Travis Olander 12.15.23
I don’t like lugging around a bunch of single gun cases when I travel for shooting stuff. I prefer shoving as many of my long guns as I can into one case – but most cases that satisfy this type of storage are big, heavy, and bulky. There aren’t many soft gun cases that fit the bill, either. Except for the Drago Gear Double Gun Case. While it might look like every other tacticool, ripstop case on the market, it has a few small but important features that I quite like.
The Drago Gear Double Gun Soft Case at a Glance
The Drago Case is like a long, thin, suitcase-like duffel bag. It also doubles as a rifle backpack, which we’ll look at later. It’s in the Goldilocks Zone for size, measuring 42″ in length and just tall enough to fit the typical AR-15 (and other box-fed rifles) without removing magazines nor optics. It’s just long enough to fit a typical 20″-barreled .308 AR.
Features n’ Specs
- Thick padded divider separates each rifle, protects finish and optics
- Padded adjustable backpack straps provide easy, hands-free carrying
- Sports (4) zippered storage compartments for range gear and kit
- Includes (3) large pouches for ammunition and accessories
- Provides (2) padded pistol pouches for sidearms and magazines
- Plenty of MOLLE straps on each side of bag for additional web gear
- Overall dimensions: 43″L x 14″D x 13″W
Rifles and Gear
The guns in this review are 16″-barreled AR-15s. One’s got an EOTECH 512 atop its receiver, while the other’s a slick top with fold-down irons. Both are loaded with standard 30-round magazines with M4-type buttstocks left at their full length of pull. I used PMAGs in all the exterior pouches, since they tend to be a fair bit bulkier (and more obnoxious to stow) than aluminum mags. First, the exterior:
All the stitching on the Drago Gear Double Gun is quite nice – for an “economy” bag made overseas, at least. The shell is, I believe, 1000D Cordura, and all the ripstop webbing is stitched with 1″ spacing. The load-bearing seams are double stitched and rolled, while the flaps on all the pockets and external pouches are double stitched with some piping, to prevent fraying.
Although not pictured, I wound up buying a couple double-stacked magazine pouches with the typical PALS attachment straps and slapped them on either side of the bag for some extra ammo storage.
Speaking of ammo: There’s already plenty of capacity for carrying mags in the integrated pockets. I can easily shove four into the outermost pocket and cinch it down with the bungee cord to keep things from flopping around. Between all the other pouches, I’m able to stuff about 15 30-rounders inside. The buckles also help keep things tight, though they do tend to slip and loosen up, and require some occasional re-cinching.
The backside of the Drago Gear Double Gun Case is one reason I like it so much: The shoulder strap system provides an awesome, convenient way to carry this soft case – something most other fabric long gun cases simply don’t afford. The strap system is robust, with metal hooks holding each strap to the top and bottom of the case, and plenty of padding to keep things comfortable. There’s a generous amount of adjustment for height, and the stitching and straps that hold everything together are, frankly, overkill for the amount of weight you can fit inside.
The fabric handle on the Drago Gear Double Gun Case is a much simpler affair, but it gets the job done without any issue. You can also spy the zipper for the case, which runs the full length of the thing. It’s solid, and I haven’t had any issues with the zipper popping loose when a wayward barrel pokes up against it from inside. But the zippers felt a bit sticky out of the box, and they liked to get hung up about halfway. A dab of gun oil and a few back-and-forth rips broke them in, and they’re smooth enough. Your mileage may vary.
Inside, the Drago Gear Double Gun gets right what so many soft gun cases get wrong: Keeping your long guns secured, without slippin’ n’ slidin’ around, but without a bunch of bulk and excess padding. The stitched corner pockets do a great job at keeping your rifles’ muzzles and buttstocks in place, while the two Velcro straps and center divider provide the final nails in this proverbial gun coffin. I enjoy carrying this case with my ARs simply because of these stupidly simple but effective storage dividers. There’s just enough padding inside to protect delicate optics, and the storage divider does a fine job and stopping your rifles from scratching each other.
(What’s not to like?)
If I had to nitpick this rifle case, I take issue with the PALS webbing. The stitching just isn’t consistent. Some spaces run narrow, while others run wide. If you slap a big ole’ fabric bucket on there and load it up with mags and heavy kit, it’ll either flop around, or you simply won’t be able to loop all the MOLLE straps between each of the rows on this bag — lest you hunt for a series of columns that are all sized correctly. It’s not a deal breaker, and the bag provides plenty of storage capacity out of the box, but I like knowing I can easily fasten some extra pouches on the outside without any issue. This is a quality control issue, though. Perhaps your Drago Gear Double Gun Bag will have more consistent PALS webbing. Considering the price, though – this bag and its rebranded Amazon clones come in at around $75 to $80 – the Double Gun Case is a great, affordable way to carry at least two tactical rifles and plenty of equipment for a day at the range.
