Colony shoot/gear volume space needed?

I took 3 rifles in padded cases, a 2'x4' shooting table with detachable base (miter saw stand) gun cleaning stuff, extra patches, and cleaning rods in a pvc pipe cut to length with padding inside the caps to minimize any damage. (no damage) . Approximately 700 rounds per rifle (could have been more). All loaded rounds were in MTM style 50 rd count ammo boxes, the ammo for one gun was in one style ammo box and I still had the shipping box I had received the boxes in, so that packed up 10 boxes of 50 nice & neat. I used MTM ammo crates for all the rest of the ammo, some pretty tuff boxes, seals good, can stack 'em as well.

Gather up all the "stuff" and then do a practice run of loading the truck, you find that moving this over there, and that over here will free up some more room for more stuff.

I put the table top on the floor of the truck, the legs would fit across the width of the bed at the cab wall, everything else got stacked and packed as far forward as possible, light stuff near the tailgate for balance & weight distribution. My guns rode across the bed between the wheel wells inbetween the ammo boxes to keep 'em from moving. I had no damage in 3700 miles. I have a locking tonneau cover so everything was out of sight and secure.

Loading

I think the biggest issue with p doggin' gear is all the different sizes and shapes that have to be arranged in some semblance of stability for the trip. I'm currently driving an extended cab F150 with a 6 1/2' bed and a camper shell. We have a removable platform that has room for four two-gun cases underneath it. It's the width of the bed and about 5' front-to-back. It's two pieces of 1/2" plywood covered with utility carpet and is supported by three 2x4 frames which my son the carpenter calls chicken ladders. The platform provides a flat load surface leaving room for a couple of coolers in the rear of the bed. Makes it much easier to load and unload stuff like disassembled rotating tables, ammo (usually in coolers just for ease of transport), gear bags with optics, etc. etc. etc. The load doesn't exceed bed height so I won't be doing another shell but I like having a hard cover that is lockable.

I should add that we're only talking about enough gear for two shooters.

I have a '18 F150 Screw with 5.5' bed, Undercover locking cover that is keyed to the trucks ignition key. I use my Bald Eagle front rest for a cleaning rack with a rear bag holding the gun. Pretty stable, set it all up on the tail gate/bed in the motel parking lot. I was staying at a mom & pop motel, so they cater to the sporting crowd so no problems at all.

I had a 2 day drive to SD, so I was able to pack the bed of the truck for the long term so to speak. Wife was traveling with me but I was the only shooter, so I only had one table, but if she decides to shoot I will need to build another table and it should fit w/o much trouble. We had plenty of room for clothes in the truck bed that we would not need while on the road, and once in SD, we just unloaded all of that into the motel room.

I think I could double all that I took for myself which would equal 6 rifles, 2x's the ammo and two shooting tables w/o much issue, would have to spend a couple hrs doing a trial packing session to see how it would fit. Since there was only the 2 of us, we had the entire back seat to use as well but we only kept small overnight bags and a cooler for drinks in the back seat. My F150 has a huge back seat so I could have put the rifles in the cab if needed, or the ammo, or clothes if I had filled the bed with other gear.

I use some plastic crates with flip top covers for my range gear from HD/Lowes, and stays in the truck bed 90% of the time. Makes packing a bit easier, just label them with the contents and uses your space efficiently.

45TAJ said:

Kind of piggy backing on the post above re rifles. I think I am in reasonable shape w bolt guns and glass.
I have a crew cab w the "short box" - 69 inches. Don't know if a tonneau would suffice w two shooting adults or is a topper needed? I do NOT plan on a trailer of any stripe for the 30+ hour trip to the skwirl fields.
My bench has removable legs, as does the cleaning table. Probably 5-6 rifles.

Re other post: ammo container?bags were highly recommended by a well seasoned pd shooter.

Any suggestions or thoughts welcomed.

Click to expand...

Mate have you got 1 of these alloy boxes or can you get 1 made up. I put my guns in this as well as it's got a lot of my recovery gear in it like a high lift jack, shovel,and a heap of other stuff.
It's also lockable and I also put my ammo in there as well.

As for ammo containers the old .30/.50 cal ex army boxes make good containers for your loads as does the MTM plastic ammo holders and you can stuff these into 1 of those big plastic locker boxes which you can stack on top of something else or stack stuff on top of them.

I'm surprised you don't have fridges like we do here in Australia. Mine is a 57 litre Engel fridge freezer that runs off the dual battery set up in my Toyota Landcruiser. You can also hook up solar panels to keep the fridge running during the day so as not to drain your battery's. This unit will comfortably carry 60 cans of beer if you want to use it as a beer fridge or it will keep food cold for as long as you run the fridge.

It's both 12v and 240v so I can use it at home as a beer/food fridge on 240v.

You could get a removable "crate" made that you can lock up that is either alloy or have a tarp over it to protect the stuff underneath it like I've got for my Landcruiser.