I am in the market for a new shooting bag and curious about the dimensions that y'all find to be just right.
Thank you
Pat
Thank you
Pat
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Shooting Bag
- Thread starter Patrick Thomas
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Mercier said:
It surely depends on the style/period you're after. Or if you're simply looking for function, that will depend on how you use it. Details like gussets and flap attachment will also affect how big it needs to be to carry what you need to carry. Folks cram all sorts of stuff into their shooting bags that doesn't have a thing to do with making a gun go bang, so it's a really an individual call.
I ONLY put things into my shooting bags needed for the next shot, while putting all the other nice-to-have's elsewhere, typically in a rucksack. I also like gussets to make my bags "thicker" than flat-sewn bags, just so they don't have to be so big to hold even the minimum of shooting supplies. Therefore my preferred bags look ridiculously small compared to what many folks carry.
How small? As small as I can get them while being able to stick my hand in, grab something, and pull my closed fist back out without it hanging up. That works out to a bag no bigger than 6" wide and 6" deep with a 2" gusset.
Yeah. Tiny. Looks more like a woman's small cocktail purse than the Pony Express bags some guys carry. But I'm a real man and I can endure the shame of wearing women's clothing. :rotf:
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Brown Bear gave good advice. Different folks choose to carry differing things and amounts of those things in their bags. Some (B. Bear & myself included), are minimalists. I have a bag for each gun and the bag only holds the items needed to shoot the gun & change a flint. To figure out what size bag will work for you, lay out what you plan to routinely carry in the bag & use some folded & safety pinned cloth to see how small a bag your stuff & a hand needs to be functional.
Mines 7 x 9 ..... Although I'm not a true minimalist, I absolutely HATE digging around in my shooting bag for my needs. I operate off of the K.I.S.S way of thinking... Keep it simple stupid... :thumbsup:
hanshi
Cannon
I have three; two of them I made and the third was made by a friend. All are small to fairly small; ranging from around 6" X 6.5" to 7" X 7", more or less. They don't hold very much and are only used out in the bush.
Gentlemen,
Thank you all very much. For now, the bag will be for shooting and hunting. Just getting back into black powder after a multi-year hiatus. Eventually, I'm considering early Rocky Mountain fur trade, say just after War of 1812 timeframe. I'm looking into a SMR for that.
At the moment I'm refurbishing a Jukar .45 that I've had since I was sixteen. Then I'm looking into a GPR .54. Both for hunting.
Thank you all very much. For now, the bag will be for shooting and hunting. Just getting back into black powder after a multi-year hiatus. Eventually, I'm considering early Rocky Mountain fur trade, say just after War of 1812 timeframe. I'm looking into a SMR for that.
At the moment I'm refurbishing a Jukar .45 that I've had since I was sixteen. Then I'm looking into a GPR .54. Both for hunting.
Most of us started with bags that you could pack enough stuff to supply a small city for a month or two. We see in paintings and cartoons people with small bags. In a hunting situation or shooting a woods walk odds are you just won't have that many shots. And you may find you don't need a big bag.
Swampy made me THE perfect fowler bag for my needs: 8" wide by 6" tall.
That is about the size I'm looking for. Good looking bag too.
I'd say the first thing is to assemble what you're going to put into the bag, on a table top, on top of a couple of sheets of newspaper. Try to arrange it from top to bottom on the paper as it would sit within the bag, THEN with a marker draw around the outside of the items. (Use about 3 or more sheets of newspaper on top of each other to protect your table top from the ink bleeding through - unless you're single and nobody will care if you mark your table top :shocked2: )
You will end up with an image of how big the interior of the bag may need to be, and be able to start there when looking for bags. REMEMBER that a bag made of two pieces of leather sewn together has less room than the same shaped bag that has a gusset sewn in to expand the interior. Your outline only gives you a 2D image of a 3D situation, so if you like the bags of simpler construction, you have to allow for the thickness of the tools and such that you place inside.
LD
You will end up with an image of how big the interior of the bag may need to be, and be able to start there when looking for bags. REMEMBER that a bag made of two pieces of leather sewn together has less room than the same shaped bag that has a gusset sewn in to expand the interior. Your outline only gives you a 2D image of a 3D situation, so if you like the bags of simpler construction, you have to allow for the thickness of the tools and such that you place inside.
LD
jeremiah ingraham
36 Cal.
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If you are making one yourself. T.C. Albert's book is a great deal of help. I made it the exact size for the first one. I copied the templates and made the size 122% on the copier for the others I have made. This made it easier to get my hand into.
hanshi
Cannon
I had one of those from the 1960s until about 30 years ago. "Hey kids, can we spell "suitcase"?
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I really enjoy reading this forum on a daily basis and rarely post. But I wanted to add that even though I only carry shooting stuff in my shooting bags, I still have to make sure my hand will fit in the bag also. If you have large hands, make sure there's enough room for your hand fit in comfortably.
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Steve-ALA said:
Oh yeah. With a light load typically in the bag, it sure wants to grab onto your hand if it's too small and you grab something in there. Ask me how I decided when a bag was too small!
Looked like a bear with his paw stuck in a honey jaw when I went to trying to shake the bag off my own large paw. :rotf:
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Is that sewed flat? Sounds about right for that style. It's one of the big reasons I've gone to a gusset in my builds, letting me accomplish the same service in a smaller package.
jbwilliams3
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I stitch mine flat, inside out. Once the stitching is done, I wet the leather and turn right side in and stuff with paper while the leather dries. This provides plenty of room for my needs and is much simpler to make and I can still get away with a smaller bag - about 7" x 6" or so.
