Essential Shooting Gear Equipment's To Have During Your Range Practice
As you become more and more familiar with the shooting range experience, you’ll notice that regular patrons and gun enthusiasts have their own shooting range equipment. Of course, you can always rent safety equipment and protective gear at the shooting range, but others prefer to bring their own, especially if they visit the range often. Here is some shooting range equipment you might see:
Shooting Bag
A range bag for shooting is what you use to carry all your shooting gear with you to the range. If you plan to bring your own guns and equipment, a shooting range bag is a must-have because it is designed to safely carry these items.
The best range bag will have:
- Room for your firearms (in a case)
- Plenty of rounds
- Additional magazines
- Hearing protection
- Protective eyewear
- Gun cleaning kit
- Targets, but may be provided at your shooting range
- Anything else you might need while at the range, like water, snacks or maybe a GoPro.
Be sure to make a range day checklist so you don’t forget to pack any of your essential items in your range bag.
Ear Protection
Hearing protection is very important even from a very young age. Using earplugs or earmuffs for noise reduction as a regular habit can go a long way toward hearing preservation. Not only is this crucial to ensure this vital sense remians intact, but it contributes to one’s overall health as you age. This guide will review some of your options in hearing protection equipment.
Ear protection equipment is classified by its Noise Reduction Rating (NRR), a unit of measurement that determines the device’s ability to decrease sound exposure in an environment. The higher the rating, the better the device will protect your hearing.
According to OSHA, hearing protection is required for any employee exposed to 85 decibels or higher over an 8-hour period or 100 decibels or greater over a 2-hour period. However, it is advisable to invest in personal hearing protection of your own when you know that your work environment or recreational activities will expose you to high levels of noise.
Shooting Glasses
If you’re an avid hunter or target shooter, you already know that shooting glasses are necessary every time you handle a firearm, whether at the shooting range or in the field. There’s no mystery why shooting glasses are a critical accessory — your eyes are precious, and you must protect them. Yet, there can be some confusion around the many lens color options available for your shooting eyewear.
Shooting Gloves
Not every piece of range gear is a necessity. Sometimes, having too much kit can hinder your dexterity and feedback, making for poor discipline as you master the shooting fundamentals. But shooting gloves provide protection and if you’re shooting outdoors in a cold-weather environment, they’re typically a requirement to prevent frostbite. Let’s review the basics: Sizing up your gloves, the best materials to consider (with pros and cons), and features you may or may not want to invest in.
