5.11 Range Ready Bag review: 43 liters built around magazines

Most range bags are sold on a photograph. The 5.11 Range Ready Bag is one of the few sold on numbers, which makes it reviewable without touching one. Bench & Berm does not test gear, so everything below comes from what 5.11 publishes on its own product page, checked on 2026-10-16, measured against what two competing makers publish on theirs.

The framing that matters: this is a volume bag. 43 liters is a lot of range bag, and almost every design choice 5.11 made points at the shooter who burns through several boxes of ammunition in a session. If that is not you, the honest answer is that you are paying for space you will carry empty. Our best range bags page ranks the whole category, and best range bags under 50 covers the other end of it.

The verdict

What 5.11 publishes

Six specs, quoted from 5.11's own page rather than a retailer listing:

• Capacity: "Total Capacity - 2639 cubic inch / 43 liter". Both units, which is more than most makers give you.
• Main compartment: 9.5 in H x 17.5 in L x 10.5 in D. Note that this is the main compartment, not the outside of the bag, so it is the number you measure a pistol case against.
• Fabric: "600D polyester w/ TPE coating".
• Weight: "6.2 lbs" empty.
• Magazines: "Drop-down rear zippered compartment stores 8 magazines".
• In the box: a removable tote bag with zippered pockets and adjustable dividers, and a removable cylindrical brass storage bag with a metal snap hook.

The feature list adds the details that decide whether a bag is pleasant to use: fully padded construction, "segregated, padded storage for multiple pistols", external zippered pockets 5.11 names for optics and ear protection, side water bottle storage, a top carry handle, a non-slip padded shoulder strap with metal D rings, reinforced grab-and-go handles, bottom panel support feet and an ID/card slot. It is sold in black and in sandstone.

The magazine compartment is the product

Eight magazines is a specific claim, and it is the one that separates this bag from a padded duffel. A drop-down compartment on the back panel means the magazines live in their own space with their own zipper, which has two practical effects.

First, loaded magazines stop migrating into the main compartment, where they slide around under a pistol and scratch things. Second, you can get at them without opening the bag on a crowded bench. If you have ever stood at a stall rummaging two-handed through a duffel while the line waits, that is the problem this solves.

Worth knowing what it does not do: a magazine compartment is not a loader. Eight magazines still have to be filled by hand unless you own something that helps, which is what our best magazine loaders page is for. Loading eight pistol magazines with your thumbs is how a session ends early.

The brass bag nobody expects to use

The removable cylindrical brass bag with a snap hook reads like a throwaway accessory until the first time you shoot at a range that asks you to sweep up, or you start handloading, or you simply do not want four hundred pieces of dirty brass loose in a 43-liter bag.

Brass comes home covered in combustion residue, and that residue is the lead exposure you can actually control. Our lead exposure at the shooting range page covers the handling habits that matter; a dedicated, removable bag you can empty and wash separately from the bag your eye and ear protection lives in is on that list.

The tote is the other half of the same idea: a removable inner bag with dividers means the bag that goes to the bench is not the whole 43-liter bag. Pack the tote with what you need on the line, leave the rest in the car.

600D, TPE and 6.2 pounds empty

600D polyester is the standard range-bag fabric: tough enough for a bag that lives in a trunk, lighter and cheaper than the 1000D nylon on a duty bag. The TPE coating is what 5.11 publishes for water resistance, and the published bottom panel support feet are what keep that coating off wet concrete.

6.2 pounds empty is the number to sit with. That is before a single round goes in. Add eight loaded pistol magazines, two boxes of ammunition, a pistol or two, muffs, glasses and a cleaning kit and this is a bag you carry to the car in one trip and then do not want to carry across a parking lot twice. If your range means a walk, our best range backpacks page covers the format that puts the weight on both shoulders, and range bag vs backpack lays the trade out.

The spec 5.11 never mentions

Lockable zippers. They are not in the feature list, not in the specs, and not in the description. We are not saying the zipper pulls have no holes in them; we are saying the maker does not claim them, and on this site a spec we cannot source is a spec we do not print.

It matters for two reasons. Some ranges and some state facilities require a firearm to arrive in a locked container, and a lockable bag is the easiest way to satisfy that without a hard case. And a soft bag with a padlock is a deterrent, not security, which is a distinction worth keeping straight — our hard vs soft pistol case page spells it out. If you are flying, neither a soft bag nor a padlock is the answer; see TSA's own firearms rules and our best gun cases for air travel page.

If lockable zippers are on your list, the Savior Equipment Specialist lists them as a spec and the Vertx COF bags do too. That is the single biggest reason to buy something other than this bag.

Against two alternatives

The comparison that actually decides it is volume against features, and the two bags above bracket the 5.11 on both sides.

• Savior Specialist publishes three cushioned pistol sleeves, an adjustable center divider, lockable zippers, and both external (18.5 x 9 x 12 in) and internal (13 x 8.5 x 9 in) dimensions. It is the organizer bag: less space, more structure, and a maker that states the lock spec. Our Savior Specialist Range Bag review goes through it in the same detail as this page.
• Allen Eliminator Rangemaster is 23 L with a foldable pistol rug included — close to half the 5.11's volume. For one pistol, two boxes of ammunition and a pair of muffs, it is the right size and the cheapest of the three.

5.11 wins on space and on what comes in the box. It loses on the lock spec, and it is the heaviest of the three empty. There is no version of this comparison where the 5.11 is the right first bag for someone with one handgun.

Who it is for

• High-volume shooters. If a session is several hundred rounds, 43 liters and a magazine compartment are the difference between packing and repacking.
• Two-gun trips. "Segregated, padded storage for multiple pistols" plus the tote means a pistol and a rimfire trainer travel without touching.
• Anyone who keeps their brass. The included brass bag is a real feature, not a freebie.
• People who drive to the bay. Trunk to bench is the right distance for a 6.2-pound empty bag.

Who should skip it

• Anyone who needs a lockable bag. 5.11 does not claim lockable zippers. Buy a bag that does, or buy a lockable hard case.
• First-time owners with one pistol. You will carry empty volume. Start smaller; our what to put in a range bag page is a better guide to sizing than any spec sheet.
• Anyone walking any distance. A backpack carries the same load better.
• Shooters who want a pistol rug included. 5.11 publishes padded segregated storage but no number of pistols and no rug; the Allen includes a foldable one.

How we would pack it

With a bag this size the risk is that it becomes a bin. A layout that uses what 5.11 publishes, rather than fighting it:

1. Rear drop-down compartment: magazines only, up to the eight 5.11 claims. Nothing else goes in there, ever.
2. Removable tote: the bench kit. Targets, stapler, pasters, a marker, a loader. This is what you carry to the stall.
3. Main compartment: pistols in the padded segregated storage, ammunition flat on the bottom so the weight sits over the support feet.
4. External zippered pockets: eye and ear protection, which 5.11 names these pockets for. Keep glasses out of the main compartment where a magazine will scratch them. An outdoor bay is also the one place a second tinted pair earns its space — see best polarized shooting glasses.
5. One outside pocket for cleaning: a pull-through and a dropper of oil, not the whole bench kit. Our BoreSnake vs Otis Ripcord comparison covers the two that actually fit in a bag.
6. Brass bag, clipped on the outside: empty on the way in, full on the way out, and emptied before it goes back in the house.
7. Side water bottle pocket: water, not solvent. Keep cleaning chemicals away from the pocket you drink from.

One habit regardless of the bag: nothing goes into a range bag loaded unless you have checked it, and the NSSF's rules of firearm safety apply in your garage as much as on the line. Our gun safety rules page covers the four that matter most.