Honestly, most shooters get more excited about long-distance, low-light scopes, and reflex sights than they get about the basic gun accessories that everyone needs to keep on hand. Muzzle brakes, new handguards, and high-tech optics are way cooler than patches, jags, and headphones.
All the same, every firearm owner should keep these gun accessories on hand, regardless of how much they actually get used.
1.A case
In some locations, it’s illegal to transport or possess an uncased firearm except at exempted locations (like a WMA or a shooting range). Whether to comply with the law or simply to protect the investment that is your rifle, a gun case is one of the most basic and unexciting, but vital of all gun accessories.
2.A range bag
A range bag will organize gun parts, tools, cleaning, and maintenance accessories, all in one place. It’ll also give you a place to store ammunition and magazines so that you can keep those both separated from the firearm during transport.
3.A speed loader and a brass catcher
Speedloaders are more utilitarian for shooters of sporting rifles and autoloading pistols than for clay shooters, but if you want to spend more time at the range shooting and less time fiddling with buckets of loose rounds, throw one in your range bag.
A brass catcher, like the Brass Goat that you can find online at Magwell Mounts (BrassGoat.com) is also a highly useful gun accessory that can keep your range bench clear, keep you compliant with range rules, and fuel your reloading hobby. Throw one in your range bag as well.
4.Cleaning equipment
At minimum, you should always keep a cleaning rod, adapters, jags, caliber-appropriate brushes and mops, plenty of patches, and bore solvent and gun oil on hand. You’ll need these to keep your firearm clean and well lubricated.
Do you know what other firearm cleaning essentials are useful? A cleaning mat, and, more importantly, a little magnetic metal tray like the kind that mechanics use. It’ll help you keep small, loose hardware and gun parts in one place and well organized.
5.Platform-specific tools
You should also keep any tools you need to maintain your firearm on hand; choke wrenches, Torx bits, sight or scope adjustment tools, and anything else similar. Another helpful tool is a broken shell extractor, which can save a day at the range if you ever experience that unfortunate occurrence.
6.Eye and ear protection
Not exciting, but necessary, eye and ear protection protect your vision and hearing while you’re at the range. Like it or not, it’s also a nearly universal range requirement. Get a good pair of Walker headphones and either wear your glasses or get some safety or shooting glasses; keep them in your range bag and you’ll be set.
7.A lock or a safe
Finally, a lock or safe is a wise investment. It’s up to you how you wish to store your firearms at home, but the National Shooting Sports Foundation said it best – Respect it. Secure it. They might not be exciting gun accessories but they certainly are valuable.
