bag_550
So the other day I headed out to a friend’s backyard range to give some attention to a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec 1911. Fantastic shooter, very accurate, totally reliable. Recoil felt like a big push; nothing harsh. I had other handguns to shoot and you’ll hear about all of them in later reviews. My backup gun, however, was an Anderson AR-15. I like to keep this rifle handy just in case, you know, some fool shows up with ill intent and I need more than a handgun. And speaking of “in case,” I carry the Anderson around in the Red Oxx Varmint Master Rifle Case you see here. This yellow beauty (Red Oxx color: “saffron”) retails for $200, carries and protects its contents well, and provides enough storage for, well, just about everything. Sometimes I put two rifles in it.
Red Oxx handmakes all of its legendary bags in Montana. They’re overbuilt, really — the kind of bag you’ll purchase once and use forever. At 50” in length, the Varmint Master is more than enough bag for a standard AR-15. Better would be a long-barreled sniper rifle with a monster optic on it. And a bipod. It’ll all fit in the Varmint Master, no problem, surrounded by a soft neoprene lining covered by 400 denier Cordura. But that’s the interior. The exterior of the bag is 1000 denier Cordura stitched with tough UV resistant thread all around.
Handles sport double box stitching and the shoulder sling adjusts to a myriad of lengths. So it’s easy and comfortable to carry and there’s really no fear of any of that stuff wearing out. Delrin #10 YKK zippers close everything up and endure just about any abuse you can throw at them.
One of my favorite features of the Varmint Master includes the three rectangular pockets. When the case (and the gun inside) is pulling backup duty, I fill the pockets with ammo and magazines. Warning: The pockets carry a lot so the whole package can get heavy. But the bag can take it and you’ll quickly appreciate the padded shoulder strap and rugged construction.
After a few boxes of ammo through the Springfield 1911, I holstered it and retrieved the Anderson rifle. It didn’t take long to churn through several boxes of Black Hills .223, thereby proving both the Anderson rifle and Red Oxx Varmint Master Rifle Case as worthy backups for a handgun.
— Mark Kakkuri
