Good saddle bags and scabbard??? Looking for suggestions.

[Stefan]

I have a younger quarter horse that I have been doing a lot of solo trail riding with. I would eventually take her for something longer than a day (way down the road with a lot more training and when I have more time). It would be nice to have some good saddle bags even for shorter trips/day trail rides with a break in between. I am just looking for some suggestions.

For the scabbard i am going to run either my Marlin 336A 30-30 or 1895G 45-70 but, I plan on doing the heathen thing and putting a little 4X on the 336A.

I am asking because I would prefer to not buy crap and would like something that will last.

Thank you.

 

[Casey Gepford]

These items are going to be all on personal preference. I do have 1 piece of advise. As far as a rifle scabbard I would personal recommend a leather one, but stay away from a padded leather one. The reason to stay away from padded - dirt, sand, etc ends up collecting in the padding causing it to start to scratch your stocks.

 

[wyosteve]

I'll throw in my .02 on scabbards as well. Train the horse to have the scabbard mounted upright by it's right shoulder. Easier to keep an eye on it, rifle won't fall out of the scabbard and, to me, most importantly, it isn't banging on your shin/ankle when riding.

 

[Cliff Gray]

Buy heavy canvas or leather saddlebags. You basically get what you pay for on them. Do not buy oversized ones, they affect your horse a lot more than you think.

Leather scabbards, butt up like wyosteve mentioned is the way to go on a good, trustworthy horse. Do not carry that way if you are riding something young or not well broke, can heavily affect your control (gun stock in the way of reins) if you need to get a hold of your horses nose. Some scope setups, full padded scabbards are the only option. Impossible to not have a bulge under your stir up, painful on long rides

The best piece of advice I can tell you is buy a riding gun if your going to do this a lot. Longterm riding is hard on guns, regardless of how you carry it.

 

[elkguide]

As has been said, buy as good as you can afford and then maybe hold off, save up and buy better still. As to the saddlebags, not too big, but ones with a good latching system...... one that will stay closed in brush and all sorts of trail surprises but yet one that you can get into without having to get off your horse or ones that will take your attention off the trail or one that will cause enough of a commotion that your horse will get squirrely while you're trying to get your sandwich out.

 

[rayporter]

i will second the leather scabbard and stay away from a lining- it holds water. as far as saddle bags go synthetic holds less water and weighs less.

i like mine mounted butt forward, too. i feel i can control and protect the rifle better this way.

some things to think about besides the water issue. scope up or down? up less likely to change poi.

right or left side- left easier to reach when you dismount.

and remove the rifle as soon as your feet hit the ground.

 

[Readypro1]

Check out the line at Rawhide Gear.com made in Oregon. The stuff is bullet proof and they stand behind their work. I have multiple bags etc.. They also have the forward scabbard. Not one problem with it in 10 years and i have a horse that goes down the trail like Ray Charles

 

[Stefan]

Thank you all for the advice!
I have a Marlin 336A with a little Leupold 1.5-4X20mm on it and a 1895G 45-70 that will be my go to depending on what and where I am hunting or packing.