Wednesday, August 3, 2011

MArooned Product Review: Boyt Harness Pistol Case

I'm finally getting around to some of the follow-up reviews, and reached way back in the review bag to a case I first mentioned nearly a year ago. I received the Boyt Harness H20D Pistol case last year, and have been waiting for the right occasion to really try it out. As I mentioned at the time, this is a large case, measuring 22" x 17" x 10" (manufacturer specs):

Bring guns. Lotsa guns

Yeah. It uses most of my kitchen table...

I mentioned in my review that it had three levels of storage. While this is true, it is with a caveat - the foam needs to be carved out for the guns, otherwise it's really only two levels. This really isn't a problem given how positively cavernous the levels are:

Top Level

Bottom Level

And here's everything stored inside:

Think it's enough?

Nine and a half handguns, two of which are 8 3/8" barrel S&W revolvers; a full size double stack semi-automatic; a Government 1911; and a single action Colt. Add in a couple medium frame Smiths, a J-frame, and a pocket nine - as well as a 9mm slide for the Sig - and that's 9½ guns, six of which are large frames. Bear in mind, too, that had I chosen different guns - say, the Model 19 rather than the Model 27 or the 1991A1 compact instead of the Gold Cup - I could easily have gotten three or four more guns inside the case.

With the foam in place - even without cutouts - the guns are held firmly in position. I carried the case all over the house, out to the truck, off to the range, etc. and nothing - nothing - moved. Not the slide. Not the J-frame. Nothing. The one drawback - and this is by no means a knock on the case - is that with it fully loaded it is heavy. Granted, there's probably fifteen pounds of gun alone; add in the weight of the case (12 lbs. according to Boyt), and you're lugging around close to 30 pounds. Again, not a knock on the case, just a fact of life - and I'd rather lug around 30 pounds in the Boyt case than 2X15 or 3X10 in a cheap case any day.

Boyt Harness H20D Pistol case gets two thumbs' up; way up indeed.

That is all.

5 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...

Bringing it to the Shoot?

Jay G said...

That's why it's packed, Les!

DaddyBear said...

Good review. The MSRP is $144, which isn't bad for a purpose built deep gun case. Is the foam gridded or free form cut?

Jay G said...

DaddyBear,

Cases And More has it for $115 on sale.

Just so you know... :)

The foam is free-form - you'd have to do the cutting yourself (which is why I haven't gotten around to it yet...)

Jim said...

Jay, the foam in cases like those can be a pain in the (__!__) to cut with any "neatness".

A trick that I learned with the foam in Halliburton cases, from my olde photography days:

Lightly spray the foam with a fine mist of water, then freeze the damp foam, overnight.

Next day, you can cut the foam very precisely indeed, with a razor, or razor-sharp knife. An X-Acto knife is good for this task.

When you're done, let the foam de-moisturize, just by leavng it out in the hot sun for a few hours. Just to be sure though, throw a generous handful of silica gel bags into the case with your guns.

If any of the guns don't fit in the case, just send them to me for....um....safekeeping.....yeah, that's it, safekeeping!


Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX