmags and disassembled them.
If you have never handled a Pmag before one of the advantages is that they
are extremely easy to take apart. All you have to do is push a button on
the bottom of the base plate and slide the base plate off of the body of the
magazine and then remove the spring. I then used some warm soapy water to
clean the magazines and then set them outside to dry.
After this I laid out a large piece of cardboard paper to do the painting on so I didn’t end up with grey grass. I arrange the magazines on the cardboard and ensured they had enough room between them so I wouldn’t be worried about any overspray from the other magazines. I laid the stencils on top of the magazine bodies at a slight angle for aesthetic reasons and held the stencil in place with a stick so it wouldn’t move around while I was spraying them. I could have taped them down but the stick was just quicker and easier and ended up working just as well.
While the first side dried I went inside and got a drink, checked my email and ate a sandwich. Once the sandwich was done it was time to see if the paint was dry enough to do the other side. They were dry to the touch so I went ahead and flipped them over and repeated the process making sure to match the numbers up correctly. I didn’t want a magazine saying 3 on one side and 5 on the other.
Another trip inside to let them dry in the sun and then all that was left was to reassemble them. They look pretty good and the numbering is functional so I can track the magazines and not mix them up with other peoples. If I had it to do over again I would use a darker grey but the shade I found was all they had at the store and I wanted to go ahead and give this a try. I might end up redoing them in the future but who knows.
Keep up the good fight
-Rob
Well it’s time. Time for me to attack my dear Saiga with drill and dremel to convert it back to the way it was designed. Goodbye goofy hunting stock, hello KVAR NATO length AK stock. Goodbye trigger in the wrong location with weird linkage, hello normal AK trigger. Goodbye imaginary pistol grip, and hello SAW grip.
I think I have all the tools and parts I need. I have reads copious amounts of information and watched numerous YouTube videos on this process. I know how to do this but yet I still feel like my Saiga is about to get brain surgery from a palsy victim with a pipewrench.
I’ll be doing the procedure tonight if time allows. I’ll be sure to snap some pics and take some notes to let y’all know how it goes. If I get it done tonight I’ll take it to the range Saturday and have a report up layer that night
Keep up the good fight
-Rob
Tactical Texan 