My love/hate affair with Scope Covers and Slings vs. a Saddle Mounted Rifle Scabbard
Storm Queens I believe they call them but have several drawbacks.
They don't work well with a rifle scabbard. They also slow me down on those "well looks like you got 2-1/2 seconds to shoot" situations.
My remedy for this are sacrificial Leupold 3X9 VariX3 30mm Euro Scope with no scope covers. I surely would not do this with a pricey Zeiss or Swarovski Scope.
The other is slings don't work well in scabbards either. I really like slings. I suppose they could be put into my saddle bags.

Duke you need to be introduced to the quick set sling by Dick Murray. It solved all of my sling in saddle scabbard problems. The one sin the picture don't show how tight they actually can get. they'll zip up tight right to the bottom of your gun. Super handy and this coming from a guy who does a lot hunting from the saddle.

http://www.murraycustomleather.com/slings.htm

My favorite scope covers are the following:
-Cheap. Bikini stretch-ons. UncleMike's I think. If lost, not a big deal.

-Free. Inner tube pieces.

quote:

Originally posted by Brice:
My favorite scope covers are the following:
-Cheap. Bikini stretch-ons. UncleMike's I think. If lost, not a big deal.

-Free. Inner tube pieces.

I agree, but I don't think Uncle Mike's makes them anymore. I have not been able to find them for the past few years. If you know where I can get them, please post.

Both rifles in this photo are slung with Uncle Mikes Mountain slings. They go into a tight scabbard without much issue. For scope covers an inner tube would slide into a scabbard as well. These are custom fit scabbards that we made and most off the shelf offerings have more room.

Thanks for the pics. I see on the back horse you have flipped the scabbard upside down so you could mount the scabbard on the off side of the horse. Although this would practical if you had a lefty rifle and a lefty scabbard. Very possible for sure.
Respectably I have reservations about having a scope absorbing the weight of the rifle even though we are using some el cheapo Lupy VARIX3 30MM Euro's.
My concerns would be more for having the impact change of the bullet but I'm just playing the devils advocate here.



Here's on of the half dozen or so Barbie I made for our rigs.

I'l post a pic of one of our other rigs.

Both scabbards are on the on side.

That is my brothers rig and his preference. He is the one in the photo and has more experience with such matters than most. He has his reasons one of the biggest being they ride much easier fighting through neck high willows on the side of a mountain yet still have the rifle handy.

I prefer the but of the gun in front of me and my rig is the other one.

That moose must have tasted really good.

I hate slings so don't use them..Don't like big scopes so I mostly use 3X Leupolds in a saddle scabbard or iron sights suit me also..I love a saddle scabbard. I like my rifle butt back and on the right side as a rule..If the gun is too big then on the left side forward..but if the gun is too big then you spend the day jumping up and down on your off side stirrup! so use a little light carbine.

The way I see it is your have break in that new saddle saddle and scabbard. that will only take about 5 years if you ride it all day every day, so lots of luck on that..I suggest you lend it to some ranch hand for a year or so!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I hate slings so don't use them..Don't like big scopes so I mostly use 3X Leupolds in a saddle scabbard or iron sights suit me also..I love a saddle scabbard. I like my rifle butt back and on the right side as a rule..If the gun is too big then on the left side forward..but if the gun is too big then you spend the day jumping up and down on your off side stirrup! so use a little light carbine.

The way I see it is your have break in that new saddle saddle and scabbard. that will only take about 5 years if you ride it all day every day, so lots of luck on that..I suggest you lend it to some ranch hand for a year or so!

Mine slides in and out like a glove. I wet formed it with one of our .270's.

try sewing a piece of ace bandage into a loop that will lightly stretch over the scope. i did this for bino covers and it really work well, and if it's lost - big deal

Best scope covers are intertubes cut to scope size and if your artsy/craftt you can bell them on each end! Jump a deer and flip it off and shoot, either pick it up or grab another one out of your pocket or saddle bags!

I rope a lot so my saddle horn is covered in those intertube sections and I cut them 1.5"s or to the same size as my scope, if I need one for the scope I start pulling them off until I find one that still in one piece..roping tears up the top layers of rubber, but there are many of them wrapped around the horn..Needless to say I stumbled on this idea in a blizzard in Idahos back country and my scope and rifle was soaking wet, was hard to see thru. Wan and instant fix..American ingenuity at work.

Only problem with this method is having to pack that heavy saddle thru airports when going to Africa! Never mind!

Real cowboys use Mule hide on the horn.

quote:

Originally posted by Chuck Nelson:
Real cowboys use Mule hide on the horn.

And then wrap it in inner-tube--

Cowboys with Mule hide or bull scrotum on the horn, only have an average of 2 fingers per hand!

Ever tried to dalley on mule hide!

Oh I have and was never man enough. Worked with a guy though that bought 100 ft of rope to make two. He ended up leaving it 100 ft long cause he needed all of it to get a cow stopped with his mule hide.